Why Does Everyone Think Warlocks are OP?

[Belloc]

High damage + Soul Leach absorbs. Look at heroic Tortos, for example: A warlock, properly played, never needs to use the encounter-specific shield on the fight. Soul Leach, alone, is enough to completely absorb the damage from Quake Stomp.

Then there's sacrificial pact, which is extremely useful on nearly every heroic fight. Ionization on heroic Jin'rohk? Sacpact! Dire Call? Sacpact! Quake Stomp? Sacpact! Quills? Sacpact! Wind Storm? Sacpact! Static Shock? Sacpact!

We also are extremely mobile: We can cast while moving, we can teleport, and we can provide gateways.

Now, don't get me wrong... I absolutely LOVE everything I just said. You have to admit, though, that our damage plus our survivability is a bit OP. A decent chunk of this is getting fixed in 5.4, so we will no longer be OP.


Now, when it comes to PvP, I have nothing to say. I don't PvP and I've never felt particularly strong when I have PvP'd in this expansion.

[Lucidious]

Soul leech needed nerfed for pve, that is really the only thing OP about locks in any aspect of the current game. For the people claiming locks are OP in pvp please check arena representation or look at the recent tournament where EVERY lock team got destroyed by hunter/mellee comps. And please think before you speak and keep the threads well informed and constructive.

[link4117]

Because the idea that a class is OP persists pretty much through an expansion. If one class is strong in the beginning, the general public assumes they're still OP all the way through. Same thing happened to other classes in previous expansions. Don't get me wrong, locks are far from being in a bad place, but they're certainly not as strong as they were at the start and I don't think you can really call them OP at this point.

I mean, remember how BM hunters had the stigma of being a one macro class? Far beyond TBC for sure. Most of the time it's because some guy sees a certain class dominating in his raids and thinks that must mean that class is OP. Or they look at sims and WoL and conclude that the class is OP even though most players aren't able to perform at that level.

[Varyk]

Locks along with Mages, are pulling 300k (Fire is sitting around 320k) single target on multiple fights without breaking a sweat, which is 10-20k above the next closest. They are definitely too strong.

[Xami]

PvE wise, Locks are OP indeed. My RL takes me over others to progression nights just because I'm Warlock. Healthstone plays a big part, but it's not just that. It's a combination of competitive DPS, HS, Gateway, and survivability. Locks can sometimes completely negate certain mechanics with full absorbs (Heroic Jin'rokh, J-kun, Iron Qon comes to mind at the very least), while also mitigating a lot of AE damage with Soul Leech.

[Theronus]

This is just like Paladins in WTLK and Shamans in Cata:
They were OP for a bit and then nerfed, but people still complained until the next scapegoat appeared.

Meanwhile Mages, DKs and Hunters keep laughing at people.

[clevin]

This is just like Paladins in WTLK and Shamans in Cata:
They were OP for a bit and then nerfed, but people still complained until the next scapegoat appeared.

Meanwhile Mages, DKs and Hunters keep laughing at people.

HUNTERS? DOn't be silly. Our best spec ranks below your worst spec on raidbots and no hunter spec brings the raid utility that locks do. Now, it PVP... yeah. But PVE? Please... locks are in a VERY good spot in 5.3. OP? dunno about that... but no tears in 5.3.

[RaffleSpike]

In pvp they're op in some cases. In duels and 1v1's (even sometimes 2v1's) they are unbeatable. Locks with GoS have over 570k health and hit like a truck, they can cast while moving, they have fear's, which are op in pvp for a caster (they make the opponent run like 50% faster and away from the lock.). They also have tons of self heal. Dark regeneration ticks for about 20k, healthstone for like 20k also, mixed with glyphed ember tap another like 15k. They have defensives like fel armor and ending resolve. Im sorry but a class that can cast ANYTHING while moving, have more health than a tank, have tons of self heals, hit like a truck, and take less damage than a plate wearing class is nothing short of op.

[Abysal]

PvE: All 3 lock specs have been towards the tops of sim DPS all expansion. On top of that, GC himself tweeted a while back that Locks probably bring too much utility right now. They have a battle rez, Stam and Spell Power Buffs, Health stones, Portal (personal and raid), and whatever utility pets may bring, plus good CC and a really nice burst CD that is pretty easy to line up with things. Also, the removal of Mass Summon makes the Lock summon a nice side-perk for guilds that tend to have to pug their way through raids (because people are lazy and would rather lock summon than run out to the stone). I think Blizzard really wanted Locks to catch up in popularity this expansion so they gave them a bit more than they needed to.

