- Shadowlands will return to class identity as opposed to spec identity.
- Return abilities that have been taken away and make some spec specific ones class specific again.
Just trying to brainstorm a little here! First a little bit about me: I'm a currently inactive World ~100 Mythic Raider aswell as a pvp enthusiast, reaching ~2750 in Bfa season 1 and Hall of Fame G'hun. I quit after Uldir because I did not enjoy either my class (Warlock duh) or the game all that much anymore. That said I still deeply love World of Warcraft, I've played it almost without pause since I started in TBC and I really want it to be good and fun again.
In my opinion the following abilities/passives should be avaiable to all specializations: Corruption, Immolate, Rain of Fire, Soul Link, Howl of Terror, Drain Soul, Infernal/Doomguard.
Why? Debuffs are a core part of the Warlock fantasy and no matter what kind of Warlock, you should have some.
Rain of Fire is a badly needed baseline ranged aoe, without cumbersome ramp-up or delay like Seed/Implosion. Also how many times as an Afflock would you like to get that pesky rogue out of stealth, only to realize you're the wrong spec to be able to do that.
Soul Link I believe is self-explanatory. Warlocks are supposed to be immobile but tanky. Soul Link ensures that we're beefy and that the current miserable state of Affliction in pvp is a thing of the past. A Warlock should not be trained down with ease, no matter the specialization.
Howl of Terror is also self-explanatory. I see no reason why a Destruction warlock would forget how to cast an aoe fear.
Drain Soul is particularly important. Soul Shard sniping is not only engaging and skillful gameplay, it adds a genuinely unqiue aspect to the Warlock class. It is a mistake to deny two specializations this distinction and fun gameplay.
Infernal/Doomguard should come back for all specializations, because of the utility and damage they provide and because Warlocks are, in part, about summoning demons.
Furthermore I believe that Pvp talents need to be renamed Utility talents and should be usable in pve situations. It is a disgrace that Warlocks can no longer curse monsters with Curse of Tongues or Weakness depending on the situation. Or get rid of them and make them baseline. Either way is fine as far as I'm concerned.
Regarding the talents I actually believe they are mostly fine, but there are a few issues nonetheless. I won't mention underperforming talents as that is primarily a numbers issue, I'd like to address talents that I believe are simply entirely out of place, broken or meant to be baseline.
Demonic Circle really need to be baseline, it's replacement ought to be some talent that interacts with Howl of Terror.
Nether Portal is an awkward and terribly clunky talent that needs to be reworked or axed.
Soul Fire is a terrible idea in a specialization that revolves around Chaosbolt. I think there is no place for this ability whatsoever.
Shadowburn needs to be Destruction's replacement option for Drain Soul. It should function like it did in the past, being an execute type ability and if the target dies while affected you are rewarded.
Grimoire of Supremacy: removed. We should not be a class that only deals damage every 3 minutes. While Darkglare is not a talent, it should be removed too for the same reason.
Minor changes/Misc/Spec specific
Shadowfury: Instant Cast. It feels terrible to have a cast time associated with an aoe stun. By the time you finish the cast that pesky dungeon monster has completed finishing its problematic cast.
Axe Toss (Felguard): Should function as an interrupt against targets that are immune to stuns.
Unstable Afflction should not have the +10% damage part, as that encourages simply keeping one active at a time instead of wanting to dump them all with a powerful trinket proc/effect, which I find more interesting personally.
These, to me, are the most glaring issues. I'm looking forward to Beta (soon tm) and I really hope Warlock becomes a fun class again.
I'd like to hear what you think about my ideas and feel free to share yours. I'd like to know what kind of changes you'd like to see.