CATA or MOP Affliction?

[Deleted]

Which one do you like/prefere more and why?

In Cata i mained Affliction, and i loved the way it played.
I prefered SB ower MG, there was no Purple line from me to my target that everyone could se from a mile away (pvp).
Haunt wasnt clunky and didnt use shards.
Also loved Doom, heavy hitting dot.

MoP came and i left Affliction behind, the spec i enjoyed the most, now playing Destro as it is in a good spot.

I get the ability prewnig bit and i also think the game needs classes/specs that demand alot from the player, there should be classes/specs with both few and many abilities to cater to diferent players.

[andromalia]

Warlock will never be as fun as 3.0 affliction in Naxx. Shadowbolt->haunt->UA->immolate->coa->corruption->siphon life->shadow bolt filler. Woot. 7 dots to manage.

[Deleted]

MoP affliction. Streamlined and powerful. Cata wasn't bad at all, but all lock specs have improved a lot in MoP.

[Pr0ev0lution]

Cata far me too. I liked having something to cast in SB i don't know theres just something about MG i don't like i miss having the big hitter in shadowbolt for affliction. I've tried to like affliction in mop its was the only spec i really played on my lock from bc to mop but in mop i've gone back to destro time and time again

[Deleted]

Cataclysm by far.

Dots were engaging to maintain and multidotting especially was better than it's current Soul Swap spamming. We needed a way to apply them quickly on occasions for burst, but I think SB:SS was maybe a step too far without a CD and I really dislike the current SS that's just spammed to spread dots everywhere.

The core rotational SB, Haunt and Drain Soul were a nice number of core buttons - we had our base filler spell, something used less frequently for flavor and an execute ability that meant you looked forward to hitting the execute phase and ramping things up. Affliction never felt like any other caster with it's mix of hardcasts, dots and channeled execution. MG made affliction contract destructions mage-wanabe problems, it now felt too close to a shadowpriest - the only other dot class for my tastes, and gained a bunch of problems in not having a standalone damage ability or potent dots, since all the damage was baked into both being present, which culminates in movement problems, which were "fixed" by adding KJC, which proceeded to cause a heap of balancing issues and a brainless solution to movement.
It had a great flow to it, was fun, engaging and everything felt like it fit together perfectly.

The only major problem Cataclysm affliction had was it's complete ignorance of soul shards - the class resource.
Adding some SB effects to some core abilities (both a stand alone Cata haunt and a SB:Haunt that provides the dot amplification), and some utility ones (maybe drain life, maybe making unending resolve the result of a SB'd spell) was all the spec really needed.

I've played affliction since classic, all but uninterupted until now, I've tried giving it time to grow on me or that after a year, they'd address issues in the expansion - but it's not happening and WOD looks to be making it worse.
A spec that even made Dragonsoul bearable is now gone, and my enjoyment of the game is diminished significantly because of it, to the point of wondering if I really want to continue playing if this is the direction they're taking my class which I'm too attached to to reroll out of and unfortunately, probably too invested in the game and guild to quit, so I'll be stuck playing something that depresses me for another expansion.

I can understand revamping demo and destro, which both felt either clunky or had identity issues - but what affliction was butchered as badly as it was is unfathomable.

Even by their anti-button bloat standards, it was 1 filler spell, 1 spell used on CD and a few dots to maintain. That doesn't sound like too much.

Warlock will never be as fun as 3.0 affliction in Naxx. Shadowbolt->haunt->UA->immolate->coa->corruption->siphon life->shadow bolt filler. Woot. 7 dots to manage.

This was the golden age, but I don't even dream of getting that back if blizzard think renaming MG to DS would be enough to confuse it's playerbase.

[Grizelda]

I agree. I liked Cata Aff better.

Cata Aff Drain Life was my favorite, but Shadowbolt version was great also.

The only other thing I have to add is that I prefer the new CoA.

[eScar95]

Cata Aff. I hate MG.

