February 25, 2009

WoW Patch 3.1 PTR Warlock glyphs

So many goodies in Patch 3.1, I don't know where to start. Okay, I do know where to start... we looked at some class changes. Now, though, it's time to examine the glyphs of the new patch. We've got some gems here...

Glyph of Incinerate - Increases the damage done by Incinerate by 5% (Old: Glyph of Banish Increases the duration of your Banish by 5 sec.)
A no-nonsense increase in DPS to replace a glyph that nobody ever took? Why not? Considering Incinerate spam is part of Destruction's deal, this is a pleasant glyph to have.

Glyph of Imp - Increases the damage done by your Imp's Firebolt spell by 20%. (Old: 10%)
This significantly packs more punch into an Imp's firepower. A solid choice of glyph for Destruction Warlocks who already invest points in Improved Imp, Demonic Power, and Empowered Imp. It's like having a machine gun. A very talkative, smart-lipped machine gun.

Glyph of Haunt *new* - The bonus damage granted by your Haunt spell is increased by an additional 3%.
Although Haunt was nerfed to apply exclusively to shadow damage, this glyph is hands down the best glyph choice for Affliction Warlocks.


Glyph of Metamorphosis *new* -- Increases the duration of your Metamorphosis by 6 sec.
Speaking of glyphs of choice, this one is a no-brainer. This extends the duration of the spell by a solid 20%, which when coupled with the new Nemesis talent means that Metamorphosis would be up for 36 seconds every 126 seconds. That's a 28.6% uptime to a 20% DPS increase. I don't even need to get into the PvP implications of this. It's just too scary.

Glyph of Chaos Bolt *new* - Reduces the cooldown on Chaos Bolt by 2 sec.
Another straight up DPS increase. If you're speccing deep enough into Destruction to pick up Chaos Bolt, there's no reason not to have it in your rotation and no reason not to have this glyph. It may be vanilla, but it's great tasting vanilla.

Glyph of Demonic Circle *new* - Reduces the cooldown on Demonic Circle by 0.4 sec.
There just has to be one trash glyph, doesn't there? I'm sure there's a typo somewhere but I can't test it right now because my PTR client keeps crashing on me. 0.4 seconds is a joke cooldown for a spell with a 30 second cooldown. Heck, even 4 seconds off the cooldown won't make this glyph -- likely a major one -- worth putting in. Maybe a longer range or a CC-removal effect would've been more desirable. I'm almost certain this will change in the future.

Glyph of Shadowflame *new* -- Your Shadowflame also applies a 70% movement speed slow on its victims.
An 8 second 70% snare just screams PvP glyph to me. If there wasn't much reason to use Shadowflame in PvP then, there's certainly a reason to now. This should help improve Warlock survivability in PvP. Baby steps.

Glyph of Soul Link *new* - Increases the percentage of damage shared via your Soul Link by an additional 5%.
Didn't I just say baby steps? Here's another glyph mostly useful for PvP and almost brings Soul Link to its old levels. Still, with the number of wonderful glyphs out there, I'm not sure this 5% buff is enough to merit it a slot. Not a bad choice for total survivability, though.

Glyph of Life Tap *new* - When you use Life Tap, you gain 20% of your spirit as spell power for 20 sec.
Man, here's another glyph that's pure win. If you didn't have Life Tap in your rotation, even with the 4-piece Plagueheart set, this glyph should be all that's needed to convince you. More than ever, Spirit has become a beautiful stat for Warlocks. Because we don't have to concern ourselves with the nerfs to Spirit-based mana regen, it's more valuable to us because of Life Tap's spirit coefficient. With this glyph and Fel Armor up, that's essentially 50% of our Spirit converted directly into Spell Power. Do I even need to explain how awesome that is? No. So get this glyph if it makes it live and put that Life Tap squarely into your rotation.

Nice, isn't it? A lot of these glyphs are extremely solid choices for glyph slots and translate directly to DPS or survivability, which address a lot of current Warlock concerns. This patch is shaping up rather nicely for Warlocks, so keep posted for more news as they come.

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