Foreshadowing

[iriecolorado]

https://twitter.com/Celestalon/statu...10193138286594

Anybody else feel like we can expect massive nerfs for Warlocks incoming?

[Soulzar]

The fact they specifically made a change that lowers DB dmg in PVP leaves me optimistic its going to retain its strength for PvE. Think Demo is only spec they could conceivably nerf....

[Deleted]

I don't think that foreshadows anything more than there being changes in 6.1 that are more dramatic than the tooltip changes we just got.

You can read "nerf" into it based on how bitter the community is over some changes during and since MOP and certainly after how much demo seems to have been overbuffed - someone asked in another thread if people thought blizzard knew just how much the mastery buff to demo was, and I'm starting to think they might not have considering how big a leap it was and how well it should scale next tier.

I don't see how that statement alone foreshadows nerfs though.

[Deleted]

Well they clearly didn't know how big the buff to Arms warrior's mastery was so what's to say they had no idea about Demonology's mastery. I wouldn't say Demonology is a massive outlier in terms of performance in PvE, but I have seen Arms warriors just wrecking the meters on Twin Ogron.

However, if you read further down in that conversation you see Celestalon says there wont be any large amount of functionality changes coming in 6.1 which worries me a whole lot more.

[Jessicka]

I recall previous tweets were talking more generally about trying to balance level 100 talents better, at the moment a lot of specs globally are basically railroaded into one talent (Shadow is a pretty extreme case of this) so I think that'll be where the focus will be. I'm not expecting any real functionality changes for Warlocks, beyond RoF that they already talked about being the 'wrong change' when they hotfixed it.

[smokeytombs]

Looking at 90+% mythic highmaul logs locks seem to be solidly competitive but not OP. I don't think they deserve or need a nerf.

Kargath - #9
Butcher - #2
Tectus - #4
Brackenspoer - #11
Twins - #3
Korag - #7
Imperator - #9

[Baconeggcheese]

This current iteration of demo is pretty much exactly what it was like after they fixed the ridiculous shit during the beta while we were doing blackrock foundry testing.

So I'd be surprised if they gut it now, especially considering demo hasn't been good since tier 15 and they just made a gul'dan themed tier set.

Who knows though, any patch where we don't get nerfed at the very least is a good patch to me.

[Dnusha]

I wouldn't expect nerfs for locks anytime soon. Maybe they will do something about Mannoroths Fury or Kjc? or Cataclysm for affliction? or Rain of Fire?

[Jessicka]

The fact they specifically made a change that lowers DB dmg in PVP leaves me optimistic its going to retain its strength for PvE. Think Demo is only spec they could conceivably nerf....

Depends whether you interpret it as a genuine 'fix', or just a bandaid for a problem they now accept and have scope to fix properly in the upcoming patch. Could see the case for either argument to be honest, we'll just have to wait and see.

[Baconeggcheese]

On the pvp note, did they ever give soulfire the same pvp buff that chaosbolt got considering they use the same mechanic?

[Grizelda]

Unfortunately, I think that to properly balance tier 100 talents would require functionality changes rather then #'s adjustments.

Which they don't seem inclined to do.

[Jessicka]

Unfortunately, I think that to properly balance tier 100 talents would require functionality changes rather then #'s adjustments.

Which they don't seem inclined to do.

Spec specific coefficients for Cataclysm would be a straightforward start that wouldn't impact functionality.

[Grizelda]

I'm not well informed on this problem.

If you don't mind taking the time, what is it and what should be fixed?

[Meanwal]

Lock damage is fine. Hopefully they fix some things within our class design.

Specifically in Destro:

Incinerate during Fire and Brimstone - Ember cost removed (We should have not have to spend a resource to potentially generate another resource during AoE)

Havoc - Lasts the entire duration on the target. Up the cd to 1 minute.

Rain of Fire - Damage increase, generate embers once more AND no longer a click to place but just an ability that is cast on the target.

Shadowburn - If the target dies within 8 seconds then you generate an ember.

GG. Thats all i want.

[Dnusha]

Hopefully they fix some things
Incinerate during Fire and Brimstone - Ember cost removed
Havoc - Lasts the entire duration on the target.
Thats all i want.

ok..wait what?

[Grizelda]

I like the removal of FnB ember cost. I hadn't considered that. Probably op.

[Baconeggcheese]

I like the removal of FnB ember cost. I hadn't considered that. Probably op.

Depends on how they do it, but FnB and now charred remains are the main reason why they can't buff destros single target and 2 target cleave to where it should be. Because if they do then destro becomes an aoe god again.

They really left themselves with very shitty knobs to turn with the current design.

[Krokar]

If they nerfed demon bolt by 10%, in pve as well, we would still be fine, and I would not mind. I personally have been waiting to play demo since wod launched but destro still held a fair margin of a lead in dps, but now......lets just say Ive been waiting a long time to play demo and I'm sticking with it as long as I can.

[Kirroth]

For those who didn't scroll down past the first tweet, he adds "For 6.1, the changes are primarily number tweaks; just a few functionality changes."

Numbers tweaks can cover balancing the Level 100 talents better, so that specs have actually choices in which to use. Functionality changes should, at the very least, cover fixing Destro AoE again.

My wishlist is longer than just those, but I try not to set my expectations too high before stuff is actually released.

[Gaidax]

Well considering that both Demonology and Arms got a major buff and only Arms was scaled back, they probably do not see Demo as OP strong now, which is a good sign.

I guesstimate there won't be Demo nerfs, as they could have easily done it in the last hotfix alongside with Arms and there are very likely Destruction and Affliction buffs incoming, because they are completely outmatched by current Demo, would make no sense to not boost them to the same state at least.

So I'm optimistic, but I do not truly expect them to change mechanics, MAYBE just MAYBE some RoF tweak.