[Deleted]

How can you say that you prefer Cata play-stile?
During cata we were ALL COMPLAIN about, affly and destro ramp up time, was really annoying.
blizzard listened our "pray" and we got MoP (lock are in a god spot on pve side, and i a good place in pvp).
if you said, "i prefer cata becouse i hate mg" it means you got short memory on how lock rotation was and why we were brought here...

p.s not saying that MoP rotation can't be improved

[Deleted]

How can you say that you prefer Cata play-stile?
During cata we were ALL COMPLAIN about, affly and destro ramp up time, was really annoying.
blizzard listened our "pray" and we got MoP (lock are in a god spot on pve side, and i a good place in pvp).

We had bad ramp up, that doesn't mean we need a complete redesign, SB:SS on a 1min CD alone would have fixed most of that, since the problem was fights like spine that require instant dps, which we didn't have.
And no ones arguing we aren't strong, but we're significantly less fun imo.

if you said, "i prefer cata becouse i hate mg" it means you got short memory on how lock rotation was and why we were brought here...

Are you saying channeled filler that's married to dots being up to provide any output is a good thing and not something with legitimate problems?
The rotation was fantastic, we were brought here because the other two specs needed a redesign and the devs didn't know what to leave well enough alone.

GC himself iirc claimed that affliction was one of the most finished feeling specs in the game, and he was right.

[Deleted]

Only thing I miss although I have only playe dmy lock on and off is the shadowbolt way cooler then malific grasp imo.The sounds a shadowy skull cool stuff xD

[Deleted]

Cataclysm by far. I would go so far and say that the new affliction feels like a 4th warlock spec, it just doesent play like affliction used to.

P.S. 3.0 wotlk master race!

[Deleted]

You are right, i don't like how MG works. But i prefer MoP soulshard management/utilites, haunt buffing dots, and how rolls dots in general.
From cata i'm taking back only the filler, do you remember the 3 stack that our filler apply on target?? was rally dump. From mop i'm taking ALL except how the filler works. So mix them together and you got a smooth rotation for WoD

[Jessicka]

The current state isn't bad, and I think I can nail down Snapshotting as the reason I dislike it, I feel like SB:SS jumbles it too much and too much emphasis is taken away from the historically important DoT timers. Really glad to see it gone and Pandemic nerfed to 30% from 50% time left, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take the Cata model back in a heartbeat.

[kardacz]

Cata all the way.

How can you say that you prefer Cata play-stile?
During cata we were ALL COMPLAIN about, affly and destro ramp up time, was really annoying.
blizzard listened our "pray" and we got MoP (lock are in a god spot on pve side, and i a good place in pvp).
if you said, "i prefer cata becouse i hate mg" it means you got short memory on how lock rotation was and why we were brought here...

p.s not saying that MoP rotation can't be improved

So just because we're overpowered means that the class is fun and engaging to play? What a funny post.
This is like the most common argument from someone who enjoys the current design - because it's easy and I can shit on everyone without much thought.

[Jessicka]

So just because we're overpowered means that the class is fun and engaging to play? What a funny post.
This is like the most common argument from someone who enjoys the current design - because it's easy and I can shit on everyone without much thought.

I dunno, it seems to be the kind of player who only wants to finish everything in the fastest most efficient manner possible. Where completion matters more than the manner in which its done. Where anything pertaining to actual gameplay is a hinderance or inconvenience, and that includes engagement with other players.

Odd but I feel like there's a lot more of this around now than there has been at any point in the games history.

[Deleted]

We had bad ramp up, that doesn't mean we need a complete redesign, SB:SS on a 1min CD alone would have fixed most of that, since the problem was fights like spine that require instant dps, which we didn't have.
And no ones arguing we aren't strong, but we're significantly less fun imo.



Are you saying channeled filler that's married to dots being up to provide any output is a good thing and not something with legitimate problems?
The rotation was fantastic, we were brought here because the other two specs needed a redesign and the devs didn't know what to leave well enough alone.

GC himself iirc claimed that affliction was one of the most finished feeling specs in the game, and he was right.

Indeed, SB:SS would have fixed the ramp up problem, no nootering would have been necessary and i agree that the fun factor is gone.
I think the number of Destro locks on live tells us something about the current state of locks in general.

[Deleted]

I dunno, it seems to be the kind of player who only wants to finish everything in the fastest most efficient manner possible. Where completion matters more than the manner in which its done.

Don't know what are you trying to saying.

here we are discussing about what rotation/affly stile do you prefer.

