Q&A Warlocks discussion thread

[roahn the warlock]

So. a TON of stuff on warlocks today in the Q&A with blizzard, Gonna put down what I remember, please add and discuss

Malefic grasp: Affliction channeled spell that increases dot damage 100%

Shadowbolt will morph into Malefic grasp, demonic slash, incinerate

The new warlock pets will have similar though slightly different spells.

Destro warlocks will built a heat which could ignite the player, thus I assume creating a immolation aura like effect. Heat is called infernal embers

Dots now have a 6 second grace period were they wont clip

Soul shards will need to be drained back in combat via drain soul, which I assume is a filler drain for malefic grasp when you need shards

All over awesomeness

Still no green fire glyph QQ

---------- Post added 2011-11-09 at 03:29 PM ----------

I forgot to add, the Kil'jaden talent will only activate if you move.

[Verash]

also it was confirmed felgaurd becomes wrathgaurd with grimoire of supremacy

Shadowbolt will morph into Malefic grasp, demonic slash, incinerate

All warlocks start out with shadowbolt at lvl 1.
at lvl 40 it changes depending on ure spec Affliction: Malefic Grasp (i'm not sure bout this but think demo keeps shadowbolt outside of meta and inside it turns into demonic slash) and offcourse as destro it becomes incinerate

[Jessicka]

Not impressed that they have no plans to fix pet switching this expansion.

[Gohzerlock]

On topic great to see maelific grasp a channel spell for afflic, maybe they actually did respond to people enjoying drain life.

Off topic yeah jessicka, but it seems like grimore of supremacy is kind of an answer to that. Maybe they thought a huge felguard buff would change things too much, although I can't see it imbalancing anything like pvp they haven't even given demo/destro any dispel protection.

I'm actually getting used to petswapping, it seems like the art of demo.. after all we are supposed to be masters of demon(s)

[silverhatred]

Comment From BAldana
BAldana: ]
Are there any plans to do something about Demonology Warlocks and Pet Swapping for 4.3?
Wednesday November 9, 2011 11:01 BAldana
11:01
Xelnath:
Hey Baldana,

Yes, we plan to eliminate Pet Twisting for Demonology. Step 1 - replace Soul Shards. Step 2 - fix Demon Soul.

One popular idea has been to give each spec a different version of Demon Soul. However, we haven't finalized that idea. We'd love to see some discussion about this on the Warlock forums.

They did address this.

[Jessicka]

They are for 5.0, not 4.x

[Nerraw]

Not impressed that they have no plans to fix pet switching this expansion.

Indeed. I love demo, but I have completely abandoned the spec since I cba doing the pet switching. Both affli and destro are so much simpler at the moment.

[Humungo]

So. a TON of stuff on warlocks today in the Q&A with blizzard, Gonna put down what I remember, please add and discuss

Malefic grasp: Affliction channeled spell that increases dot damage 100%

Shadowbolt will morph into Malefic grasp, demonic slash, incinerate

The new warlock pets will have similar though slightly different spells.

Destro warlocks will built a heat which could ignite the player, thus I assume creating a immolation aura like effect. Heat is called infernal embers

Dots now have a 6 second grace period were they wont clip

Soul shards will need to be drained back in combat via drain soul, which I assume is a filler drain for malefic grasp when you need shards

All over awesomeness

Still no green fire glyph QQ

---------- Post added 2011-11-09 at 03:29 PM ----------

I forgot to add, the Kil'jaden talent will only activate if you move.

I've been hearing things I like from MoP. Locks are going to be locks once more! With all the survivability and regenerative awesomeness they once represented oh so long ago before becoming copy mage/priest hybrids.

[infernity]

All of the hard questions about actual balance, or issues were met with "in 5.0, we plan on........" answers

Malefic grasp sounds good though

Also, seriously good job to all the locks out there who got answers (here's looking at you Penguin!)

[WoWFlame]

Woot we getting these suckers as a pet!



Hopefully they change the model a little bit

[Exotath]

I am very pleased.