PvP: in 2s, Destro is decent, I don't consider them OP though. I feel like Frost Mages and Ele Shamans have similar burst without the 2.5s cast time. A good Demo Lock can be OP, but that could be solved by doing something about Glyph of Imp Swarm. Either give the Imps a max 15s duration like Mirror Image so they can be LOSd/avoided, or nerf their damage, or even make them squishy enough to be 1 shot. Demos "weakness" IMO is that they take a minute or so to build up fury so they can really burst well. Affliction is not OP in 2s but is probably the best lock and one of the best casters period for 3s or 5s. UA basically prevents healers from dispelling, leaving the lock to multidot/fear at will. It's very strong with any healer/bursty class comp.

[Taros]

I lol every time I see someone say Warlocks are op and then watch as they level one to 90 and flop around helplessly until they give up and bench it because they can't hack it. Even some of the people who decide to stick with their locks they are so bad that they can't even complete the green fire quest.

[Belmorn]

I just dislike the role of the general mage community in this.
They scream like hell warlocks need nerfing since we have been OP this entire expansion while in the mean time mages have been , despite warlocks supposedly being op, topping the charts with at almost any given point.

Survivability in pve is extremely strong which is rightfully getting nerfed , other than that I think the nerfs are excessive but time will tell if its a good thing I will stick to the warlock, or not.

[Marvdatboi]

Every Expasion needs a Bad guy scapegoat. it seems like its Locks turn. They need to tone down Hunters while they are at it.

[Banawani]

I just dislike the role of the general mage community in this.
They scream like hell warlocks need nerfing since we have been OP this entire expansion while in the mean time mages have been , despite warlocks supposedly being op, topping the charts with at almost any given point.

Survivability in pve is extremely strong which is rightfully getting nerfed , other than that I think the nerfs are excessive but time will tell if its a good thing I will stick to the warlock, or not.

Mages have always done that... I don't think there's been a week since the launch of Vanilla beta where mages weren't complaining. Even when they're top they complain.

[SodiumChloride]

So you carry one. I think a 10 man can get a warlock pretty easily.

It's not like there's 30 classes you have to choose from. There's only 11 classes for (minimum) 10 spots, of which you probably have 6 DPS

And if you can't find one?

A 20% heal on a seperate CD from potions is nothing to sneeze at. Could be the different between a wipe and a downed boss.

They could give shaman Dirtballs, eat one and get an earth shield.

They can give them to Mages ...

Their Mana Gems are practically useless for 2 out of 3 specs. Repurpose them into healthstones equivalents.

[Mazda]

I'm not going to add much here, except this thought.

In MoP beta, everybody screamed ZOMG LOCKS R TEH HAXZORS DEY SOOOO GUD. So, naturally, a LOT of very good players switched to playing warlocks. I'm pretty sure the spriest population was decimated due to the fact that they all wanted to be at the top. I would venture to say that MANY of the most intelligent players in the game right now have swapped to warlocks in order to help their guild kill bosses during progression. This contributes to higher top 100 parses. Additionally, all the complaining about Demonology is ONLY due to UVLS. Plain and simple.

With that being said, yes, certain aspects of the class need to be toned down. And you know what? They have been on the PTR. So for anyone complaining about OP locks, just direct them to the PTR and be on your way.

So I hope that locks get the shit nerfed out of them, and I hope that the next expac, Blizzard puts another class in their seat for huge changes and class quests and such.

With a signature like yours, it's pretty obvious that you aren't prone to objectivity. Flame on.

[Redmage]

Also, exclusive raid utility = OP now? Damn, I guess vanilla paladins were SUPER OP.

Yeah, they were. Pally blessing gave alliance a significant edge in PvE.

[JV Chequer]

Because it's easier claiming that other classes are OP than learn how to play properly

[ripponesan]

Dude, dont writhe and wiggle around the fact.
Even if you maybe technically not op, if the majority of the playerbase thinks you are, then you are op.
People dont whine for such a long time over nothing.

[JV Chequer]

Majority of playerbase think that every other class but your's is OP.

[Shadowygoodness]

Majority of playerbase think that every other class but their's is OP.

This really says it all right here. Somewhere there is a hunter screaming bloody murder that an Ele shaman globalled him while he was soloing the shaman's noob geared team.