Destruction in m+ and Raids

[Deleted]

Is it viable at all?

I can't stand affliction any longer, and have been thinking about playing Destro for a while.

[SpikeySquad]

It's totally viable; swap already.

[Aestereal]

It's a perfectly fine spec, honestly. In my experience playing it, I can compete with the affliction locks in my guild (11/11H, trying to get a team for mythic) on single target and 2-target cleave. It doesn't do several-target cleave as well, or AoE, but that's okay.

[Biomega]

Is it viable at all?

I can't stand affliction any longer, and have been thinking about playing Destro for a while.

Personal enjoyment should come first for 99% of players.

That being said, make sure to clear it with your guild. If you're intentionally doing less than you could for your own personal enjoyment, the 19 other people raiding with you need to be okay with it. Most will be, considering how small of a difference it is. But if your guild is ambitious enough, they may disagree and you should probably consider respecting that.

[Uzkin]

In m+, destruction is typically the second-worst performing dps class/spec in the game, i.e. 23rd out of the 24 dps class/specs. In raids, destro performs a bit better due to cleave fights bumping it up.

(Demo is the worst m+ spec, so the bottom two places are populated by warlock specs.)

[SpikeySquad]

In m+, destruction is typically the second-worst performing dps class/spec in the game, i.e. 23rd out of the 24 dps class/specs. In raids, destro performs a bit better due to cleave fights bumping it up.

(Demo is the worst m+ spec, so the bottom two places are populated by warlock specs.)

Just wondering where you get your info from?

Destro is decent in my opinion and can be versatile. On the higher keys so Doom actually gets to tick Demo stacked cleave and boss damage can be really good as well. It can still have issues with ramp and target switching though.

Of course they are not Affy but that's ones of the best specs in game.

[Angrie]

Just wondering where you get your info from?

Destro is decent in my opinion and can be versatile. On the higher keys so Doom actually gets to tick Demo stacked cleave and boss damage can be really good as well. It can still have issues with ramp and target switching though.

Of course they are not Affy but that's ones of the best specs in game.

He's full of it. Warlocks have 3 of the top 4 ranged dps specs

His verbiage is making it sound like destro is bad in raids, when it's one of the top performing specs in the game based on averages of Antorius Mythic:
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/statistics/17


Please take into account, mythic guilds force Affliction on raiders, not all things are equal. There's probably 50 affliction locks to 1 destro (similarly for demo).

Speaking from a Mythic+ point of view. Extremely viable. Destro suffers from mobs dying before getting casts off (and incinerates in flight), which is a problem for all specs.

Fire and Brimstone is equally as strong as chain lightning and in some events, stronger.

Play it for 2 weeks and you won't want to go back to affliction.

[Wondercrab]

Destro is decent in my opinion and can be versatile. On the higher keys so Doom actually gets to tick Demo stacked cleave and boss damage can be really good as well. It can still have issues with ramp and target switching though.

Of course they are not Affy but that's ones of the best specs in game.

I think it's mostly just that Affliction is *so* much better in M+ overall. I doubt you'll have any problems doing +15s with any of the specs, but Affliction's survivability and self healing are just crazy compared to Destro and Demo. A lot of the time your healer effectively only needs to worry about keeping four people alive, since Affliction can can bring itself back up to full within a few seconds of Drain Soul.

[avahle]

Destruction is more than viable in raids. We do above average ST, awesome cleave and shit AoE. It balances out to put us somewhere in the overcrowded middle with little separating us from a few spots above and below us.

For M+, it really depends on the affix and the dungeon itself. But I would say in general we are below average closer to the bottom than I would like with a huge gap seperating us from good M+ specs. While we do bring a few useful things to the table like brez, lock rocks, aoe stun, decent sustained st damage(awesome for higher tyr bosses), awesome cleave damage(great for some trash packs and/or weeks where you don't pull big) - our cons out weigh our pros. I push 20+ keys and many times I feel like I am the only one playing a destro lock in high keys. Out of the 1000s I have run keys with, I am yet to see another destro lock. I have even seen several shadow priests. This might be because aff is such a op spec for m+, but it kinda sucks when we are at this state. There was a reason, we saw 0 representation in the M+ invitational. Forget about the finals, we had no destro locks even in prelim stages. We saw some sub-optimal picks just because players were comfortable with it and they were within the realm of being okay - but not destro locks.

