Lol massive nerf to Decimating bolt

[JustaWarlock]

As expected, it's been gutted for destro and affliction.

It's probably best though, at least all the cov abilities are pretty meh now so there might be some choice.

I think maybe Venthyr is looking better now?

[Lumineus]

Won't affect Destro's raid build at all. Great job forcing everyone into Cataclysm AGAIN, Blizz.

[Lyrel8490]

yeah was pretty much expecting this.

For pure single traget i would say kyrian and M+ probably venthyr.

They are currently working on soul rot to make it better but now that Impending Catastrophe is able to smart curse it looks pretty good.

Not really all that mad tbh. It sucks that we don't have a bis covenant anymore so to say but i like the signature abilities of the other covenants better than the necrolord one. so at least thats a plus for me.

Also both kyrian and venthyr both have 3 potency slots on mythic release so thats good too.

[kronides]

Good. I never wanted to be Necrolord and I dreaded being pushed into it.

[lonely zergling]

Next thing they probably nerf is using kyrian ability with havoc. Too high skillcap.

Everyone knew they would nerf decimating bolt, no suprise here. Too stronk execute dmg from drain soul. Finally can play kyrian / ventyhr without feeling bad.

[muto]

I guess the only choice is Venthyr now if you also do Mythic+ since it smart curses.

[JustaWarlock]

It looks like Scouring Tithe and Impending Catastrophe were hit with a 20% nerf as well?

[Lyrel8490]

It looks like Scouring Tithe and Impending Catastrophe were hit with a 20% nerf as well?

Dunno anything about that. Got a source on this?

[JustaWarlock]

Dunno anything about that. Got a source on this?

The spell changes on the front page shows a 20% nerf, I’m just unsure if it’s just a tooltip change or new with this build.

[Calfredd]

Dunno anything about that. Got a source on this?

On the front page is a list of spell changes. I couldn't read the Decimating Bolt changes because they're a bit messy but the others are listed much more clearly.

Impending Catastrophe Call forth a cloud of chaotic anima that travels to the target enemy, dealing [ 100% of Spell Power ] Shadow damage to enemies in its path. When the anima reaches the target it explodes, inflicting either Curse of Weakness or Curse of Tongues, and dealing [ 261% [ 210% of Spell Power ] Shadow damage over 12 sec to all nearby enemies. Venthyr. Venthyr. Instant.

Scouring Tithe Deal [ 100% Deal [ 80% of Spell Power ] Arcane damage instantly, and [ 144% [ 114% of Spell Power ] over 18 sec. If the enemy dies while affected by Scouring Tithe, you generate 5 Soul Shards. If they survive, Scouring Tithe's cooldown is refreshed. Kyrian. Kyrian. Instant.

And it does look like they buffed Soul Rot

Soul Rot Wither away all life force of your current target and up to 3 additional targets nearby, causing them your primary target to suffer [100% [200% of Spell Power] Nature damage and secondary targets to suffer [ 100% of Spell Power ] Nature damage over 8 sec. For the next 8 sec, casting Drain Life will cause you to also Drain Life from any enemy affected by your Soul Rot, and Drain Life will not consume any mana. Consumes 20% of maximum health when cast. Night Fae. Night Fae. Instant.

Wowhead still has it listing 100% spellpower damage to primary target so I edited in the old value.

[Rorixis]

Next thing they probably nerf is using kyrian ability with havoc. Too high skillcap.

Everyone knew they would nerf decimating bolt, no suprise here. Too stronk execute dmg from drain soul. Finally can play kyrian / ventyhr without feeling bad.

I really hope they leave that, putting it on the right targets to get 5 shards AND a reset feels so rewarding.

[Gaidax]

Necro nerf was widely expected because it was busted as fuck.

I think the F&B part of the nerf was mishandled as there is penalty even if Incinerate does not cleave.

On the other hand for Demo, Necro got a big buff, maybe even too big. Can't test it because it does not work with DB yet in beta, but considering what I seen from Incinerate and given all Demonbolt talents and Lego, I expect it to be a beast nuke if specced for it. They probably will have to tone back Necro for Demo.

Overall Kyrian looks the stronger option now in general while Vent might be edging it out in M+, but just barely. Except for Demo where Necro might be busted.

[Uzkin]

I think the F&B part of the nerf was mishandled as there is penalty even if Incinerate does not cleave.

So if you've chosen Necrolord then Fire&Brimstone is actually a large dps LOSS compared to no talent at all (single-target)?

GJ "balancing" the three talent choices of that row w.r.t. the Necro covenant ability, Blizzard! Instead of F&B being better than the other two it is now massively worse than the other two; in fact a dps loss over no talent.

[Leinhart]

Nerf is bad, but not as bad as I thought. I'm definitely sticking with Necro, would have dreaded being forced into Kyrian or Venthyr.

[Lyrel8490]

The spell changes on the front page shows a 20% nerf, I’m just unsure if it’s just a tooltip change or new with this build.

On the front page is a list of spell changes. I couldn't read the Decimating Bolt changes because they're a bit messy but the others are listed much more clearly. And it does look like they buffed Soul Rot Wowhead still has it listing 100% spellpower damage to primary target so I edited in the old value.

I completely missed that. Thanks!

I really hope Venthyr will still be a good pick in the end. Like the signature ability and with the smart cursing i really like the class ability.

Nerf is bad, but not as bad as I thought. I'm definitely sticking with Necro, would have dreaded being forced into Kyrian or Venthyr.

The Problem with necro is that for one they get their third potency slot really really late compared to the other covenants and the soulbinds in general are not good either. What made this covenant really good was the ability. Now that this is not that big of a factor anymore it is hard to stay with this choice for me.

[Gaidax]

I completely missed that. Thanks!

I really hope Venthyr will still be a good pick in the end. Like the signature ability and with the smart cursing i really like the class ability.

Well with the latest changes their viability did increase. Blizzard nerfbatted the clear outliers, so Vent have a fighting chance now.

[JustaWarlock]

I'm going to most likely go Night Fae for 2 reasons:

1. I just can't give up blink fox now
2. I assume that seeing as soul rot is just so fundamentally bad, they'll overbuff it at some stage after launch.

[Lyrel8490]

I'm going to most likely go Night Fae for 2 reasons:

1. I just can't give up blink fox now
2. I assume that seeing as soul rot is just so fundamentally bad, they'll overbuff it at some stage after launch.

All depends on performance for me. After a bit of research it seems in the current situation it will be bastion.

Night Fae signature ability sure is nice. But the Potency Conduit situation and the pretty bad class ability (even after the buffs) just makes it a bad choice for me.

I hope really hope they push venthyr more. would be my favourite signature and class ability

[thrill]

Kyrian is now the clear winner for affliction single target. It's a 100% uptime amp for rapture, and the DoT itself deals more damage than corruption, agony, or siphon life. Nothing else is even close.

Venthyr was already the better than pre-nerf necrolord with enough targets, now it looks like by far the best choice for m+.

[Malekius]

Man, being a blue boy scout warlock is gonna suck. It also feels silly how just about everything else hits harder than our dots.

I think I'll still start as necrolord and try my best using Decimating Bolt, and if in the end Kyrian mops the floor with my dps, I'll swap to Kyrian. The first swap is "free", so nothing lost if not my hopes for a badass execute damage.