Which Specc you gonna play when Legion hits

[kushlol]

rerolling warrior but will keep the lock as an alt

[Count Zero]

Choosing one spec seems so hard now. I'm scared to pick destro and get bored with it halfway, and then choose demo/afflic and get annoyed with it.

And even small balancing changes could completely screw things up. I'm really surprised they're making it so you are basically punished for either maintaining more than one spec or switching specs after launch. Maybe it won't be more than such a small % you're behind that it's well within rng but it still feels punishing.

Just seems so odd to basically be locked in to your spec from launch until however long it takes to max

[Deleted]

Having a hard time picking.
Demo seems too messy for me to want to commit to with the artifacts being something that'll need a dedicated MS.

I'd like to go affliction, just because it's been the spec I've tended to love the most even if I've loathed what happened to it since Cata, but destruction has tended to be pretty strong across the board lately, might be a safer option.

I've never felt so unprepared, pun unintended.

Demo for leveling is an interesting choice, the Felguard is an atrocious tank.

It has been since what, WOTLK?

I've always tried to level as demo in the past because it's a spec I adored way back in TBC, but I distinctly remember needing to swap when racing in Cata because my felguard was falling apart in the last zone. In MOP it fell apart a few zones in iirc. I think I'd gave up on even trying to level as it in WOD.

[Count Zero]

For me I'm definitely leaning Destro MS, just not sure about OS.

Destro just has a better combination of toolkit and ... well, not feeling super clunky in any given area. Demo just feels awkward to play - they just didn't hit the mark on the master summoner thing ... and Aff just doesn't feel like it'll be as useful in as many areas as Destro, although for example its aoe doesn't seem to be near as bad as I was fearing ... although of course a lot of things depends on tuning between now and raids opening.

Which sucks so bad, because we'll be investing in our Artifacts well before that first round of pre-raid balancing :/

[Yorindesarin]

Fire mage. No seriously. I have legitimately decided to roll away from warlock to play the "safe" RDPS class. Which makes me sad. All three lock specs are in a terrible state... There are positives but at the same time so many negatives. They've made Destro too versatile so recently nerfed its damage regardless of the fact it was behind Demo. They've made Demo into a cast fest unnecessarily and haven't seemed to listen to the player feedback at all about demonic empowerment. Affi is a DoT class again. Which is great if it didn't rely on gimping mechanics to play.. Maybe something drastic will change somewhere down the line. But to me its too much of a risk to pick a class that is in an abysmal play style state in all 3 specs. Especially with the artefact commitment. Much safer/easier to pick another class which will have at least 2 good specs and the playstyles maybe 3 button... but at least they aren't double hamstrung.

I really wish it hadn't come to this... but... with Blizzard forcing a huge commitment onto the players with the artefact weapons... As a mythic raider I feel I can't honestly pick the class I fell in love with at the end of MoP... The risk is just too big. And as it stands... even if all 3 lock specs were head and shoulders above the other classes for DPS. I'd still rather not play any of them in their current iterations.

[Kirroth]

I'll be going Affliction in Legion. It feels like Wrath Afflic, which is when I last mained the spec. They finally did away with Malefic Grasp and its noxious kin. I hated the nonsense where your DoTs were merely maintanance debuffs that did next to nothing on their own. A resource limited UA DoT-nuke is a far better throttle on multi-DoT damage. Plus it's great to go into PvP and be able to DoT someone up and channel Drain Life so they slowly die while beating futilely on me. That part almost feels like BC again.

For the other two, Demo picked up the "your attacks suck unless you spam a maintenance buff" issue that I hate, and on the Mists to Warlords scale Destro is too close to the latter and its Chaos Bolt spamming ways for my tastes.

[Terryn]

Aff with ether demo or destro as off spec, likely demo through Nightmare, and destro through nightwell. Aff just has too many good things going for it with the artifact.

[Deleted]

I'll be going Affliction in Legion. It feels like Wrath Afflic, which is when I last mained the spec. They finally did away with Malefic Grasp and its noxious kin. I hated the nonsense where your DoTs were merely maintanance debuffs that did next to nothing on their own. A resource limited UA DoT-nuke is a far better throttle on multi-DoT damage. Plus it's great to go into PvP and be able to DoT someone up and channel Drain Life so they slowly die while beating futilely on me. That part almost feels like BC again.

For the other two, Demo picked up the "your attacks suck unless you spam a maintenance buff" issue that I hate, and on the Mists to Warlords scale Destro is too close to the latter and its Chaos Bolt spamming ways for my tastes.

I really don't find it much like WOTLK Wrath, where 4 dot naxx aff sticks out like a sore thumb.

I agree it's fantastic that MG has gone though, not a fan of UA turning into a resource based spell but making DOT's able to stand on their own legs is a good start, even if it's not a step back to what I was hoping. WOTLK and Cata affliction were easily my favorite point in class design, but Legion really isn't feeling like it's gone back to that to me.

[Deleted]

I played Aff for a mere 5-10 minutes in Beta and after that Destruction (to compare them, both were new to me), Destruction felt better and more importantly, alot easier (I consider it "work" to maintain several DoTs on 2 targets). So I'm going with Destruction.
Lvl 100 boosted a Warlock right after that and as it turns out, Destruction right now is even better. :/

[Yorindesarin]

I played Aff for a mere 5-10 minutes in Beta and after that Destruction (to compare them, both were new to me), Destruction felt better and more importantly, alot easier (I consider it "work" to maintain several DoTs on 2 targets). So I'm going with Destruction.
Lvl 100 boosted a Warlock right after that and as it turns out, Destruction right now is even better. :/

As in WoD Destro is better than beta destro?

