Destruction is never going to be accepted, is it?

[Drikkink]

I've now lost a spot on a raid for the second time this expansion because my guild felt that "I was not doing DPS a warlock should be with them being in such a good place right now". I'm consistently beating half of the DPS, including the mages and hunters and such. However, their affliction lock is ahead of me on every fight, so they assume that I'm doing something wrong.

They keep telling me that I'm hindering myself and therefore hindering their heroic progression because affliction is so far ahead right now, forgetting the fact that I play a spec that isn't completely unviable. It has its niche of aoe/cleave and even still on single target, it's not horrendous.

Looking at the buffs for destruction next patch, I suppose this will help a bit, but since we've gone these past 2 patches with affliction so stupidly far ahead, will anyone actually take a destruction lock seriously?

[Hatelocker]

I'm afraid your going to be in the same boat buddy. I have always found that if you top the meters then no one cares what spec you play as you must know what you are doing. However, if you are simply middle of the pack with what is perceived to be a top tier class then the assumption is you are gimping the raid. 5.2 isn't looking any better even with the buffs.

[Drikkink]

I suppose I'll give demo another shot, since I keep doing SOMETHING wrong with afflic.

[Deleted]

Sounds like you and your guild don't have the same attitude towards raiding, if you want to play the spec you want, go right ahead, but don't join a guild where everyone is expected to do whatever they can to improve their performance. Destro definitely has its place even now (it's excellent in a few situations, e.g. cleave or lei-shi fog stacking), but this doesn't mean that you need to play it every fight, dual specs are there for a reason and most ambitious guilds expect you to make use of it.

[Deleted]

There aren't that many fights in T14 where you shouldn't be at the top of your raid even with Destro (assuming you have the same gear as your collegues), you could just switch to Aff for those (like Shek'zeer).

[Screwtape]

Have you told them that half their raid is hindering them by not rerolling?

[Bonkura]

If you're in a progression guild that's just something you have to accept. I played hybrids in Cata but was told by my guild that they needed me on a Warlock or Hunter so I accepted that and rerolled. During T14 progress I tried Destro and Demo on most fights but didn't get close to the damage I did with Affli and my guild then told me to go back to it and I had to accept that as well.

You can of course make most classes and specs work in this game but balance comes and goes so if you want to stick to one class and spec you will probably have to make up for your lack of performance in other ways.

[Drikkink]

There aren't that many fights in T14 where you shouldn't be at the top of your raid even with Destro (assuming you have the same gear as your collegues), you could just switch to Aff for those (like Shek'zeer).

I'm more undergeared than most in the raid. I was 490 when I joined and I'm like 495 atm.

[Alvito]

The major benefit of being a pure class is also its biggest issue if you don't take advantage of it. You should want to and be willing to switch to max out. This is the one major upside of pures over hybrids if a hybrids dps spec is weak they get sat or have to do something completely different. Pure classes on the other hand just switch to another dps spec. If that isn't something you care to do, say you like Destro and not the others then you need to find a like minded raid.

[Drikkink]

The major benefit of being a pure class is also its biggest issue if you don't take advantage of it. You should want to and be willing to switch to max out. This is the one major upside of pures over hybrids if a hybrids dps spec is weak they get sat or have to do something completely different. Pure classes on the other hand just switch to another dps spec. If that isn't something you care to do, say you like Destro and not the others then you need to find a like minded raid.

I've never had issues with switching to other specs. It's just that I do not perform at a level nearly similar to my "main spec" with those specs.

[Gurushock]

Your guild sounds like it's complete crap imo. And maybe the leadership needs to be looked at. No reason you should "lose" a spot in a raid because you don't want to play the "highest dps spec" at that time. I've play all of the warlock specs throughout this tier and have had no problems from my guild, when I switch to destro my guild didn't even notice it much, plus I was still killing our other warlock in damage and he was playing affliction.

Play whenever spec you like the most, and play the best. And find a new guild, a better one.

[Pickwickman]

Your guild sounds like it's complete crap imo. And maybe the leadership needs to be looked at. No reason you should "lose" a spot in a raid because you don't want to play the "highest dps spec" at that time. I've play all of the warlock specs throughout this tier and have had no problems from my guild, when I switch to destro my guild didn't even notice it much, plus I was still killing our other warlock in damage and he was playing affliction.

Play whenever spec you like the most, and play the best. And find a new guild, a better one.

While I do agree with you, and most mid-tier heroic guilds would agree too; you have to take it with a grain of salt. If you're in a HC progression guild, there is a point where going the worst spec for your class will hinder your raid. Like if a Hunter in Blood Legion wants to play MM at progression, guess what? You're fucked kicked.There is a time and place to do that type of thing, non-bleeding edge guilds and when you got everything on farm.

[Xandy]

I've never had issues with switching to other specs. It's just that I do not perform at a level nearly similar to my "main spec" with those specs.

