Which Specc you gonna play when Legion hits

[Deleted]

Which spec would you recommend for mythic+ dungeons?

Destruction has Shadow Fury and 1 minute defensive CD, Affliction has very strong constant selfheal because drain life is the filler spell for aff. I could imagine Destruction being extremely strong for Mythic+, mainly because of AoE stun and solid 1-2 target DPS as well as add bursting capabilities. Demo depends entirely on how it is tuned, it is seemingly the worst of the 3 in a pure mechanical sense (Guardian AI is crap, burst relies on thalkiels consumption and/or implosion, cleave only adds Doom pretty much).

[Smog]

As much as I want to play Demo, I'll be playing Destruction unless some major tuning happens prelaunch.

[Anoregon]

As much as I want to play Demo, I'll be playing Destruction unless some major tuning happens prelaunch.

I'm pretty much in that boat at the moment. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the Eradication playstyle for destruction though, and given that it's pretty much a required single-target talent, disliking that would be bad.

[Smog]

I'm pretty much in that boat at the moment. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the Eradication playstyle for destruction though, and given that it's pretty much a required single-target talent, disliking that would be bad.

Agreed, which is why I'll be FnB everywhere but mythic progression. #QoL

[Jessicka]

Demo is functionally shit tier, and I just can't enjoy the combo point system, however much I've tried over the years. Everything I was worried about it being, every concern I had with the whole concept of a summoner has been spot on. Xelnath was right to bin the idea in MoP development. They might over compensate on damage to make people play it, indeed I fully expect them to do so, and everyone will cheer it's success. But, if I'm raiding it'll be on Mage, and I'll stick to Aff on Warlock for levelling and whatever.

[Kithelle]

I was really hyped on Demo after seeing the new direction of the spec for Legion, but after actually playing it on PTR I am less than in love with it. I don't hate it, but it just doesn't really work the way I had imagined. Chances are decent that I will still level demo as my first priority come launch, but I am at least looking into the other two specs now to see if the grass is greener. Since the group of folks I play with is looking to be very melee heavy, I'm going to be sticking with Warlock regardless so hopefully Demo (or aff or destro) end up strong and fun.

Same here...it sounded so SOOOOO cool in theory but in execution it flat out turns me off...especially from a PvP perspective.

How come the most mobile ranged class in the game gets instant summons yet our pets have tons of strings attached including a 1.5 second cast just so they wont hit like a wet noodle.

[dholland662]

I hope Affliction because I like the fantasy and playstyle.

Demo I am wary of because new specs need to be broken in.

So likely a Destruction off spec.

If Affliction is bad it will likely be a blessing in disguise, telling me I better get gud at Destro as I rarely play it.

[striderZA]

Most likely Destruction. Has all the tools to do everything well for the weeks leading up to raids being released, after that we'll see.

[Deleted]

Dunno tbh. Even if affliction could get rather boring and doesn't really have the best tools for dungeons, I feel it's gonna be a beast in the "lalala, I'm just gonna run around and dot every mob up" department. Then again, will it really be that big of a difference in reality?

I must also say that I kinda enjoy the relaxed style of affliction. It will probably get boring quite fast, but it's definitely the spec I enjoy the most on the PTR at least.
If I know myself, I will play the spec that has the best outlook though... which currently looks to be destruction...

[demonicpanda]

Same here...it sounded so SOOOOO cool in theory but in execution it flat out turns me off...especially from a PvP perspective.

How come the most mobile ranged class in the game gets instant summons yet our pets have tons of strings attached including a 1.5 second cast just so they wont hit like a wet noodle.

This was pretty much what all us folks who were against a "summoner spec" were saying. It'd be a cool idea, but with the system Blizz has, it wouldn't work out well, and it didn't. I'm close to putting my Warlock on an expansion's long hiatus after maining her for almost 12 years because all three specs feel awful to me (personal opinion, numbers have nothing to do with it here) and feel like crap playing them. Aff hasn't really been that much fun, never cared for Destro because I could have just been a mage, and Demo was the last holdout. But alas.. looks like Mage alt might become my raiding main.

[Kithelle]

This was pretty much what all us folks who were against a "summoner spec" were saying. It'd be a cool idea, but with the system Blizz has, it wouldn't work out well, and it didn't. I'm close to putting my Warlock on an expansion's long hiatus after maining her for almost 12 years because all three specs feel awful to me (personal opinion, numbers have nothing to do with it here) and feel like crap playing them. Aff hasn't really been that much fun, never cared for Destro because I could have just been a mage, and Demo was the last holdout. But alas.. looks like Mage alt might become my raiding main.

Well what really kills it for me is DE...it's just a awful ability that needs to be casted often so your demons don't hit like wet noodles. BM or Unholy doesn't have any kind of system like that and they seem balanced okay...their abilities are also instant cast while warlock ones are all cast based (except for the one aoe minion). It's like a double penalty compared to the other minion based specs.

Demo has mountains of setup just to get our minions out there and effective compared to the other specs...

