Destro competitive?

[Saverem]

I want to level a ranged class (already have 4 melee classes at 110 and no ranged) and was considering Lock or Mage.

I tried Demo Lock which is supposedly THE spec to spec right now for damage but I found it incredibly unfun to play. I much prefer big daddy nuking so I want to play with Destro Lock or Fire Mage.

[Arcrin]

destro is used on more fights than demo is, destro is cleave and demo is single target/sustained aoe.

so yes short answer: destro is competitive.

but honestly if its your 5th character why does it matter?

[Deleted]

Destro is probably the most competitive of the 3 specs at high end mythics. Primarily for their ability to cleave 2 targets at once with Wreak Havoc. Outside of that, Destro has no crazy AoE burst or particular good single target damage. It however has very little ramp up which works very well in conjunction with Wreak Havoc and nuking down secondary targets.

Mostly noteworthy on Cenarius with cleaving both mobs down at the same time or Cenarius + add. Likewise with Xavius & literally whatever mob in the fight. Dragons, Il'gynoth or Ursoc. Ursoc I don't find to be the case as most guilds have no problem with killing the bear add at this point in progression.
Demonology is primarily for single target encounters such as Nythendra, Ursoc, possibly Elerethe and especially Guarm, but is also viable for most other encounters, just has longer ramp up and weaker target switch + heavily punishable on movement.

[Saverem]

destro is used on more fights than demo is, destro is cleave and demo is single target/sustained aoe.

so yes short answer: destro is competitive.

but honestly if its your 5th character why does it matter?

Because all specs matter.

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Destro is probably the most competitive of the 3 specs at high end mythics. Primarily for their ability to cleave 2 targets at once with Wreak Havoc. Outside of that, Destro has no crazy AoE burst or particular good single target damage. It however has very little ramp up which works very well in conjunction with Wreak Havoc and nuking down secondary targets.

Mostly noteworthy on Cenarius with cleaving both mobs down at the same time or Cenarius + add. Likewise with Xavius & literally whatever mob in the fight. Dragons, Il'gynoth or Ursoc. Ursoc I don't find to be the case as most guilds have no problem with killing the bear add at this point in progression.
Demonology is primarily for single target encounters such as Nythendra, Ursoc, possibly Elerethe and especially Guarm, but is also viable for most other encounters, just has longer ramp up and weaker target switch + heavily punishable on movement.

So where does that leave Affliction?

[Deleted]

Because all specs matter.

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So where does that leave Affliction?

Somewhere in the gutter I suppose. It's primary claim to fame is Sow the Seeds, which is heavily abused during farm raids for some nice rankings. May be a relevant spec on Helya mythic though, so that might be exciting. It's single target damage is appalling. Long ramp up. Insane AoE burst with Sow the Seeds. Decent multidotting. Not really punished too badly on movement at all. Hasn't been relevant whatsoever in EN mythic, but again, maybe Helya.

[Deleted]

Affliction is fine as you get higher gear (around 880 mark) as it scales much better then destro atm.

[Deleted]

The question is what do you define as competitive?

I just went through the raid setup of guilds that killed Guarm Mythic. A benchmark for single target damage and I couldn't find a single Destruction warlock.

If you raid casually on your guild that relies on the same people then it doesn't matter what class you play.

My guild would take me with them no matter if I play one of the strongest classes like Shadow Priest, Arms Warrior or one of the weaker classes like Destruction Warlocks.

I don't know what the final 7.1.5 build is going to look like, but it would be wise to play a class with a backup-spec that you like. As of right now many Destruction warlocks do switch to Demonology for single target encounter.

[Deleted]

The question is what do you define as competitive?

I just went through the raid setup of guilds that killed Guarm Mythic. A benchmark for single target damage and I couldn't find a single Destruction warlock.

If you raid casually on your guild that relies on the same people then it doesn't matter what class you play.

My guild would take me with them no matter if I play one of the strongest classes like Shadow Priest, Arms Warrior or one of the weaker classes like Destruction Warlocks.

I don't know what the final 7.1.5 build is going to look like, but it would be wise to play a class with a backup-spec that you like. As of right now many Destruction warlocks do switch to Demonology for single target encounter.