[Deleted]

Ya... but I didn't specc into backdraft in Legion.
I like Shadowburn, it's a very cool spell and I can't have both... so, since they make me choose between these two in Legion, I like WoD destruction more (pre Artifact stuff). I prefer the new GoSac in Legion though.

I didn't do much in WoD aside from Ashran PvP btw.

[jellmoo]

Ugh, this is a tough one.

Affliction is visually bland. It desperately needs new effects and animations.
Destruction is mechanically bland. It's even simpler than in WoD and feels too routine.
Demonology just feels messy. It has some fun bits, but the numbers don't justify the actions.

The specs aren't *bad*, they just struggle with feeling as complete as they should.

[Kyriani]

While I won't be playing Legion until way after launch, just from beta testing, I'd have to say affliction for me. Writhe In Agony and Absolute Corruption make the spec require no finger gymnastics and Sow the Seeds seems to provide a nice bump to the already nice and spammable Seed of Corruption. Aoe seems to be a sore spot for the other lock specs. I'm opting out of Siphon Life because it adds yet another dot to manage and I prefer a simple rotation experience and a spammable good aoe. If I feel the need for more single target I can swap from Sow the Seeds to Soul Harvest.

It may not be the best way to go, heck it may be the worst, but it will at least be stomachable to play without having to tie my fingers in knots or spending more time tracking dot timers than actually seeing the game.

[Kirroth]

I really don't find it much like WOTLK Wrath, where 4 dot naxx aff sticks out like a sore thumb.

Actually, Naxx could be 5 DoTs (Agony, Corr, UA, SL, Immo), assuming you had other Warlocks to rotate CoE duty with. Plus Haunt, which was effectively a 6th. But I didn't say it played like Wrath Afflic, I said it feels like it. Which is just as well, because I'm older and raid leading these days, and I couldn't juggle DoT stacks like that anymore.

Why does it feel like it to me? Probably a lot of it is just having the MG mechanic gone. Though if I want I can spec for 3 constant DoTs, and Contagion makes UA play a lot like Wrath era Haunt did. That's like Wrath-Naxx Lite. Then there's the bits that are more association based, like having my good old Felhunter out or sniping dying mobs with Drain Soul for Soul Shards.

Likely I've been hungry to get back to a DoT spec for a while now, which is why I boosted a Shadow Priest alt to mess around with. It's just Afflic has been such a hot mess till now that I couldn't play it. Now that I finally can, I'm happily leaping all the way back in.

[Deleted]

Actually, Naxx could be 5 DoTs (Agony, Corr, UA, SL, Immo), assuming you had other Warlocks to rotate CoE duty with. Plus Haunt, which was effectively a 6th. But I didn't say it played like Wrath Afflic, I said it feels like it. Which is just as well, because I'm older and raid leading these days, and I couldn't juggle DoT stacks like that anymore.

Why does it feel like it to me? Probably a lot of it is just having the MG mechanic gone. Though if I want I can spec for 3 constant DoTs, and Contagion makes UA play a lot like Wrath era Haunt did. That's like Wrath-Naxx Lite. Then there's the bits that are more association based, like having my good old Felhunter out or sniping dying mobs with Drain Soul for Soul Shards.

Likely I've been hungry to get back to a DoT spec for a while now, which is why I boosted a Shadow Priest alt to mess around with. It's just Afflic has been such a hot mess till now that I couldn't play it. Now that I finally can, I'm happily leaping all the way back in.

I meant 5, no idea why I type 4. I blame it on not having had a cup of tea yet.

Nice to hear you're enjoying aff though if you were a fan of Wrath affliction. Maybe there's hope for me yet if I give it a chance.

[Kirroth]

Nice to hear you're enjoying aff though if you were a fan of Wrath affliction. Maybe there's hope for me yet if I give it a chance.

You should definitely give it a try. Reading Beta reports my interest was mostly in Demo with Destro as the fallback option. Then the PTR went up, I was able to try all three specs out on the target dummies, and Afflic surprised me with how comfortable it felt. It's now the spec I plan to main for Legion. This is totally a subjective call based on how well the playstyle suits me, not an objective judgment of which spec is mechanically optimal for pushing high ranking content. But if you liked Afflic back in the Wrath and Cata eras you should take it for a spin and see if it's something you like too.

[bio347]

I would've compared Affliction to BC rather than Wrath, myself, since WotLK and Cata had Shadow Embrace throttling your DoT damage.

Personally, I'll be playing Destruction, because it's what I've been for about a decade or so. I actually appreciate that I'll be able to have my imp back - he was my buddy for the longest time, and while I've got nothing against Sac it's still been kinda lonely of late.

[Katchii]

Demonology. The artifact is just cool IMO and the game play is fun. It certainly feels more focused on demonology than the whole metamorphosis mechanic it currently has, and I love sending hordes of demons to fight and empowering them. It took some getting used to, but it's growing on me.

[Riens]

Destruction for sure. This spec is best for Mythic progression raids and for dungeons ofc. Maby i respec for some bosses in affli or demo.

[Kithelle]

Since I don't like what they're doing with Demo, I think it will be Destruction for me.