I’ve been playing on and off since Vanilla, with a human lock as my main. Have always loved the class and the overall feel/identity that comes with it. Unfortunately, a lot of that has been lost as Blizz pruned/dumbed down the game so much. Every class having more or less the same or similar sets of abilities has really destroyed some of the flavor the game once had.
In my free time I really enjoy imagining possible changes to the class to make it FEEL a bit more unique. So, I wrote up what I’d dream of warlocks being. I’ve done this for each spec, but first I’m starting with Affliction.
Keep in mind this is all hypothetical and much of it would require some pretty huge shifts in design philosophy and class roles. The actual %’s, durations etc. are all estimates that I tried to make as reasonable as possible, so assume there’d be tuning on a lot of this. Also, this is all made up with PvE in mind, so assume skills would be adjusted for PVP as needed. Lastly, I started writing this up BEFORE talent trees were brought back, so it’s still in that format.
CLASS DESIGN PHILOSOPHY - Warlocks should be all about high/risk & reward – they are selfish & diabolical – their thirst for power and the satisfaction of destroying others is what drives them and all of this should be reflected in their playstyle along with their spells & abilities. Warlock powers should increase as they risk more, sacrificing their own health for more power, all while relishing in the demise of others for their own personal gain.
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Pet’s, in general, make up more damage & positioning them is more important. Right now they’re basically fire & forget which means they may as well have their damage built into other abilities and you just take their skills.
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Curses are more significant & play a key role in each spec
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Curses have a separate GCD
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Warlocks get a benefit from allies dying or being CC’d
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Warlock skills that benefit other classes are more beneficial to other Warlocks & Demon Hunters and less effective for Priests & Paladins
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Warlocks deal & receive increased damage to “Holy” enemies/classes (i.e. Priests & Paladins) and deal & receive reduced damage to “Shadow” enemies (i.e. warlocks, demon hunters)
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Warlocks can pick a single passive “armor” to be active at any given time (i.e. variations of Demon Armor)
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Rituals now provide a buff to anyone that participates in them
BASELINE SPELLS FOR ALL SPECS
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Curses - Weakness, Exhaustion, Tongues, Recklessness, Impotence
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Immolate
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Mortal Coil
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Fear
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Healthstone
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Life Tap
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Demon Gate
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Demonic Portal
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Rituals - Summoning, Doom
CLASS – NEW & UPDATED ABILITIES
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Legion’s Mark - Buffs/Auras from the Warlock are twice as effective for other Warlocks & Demon Hunters and half as effective for Priests & Paladins
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Betrayer’s Bargain - When an ally dies, Warlocks gain 1% damage for 30 seconds.
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Ritualistic - Players that participate in a Ritual gain a Ritualist buff that allows them to change their talents while out of combat, plus a unique benefit depending on the Ritual. (this is to encourage people to click!)
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Taskmaster (new passive) – Each pet provides a different buff/aura (see below). The gains to Crit, Haste, Versatility, & Mastery are given to allies - amounts are doubled for other Warlocks & Demon Hunters and halved for Priests & Paladins.
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Armors - There are now a selection of “armors” that locks can choose from and have 1 active at a given time, with some custom for each spec. More details below.
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Banish - can now be cast on any target, banishing them to the nether realm. Banished targets can move in the nether realm but can’t interact with targets in the earthen realm. (like the PvP trinket)
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Ritual of Summoning - Ritualists receive a Portal Stone that lasts for 2 hours. Use the Portal Stone out of combat to channel for 5 seconds to port to the Warlock. (basically a temporary Hearthstone that makes the Warlock an Inn).
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Ritual of Doom - Ritualists also receive a Doom Stone that can be used to cast Doom on themselves, which increases damage dealt to targets with less than 20% life by 0.5% for every 1% of life the caster is missing and deals 3.3% of max life in damage per second. Using a Doom Stone has a 0.1% chance to summon a Doom Guard to fight for you and a 0.01% chance to turn you into a Doom Guard for 30 seconds, killing you afterwards and a 0.01% chance to kill you instantly when used.
PETS – UPDATED ABILITIES & AURAS
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Imp - Aura increases Crit by 1% & extends the duration of Immolate by 0.5 Seconds per fireball. The Imp’s damage is increased by 1% per second for every second the imp is standing still
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Succubus - Increases Mastery by 1% & applies a dot that increases Leech by 10%. Damage increased by 20% when attacking from behind.
