I just don’t understand this aversion to letting Warlocks (Demonology in particular) have a baseline interrupt. The Axe Toss change is turning to face the right direction, but not enough to call it a step in the right direction in my opinion. It’s beyond flavour at this point, Blizzard. It’s just annoying and in many cases punishing not to have one, even in some solo content. And the salt in the wound is that we don’t understand the logic of it. Could you at least tell us why you feel that Warlocks should be either effectively devoid of an interrupt or have it attached to our pets?
I don’t want this to sound negative and whiny, but I think it’s as important to express when something about gameplay feels punishing or aggravating as it is to say when things feel rewarding and fun. By and large, the previews and things that we’ve seen for Warlocks has me very excited for the new expansion, but the interrupt thing is a sticking point that leaves an increasingly bad taste in my mouth.
I also don’t understand why the interrupt that we do have has to be attached to a pet. Interrupts are incredibly valuable when needed, and while it has a 40 yard range, attaching it to a pet means that it’s subject to that pet being within that 40 yard range AND Line of Sight. While this usually isn’t a problem, I’m sure we can all attest to times when your pet was on a target elsewhere unbeknownst to you and then has to run into range. This also means that you can instruct it to interrupt, causing to run toward your target and only cast once it’s in range by which time the spell to be interrupted has long gone off. I know that this is something a good Warlock should be in control of, but accidents happen, and the bigger point is that it’s an extra hassle that no other class really has to deal with.
The other major problem with having an interrupt attached to a pet is that it means that the interrupt is subject to that pet’s GCD. I’ve had many times where I’ve had my Felhunter out and within range, but because some other ability had gone off, the interrupt fails to cast. Or worse, the interrupt misses the window and casts as the next spell cast, missing the interrupt AND taking my cooldown.
Both this and the range issue are sometimes a problem in PvE, but are extremely prominent in PvP situations. Interrupts just require far too tight of a window to accurately rely on pets for an interrupt.
The last problem I have with the interrupt being the Felhunter calling card is that it is by far more valuable than any of the other command demon abilities. Why not focus on the offensive purge? That would bring it more in line with the value of a defensive purge, a taunt, and a humanoid-only channeled CC. Currently, as Affliction or Destruction, you either use the Felhunter if you need the interrupt or the Imp if you don’t because of the benefit of ranged damage. The Succubus sees no use anymore, even in PvP where it is supposed to shine, because sacrificing that interrupt is just too punishing.
My suggestion would be this: Warlocks get a baseline interrupt that is part of the Warlock toolkit, not the pet toolkit. This could manifest in a variety of ways. For example, rework Curse of Tongues to operate as an interrupt rather than a cast time increase. Introduce a new Curse of Tongue-tying or something that is a proper interrupt. You could even make this change based on specialization. For example, if you’re Demonology spec, you get call Felhunter. If you’re Affliction or Destruction, you get Curse of Tongue-tying. Both of these options retain the flavour of the specs without sacrificing an integral ability.
Please, do not keep interrupts out of our kits or with our pets. It actually works against class fantasy and class freedoms in my opinion. If you are intent on doing that, please, at least explain your reasoning.
Edit: a couple words for clarity.