Demo vs Destruction

[ChristopherD87]

Hey guys...finally getting around to lvling me warlock, 86 atm, and was just curious at 90, for RBG's only (don't arena much anymore) it seems to me demo could be more usefull, no it doesnt have the burst and power of destruction, but it does have some power when done correctly...Just curious on thoughts between the two, and why x over y

[pitakos]

Demo is good, but destro is far superior atm(even affliction>demo). Mostly because Demo looses the damage and utility (mortal strike debuff) from the pet. Some general things are :
Pets are dying instantly (if not passive and next to you which is as useless as dead).Destro doesnt need one
Demo can get out of mana destro never will
Demo's dmg single/aoe is mostly based on a single spell with 15 sec cd (Hand of Guldan/Chaos Wave), while destro spams RoF, FnB imo/inci/conflagrate or chaos bolts (depending on situations)
Destro has sick self healing which is endless when AoEing 4+ targets (Imo+RoF), demo has only 1 shitty tank glyph and 1 disengage button
Chaos Bolt brings more threat than a chaos wave.
Soulburn is the most OP execute ability in the game atm
Destro can AoE endlessly (and is one of the best classes at it)
Destro is far easier to play and less punishing in making bad desicions
And many other stuff i could just go on.

I would only suggest to go demo/affli if you have another lock in your group (personally i prefer 2 destro but w/e).
Even if demo has some extra utility (extra mobility, knockback), you will hardly ever need them and you have mostly to focus on bringing your targets down, and for this job destro is far superior to demo.

If you dont like destro, i would recommend to go affliction and not demo. You will still do more dmg than demo (Soulburn+Seed of corruption will give you lots of soulshards to spread dots), and unstable affliction will be a pain for your enemy healers (one shotting a priest who MDed 5+ targets or a silence everytime they dispell is more beneficial for your team).

To put it simply.
Demo can be good if you want to be a Flag/ orb carrier, or defending a base/flag, but there are better classes at it than you.
Otherwise you just waste significant group dmg for a knockback (shitty one considering the ones from other classes, and not ever your job to bother with it tbh).

[ChristopherD87]

thanks for actually replying...yeah I have been playing demo in the 85-89 braket and in this braket it's alright i suppose i can get as many kills and stuff as a destro, but i understand everything your saying and I know at 90 everything changes anyways lol. I think i might keep him demo just for fun, but on serious stuff RBG's and everything go destro. It wasnt that i dont like destro just kinda think demo is fun, but it's always nice to see the crits when you do 3x chaos bolt to kill a healer in 5 sec lol

[pitakos]

thanks for actually replying...yeah I have been playing demo in the 85-89 braket and in this braket it's alright i suppose i can get as many kills and stuff as a destro, but i understand everything your saying and I know at 90 everything changes anyways lol. I think i might keep him demo just for fun, but on serious stuff RBG's and everything go destro. It wasnt that i dont like destro just kinda think demo is fun, but it's always nice to see the crits when you do 3x chaos bolt to kill a healer in 5 sec lol

Yeah i like demo too, but destro/affliction are more viable now to that extend, that you are forced to spec into them (mostly destro), if you want to progress in rated bgs.

For an easy way to solo a healer as destro here is a tip (mostly for 1v1 and maybe arena): Spec into coil or shadowfury, and Grimoire of Sacrifice.

Summon a Felhunter, but dont sacrifice it. (Spell Lock from pet, and Command demon:spell lock dont share the same cd) (Devour Magic is usefull too)
Build 3 embers then,
try to spell lock or simply blanket cs the healer
Cast chaos bolt
Sacrifice pet
Coil or Shadowfury him (depending the talent)
Chaos bolt him
Spell lock again
Chaos bolt or Shadowburn (if below 20%)

This is the easiest way to solo a healer as Lock (in a more complicated way you should try forcing him to use trinket b4 doing this, just giving you a picture of it )
But Demo with GoServ (2nd Felguard can work too), only difference is GoServ is 2min cd while as destro you can insta resummon Felhunter via Flames of Xoroth (1min cd) and using spell lock (24 sec cd)

[Valedus]

Destro with Supremacy. Insane CC (Mes, Fear, Fearbomb/Shadowfury/Blood Horror) and insane cleave damage (Rain of Fire stacking Embers, Havoc some Chaos Bolts so you hit two targets... insane pressure).

That being said, as an RBG leader, I'm always looking for a warlock that has a Demo Offspec for Dark Apotheosis in case he's defending nodes in an AB, as we usually try to use that as our 2nd node defense as they are hard as hell to kill and you can't CC a node away from them (Pet can mes or just punch someone)