BC Builds

Angus_Og

Angus_Og

New Member
I know it is early to create builds, as was the case with the priest build. But I am bored and needed something creative to do, SO with that being said here are a few builds I am thinking about for my chars.

Priest - Shadow or Holy

Warlock - This or That

Rogue - Raid or BG

Hunter - Marksman

Warrior - Protection or Arms/Fury

And for the heck of it here are some others just cause I am really bored atm.

Druid - Feral or Resto

Paladin - Ret or

Mage - Ice or Arcane or Elemental

Shaman - Resto
 
Are these builds that you were just kind of putting together because you were "bored", or are we allowed to comment on the good and bad portions? Meaning, would you like us to do so? :)
 
Both really. I have been looking and messing on and off since they came out. I know that they are not written in stone as far as Blizz is concerned. But if you, or anyone, has suggestions I am willing to hear them. I might even tweak my builds because of them. I will admit though, some of them were not completely thought out well since my experience with the class is still relatively classified as noobish.
 
Cool. :)

First, my Shadow Priest critique.


Your level 70 shadow priest build should look like this. 9/0/52
Imp Mind Blast does not need 5/5 because the cool down is to fast. If a shadow priest casts Mind Blast once, and then Mind Flay, the Mind Blast is not cooled down yet even with 5/5 in it. So you either have to wait, or cast another Mind Flay. Well, you're wanting to do damage so another Mind Flay it is. In the middle of your 2nd Mind Flay is when Mind blast becomes available. Well, now you have wasted 3 talent points for a spell to become available while your casting other spells. That's poor talent management. The cooldown on Mind Blast should end at the exact time that your 2nd Mind Flay is done. That requires only 2 points in Imp Mind Blast.

3/3 in Shadow Affinity can be argued, but I'll leave it on there. 3/3 in Shadow Affinity has more of an agro reduction than 5/5 in Silent Resolve.

Meditation isn't needed for Shadow Priests in the Discipline Tree. Shadow Priests do not concentrate on Spirit so the mana regen is extremely minimal. Those points could be spent elsewhere, like in the Shadow Tree. :)

Shadow Power increases your crit chance to 15%, not 5%, for just 5 talent points. To pass up on this would be insane.

Everything else is close to what you currently have I believe.
 
I can argue a little here. 5 pts in Imp Mind blast makes it end right near the end of the second mind flay, I might get away with 4 pts, but I don't think 3.

Shadow Addinity and Silent Resolve stack don't they? If so I need it cause I can/do still pull aggro, that is a 45% threat reduction. If they don't stack then I can drop Silent resolve. (Currently trying to find the answer.)

The Meditation is good cause currently it allows me to regen 40pts of mana even while casting and that is at only 266 spirit.

The reason I passed up Shadow Power was the fact that I do not use Mind Blast but a third to a fourth of the time.
 
Mage critique



First thing I noticed wrong with all of the Mage builds was 5/5 in Imp Arcane Missiles. The horrible mana/damage ratio that this spell has, Mages honestly shouldn't even be using this. Even when mages gain clear casting, it is still pointless to use as most +crit talents are in the Fire and Frost trees. A fire or frost spell should still be cast when gaining clear casting. To tell ya the trueth, I don't even have Arcane Missiles in my hotbars. I haven't used the spell since late level 40's.

Frost spec = 20/0/41

Imp Blizzard is used for AoE grinding. You do not want to have more than 2 points into this because the slow effect is more than the slow effect on Cone of Cold then. This means that the slow effect will now produce on Cone of Cold when AoE grinding causing your mobs to break the effect prematurely. One point in Permafrost is to make the Blizzard effect last just a bit longer as well so you do not have mobs breaking the Blizz Slow effect.

For 1 point, Cold Snap lets you Ice Block twice in a row. This is huge and awsome for agro management. Especially if you pull agro in raids on back to back fights, which sadly I have done plenty of times.

Empowered Frost bolt is like getting a free +damage item in your inventory. Mages always go after +damage items, so when given the opportunity, there is no reason to pass it up.

