This is a HUGE nerf!
If Blizzard was afraid of the Voidwalker solo-tanking 3 mobs, they could have easily nerfed its threat generation instead of gutting its health pool. By nerfing pet health across the board, you are severely punishing all Warlock specializations, especially Demonology, which completely relies on its demon.
Even in PvP, pets will now die instantly through Soul Link. This is insane! Is this a bait to force people away from maining Warlocks right before the launch of Forever? Why execute such a massive nerf literally a day before release?
In original Vanilla, 1 point of Master’s Stamina granted 7.5 HP to the pet, which was balanced and normal. Now, while almost every other class receives buffs and power-ups as promised, Warlocks get hit with an overwhelming nerf that completely guts the class.
You promised to make classes stronger than in Vanilla to match the increased health and difficulty of mobs, yet you are dealing irreparable damage to the Warlock. So much of our talent tree — including Soul Link and essential passive synergies — revolves around pet survival.
The recent buff to Wrack doesn’t even begin to compensate for this huge loss. Wrack as a capstone talent should naturally deal more damage than Drain Life anyway. A mere 10% DoT amplification on a channeled spell is laughable compared to mechanics like Haunt from later expansions, which offered the same 10% DoT buff alongside instant Shadow Bolt-level impact damage without locking you into channeling.
Just because a Warlock reached the PvP tournament finals on beta — without even facing their hardest counters like a Warrior or Enhancement Shaman — doesn’t mean the class is overpowered. Every class has hard counters, and balance shouldn’t be judged on an isolated tournament bracket!
This nerf destroys Warlocks across every single aspect of the game (PvE and PvP), and no other talent tweaks can replace lost pet durability. For PvP, stacking Stamina becomes practically pointless: as gear levels and player damage scale up, pets will melt faster and faster with zero scaling to back them up.
What is the true reason behind this nerf??
7.5 was probably too high and 2 is far too low. 4 -4.5 would be reasonable.