Blood Pact: Leveling up through the Dungeon Finder tool

Over the months, we have looked at the leveling process from a warlock's point of view. Mostly we looked at new talents and abilities, with a few glimpses at key quests. Today, Blood Pact has a look at one of the ways of getting your hands on the XP: the Dungeon Finder.
A lot of attention gets paid to using the Dungeon Finder (DF) at 80 to collect and farm emblems. For sure, this is a great way to get your fresh level 80 character some gear that will enable you to raid. But you can use DF right from level 15 (by which time you should have learned how to curse properly and figured out which end of a Shadow Bolt does the damage). It's a powerful tool for covering the rest of the distance to 80. You can even use it to get into RFC and Stocks, which previously tended to be out of bounds for one faction or the other.
As expansion packs have been released and level caps increased, there have been many changes that have sped up the leveling process. This is all for the good, though it does mean that you find yourself with a bunch of gray quests sitting in your log and half a ton of items that you've forgotten who you collected them for. This is never more true than when you supplement any questing with regular trips into the dungeons of Azeroth. These places are total XP-fests, with loads of elite mobs and bosses to kill and a bonus for having used the DF. You're gonna be clearing out grays while cackling your way into the next zone.
It's not all about the XP, of course. There's gear to be had, too -- not only the drops you can get from the bosses, but each time you use the DF to complete a dungeon, you will receive a Satchel of Helpful Goods containing a blue item. These goods will often not be overly helpful (except to enchanters; shards, ahoy!), since they are randomly enchanted (meaning they have stats that are as likely to be aligned to sword-swingers as to you). On the other hand, if you get lucky (or farm them a lot), you can get some very nicely itemized items. They will also always be cloth, so even if they aren't exactly the stats you are looking for, you can at least wear them.
The sort of stats you are looking for doesn't vary too much throughout leveling. You will always get a nice boost from spellpower. Haste and crit are also decent stats for improving the damage you can deliver. Spirit was preciously more useful when Life Tap scaled on it, but now it only really helps when you have GoLT. Stamina and intellect are also prized stats for the leveling 'lock; not only do they help with your survivability out in the world, they help with your mana efficiency in groups, as well.
Inside the random dungeons
So what's it like in these dungeons? Well, when I was leveling my first 'lock through vanilla content, these places were hard (queue generic "old guy" music). They required co-ordination and awareness of the various mob and boss abilities, and they typically took a load of time to get to them. These days all that has all but gone. For a start, the DF takes away the need to travel to the dungeon; once the group is set, you get to teleport right there. A part of me feels this is a shame, as the whole thing feels less like an event -- but on the other hand, who cares, since we're here for the XP, loot and the killing of stuff, right?
You will also find that there is almost no need to know what is going on with the mobs and bosses you come across. There are exceptions, without doubt, but most are simple tank-and-spank affairs. That said, being someone that appreciates these things, I would have to suggest at least a little research into the bosses you will face and what tricks they do have. If you don't and you're going somewhere new, then it might be wise to ask your group if there's anything you need to know. Generally, they will make you aware of anything particularly nasty.

As with any random group, you probably need to get a feel for them to know what you can and can't get away with. When I say this, I don't mean "Can I go on follow while I make a cup of tea?" -- I mean things like the tank's threat generation or the healer's ability to cope with a self-harming warlock. Generally, the tanks will be of the sort to grab as much as they can and let the DPS AoE the lot while the healer keeps everyone topped off. In this case, the XP will really flood in (every elite mob bringing a group modified XP gain of about the same as you killing a non-elite on your own). Other times, the tank or healer can't support this approach and you need to be a bit more careful.
If you are pulling entire rooms, then break out your Rain of Fire. It can take a little while for your tank to stop running about the place, so while he runs, you can drop a few instants (a curse or Corruption), then place that big green reticle and let the fire fall. The way threat works (read about that in the voidwalker article), you are least likely to pull aggro from the tank if you are at range. However, if you find that you often have one wander over to you at some point, then it might be wise to stand with the tank when you AoE. The benefit of this is that while you may still get hit, the tank has a better chance of grabbing the mob back (if he notices) and the mob will still be in the pile of AoE and so not last too long.
If you are having to take things a little more slowly, you can still do significant damage. You could follow the tank's target and just throw Shadow Bolts at them or, if the chance comes along, you can drop CoA and/or Corruption on each mob they grab. This can become as dangerous as Rain of Fire, so you have to play it carefully, but it sure works when done properly. As with any situation, you need to determine whether your DoTs will run their full course on a target. If they don't, then they might not be worth casting. Pretty much all bosses are worth putting all DoTs up on, however, as DoTs will typically run their course and it helps the tank keep hold of them.
While you may have rolled a 'lock for the solitary lifestyle, I strongly recommend using Dungeon Finder as a means of gathering a group of saps you can use to gain your power more quickly. The lack of need to travel, coupled with the Luck of the Draw buff and all the other benefits, make the DF a really powerful leveling tool. Just remember that if you zone in having just cleared out a cave of mobs, the chances are that they will have respawned when you zone out. Might be worth summoning that voidwalker before you leave.