Yeah, and how many single target encounters is out there? Nythendra, Ursoc and Guarm. That's generally why you don't use patchwork encounters as a benchmark. Cenarius, Xavius, Dragons, Il'gynoth, Odyn and Helya all have significant target switching, which is where Destruction excels.
My recommendation is thoroughly to primarily focus on Destruction with Demonology right behind, and ignore Affliction until you have significant artifact knowledge.

[Deleted]

Yeah, and how many single target encounters is out there? Nythendra, Ursoc and Guarm. That's generally why you don't use patchwork encounters as a benchmark. Cenarius, Xavius, Dragons, Il'gynoth, Odyn and Helya all have significant target switching, which is where Destruction excels.
My recommendation is thoroughly to primarily focus on Destruction with Demonology right behind, and ignore Affliction until you have significant artifact knowledge.

That is exactly how I do it

I still think it is a flawed design philosophy if a specc completely relies on adds to be competitive. I'd rather do more single target damage and less cleave damage, but that is maybe just me.
Imho the worst part is not even raids, but high mythic+ dungeons (10-15). Especially with tyrannical destro seems to be lackluster there because of dungeon bosses rarely have adds simply due to only 1 tank being needed for 5 mans.

To each their own

[Deleted]

It might be flawed, but it's your best bet for a raid spot. A lot of classes aren't picked on their merit of single target DPS alone. It's a combination of raid utility, target switching, AoE at times and of course a bit single target.

I'd love to do better single target DPS, but I don't dislike how we rely on adds to be competitive. Historically most higher end mythic encounters has been just that; Priority targets. Gorefiend, Xhul'Horac, Mannoroth, Archimonde, Imperator Mar'gok, Cenarius etc. The most difficult encounters in the game has always involved switching to adds. That's the only reason I find it acceptable, because for that reason there will almost always be a spot for Destruction Warlocks at the very least.

And yeah, we're to be replaced for fights like Guarm, though I don't find that to be the biggest potential loss. For mythic+ I find Destruction to be extremely viable for that reason too, with few exceptions. Tyrannical Hyrja and Melandros are specific encounters where we falter on important fights due to our very limited single target DPS.

[clevin]

The question is what do you define as competitive?

I just went through the raid setup of guilds that killed Guarm Mythic...

Honestly, anyone in ToV mythic should be able to figure out viability for themselves.

Destro is fine for many fights. Demo for the ST heavy fights. In ToV, the first part of the Odyn fight is heaven for destro as you have 2 targets with the same HP. Odyn himself is, of course, ST but overall you're fine. On Guarm you're OK but Demo probably is much better there (assuming decently developed artifact and good play). ON Helya... I bet Aff shines there but Destro will work.

If you really mean - is it competitive for top DPS in most/all fights? No. It's not.

[Gaidax]

It is all relative to what your "competitive" means.

If I look at my guild's mythic progress, I was 4th on Nythendra, 9th on Ilgynoth, 8th on Renferal, sat on Ursoc (simply because it was my turn to sit as we have more people in rooster than we can get in raid, so we rotate, not because warlock), 3rd on Dragons, 1st on Cenarius, 1st on Xavius.

I did all of that as Destruction. Does that count as competitive? I think so, there were 2 encounters where I was lower than average, 1 encounter was higher than average and 2 encounters where I was top during progress.

It's really fine, for example we now tackle Mythic Odyn and I fully expect to be top there, while for Guarm I will probably be below average and Helya would again be above average if our heroic clear shows anything.

So in short, if you know what you are doing you will be fine.

[Deleted]

Forget what I said about Affliction possibly being used on Helya mythic. Surprise, they used Destro. Destro remains a strong pick.

[Deleted]

Destro is more or less the only competitive "Jack of all trades" spec for warlock, Affliction and demonology is way to situational to be of any general use.

[Violetti]

Destro is more or less the only competitive "Jack of all trades" spec for warlock, Affliction and demonology is way to situational to be of any general use.

Fire Mage is "Jack of all trades", destro is just the most versatile spec that warlock has, but it definitely has its downsides.

[Zandalariprelate]

I want to level a ranged class (already have 4 melee classes at 110 and no ranged) and was considering Lock or Mage.

I tried Demo Lock which is supposedly THE spec to spec right now for damage but I found it incredibly unfun to play. I much prefer big daddy nuking so I want to play with Destro Lock or Fire Mage.

Go to play a shadow priest if you want to top meters even mage is now gonna be nerfed