Hey guys, I'm just wondering with all the changes coming to sorc's in the 2.8 patch what will be the best spec for sorcs?

Also will pure madness be better than a madness lightning hybrid spec?

This is the build that I thought I'd give a try, but if madness is going to be better than I'll just go with that instead.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201hZccrbdRrcMZcMcRs0z.3

Please include a link to the best madness build for PVP please!

Reverbating force is a must... without it the hybrid is poor. Also chaos nexus is better than +1 crit. Basically the pvp hybrid is 0/30/16.... while for pve it is 2/28/16 dropping electric bindings.

Yes it does seem like it would be better to put the points into those.

Do you think a hybrid would be more effective than full madness?

Do you think a hybrid would be more effective than full madness?

Depends what you mean by effective. The hybrid has always put up the highest numbers on the scoreboard. It will probably do the same after 2.8. But Madness is probably the strongest kiting spec in the game and you can pressure healers with it well. It's also better for arenas.

This is what I run. The point in Surging Speed is optional, you can put it elsewhere. But there's really never a need to use Polarity Shift in Madness, so I like using it as a defensive CD for additional kiting power.

Depends what you mean by effective. The hybrid has always put up the highest numbers on the scoreboard. It will probably do the same after 2.8. But Madness is probably the strongest kiting spec in the game and you can pressure healers with it well. It's also better for arenas.

 

This is what I run. The point in Surging Speed is optional, you can put it elsewhere. But there's really never a need to use Polarity Shift in Madness, so I like using it as a defensive CD for additional kiting power.

Alright. based on this info I have chosen to go with a 0/30/16 build. I find I prefer to be more stationary as opposed to kiting.

Can you guys suggest a good rotation for this build? Or at least what are some of the skills I should be focusing on?

Alright. based on this info I have chosen to go with a 0/30/16 build. I find I prefer to be more stationary as opposed to kiting.

 

Can you guys suggest a good rotation for this build? Or at least what are some of the skills I should be focusing on?

Actually I've been thinking I just reached level 20 and got madness, this makes me really really like Madness, however to get all the perks and the final move I need to be 55. I'm wondering if I should use the hybrid build at lower levels and then respec to full madness, OR do you think it's better to go full madness straight through?

Actually I've been thinking I just reached level 20 and got madness, this makes me really really like Madness, however to get all the perks and the final move I need to be 55. I'm wondering if I should use the hybrid build at lower levels and then respec to full madness, OR do you think it's better to go full madness straight through?

I leveled purely through WZs. I mean, my sorcerer has been lvl 55 for...10 months now or something, and I'm still in Chapter 2 of my story. So take this with a grain of salt, but what I did was I started out pure Madness until I had 16 points in the tree. Then I put the rest of my points into Lightning. So basically yeah, I leveled as the hybrid. At 45 when I had access to the full tree I respec'd full Lightning, and ran full Lightning until and into 55 for rated 8v8s.

The hybrid works very well in midbie PvP. I imagine with the 2.7 changes it works even better now than it did when I was leveling.

As for rotation, tab-dot Affliction all the things, because you're hybrid and force management is a joke. Then spam Force Lightning until you get 3 stacks of Wrath, follow it up with an instant-cast Lightning Strike, you'll get the Lightning Barrage buff which makes Force Lightning tick twice as fast as well as a Chain Lightning proc. Use Death Field on CD. Use Crushing Darkness on CD, but only when you have 3 stacks of Wrath so you can insta-cast it. Using Chain Lightning and Death Field consecutively results in pretty big burst (DF is internal damage and not mitigated by armor) and AoE pressure. After you've done that, you still have your Lightning Barrage proc to use, so go ahead and spam Force Lightning again for 3 stacks of Wrath and rinse/repeat.

Playing the hybrid is all about managing your procs and keeping your Affliction up. Force management isn't an issue in this spec, so in regs just number whore and DoT as many people as you want. You have to watch for your Lightning Barrage proc, you have to watch for your 3 stacks of Wrath and you have to watch for your Chain Lightning proc. Never, ever, ever hard-cast Chain Lightning unless you're in PVE and clearing trash. Don't hard cast Crushing Darkness or Lightning Strike either. There's no need in this spec when they can be instant.

I leveled purely through WZs. I mean, my sorcerer has been lvl 55 for...10 months now or something, and I'm still in Chapter 2 of my story. So take this with a grain of salt, but what I did was I started out pure Madness until I had 16 points in the tree. Then I put the rest of my points into Lightning. So basically yeah, I leveled as the hybrid. At 45 when I had access to the full tree I respec'd full Lightning, and ran full Lightning until and into 55 for rated 8v8s.