But demonic slash??? Is this a melee range skill? Can we still cast shadow bolt in meta?

also we should have pestered about lock flight form...lol.

[Jessicka]

Actually... we were talking about Shivan abilities yesterday. We don't know what she'll have yet. What would you like to see? Let us know on the forums.

Spinning Pain Spike from the Jaraxxus encounter. It simply has to be.

[Ericprydz]

I was really hoping they would fix the pet twisting for 4.3 but I guess it isn't on the table just yet.

[ThunderBlunder]

Warlocks will be the flavor of the expansion. The new game mechanic is too awesome.

[xskarma]

OP you should be more precise in the info you give:

Malefic Grasp replaces Shadow Bolt for Affliction. It is a channelled nuke which increases the damage of your DoTs on the target by increasing their tick rate by 100%.

Making something tick faster will boost it's damage but it's something else than a 100% damage boost


OT:

I'm startign to wonder what kind of damage Malefic Grasp will do, since the side effect is pretty good. Also wondering what will happen to Haunt. They said they like Affliction rotation, so it won't change much, but with Soulburning every so often our priority will change anyway. Very, very curious about what we are lookign at in 5.0

[Deleted]

Q: Will there be some changes to the Warlocks Affliction spec in 4.3? I've only seen changes for Demo and Destro

A: We feel internally that Affliction is one of the best feeling specs in the game. While not planning any major changes, internally, we've implemented a system that allows you to refresh Corruption, UA or Bane of Agony up to 6 seconds before the DoT falls off without clipping any ticks.

I'd really like some more info on this.

[Hellfury]

Dots now have a 6 second grace period were they wont clip

I dont understand this, wasnt this already the case?

[xskarma]

Q: Will there be some changes to the Warlocks Affliction spec in 4.3? I've only seen changes for Demo and Destro

A: We feel internally that Affliction is one of the best feeling specs in the game. While not planning any major changes, internally, we've implemented a system that allows you to refresh Corruption, UA or Bane of Agony up to 6 seconds before the DoT falls off without clipping any ticks.

I'd really like some more info on this.

Me too, even though I like the idea of being able to refresh dots in a wider time frame, it also takes away a little from running a tight schedule and being forward thinking about when and where to cast. But where they take away some of the skill, they then add a new way of boosting dots by Maleifc Grasp and add the Soulburning mechanic.

My guess is that instead of being able to refresh a dot in the time between the before last and last tick, we will no go back 1 further. So as long as you reapply in the period of the last 2 ticks (=6 seconds) you won't be clipping.

[Siafubringer]

Q: Will there be some changes to the Warlocks Affliction spec in 4.3? I've only seen changes for Demo and Destro

A: We feel internally that Affliction is one of the best feeling specs in the game. While not planning any major changes, internally, we've implemented a system that allows you to refresh Corruption, UA or Bane of Agony up to 6 seconds before the DoT falls off without clipping any ticks.

I'd really like some more info on this.

You cast corruption, the dot ticks down. Within the last 6 seconds of the dot ticks, you can refresh the corruption without accidentally "clipping a tick" Lets say you refresh at a half second before the last tick, then the dot would have to wait another second and a half before it does damage. NEW SYSTEM: You refresh at a half second before the last tick, the dot will continue to tick at regular intervals and you won't lose that half second which, over the course of a fight can be substantial damage.

[Monkeyy4]

You know, we just didn’t get a chance to discuss Demonology’s changes in depth at BlizzCon. Here are some tidbits that we've picked up about Demonic Fury and Demonology:

• Shadow Bolt, Corruption damage, Pet Abilities and Drain Life will generate Demonic Fury.
• While in Metamorphosis, abilities will consume Demonic Fury.
• There may be some abilities which consume Demonic Fury outside of Metamorphosis.

We aren’t ready to get into details, but Demonology will have some new spells. Here's one example:

• Wild Imps [PH]: Summons a group of wild imps. Each time a wild imp attacks, the Warlock receives Demonic Fury.