Sorry, another one of these threads! But I’m torn. I love ranged DPS and haven’t played much of these two classes, except for casual play. I won’t be mythic raiding or anything, so I predict I can’t go wrong with what I plan to do…
Mage Pros:
Some fun “run away” utility - blink, frost nova, invisibility
Teleports making travel easy
Satisfying graphics
Haven’t done the Legion class hall experience yet, so I need to get my mount
Classic caster appearance which will fit my VE well
Proc based class at times, which I do find entertaining
Something about being without a pet and it just being you is fun in terms of the fantasy to me (but not a dealbreaker by any means)
Mage Cons
No pet to tank for you - womp
Squishier
Sometimes more cast-time based than warlock
Simpler than warlock (?)
Fantasy may be a little less exciting than warlock, but only a little (subjective)
Warlock Pros
Tanky, great at soloing
Pet class
Fun visuals as well with good graphics
Fun mogs
Each spec seems different as opposed to mage specs being mainly nuke-y
Utility in different ways than mage
Demo got a nice re-do and seems to have multiple buttons to press, perhaps
Warlock Cons
Afflic seems less engaging than mage specs
Less mobile than mage in a general sense
Raid versus mythic spec being different…? Not sure if this is true
Viability in M+ ? (I won’t be doing high end keys by any means)
Truly torn! Would love to hear from people who similarly struggled. I’ve played trials of both but am curious how essences and azerite traits make things better, if they do at all. I remember what it felt like to play Balance druid in Legion without the artifact - I feel like it may be similarly with my brief trials of the two classes.
I prefer mage over warlock, I love the playstyle of fire… I just find the warlock less engaging for me… Also my point of view is warlock is just easy class… You are basically a turrent spamming buttons… As a mage you have to think your next move and if you make a mistake in any spec basically you are hard punished…
I switched from Mage to Lock in EP. Initially I liked the fact that Affliction has so many more buttons than Frost, but over time I came to find that Aff didn’t feel particularly smooth compared to a ‘raw’ caster like Frost.
WQs + Soloing:
Aff is much, much easier. Throw some dots out and let ol’ Voidy soak the hits. It can be a bit mindless, but for quickly smashing out some quests I found it better than Mage. Mage is still fun for that, but kiting is more effort.
Mythic + :
Aff is not fun here. I dislike having to dot up multiple targets to get mediocre results. Frost and Fire are SO much more fun in dungeons.
Norm/Heroic raids:
Affliction just doesn’t feel nearly as smooth as a Mage. Having dots on different timers, plus refreshing Haunt means there’s never a nice flow to the rotation. Frost (GS build) on the other hand despite having fewer buttons just feels nice to me. I run Ice Floes, so being able to cast while moving adds a lot to the feel of the rotation.
At the end of the day though, it’s really all up to you. A lot of people love their Warlocks, and a lot love their Mage.
As someone who’s tried both in BfA, and a Warlock main since BC… Warlocks are not in a good place this expansion. They’re remarkably immobile. They’re massively dependent on their big summon cooldowns. Afflic and Destro are terrible at M+. They’re short on utility and what utility they have (Gateway) doesn’t have much use. About the only strong point is the pet tank for WQ, and you don’t need that once you’ve geared up a little. Also there’s a pet tank bug going around that’s been unresolved the whole expansion that will permanently kill their threat generation, which is just the cherry on top of the whole deal.
So in short, go Mage. Arcane is simple, Frost has control, and Fire is fast and bursty with a lot of hard hitting instant casts. Pick your favorite.
I’m in a similar predicament to this guy. I think you’ve convinced me to play mage. When it comes to quality of life stuff, who wins? Do food, water and portals matter much in retail? The soloing does concern me though, as I’ve heard Nazjatar is a nightmare at first before you get geared, so it’d be nice to have a pet.
Nazjatar is definitely balanced around the fact that those followers become extremely powerful if you level them up. It’s not just a gear issue, it’s a follower issue. That being said, you can always poly/frost nova or invis and run. Frost and arcane do fine because of kiting and getting 385 gear with pearls is pretty trivial.
Arcane is simple, but it is also very punishing. If anyone chooses to play Arcane, yes it is boring and yes it is pretty much a one-button spec, but you need to be alert about when you are using CD’s. If you end up interrupted during Evo or AP you are done for that pull. Not saying it is a difficult spec by any means, but both Frost and Fire can recover if they make a mistake, mistake playing Arcane? You’re going to be in a “fml” state for another 1.5 minutes.
Yeah, but it’s good at leveling at least. Still, you’re not wrong, and I hate that sort of cooldown dependency. It disproportionately punishes small errors and feels bad for all those periods outside your cooldown window. And of course all three Warlock specs are built that way in BfA, which is why I’m maining another class for the first time ever.
I’ve played trials of both but am curious how essences and azerite traits make things better, if they do at all. I remember what it felt like to play Balance druid in Legion without the artifact - I feel like it may be similarly with my brief trials of the two classes.