Wow, them's some savage warlock nerfs!

[JustaWarlock]

80% nerf to impending catastrophe initial damage and 50% nerf to the dot it leaves
20%ish nerf to scouring tithe
50%ish nerf to decimating bolts damage plus halving the bonus damage

Naturally, no change to soul rot. I guess that's one way to buff soul rot - nerf the @#$@# out of all the other abilities instead.

[Shandalar]

Pretty natural. Affliction and Destro are doing more damage than healers and thats unacceptable. With these changes I think they are still over the healers, I expect they fix this soon.

[enigma77]

Pretty natural. Affliction and Destro are doing more damage than healers and thats unacceptable. With this changes I think they are still over the healers, I expect they fix this soon.

Haha man, you're fucking great.

[Octa]

Pretty natural. Affliction and Destro are doing more damage than healers and thats unacceptable. With this changes I think they are still over the healers, I expect they fix this soon.

Yeah it's so sad how Warlocks are perpetually underpowered.

[Vongimi]

Yeah it's so sad how Warlocks are perpetually underpowered.

God yeah, being only in the top 5 for the entire expansion is so crap. It should be top 1! Blizz plz

[Lulbalance]

God yeah, being only in the top 5 for the entire expansion is so crap. It should be top 1! Blizz plz

Anyone who thinks hybrids should ever be in the top 5 is a degenerate. So yes, we should be at or near the top - all the time.

[Stormspellz]

Anyone who thinks hybrids should ever be in the top 5 is a degenerate. So yes, we should be at or near the top - all the time.

so... only rogue lock mage and hunters are allowed to be at the top?

[Spacewalrus2010]

Anyone who thinks hybrids should ever be in the top 5 is a degenerate. So yes, we should be at or near the top - all the time.

What the fuck does being a hybrid have to do with it?

[Todesbote]

so... only rogue lock mage and hunters are allowed to be at the top?

Yes. 10char

[ohwell]

Yeah it's so sad how Warlocks are perpetually underpowered.

People love to remember the penultimate and final raid tiers where warlocks are finally doing well to excelling when they don't play them, but historically warlocks have been pretty garbo in terms of top players for the first 2 tiers of many expansions. Hell even all the way to ICC warlocks of all 3 specs were tied with or below elemental and enhancement which was the next lowest class/spec. God forbid they parse incredibly high in SoO because of all the multi target fights that raid.....

[StillMcfuu]

Anyone who thinks hybrids should ever be in the top 5 is a degenerate. So yes, we should be at or near the top - all the time.

Technically Locks are a hybrid as they are a pet class. But they should basically be right under pure dps classes, which is still Top 5.

[spalernTJ]

Anyone who thinks hybrids should ever be in the top 5 is a degenerate. So yes, we should be at or near the top - all the time.

Why is priest the worst healer then? One could Argue, they're the least hybrid healer class.

[ohwell]

so... only rogue lock mage and hunters are allowed to be at the top?

Pretty much. At least 1 spec from each should make up the top 4 or give them healing and tanking specs.

ESPECIALLY since gear was virtually standardized. I could give the tank classes a break at periods when dps gear could not really be swapped in without hitting def cap, but throughout history it's been pretty easy for a dps to swap to healing for hybrid classes without much fuss. Stats not being optimized for healers isn't as good as being able to actually play the spec.

[Th3Scourge]

This change literally changes nothing

[ohwell]

God yeah, being only in the top 5 for the entire expansion is so crap. It should be top 1! Blizz plz

1 single expansion whereas it's feast and famine every other time or completely famine in the case of WotLK.

[Ulfric Trumpcloak]

Historically warlocks always suck the first tier of an expansion. They didn't want to break the cycle.

[cparle87]

Technically Locks are a hybrid as they are a pet class. But they should basically be right under pure dps classes, which is still Top 5.

"Hybrid" when used in gaming terminology usually means a class with a spec, mode, or talent tree that allows them to do more than just dps at a party level. Warlocks, like hunters, are a pure class in that all they can do is dps. In the early days of WoW coming off of other MMOs like UO the developers designed something called a hybrid tax, ensuring that classes like druids, paladins, shaman could never equal the pure classes out of some "jack of all trades master of none" mindset. A boomkin or ret pally would never match any rogue or mage, and a paladin would never be as good as tank as the warrior, which devs stated they wanted warriors to be the one true tank.

[StillMcfuu]

"Hybrid" when used in gaming terminology usually means a class with a spec, mode, or talent tree that allows them to do more than just dps at a party level. Warlocks, like hunters, are a pure class in that all they can do is dps. In the early days of WoW coming off of other MMOs like UO the developers designed something called a hybrid tax, ensuring that classes like druids, paladins, shaman could never equal the pure classes out of some "jack of all trades master of none" mindset. A boomkin or ret pally would never match any rogue or mage, and a paladin would never be as good as tank as the warrior, which devs stated they wanted warriors to be the one true tank.

Hybrid as in they can "tank" to a certain extent.

They aren't a hybrid in the complete extent that they can fulltime fulfil a heal or tank role, but because of the pet they aren't a pure dps class either. There have been tank strats for Warlock every so often as well. Regardless, the pet gives them more flexibility than a "pure" dps'er. I also don't really count the Ice Mage pet because it's largely useless and just does damage, sort of like Unholy DK.

[Stormspellz]

Technically Locks are a hybrid as they are a pet class. But they should basically be right under pure dps classes, which is still Top 5.

having pets is nothing to do with being classified as a hybrid

Pretty much. At least 1 spec from each should make up the top 4 or give them healing and tanking specs.

ESPECIALLY since gear was virtually standardized. I could give the tank classes a break at periods when dps gear could not really be swapped in without hitting def cap, but throughout history it's been pretty easy for a dps to swap to healing for hybrid classes without much fuss. Stats not being optimized for healers isn't as good as being able to actually play the spec.

so ridiculous reasoning, even more so when wow balance is so bad, where you have the top spot being literally double or more then the bottom. if it was like back in the day hybrids tended to mean they where a support not a dps, but with current state of hominization, the classification of hyprid/pure should have zero on a spec/class "right" at being a top dps.

[Xerfall]

Hybrid as in they can "tank" to a certain extent.

They aren't a hybrid in the complete extent that they can fulltime fulfil a heal or tank role, but because of the pet they aren't a pure dps class either. There have been tank strats for Warlock every so often as well. Regardless, the pet gives them more flexibility than a "pure" dps'er. I also don't really count the Ice Mage pet because it's largely useless and just does damage, sort of like Unholy DK.

You are mixing up hybridism and utility. Pets are mere utility (dispell/interrupt/outworld and leveling tanking) tools, but they in no way give locks a hybrid state.