I think it’s helpful to consider the different elements of channel demon fire (CDF) in this patch separately.
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It is a damage causing spell w/ poor synergy w/ other spells. This could be resolved by making nodes where people could choose to either buff things that work for CDF or ROF builds. I think this would help destro in lower keys/ w/ groups that cannot stay in ROF. I’d actually prefer a havoc/ CB & CDF build over a ROF build, if they gave them as meaningful options. However, you’d need to be able to spam it more to make it compete w/ ROF. That conflicts w/ it’s 2nd role.
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It is a buff that requires cast time and to stay in one location. There are other buffs that limit movement (e.g mage circles, trinkets). CDF offsets some of that by allowing the caster to rotate. There are some buffs that require a cast time (e.g. trinkets). It offsets some of the cast time issues by causing damage during the cast.
Any debuff that requires a series of CBs (or something else) to hit the same target in a very short period of time limits the value of something like CDF. Buffs should not interfere w/ other buffs/ debuffs. If CDF is going to be a buff, it should extend those types of things too.
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It is a filler spell.
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It is a spell to dps multiple targets.
I think the fact that CDF has so many different elements makes it hard to fix. Some of the things that would help the role outlined in section one (reducing it’s CD, allowing it to be cast while moving, etc.) conflict w/ the role outlined in section two. I suggest removing the buff from tier and using nodes to allow people to choose between CDF and ROF.
It is hard to balance filler spells and spells that do dmg to multiple targets for AOE. It probably would either be too weak for an AOE spell or too strong for a filler spell in M+ in most cases. They should give people the option to either use it as a primary spell or not use it through nodes in the lock talents.