Everything Warlock

Destruction in Cataclysm PTR Patch 4.0
Talents, Glyphs, and Playstyle


Talents


So yesterday after I finished writing and posting my Affliction in patch 4.0 post, I decided to get started on my Destruction thread. Here is what I found. First off, after finishing this test, I realized that I could have made a better choice in talents. I had been playing with demonology and affliction for the past couple days and didn't have a mana problem at all. However, mana is definitely a prominent issue that you will inevitably face if you decide to roll destruction. I specced 2/2 into nether proection which was what I thought a good choice, for a raid cooldown if a lot of raid spell damage goes out. I now realize this should have gone into improved life tap, for that extra mana back. If i'm looking at things correctly, I don't see Destruction warlocks using corruption and any other curse than Curse of elements, or any other bane besides bane of havoc. So we will most likely have a few points to play around with once we fill out our main tree for replenishment, Nether Ward, Shadowfury, etc...
So here is a screenshot of the talents that I used:

And in case you can't see, or need it, here is a direct link to the build:

http://wowtal.com/#k=fy57fJO.a2y.warlock

Glyphs

Just like the other spec threads, I wasn't able get any glyphs besides the ones I already had, it's complete price gouging (glyphs 3000-4000g each). And that's if you happen to find the one you are looking for.

So I was only able to get:

Just a simple time saver in your rotation, had I been fully properly glyphed, no doubt I would have at least 1,000 more DPS.

Playstyle

Destruction in 4.0 is essentially, destruction in 3.3.5 with a few changes.

#1 Empowered Imp is now an instant soulfire proc. Not on crits but completely random. This means, put soulfire on your bars.

#2 You should wait till there is 1-2 seconds left on immolate before hitting conflagrate. This is a simple tactic to maximize your DPS by a good 900-1200 points. 

#3 Improved Soulfire, I assume doing one soulfire every 30/seconds in the early stages of a boss fight will make this a good talent choice, however, it is not working in the PTR and I wasn't getting the haste buff from it. So the effective DPS of this talent is unknown.

Rotation

Immolate - 100% uptime, Curse of Elements - 100% uptime, Bane of Havoc - 100% uptime

Chaos Bolt - Every CD, Conflagrate - as close to letting immolate fall off as possible. Incinerate - Filler, Soulfire - empowered imp.

Here is the damage breakdown:

No surprise here, Incinerate our #1 damagining talent 50% of overall damage.

The closer you hit conflagrate to the expiring time of immolate, the more damage it does.

Immolate's DoT, can crit, since it is up all the time it's always doing damage.

A nice bomb from destro, just use it every CD, not much else to say about this.

This is a new DoT, which comes from Imp's Firebolt and our Soulfire, it's always up as long as our imp is attacking. Now damage DoT but always doing damage.

All from Empowered imp, another nice bomb, it's instant cast like conflagrate with this proc, don't use it unless you have the proc.

Finally, here are my modified stats with Destruction:

The point that I can't stress enough with Destruction is, be hit capped, I lost a lot of DPS for not being hit capped. Also, gemming critical strike is a lot more beneficial versus haste.

I will be posting a video tutorial on how all casters can increase their DPS by using an outside program, as well as a PvP thread, one of our specs is really overpowered and i've been 2 shotting most everyone, and it's not the usual suspect.

Happy Decimating,

-BeerandChips