If you say that you prefer the old cata rotation, you must also remember what was the REAL problem that days.
1) 10 stack Agony too slow (mg partially fixed that problem)
2) doom 15 sec for the first tick
3) you need 3 sb, for the 3 stack of "nightfall"? (i don't remember the name)

So every time we need to change target we were penalized compared to other classes. i don't want that scenario coming back again.

We can discuss how to improve Affliction, but IMO i would start from MoP and not from cata

- - - Updated - - -

Cata all the way.

So just because we're overpowered means that the class is fun and engaging to play? What a funny post.
This is like the most common argument from someone who enjoys the current design - because it's easy and I can shit on everyone without much thought.

During cata most of the lock on this forum were complaining about how bad was our rotation. so it's odd that you complain that, you would like to be back to where you were complaining 2 years ago.

[Jessicka]

Don't know what are you trying to saying.

here we are discussing about what rotation/affly stile do you prefer.

If you say that you prefer the old cata rotation, you must also remember what was the REAL problem that days.
1) 10 stack Agony too slow (mg partially fixed that problem)
2) doom 15 sec for the first tick
3) you need 3 sb, for the 3 stack of "nightfall"? (i don't remember the name)

So every time we need to change target we were penalized compared to other classes. i don't want that scenario coming back again.

We can discuss how to improve Affliction, but IMO i would start from MoP and not from cata

I was actually referring to the sort player who would put up with a clusterfuck of a spec just because it's overpowered, rather than because they actually enjoy it. And I said in the previous post why I don't. I actually played Affliction quite a lot last expansion, this, I've barely touched it because it's just not anything like where it was or where I think it should be. I know Snapshotting has had a tremendous impact on that in terms of watching what colour AffDoTs changes to in order to recast rather than your timers as was traditionally the case. That Soulburn: Soulswap is used far too excessively because of that, and because, frankly on top of that the ability itself is just an easy answer, and frankly lazy ability that just completely defeats the object of managing and casting 3 DoTs. I would -love- to see it gone.

Sure there was some target switching issues, but honestly lots of other classes 'suffered' and continue to suffer, but frankly we've gone way too far in the other direction at this point. Perhaps the 3 stacks of Shadow Embrace was excessive for switching, and Soulswap could have moved that instead of the rack of DoTs. We obviously saw on Blackhorn, Ascendant Council, and others how overpowered Soulswap's potential was in its live incarnation, as well as in PvP.

I was during MoP beta quite possitive about the new design, but at that point snapshotting wasn't really a thing because procs were relatively weak and there was no Metagem; I liked having to cast DoTs, and I liked the concept of Haunt offering control of your throughput. I can't say I was ever really a fan of MG compared to Shadow Bolt, I felt it detracted from the feel of the execute (which surprise surprise has now apparently led to the execute spell being removed /sigh) because of the lack of contrast from switch from a cast time filler to a channel and I felt it didn't really differ enough from my Shadow Priest (although changes to that class did ultimately mean more differentiation).

Overall, I don't feel the spec has played out as well as it might, and that going back to the Cataclysm model for some inspiration to improved things wouldn't be the worst idea out there.

[Deleted]

The issue of cata vs mop affly is directly the issue of PvE: they are forcing a spec that is built upon ramp-up and multitarget into a more single target focused spec, thus limiting its possibilities and heavily adjusting the core gameplay. The same thing is the direct succes of affliction in PvP among the playerbase. As long as PvE will not let invidual specs to suceseed in what they are built upon we will face more of these issues.

[davidcmc]

This is an interesting poll.

I've tried to create it before, but couldn't (probably because of not enough posts).

Particularly, I've voted for Cata Affliction. Malefic Grasp is annoying to use and makes me feel like a gimped SPriest.

Since Devouring Plague and Mind Flay (both normal and Insanity) work like DoTs (very strong DoTs, by the way) and are independent (so are SW:P and VT), I can only look at MG and Affliction DoTs (and how MoP brings this acceleration/throttle mechanic) as a gimped version of SPriest DPS toolkit.

Let's wait some more days and see the results. I'll surely try to bring this to Blizzard attention.

Ps.: Mind Flay and MG are technically DoTs. When you start channeling them on the enemy, you'll se a debuff on him and how it acts like a DoT (that needs to be channeled).