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VW - Increases Versatility by 1% & reduces c/d of Mortal Coil by 10 seconds. Attacks cleave.
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Felhunter - Increases Haste by 1% & extends duration of Curses by 0.5 seconds per attack. Damage increased against targets with mana.
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Doomguard - all of the above
SPECC DESIGN PHILOSOPHY - Affliction should be about debuffing. IMO this is a perfectly fine trade off with doing reduced damage. Some may not like the idea of it, but for damage we have two other specs and plenty of other classes.
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The intent is that Drains, DoTs, & Curses would be the core of the kit. Assume damage would be toned down from what it is on live to account for the increased functionalities
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Curses are more powerful for affliction
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There are more options for Curses with Affliction
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Affliction can apply multiple Curses
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Curses have a separate GCD
** BASELINE FOR AFFLICTION **
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Shadow Bolt
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**CoEx - same as live
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Nightfall - Now baseline
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Corruption/SoC
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Drains - Life, Soul
** AFFLICTION NEW & UPDATED BASELINE ABILITIES** -
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Cursed Phylactery (new resource mechanic)- Resource changed from 5 Soul Shards to a phylactery. You now gain souls from enemies/allies dying, Drains, Haunt, Fear, Mortal Coil, & Howl of Terror. The Phylactery can hold 0-33 Souls from the start
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Anima Impedimenta - as the phylactery fills up, souls form a barrier around the warlock a that absorbs non-self-healing by 1% and increases damage by 0.5% per soul
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Anhedonia (new passive) - Drains, Phantom Singularity, Burning Shadows, Curses, Cripple, and Mortal Coil apply stacks of Anhedonia, which reduce health & resource regeneration on the target by 1% and absorb 0.5% of non-self-healing, stacking up to 66 times, 9 second duration.
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Dark Arts (new passive)- Affliction Warlocks’ Curses are now an AoE targeted ability, and they can now apply 2 Curses to a target. Each Curse increases damage & leech against the target by 3%.
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Curse of Recklessness/CoR (new functionality) – Enrages the target, forcing them to attack the nearest target for 3 seconds. Target gains 9% increased attack speed, crit chance, & crit damage. 45 sec c/d
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Curse of the Deceiver/CoDe (new ability) - Reduces the maximum range of your target’s spells & abilities by 6 yards
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Burning Shadows (replaces burning rush) – Same as live, but now also leaves a trail of Shadowflame that damages, applies a stacking Anhedonia debuff, and increases
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Soul Tap – Replaces Life Tap. Lose 21% of your max health to instantly deal damage inversely related to the remaining damage of your dots on the target and refreshes the duration of all dots & curses on the target and all nearby enemies. If the target dies the cooldown is reset. Instant. 15 sec cooldown.
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Unstable Affliction (now passive) - When a target is afflicted with a Curse, Agony/Doom, Corruption, & Immolate, your Drains, Mortal Coil, & Fear/Howl of Terror have a chance to detonate, dealing AoE damage & silence 6 yards around the target, based on the Warlock’s crit chance. Dispelling a dot has a chance to deal 300% of the damage of all dots on the target to the dispelled. The number of souls in the phylactery and each Curse applied to the target increase this chance.
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Ritual of Souls - Requires the Warlock & 5 allies (this is intended for raids). Opens a maw of shadows that periodically releases unstable souls that slowly wander/meander in the direction of the Warlock for 5 minutes. If an ally destroys one of these souls they and the warlock lose 2% of their max health and gain 3% damage and haste for 20 seconds. This effect stacks up to 3 times. If the ally is a warlock or demon hunter soul the amounts are doubled//halved for Pallies/Priests. Has a tiny chance to summon Gorefiend who will attack nearby enemy targets, if an ally who helped summon Gorefiend dies, there is a chance they will become a corrupted soul inside Gorefiend upon death and can fight to return to life with 70% max health and debuff that applies 20 stacks of anhedonia and cannot be removed except by dying or killing a raid boss.