Arctic Reach increase the range of not only your frostbolt, but the radius of Blizzard, Cone of Cold, and Frost Nova. This means a larger area to AoE grind. Since Imp Blizzard has points into it, AoE grinding will occur (or else your wasting points in Imp Blizzard). If AoE grinding is going to occur, the larger the range, the more mobs you can AoE grind, the more xp/drops you'll get, the better off you'll be.

Counterspell should be taken up by ANY mage going that far into the Arcane Tree. I use this all of the time. I use it in grinding, instances, raids, pulling, etc. The spell is fantastic for only 2 points. Priests have to spend 3 points to get Silence so for 2 points without a prereq, this is great.
 
Found out Silent Resolve and Shadow Affinity stacks. 45% threat reduction on shadow spells makes me happy.
 
Angus_Og said:
I can argue a little here. 5 pts in Imp Mind blast makes it end right near the end of the second mind flay, I might get away with 4 pts, but I don't think 3.
Click to expand...

Casting should look like this
Mind Blast with a 1.5 second cast and with 5/5 in Imp Mind blast, you have a 5.5 second cool down (It starts at 8 and with 5/5 in Imp Mind Blast, you reduce your cooldown by 2.5 seconds)
Mind Flay lasts for 3 seconds.

Well, you have a 2.5 second delay at BEST between when you can cast Mind Blast again. So, what are ya going to be doing for those.


Now, do it my way.
Mind Blast with a 1.5 second cast and 2/5 in Imp Mind Blast, you have a 7 second cooldown (It starts at 8 and with 2/5 in Imp Mind Blast, you reduce the cool down by 1 second)
Mind Flay for 3 seconds.
Mind Flay for 3 seconds.

The total delay on Mind Flay is 6 seconds for both spells. Now, I only have a 1 second delay between when my 2nd mind flay is done, and when I can cast my next Mind Blast.

2/5 is the way to go. :)
 
Well, 4 into Imp Mind Flay and I have no delay between my Mind Flay x2 and Mind Blast. No down time at all.

My normal routine is this. SW:p, MB, MF, MF and then start over at MB if need be.
 
Angus_Og said:
Well, 4 into Imp Mind Flay and I have no delay between my Mind Flay x2 and Mind Blast. No down time at all.

My normal routine is this. SW:p, MB, MF, MF and then start over at MB if need be.
Click to expand...


You should be pulling with MB. Since SW:p is an instant cast, you shouldn't be pulling with it. You should cast MB due to the casting time while the mob isn't charging you to attack you.

Also, when you have 2/5 in Imp Mind Blast, I never stated Shadow Word Pain, which I should have. Sorry about that. SW:p has a global cooldown of 1.5 seconds.

With 2/5 in Imp Mind Blast here is the way you should be casting.

Mind blast with a 7 second cool down.
While backing up, yes backing up to put a bit of distance between you and the mob, cast SW:p.
Continue backing up until the 1.5 global cooldown is up.
Mind Flay for 3 seconds
Mind Flay for 3 seconds.

If done correctly, the Mind Blast cooldown is up, the mob is dead, and 3 talent points have not been wasted. It is possible to get away with this with only 1 talent point into Imp Mind Blast, I just use 2 to be on the safe side, and it helps when raiding and you don't have to cast SW:p all the time because of the duration.
 
Angus_Og said:
Shadow Addinity and Silent Resolve stack don't they? If so I need it cause I can/do still pull aggro, that is a 45% threat reduction. If they don't stack then I can drop Silent resolve. (Currently trying to find the answer.)
Click to expand...


Sorry, forgot to reply to this. 45% is great agro reduction, no doubt about that. Something to think about though. The only time that you need agro reduction is in a raid. All priests get Greater Blessings of Salvation in a raid anyway which reduces your threat by 30%. So Shadow Affinity and Salvation will allow the 45% agro reduction. Having 5 points into Silent resolve is a waste because you won't generate that much agro in a raid.

Greater Salvation = 30% reduction
Silent Resolve = 25% reduction
Shadow Affinity = 30% reduction

I don't think there is a Shadow Priest in the game that can generate enough agro to over come 45% in a raid, much less 75%. If a Shadow Priest overcomes 75% reduction, tell the mage to stop tanking. lol.
 