Filed under: Warlock, (Warlock) Blood Pact
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Furlover Apr 5th 2010 7:05PM
I started a new mage recently and have levelled up to 30 from level 18 almost solely using the random dungeon tool and the new call to arms pvp tool.
They are definately great ways to speed up the otherwise tedious process but I do find you can be low on gold due to not questing so it helps to do some questing or have good gold profs (like mining - copper bars sell very well) to prop yourself up if you don't have a main toon on the server.
jerdthewarlock Apr 5th 2010 7:08PM
Why are you here? Begone, mage!
Dominic Hobbs Apr 5th 2010 7:10PM
"Why are you here? Begone, mage!"
Voted up.
poissondemer Apr 5th 2010 7:16PM
You hijack our articles, we hijack yours!
But he's right, and also, the leveling only with the dungeon tool leaves you time to kill as a pure dps, so questing is definitely rewarding. Not having any flightpaths or zones explored is not fun. Sitting in Stormwind/Org/etc for 20 minutes waiting is also not fun.
Strudel anyone?
jerdthewarlock Apr 5th 2010 7:20PM
You mage, get going too!
P.S. We don't hijack your articles, we corrupt them.
poissondemer Apr 5th 2010 7:26PM
^
We can't we all be friends!? Archmage Belt would remind us that EVERYONE (even warlocks) loves them some strudel. You hafta admit it! =D
/freeze /blink /run away from thread before I get DOT'd for suggesting peace.
Dominic Hobbs Apr 5th 2010 7:28PM
"Archmage Pants would remind us"
Fixed.
jerdthewarlock Apr 5th 2010 7:30PM
Begging for peace on enemy ground, eh? That ain't gonna work, mage.
Ninjasammie Apr 5th 2010 7:42PM
Hey!! Us rogue here want to make peace w/ warlocks!!! We kinda got the same "outsider" theme goin on so...
poissondemer Apr 5th 2010 7:36PM
I guess I'm just too Jaina-y for this thread.
Peace. Psh. My warlock boyfriend will not be pleased when he sees my comments on warlock turf.
I'm returning to my tailoring, delicious baked goods, and rocking dps.
(Don't get caught with your pants down, vote Belt!)
kia Apr 5th 2010 7:54PM
Am I the only person who has both a warlock and a mage and loves them both?
Maybe I'm too diplomatic for my own good.
MusedMoose Apr 5th 2010 9:11PM
@ Kia -
Nah, it's not just you; I love both classes, though I'm waiting to play a warlock again 'till Cataclysm hits. The new Soul Shard system sounds like all kinds of fun, and I know Mr. Hobbs is a proponent of the worgen warlock. *grin*
@ everyone in this thread -
Y'all are hilarious. May the mage/warlock of WoW.com live forever, especially for those of us sitting on the sidelines and enjoying it. ^_^
MusedMoose Apr 5th 2010 9:12PM
...may the mage/warlock *CONFLICT* of WoW.com live forever...
..still checking the AH every day for an edit button.
Fr0styz Apr 14th 2010 8:57AM
and do to the warlocks general awesomeness i believe we shall incinerate the mages
K Apr 6th 2010 10:15AM
I'll have to disagree with the comment about shards.
I've leveled my priest from 22 to 44 with the dungeon tool, and the shards are completely useless. Got like 20 of each in my bags and nothing to do with them. They're so cheap on the AH that it's not even worth trying to sell them.
Furlover Apr 6th 2010 2:13PM
Not a hijack at all - my main is a lock! I made the mage recently just for some frost fun in PvP at later levels! :D
Calybos Apr 5th 2010 7:14PM
The LFG tool rescued my midlevel priest from stalled obscurity. From level 60 through 70, I leveled entirely through random instances--it CAN be done.
I never even went to Outland except to get the Shattrath flight point!
Evlyxx Apr 6th 2010 3:39AM
I am doing the something similar with a warrior (http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Shadowsong&cn=Wilkini&gn=All+about+Beer), currently level 72 and rising slowly. The goal to not quest or kill any mob in Northrend outside of an instance. The original goal was to never set foot in Northrend but I needed to grab a visit to Valiance Keep to train professions.
Thankfully being a tank means little downtime between instances although when I do queue for a few mins I continue my questing in Blades Edge...
Malarker Apr 5th 2010 7:16PM
The DF is nice but I still miss the effort it used to take to clear SM Cath and ST. It was annoying to fail but I didn't feel like a robot.
I find the DF tool nice to only use once every level ot two.
Hollow Leviathan Apr 5th 2010 7:21PM
And for the love of all that is unholy, take hellfire off of your bar. No, I don't care. Take it off.