5 Locks or sub out a lock for a priest?

So as I mentioned in another thread I am loving my 5 Lock team. I have been thinking about subbing out of of the Locks for a Priest but not sure. I really hate losing out on the added DPS on the 5th lock and so far haven't seen any reason to need heals. I only have the team up to 20 but since I have a priest parked at 20 figured it is time to make the choice. On this team I do not plan on doing any instances and so far even counting outside elites (such as those on Bloodmyst Island) I have been able to tear up the mobs before they can land at most a single hit.

Anyone with an All Lock or 4xLock + 1 Heal that has any suggestions? If I do add in the Priest do you feel the synergy of Shadow Spec is good enough to make it worth respec from Holy?

I am totally loving my lock team even though it is only x3 as i upgrade gear to be able to do x5. I leave voids out and dot multiple mobs with the voids tanking. Sometimes (depending on level of mob) by the time i get to dotting the 4th mob the 1st void is back and ready to go and it is non-stop dotting and grinding through mobs. If the 1st void is not back i have x3 fear and just keep going.

I am interested in a healer for them but i want to run some instances too. I know you have druids too and i am wondering if you have thought about using a druid healer instead of a priest healer? Reading some of the posts about it here people seem to feel the druid is more mobile but with no aoe heal. In wotlk that will change and druid will have an aoe heal so that may change the dynamic.

It doesn't seem like druid is that much more mobile to me? Both have an instant hot and both will have an instant aoe heal in wotlk. Seems like a priest brings more utility to a team of locks than a druid does though. Shield, fort, dispels, fear protection, on and on. I wonder if a druid is a better healer though?

/cheer the locks!

Actually druids do have Tranquility for AOE heal but it rather sucks and is on a fairly long cooldown. Yeah they are very mobile though. Lifebloom and Rejuv are nice. Of course priest get Renew which is also nice. And with the changes to COH cooldown they would work nicely too. But yeah I could see a Druid cycling thru each lock with Lifebloom to offset lifetap.

As far as a Druid being a better healer though than a Priest I would say not really. While druids have more mobile heals thru Lifebloom and Rejev Healing Touch I feel is rather lack luster to Greater Heal. MotW is a decent buff though not as good as PW:F is for Locks. More Sta is always great. My biggest problem with Druids is how sucky Tranquility is. Also until 80 and the new Revive rez talent you would pretty much be dependant on Soulstones for rez.

I wonder though about the Shadow Priest as the extra DPS and Mana Battery would be nice.

If you're thinking about PvP at all, I'd go with a shaman for tremor totem alone. Also earth shield on whoever is getting targeted is huge.

I think the group healing abilities of a holy priest would be absolutely major though. You could also spend those first few points in shadow just to get some extra shadow damage for everyone else though. The other nice thing about a priest is that if you're not in need of major heals, you can always flop over to a shadow spec and do VE and replenish your entire group.

I kind of like having just 4 locks. I can heal in the 5th spot with my priest (already 70), or I can pick up another person and get much more out of that than I can playing the 5th.

Well I do have a Shaman I can move from my Shaman group to do so. Yeah Shadow Weaving for up to 10% Shadow Damage bonus (2% stacked 5 times) is pretty sweet. Of course thinking about it rarely will I ever need the damage boost as I One-Shot (uh well 5 shot technically) non-elites up to 6 levels above me. LOL.

I guess for right now I will just get the 5 Lock group if I start having problems sub out a Shaman or Priest from one of my other groups. I am trying to my groups all near the same level anyway for if and when i want to swap out the group make-up. One other thing is I so far haven't even had to have Blueberry to tank yet. So far I am just using 5 x Imp for the extra DPS. So if I were to start taking damage enough to worry about needing outside heal I guess I could start using a VW to tank some.

Thanks for the input. Right now I have 5 toon groups of Shaman, Mages, Locks and Hunters and by far the Locks are the most OP in as far as pure grinding goes. The Hunters are close but having to worry about ammo and feeding 5 pets gets old.

level the 5 locks and get a priest too.

AS a single affliction lock I was in awe of what damge he could do - especially if he had a healer helping keep him alive.

4 afflocks with healer topping them up would be fantastic.

I'm thinking I might need to make a lock team. (although running out of room on my veteran account - time for more transfers me thinks.

For raw world PVP, I'd probably just go 5 locks. For PVE and instanced PVP, I'd probably swap in a priest (holy/disc). Circle of Healing = completely OP. Run around DoT'ing while pets chew on people and you group heal just about anything short of gladiator 2-hand damage = WIN.

Ughmahedhurtz how is your setup? You have 4 lock 1 Pri right? Are the locks all Affliction? And the Priest Holy/Disc or Shadow? Are you able to do instances (non heroic of course) using Felguard or the Blueberry to tank with that setup?

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Originally Posted by shaeman

running out of room on my veteran account - time for more transfers me thinks.

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I know that feeling. LOL.

Before you roll out with this group it's important that you ask yourself the following question. "Is PVE important"? .What I mean by that is I designed my team for PVP only, that being 4 locks and a priest. However later down the road once you hit outlands you struggle with PVE doing group quests and instances. As long as that is perfectly ok then either class combo is nice. However again with the priest this enables you to keep your group up longer. I know many of the PVP fights I had I would have not survived if it wasn't for all the healing my priest provided. On top of that life tapping in BGs and healing your group right to full ensures a long time running group with nearly no down time. Which in the long run may provide you with more honor farmed faster. Also a lot faster leveling and savings from not needing much food/drink.

Whatever you choose the most important however is what you would enjoy the most.

My group is currently demonology with some affliction. I like being able to help with PVE quests when guildies need it, and I do OK in world PVP when helping with campers. Were I to go BGs hard core or arenas, I'd probably switch to SL/SL. I currently click heal while driving with the priest, too, which I would swap to lock leader with button healing for BGs/arenas.

Well I have a Shaman group that will be my main instance group. This group will mainly be a PvP group I think. I guess I will sub out one of the locks for a priest. Still can't decide if they need to be shadow or holy.

What level are your locks? I found that (I know, really low level) I die a lot on the main toon; should I just invest in a bunch of potions for the main guy and go about life?

I was debating throwing a Paladin in the mix for healing/tanking, but I guess I could do another priest ( I already have a lvl 56 sitting on its' butt.)

Maybe I just need to wait a little longer between sending my void and starting the sequence.

If you're going PvP, I 100% recommend a shaman for tremor totem. Your #1 threat in PvP is a fear bomb scattering everyone. Especially in AV where you might be in a tower or bunker, having everyone scattered can leave you with every lock isolated, even away from their pets.

Pity the lock pets like the Felguards can't benefit from Windfury totems; that would be awesome.

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Originally Posted by 'Korruptor',index.php?page=Thread&postID=111316#po st111316

Pity the lock pets like the Felguards can't benefit from Windfury totems; that would be awesome.

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Yep, this is one of the things I've always hated about the way pets work in WoW. In DAoC, pets gained bonuses/buffs just like a normal player (with the exception of how it translated con into AF).

I think if you go with 5 locks and no priest you're really going to wish you had dispel and mass dispel in pvp. A geared druid will HoT through like 15 dots - I'm not joking. Paladins and Mages will bubble your dots off, paladins will heal back to full and all you can do is stand there. Priests and mages have shields that absorb a lot of damage, and prayer of mending negates dots. Many more reasons to have dispel.

A shadow priest will also make your warlocks hit 15% harder - that's a lot more damage.