Well, back to the previous post, I mostly do groups now so I don't pull anything. Even when I do I have a tank next to me to take the initial aggro from me. I don't always have the blessing of getting greater salvation do that keeps me at 45% threat reduction. Silent Resolve = 20% and Shadow Affinity = 25%.

Now if I only did raids or had a Pally around me alot I would probably drop Silent Resolve.

BUT, you have me thinking some. Here is what I am looking at now. It will leave me open even more to aggro when I am in small groups or minus a Pally.
 
Can you rephrase this, I am just not getting it. specifially the underlined portions.
Reason said:
Imp Blizzard is used for AoE grinding. You do not want to have more than 2 points into this because the slow effect is more than the slow effect on Cone of Cold then. This means that the slow effect will now produce on Cone of Cold when AoE grinding causing your mobs to break the effect prematurely. One point in Permafrost is to make the Blizzard effect last just a bit longer as well so you do not have mobs breaking the Blizz Slow effect.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that if I have more then 1 point in Imp Blizz that if I do a Cone of Cold next it will break the Blizz effect?
 
Angus_Og said:
Can you rephrase this, I am just not getting it. specifially the underlined portions.


Are you saying that if I have more then 1 point in Imp Blizz that if I do a Cone of Cold next it will break the Blizz effect?
Click to expand...


Sorry about that. Let me try to reword that a bit. With 2 points into Imp Blizzard, you have a slow effect (or chill effect, whatever you wanna call it), of 50%. With 3 points into Imp Blizzard, you have a slow effect of 65%. Cone of Cold has a slow effect of 50%.

Now that the numbers are stated, here is an example of AoE grinding mobs to put everything into perspective. You mount up, gather however many mobs it is, dismount, frost nova, run away, and Blizzard. This is how all AoE grinding for a frost mage should start. Now, you are casting blizzard with 3/3 points into Imp Blizzard which slows the mobs to 65%. The problem with doing this is that when the mobs are on top of you, you then cast CoC which has a 50% slow rate. CoC slow rate now does not produce because the mobs are at 65% and CoC only has 50%. Think of it as a message that states "A more powerful spell is active". Frost Nova isn't up yet, Blink Away, but the mobs are already running after you because the Blizzard slow rate only lasts for 1.5 seconds.

Now, look at it with a 2/3 in Imp Blizzard. Same start occurs, you mount up, gather mobs, dismount, frost nova, run away, and Blizzard with a 50% slow rate. The mobs are now on top of you and you cast CoC. CoC now produces and replaces the slow rate the mobs have from Blizzard. The slow rate from CoC lasts for 8 seconds, you blink away with more than ample time to spare, and cast Blizzard again. The slow rates from each of these produce, causing the mobs to be slowed all of the time. This make for great AoE grinding.

Add in Arcane Explosion when necessary. Simmer until light brown and serve. Serves 10.
 
Ok, I see said the blind man. So instead of the CoC being ignored you drop Imp Blizz down a notch and it renews the slow effect. K, time to redo that build also.
 
Angus_Og said:
BUT, you have me thinking some. Here is what I am looking at now. It will leave me open even more to aggro when I am in small groups or minus a Pally.
Click to expand...

I do like this build a lot better than your other one. I'm still strongly suggest 2/5 in Imp Mind Blast, but I do like this build better.


Angus_Og said:
Ok, I see said the blind man. So instead of the CoC being ignored you drop Imp Blizz down a notch and it renews the slow effect. K, time to redo that build also.
Click to expand...

Correct. Sorry about the wording before. I'm trying to type up responses when I can, when I'm not busy with a customer at work.
 
I have to admit, I'm still strongly looking into this build. 40/0/21


I know what all I said before, but I kinda like this build a lot.


If I ever start working with Unreasonable on an hourly/daily basis, this will be his lvl 70 build once he gets there. 10/48/3
 
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For Unreasonable I would take the 3 out of Pyromaniac. Or at least make it the last 3 points to spend. You can put those in Imp Fire Blast or Scorch. I just don't really think that talent is that great.

And maybe look at this as an alt to the 40/0/21 build. For some reason I am just not that keen on a heavy arcane build.
 
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