With 9.2 around the corner and it looking like it’s the last content patch for Shadowlands (with some QOL stuff confirmed for a 9.2.5 patch), 10.0 should, in theory, be announced Soon™.
So two things:
Here’s a summary of Warlocks as currently is for 9.2.5 thanks to our Warlock Lord And Savior Kalamazi
I’m going to be making a 10.0 Alpha/Beta Compilation thread as I have done many times.
So I’d like everyone to begin thinking about Warlock wants and needs so a coherent idea is already good to go in a few months.
Not just Gameplay Mechanics needs (ie class synergy, survivability, etc, the stuff the likes of THD or Kala or the Warlock Discord talk about) but QOL or Aesthetic Wants (eg class fantasy and customization that everyone usually ignores except like five of us lmao).
Mandatory insert of my Warlock Grimoire thread here:
Considering the state warlocks launched in the past few expansions, I find that very hard to believe (that they gave any real thought to the ideas and complaints in the thread I mean).
I found it a good compilation btw, not knocking it, just don’t think it was useful for anyone but fellow warlocks.
Look at the current state of warlocks - all you have to do as a dev is watch any of Kalamzi’s videos to get a reasonably accurate and unbiased view on warlock problems(he’s way too diplomatic imo) - yet those problems still exist. The warlock affliction tier is still a joke, as is the spec. Destro isn’t much better but at least the tier set is fair.
also IIRC Baal worked actively with me and kala when putting together docs in alpha/beta of SL - so he kinda does that already or has done so in the past
At this point my threads are just video compilations for ease of reference + more accessible info for warlocks since not ever warlock in the world is in the discord or knows where to find Kala’s and thd’s spreadsheets
There are 2 things I’d like the most as a lock from a purely cosmetic perspective:
It’s kind of an extension of the Stables idea, but I think the biggest class fantasy letdown of warlock is how limited and low resolution the current pets are. Every expansion, hunters are just, by default, granted a whole new set of potential buddies to travel and bond with. In my ask, I don’t really care about the combat performance here, more so having additional high-resolution options. Gimme an Observer that looks like a mini-Darkglare or something. As a warlock, I know I’m ‘subjugating’ the demon, but as a player, I’ve always felt like my demon was more akin to my lil buddy. I’d appreciate having more demon buddy options and the ability to interact with them more in a non-combat affecting way. Give me a demon petting animation like the one used for the various cats and stuff.
We have Orange and Green fire now. What about Purple? We’re getting a purple Infernal (Blasphemy) with the tier and purple fire exists already. Why not add that as a possible option for Warlocks to obtain in the next xpac?
I would say we will start to see something about 10.0 with 9.2.5 release, so end later half of the year?
As for Pets customization, as someone who have been skeptic early on, the advent of the Sayyad as a summoneable species makes me change to the camp of further customisations as a possibility, so kuddos to you baal.
honestly, while i can’t say for Destro/Aff progressed very much (Aff change from 9.0 to 9.1 i dare say is a regress) Demonology saw improvements pretty much constantly on every patch even and a lot was community driven and could be seen in baals threads, kalas youtube or the PTR feedback threads.
As this thread is focused on class visuals and fantasy please note that while my points of dislike as an affliction warlock are many, they have been summed up quite nicely already and I would like to thank all involved in making said points.
Onto business:
My main point of contention (visually) I would like to put forth for consideration is the spell effects of affliction.
I have always loved this specialization since I started playing warlock in Cataclysm. One of the visuals I enjoyed and sorely miss was the old Malefic Grasp. Affliction is supposed to focus more on shadow magic while dabbling into death/void as well and I do not feel this is currently being projected as a visual stimuli anymore. (I also miss being a caster juggernaut, such good times we once had.)
Visually the spec looks like discount demonology and destruction (and plays like it to.) By that I do mean the obvious green particle effects in our spells which seems like it is to reference Warlocks affinity for Fel magic.
And in my personal opinion that was always more of a destruction school of magic with demonology dabbling into it a tad.
Please make us affliction warlocks look and feel like the shadowy casters of death and agony we are supposed to be. I’m tired of not being indistinguishable as a specialization. Even our dots have green effects to them. It feels like affliction was simply an afterthought in the new spell visuals, the other two specializations have clear indicators and visuals that separate them from affliction. We sadly just… don’t have anything that makes us look like specialization on our own.
A quick start to this would simply be changing the green particles on shadow bolt to purple or blue and the same for our dots. This way our shadow bolt looks different than demonology for example and our dots also differ in appearance.
For future spells just keep it purple and blue Blizz and please bring back MG in some form even if just as a glyph.
I like the current dot spell effects so it’s important to ask for this change as a glyph. Glyphs are optional and are additions which is what we need instead of taking anything away.
On that note can we get an updated Burning Rush and preferably a glyph for a modern reskin of old Chaos Bolt that uses the ‘arching dragon skull of death’ design.
For Demo what would be cool is make the Tyrant a perm pet, add also new demonic pets to the roster. as for the dread stalkers make them last longer than what they currently do.
The Power Demonic Tyrant is allowed to have is very specifically because he is a cooldown or do honestly think that Permanent Demonic Tyrant would be as powerfull as a Cooldown who lasts 15s and have a 90s CD?
It would also make Demonology a spec with less options for burst dps, and burst dps is better than sustainable dps in many raid scenarios.
As for Dreadstalker, honestly, i would actually prefer if they would shrink the duration of all the duration-based demons, concentrate their power in a smaller window of time instead of spreading it around longer ones.
Shorter duration demons would also have the positive feedback of making our Tyrant Setups shorter, and one common complain people have is that Tyrant Setups are too long.
I’m predicting some symbolic, but ultimately inconsequential aura buffs to aff/destro during heroic week tuning followed by a possible nerf to destro’s aoe if the 4 pc becomes too degenerate or dominant (possible but not 100% sure). I doubt we will see mechanical changes to the teir sets or anything substational at this point so buckle up for 18 months of Demo-Sepulchar and see you in 10.0!
Concerning 10.0, I really just want them to iterate on the talent rows and make each row filled with excellent choices. Its frankly unacceptable that a big AAA studio with a game that charges box prices + monthly fee should have dead talents like WoW does when no new rows have been added since Warlords. I cant help but think all the time and effort devoted to auxiliary systems just takes away from core class design and fun, erroding players long-term enjoyment and investment in their preferred classes / specs.
Still would like a Doomguard pet for Demo warlocks so we have another option to felguard. Felguard would be more like tank, while Doomguard would be DPS.
He can cast doom bolts, aoe ability for felstorm would be a shadow rune where it puts a aoe circle below his main target and all enemies hit get a doom dot that does damage over time unlike the doom dot that exists now.
Command demon ability would be a interrupt that would also horrify the target, causing the target to tremble in place on a 20 second cd.
Felstrike would be a range version where it shoots a felbeam from the sky to the target dealing the same amount of damage.
