This spec has flown under the radar in 8.1 and I cant seem to understand why.
My friend and I (both 2k xp) have been doing 2’s together since legion and we have tried many different comps over that time, but never have we had as much consistent fun and success as we have had with demo + resto druid.
Pros
Sustain
Passive tankiness (soul-link + versatility)
Loads CC
Cons
Weak burst
low mobility
limited defensive’s (fel lord, unending resolve)
The oppressive sustain seems to catch most teams off guard due to the crappy spot locks have been in this expac, double this with ranged kick, ranged stun (axe throw), mortal coil, shadowfury, and you will find yourself with the CC you need on healer, or the reprieve from a DPS to comfortably play.
The rotation for the spec is also very ranged friendly in a melee matches. With power siphon (instant) , soul strike (instant), and perhaps one demonic meteor talent (azerite), you may never have to cast a single shadow bolt in a match. simply bait kicks with fear or vile fiend (if you take that talent) when you have high soulshards and you can cast HoG and DB without a problem, or simply juke. At all costs avoid getting kicked on HoG, this will lock you out of everything, whereas other spells are more forgiving and allow you to keep casting HoG (note - vile fiend is in a school all on its own, great for eating kicks).
Due to the large amount of CC in the kit, we lack any kind of killshot ability and have to rely on ending games into dampening if CC is not above average. When played well, victories will be very comfortable and enjoyable with little to no threats from the other team due to them playing defensively all game.
Getting greedy with your CC will get you killed as you need your instant cast to save yourself or your healer, so always have a mortal coil or axe throw on reserve to lock a dps out with a fear following it up.
And always use fel lord defensively until the enemy team tries to LoS around a pillar to recover, then it can be deployed as an area denial, as not having him ready to go when the enemy is still pushing can be very problematic.
Over all, this play-style is my one of my favorites up there with classic demo, and I sincerely hope my fellow locks out there give it a chance.