[Anoregon]

Well what really kills it for me is DE...it's just a awful ability that needs to be casted often so your demons don't hit like wet noodles. BM or Unholy doesn't have any kind of system like that and they seem balanced okay...their abilities are also instant cast while warlock ones are all cast based (except for the one aoe minion). It's like a double penalty compared to the other minion based specs.

Demo has mountains of setup just to get our minions out there and effective compared to the other specs...

The current incarnation of DE really is a pretty terrible albatross around the spec's neck. It's disheartening to say the least that there has been no comment from blizzard about it despite it's overwhelming negative feedback.

[Kithelle]

The current incarnation of DE really is a pretty terrible albatross around the spec's neck. It's disheartening to say the least that there has been no comment from blizzard about it despite it's overwhelming negative feedback.

I wouldn't even mind it so much if we didn't have to constantly summon more imps and or puppies every few moments or didn't have to cast it after every summon pretty much.

I've seen good ideas on this forum on how to change it to be better...if only Blizz would listen.

[dholland662]

Same here...it sounded so SOOOOO cool in theory but in execution it flat out turns me off...especially from a PvP perspective.

How come the most mobile ranged class in the game gets instant summons yet our pets have tons of strings attached including a 1.5 second cast just so they wont hit like a wet noodle.

Diversion but which class are you referring to?

[demonicpanda]

Diversion but which class are you referring to?

BM hunter most likely, but I wasn't the guy who said it originally.

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Well what really kills it for me is DE...it's just a awful ability that needs to be casted often so your demons don't hit like wet noodles. BM or Unholy doesn't have any kind of system like that and they seem balanced okay...their abilities are also instant cast while warlock ones are all cast based (except for the one aoe minion). It's like a double penalty compared to the other minion based specs.

Demo has mountains of setup just to get our minions out there and effective compared to the other specs...

The spec would be even more flat without DE, and buffing pets was something we "asked" for when they were initially announcing the revamp of Demo. It's just the system that the spec is built on (i.e. pets/guardians and the pet interface itself) does not lend itself well to being the focus of a spec.

[Gum]

Damage is whats going to decide, but fact of the matter is, if damage was equal ST, Destro is miles and MILES ahead in overall raid utility and damage niches. With the only one being sustained AOE, wich quite frankly, im not sure any Warlock specs will be really good at, atleasnt not to a degree that allows us to compete.
Everyone knows how important ST damage is to most mytic raiders, but we all also know that not everything comes down to dps, also how quickly you can apply and adapt and well, how much you can do in sub optimal situations, and once again destro simply just blows the other specs out the water. Affli is as affli does, it needs to do more damage than destro to ever be viable in its core, it has always been like that.

Problem is that Demo is in essence affli, just worse. Its a pseudo dotspec, with a maintenance buff attached that does no damage(see drain for affli) and it has ALL the downsides, while none of the upsides, which are indeed decreasingly limited recently as the only upside is insane damage while multi-dotting, something that simply just doesn't happen anymore, but also something that demo will just never be able to do, due to the mechanical constrains of the overall spec. Its simply just such a, pardon my french, fucking shit spec, that i have troubles seeing how anyway with an IQ over 40 could enjoy playing it come any sort of mythic progression. I do sadly also see them, as previously stated by another poster, buffing it to make it a success. Because admitting defeat isn't blizzlike
Specially not when they take a personally well functioning spec, maybe even the best one, and remake it into the mess it has become.

I too would be pretty sour after realizing my grandiose failure.

Edit:
Also, the issue with only have the niche of High single target damage is that, unless you are the very best spec in the game, why bring you? If the only thing Demo does well, is single targeting the boss, and an Elemental shammy does that better, why bring a warlock? Destro fills so many niches, or are atleast able to help fill them, that theres just close to no chance, that if you want to play a warlock in a raid, granted that warlocks are even needed, you wont be playing Destro.

[Kithelle]

BM hunter most likely, but I wasn't the guy who said it originally.

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The spec would be even more flat without DE, and buffing pets was something we "asked" for when they were initially announcing the revamp of Demo. It's just the system that the spec is built on (i.e. pets/guardians and the pet interface itself) does not lend itself well to being the focus of a spec.

I didn't say they have to axe it...but there are ways they can spice it up and make it better...right now it's just a annoying buff you need to use every time you summon something because your pets are almost useless otherwise.

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Diversion but which class are you referring to?

Yeah, like demonicpanda said I was talking BM, Dire Beast is kinda similar to Dreadstalkers...shorter cooldown and duration...but DB is instant and it's proc can be reset, and doesn't need to be buffed to be useful...so it's like better in every way lol

[Doomkaster]

Probably Demo. While it's true it has quite a few issues, the DPS potential is very much there. It still needs to be tuned considerably, but if you play it correctly (which I have only seen a few do so on beta) it does better than Destro. In addition it is far more fun than the face roll Affliction is and the spec of praying that Destro is. One of the main issues is that you have to try considerably harder than the other specs to do consistent competitive DPS, which is a major turnoff to the majority of players.

[Deleted]

All of them.

[Jexnell]

Demo / Affy Yes Demo has its issues, but looks a lot more fun that Destro.