Not being able to perform at the same level regardless of spec is an issue, especially during Heroic progression. It is only advisable to play the spec you are the most comfortable with if that spec is close in DPS with the optimal spec. Otherwise, well... you gotta learn that other spec. That's the advantage (or disadvantage depending on how you want to look at it) of pure classes.

[Deleted]

Sounds like you and your guild don't have the same attitude towards raiding, if you want to play the spec you want, go right ahead, but don't join a guild where everyone is expected to do whatever they can to improve their performance..

this. your job is to deal dmg and survive as best as you can. if you dont like the strongest spec for your raid (if buffs/debuffs/utility are important) or your dps you have to decide whats more important to you, your raid performance or your personal fun. in the current state its not enough to "beat half of the DPS" as a warlock. even if you beat all but the affliction lock you should ask yourself if you want to be second or first :< (and if you consider yourself better than the affliction lock and already beat him with destruction the difference will be even bigger with affliction)

[Scathbais]

Not being able to perform at the same level regardless of spec is an issue, especially during Heroic progression. It is only advisable to play the spec you are the most comfortable with if that spec is close in DPS with the optimal spec. Otherwise, well... you gotta learn that other spec. That's the advantage (or disadvantage depending on how you want to look at it) of pure classes.

Very true. You should be willing to switch specs based on encounter, especially in a 10-man raid (like I am in) where you don't often have enough people with specific tool for a given mechanic. (e.g Cure of Ex glyph for Emperors Courage on H:Will).

Having said that, you should be able to play what you want unless the spec is broken for PvE. Unless you are pushing world/server firsts, dps is not what usually holds back progression. It is execution more than anything. I raided as primarily destro for 5.0 and ended up 9/16 heroic. I know Zum has played destro this tier and has been 16/16H for weeks if not months.

I suggest finding a new guild.

[Drikkink]

this. your job is to deal dmg and survive as best as you can. if you dont like the strongest spec for your raid (if buffs/debuffs/utility are important) or your dps you have to decide whats more important to you, your raid performance or your personal fun. in the current state its not enough to "beat half of the DPS" as a warlock. even if you beat all but the affliction lock you should ask yourself if you want to be second or first :<

The point isn't what I consider "fun". I've shown (to myself and everyone else) that I am incapable of doing affliction right. I do, at best, equal DPS to destruction, but I lose an absolute ton of awareness.

[Netherspark]

My guild was trying to convince me to switch from Destruction to Affliction and threatened to replace me if I didn't. I personally hate Affliction, I really don't enjoy it so what I did was make a few changes to my stats and rotation, and endevoured to show them that Destruction is good. Now I'm most often top DPS as Destruction and they no longer bitch at me.

So basically try to find a way to increase your damage or find a new guild.

[rezoacken]

I've now lost a spot on a raid for the second time this expansion because my guild felt that "I was not doing DPS a warlock should be with them being in such a good place right now". I'm consistently beating half of the DPS, including the mages and hunters and such. However, their affliction lock is ahead of me on every fight, so they assume that I'm doing something wrong.

They keep telling me that I'm hindering myself and therefore hindering their heroic progression because affliction is so far ahead right now, forgetting the fact that I play a spec that isn't completely unviable. It has its niche of aoe/cleave and even still on single target, it's not horrendous.

Looking at the buffs for destruction next patch, I suppose this will help a bit, but since we've gone these past 2 patches with affliction so stupidly far ahead, will anyone actually take a destruction lock seriously?

If you do competitive dps with destro people will take you seriously.

God, I even know destro and demo players myself that are among the top of their guild dps in 10+/16 heroics. They will not be asked to change spec as long as they do perform greatly.

Sadly, most of the "I was asked to change spec threads" usually have an underlying problem. The player underperforms (and that's why he is being replaced).

By the way, this tier didn't require crazy dps. Enrages weren't hard at all. In my guild, last time we had issue in this tier was for Garajal Heroic in October when we were doing him in blues.

[Deleted]

consider it as a challenge, learning a new spec can be fun. right now i play destruction (affli main, demo 2nd spec) outside of raids (dailies/heroics etc), because as a pure DPS class i want to be able to play every spec and know the strengths and weaknesses.

[kenshinag]

The point isn't what I consider "fun". I've shown (to myself and everyone else) that I am incapable of doing affliction right. I do, at best, equal DPS to destruction, but I lose an absolute ton of awareness.

How long have you been playing your lock? Not trying to judge, just out of curiosity. Destro in Cata was much more complicated than affliction of this expac. If your raid needs you to switch to affliction for certain fights, you might just need to buckle down and sit on a training dummy for 3 or 4 hours or something. I ran into this issue early on in this expansion. Switched to affliction when we were working on normal Feng. Switched again, this time to Demo, when we reached Wind Lord, though my main spec was still affliction.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that you need to take advantage of all your class offers instead of writing yourself off as being incapable. Practice, practice, practice!