 

The hybrid works very well in midbie PvP. I imagine with the 2.7 changes it works even better now than it did when I was leveling.

 

As for rotation, tab-dot Affliction all the things, because you're hybrid and force management is a joke. Then spam Force Lightning until you get 3 stacks of Wrath, follow it up with an instant-cast Lightning Strike, you'll get the Lightning Barrage buff which makes Force Lightning tick twice as fast as well as a Chain Lightning proc. Use Death Field on CD. Use Crushing Darkness on CD, but only when you have 3 stacks of Wrath so you can insta-cast it. Using Chain Lightning and Death Field consecutively results in pretty big burst (DF is internal damage and not mitigated by armor) and AoE pressure. After you've done that, you still have your Lightning Barrage proc to use, so go ahead and spam Force Lightning again for 3 stacks of Wrath and rinse/repeat.

 

Playing the hybrid is all about managing your procs and keeping your Affliction up. Force management isn't an issue in this spec, so in regs just number whore and DoT as many people as you want. You have to watch for your Lightning Barrage proc, you have to watch for your 3 stacks of Wrath and you have to watch for your Chain Lightning proc. Never, ever, ever hard-cast Chain Lightning unless you're in PVE and clearing trash. Don't hard cast Crushing Darkness or Lightning Strike either. There's no need in this spec when they can be instant.

Awesome! This actually sounds better than pure madness. Now what about the build you use, the balanced one? I didn't initially know of it until you mentioned it, but others are saying that at least 7 points in corruption is great. I would imagine it has the greatest survivability of the three because of all the healing. It's always good to have extra specs available in case of certain patches effecting playability.

Awesome! This actually sounds better than pure madness. Now what about the build you use, the balanced one? I didn't initially know of it until you mentioned it, but others are saying that at least 7 points in corruption is great. I would imagine it has the greatest survivability of the three because of all the healing. It's always good to have extra specs available in case of certain patches effecting playability.

Although perhaps I should mention my intentions for these builds...I want them for PVP.

From my understanding pure Madness is better, whereas Hybrid would be better for PVE.

Especially with the 2.8 patch changes, madness will be buffed.

Awesome! This actually sounds better than pure madness. Now what about the build you use, the balanced one? I didn't initially know of it until you mentioned it, but others are saying that at least 7 points in corruption is great. I would imagine it has the greatest survivability of the three because of all the healing. It's always good to have extra specs available in case of certain patches effecting playability.

The Madness spec I linked originally for you gets those 7 points in Corruption for Fadeout. I play full Lightning in PvE and full Madness for PvP. I've run the hybrid before but eh. I miss the control that Creeping Terror gives you, and the root break from Fadeout that you can use to laugh at Vengeance juggs.

Everything you need to know: 30 16 for regs full madness for arena/ranked

30 16 has massive burst capability on demand

get the stalker gear for on demand 3 crits and reduction of reckless time

aoe murder

full madness in ranked or 4v4 = make sure you get fade out, run away from everything, dot as u can, run away some more

willpower augs

stack power, ignore every stat but willpower / power / surge in that order

haste is crap for every sorc spec, 2 percent help in cast time is worthless especially in pvp where if you have half a brain you use instants

only time you stay still as a sorc is to cast force lightning

anything else you doing it wrong

Everything you need to know: 30 16 for regs full madness for arena/ranked

 

30 16 has massive burst capability on demand

 

get the stalker gear for on demand 3 crits and reduction of reckless time

 

aoe murder

 

full madness in ranked or 4v4 = make sure you get fade out, run away from everything, dot as u can, run away some more

 

willpower augs

stack power, ignore every stat but willpower / power / surge in that order

 

 

haste is crap for every sorc spec, 2 percent help in cast time is worthless especially in pvp where if you have half a brain you use instants

 

only time you stay still as a sorc is to cast force lightning

 

anything else you doing it wrong

Thank you! this is what I needed. Now to practice kiting...

I've set it up so I move with my mouse, but I'm not fancy and have to coordinate kiting with spellcasting on the keyboard, as opposed to a naga mouse with all those fancy buttons. Usually in PVP I stand still, maybe run around spamming affliction, but then back to standing still cast death field and spamming force lightning over and over and over again then cast instant crushing darkness. All the while being hit by everyone simultaneously and dying.

How can I be a better Sorc and move more for survivability?

The only time you have to stand still to do anything is when you're using Force Lightning. So just watch your positioning. Try to stay towards the back, or near a pillar or some object you can use to LoS. Everything else you have is instant and can be used on the run.

Also try not to spam Affliction much in Madness, you'll go OOM really quickly that way.