[Deleted]

For raids :
Garothi : average
Felhounds : upper tier
Antorean council : average
Eonar : below average // garbage
Hasabel : average
Imonar : above average
Kingaroth : average
Varimathras : above average
Coven : upper tier
Aggramar : average
Argus : above average

M+ : probably above average, although affliction is way too good in this format where you only have to sacrifice soul harvest for one of the best AoEs in the game
Destro is probably playable if you're on farm, but affliction does way too good to pass up

[Challenge]

In m+, destruction is typically the second-worst performing dps class/spec in the game, i.e. 23rd out of the 24 dps class/specs. In raids, destro performs a bit better due to cleave fights bumping it up.

(Demo is the worst m+ spec, so the bottom two places are populated by warlock specs.)

IT ACTUALLY BLOWS MY MIND PEOPLE ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO GENUINELY BELIEVE THIS.

Disregarding the numbers pulled out of your ass, its mind boggling that you think demo on high keystones (which is honestly one of the better ranged dps in high mythic + specs regardless of popularity) is worse than shadow priest, feral druids or enhancement shamans in mythics.

Once you are allowed to let doom start ticking in prolonged AoE demonology has some of the best sustained AoE in the game especially during teeming fortified weeks. On skittish weeks you basically ignore the affix because your aggro table is divided amongst your pets

All 3 warlock specs are actually great in mythic + If your goal is to push close to 15s, then destruction is more than viable. Naturally once you get to those really really high keystones like 20+ affliction just pulls ahead because of its absurdly broken survivability. Damage wise its a non issue, play destruction if you want to.

[Deleted]

You can do well in both raiding and m+ as destro. The only reason destro looks undesirable is because affliction is over turned. Destro compared to other ranged specs/classes stands up very well

[Uzkin]

People seem to think that, when I said destro was typically the second-worst dps class/spec in the game for m+, I was just stating my opinion. I was not; I based that statement on average myth+ parses from the 10-15 levels (which is where a very large player population resides). Other people seem to think that I was saying destro was bad in raids. I was not; destro is only bad in m+ (relative to other dps class/specs). So people are definitely having reading comprehension issues.

[SpikeySquad]

People seem to think that, when I said destro was typically the second-worst dps class/spec in the game for m+, I was just stating my opinion. I was not; I based that statement on average myth+ parses from the 10-15 levels (which is where a very large player population resides). Other people seem to think that I was saying destro was bad in raids. I was not; destro is only bad in m+ (relative to other dps class/specs). So people are definitely having reading comprehension issues.

Can you link your source then?

[Uzkin]

Can you link your source then?

Warcraftlogs. Unfortunately, their m+ statistics seem to be bugged atm and cannot be viewed but what I said was the situation a couple of weeks ago (when the site was still working).

[SpikeySquad]

Warcraftlogs. Unfortunately, their m+ statistics seem to be bugged atm and cannot be viewed but what I said was the situation a couple of weeks ago (when the site was still working).

Aye, they are being "rebuilt" at the moment hence I didn't know what source you were citing.

I cannot remember how they looked but it's possible that so few M+ logs from those specs skewed the results. I still cannot see either spec as bad assuming the keys are high enough. There are however quite a few bad warlock players out there!

[Baconeggcheese]

Is it viable at all?

I can't stand affliction any longer, and have been thinking about playing Destro for a while.

If aff didn't exist it'd be fine just fine in dungeons and pgood in raid, but aff exists.

Its a fucking nightmare pugging right now if you aren't aff, not sure how much that affects you.

[Elise the Seeker]

It's viable and fun. I tend to do higher dps than players more geared than me in raids. In mythics it all depends on the fight and talents, but I do well in boss fights in mythics.
Do what you want, all specs are viable. Demo is just... well...

[Deleted]

Destro is more then fine in both Raids and M+ regardless. Don't know from where he's getting that info, maybe he doesn't even play a warlock.

[Xanatas]

in m+ i go destro, i take grimoire of sacrifice + fire&brimstone, ring for +10% damage under rain of fire and kil'jaedens trinket for burst CD versus trash and soul of netherlord + lesson of space time spaulder vs boss.

I'm fine, but i'm done max m+15 for now (my IL is 952 actually)