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Dark Ritual - Requires the Warlock & 4 allies. One Ritualist will receive the Dark Ritual buff which increases Haste by 6% but makes them take 18% of the damage the Warlock receives when standing within 6 yards of the Warlock. There is a 1% chance that all Ritualists will receive the Dark Ritual buff, this chance is increased by the Warlocks Mastery. Ritualists also receive a Shadow Stone, which increases Leech by 30% for 120 seconds, but applies 66 stacks of Anhedonia. Shares a cooldown with Healthstones.
ARMORS- You can pick one of these to be active at a given time.
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Demon Skin - Stamina & self-healing increased by 33% but armor reduced by 33%
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Demon Hide - Self-healing abilities give you a shield when you are at maximum health (Same as Soul Leech now, just renamed)
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Demon Armor - You Fear an enemy and gain 300% armor for 5 seconds when you are hit. Can occur once every 30 seconds
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Phrygian Cap - Reduces armor & Stamina by 15%, but CoDe becomes a 60yard aura and being attacked automatically applies either CoW or CoT to the attacker.
TALENTS - I started making this before the talent tree changes for Dragonflight were announced so it still follows the same lame talent tier setup as live, but the ideas are there.
Row 1
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Sacrifice - Activate to instantly kill your pet and fill your Phylactery by 50%. Also increases Mana, Rage, Chi, Souls, Energy, Maelstrom, or Focus for nearby allies
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Drain Hope - Replaces Drain Soul & Drain Life, combines them, and now also drains Mana, Rage, Chi, Souls, Energy, Maelstrom, or Focus into Souls for the Warlock
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Sadist (new passive) – DoT’s and drains deal 0.33% increased damage for every 1% life the target is missing.
Row 2
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Doom (Replaces Agony) – increased damage & target receives damage forever, but only 1 target can be afflicted by Doom at a time. If the target dies while Doom is active then there is a 0.1% chance to summon a Doomguard. There is also 0.01% chance to summon a Doomguard every time Doom deals damage.
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Siphon Life - Changed to now passively apply Siphon Life when Corruption & any Curse are applied to a target
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Abs Corruption - same as live
Row 3
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Midnight - (Replaces Nightfall) - procs more often, makes instant cast shadow bolts not affected by GCD and applies to Seed of Corruption/Vile Taint, Phantom Singularity, Immolate, & Fear as well
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Betrayer’s Bargain (passive)- Increases self-healing, duration, & the magnitude of Curses/debuffs by 100%, and makes Drains leech primary & secondary stats from the target for 9 seconds, but decreases armor by 66% & damage by 66% (the idea here is that your role focuses more on leeching)
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Dutiful Servant - Your pets will also apply a curse instead of their secondary ability. Imp CoR; VW CoW; Succ CoIm; Fel CoT
Row 4
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Siphon Soul - if Drain Soul/Life/Hope finishes, continue draining automatically for 18% effectiveness for each Curse on the target, as long as the target is afflicted by one of your Curses, but you can now move and cast other spells
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Contagion - Your dots, Curses, Fear/HoT have a chance to spread to nearby targets. Will not replace an existing Curse on a target. SoC detonation increase this chance. Increased chance based on Mastery.
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Cursed Seed - SoC now applies either CoT or CoW
Row 5
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Haunt (Replaces Shadowbolt) - deals 120% of Shadowbolt’s damage, makes the target take 10% increased damage from the Warlocks DoTs, and applies Corruption.
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Phantom Singularity - (Replaces Shadowbolt) Same as live, but now deals damage up front as well.
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Howl of Terror - (Replaces Fear) - Causes all enemies within a targeted 3 yard radius and within 6 yards of the Warlock to run in Fear for up to 9 seconds. Damage may break this effect. When Fear is broken, the target is disarmed & silenced for 3 seconds and CoEx is automatically applied. May replace an existing Curse.
Row 6
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Vile Taint (replaces Seed of Corruption) – Same as live, but deals SoC damage up front and applies Corruption to all targets in the area
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Masochist – Soul Tap now also reduces the cooldown of your abilities by 1 second & increases the duration of your DoT’s by 6 seconds.
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Torment - Increase Drain Soul damage by 100% and extends the duration of dots, but deals 15% of the Drain damage to the Warlock.
Row 7
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Curse of Gluttony/CoG – Increases the mana & resource cost of abilities by 15%
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Curse of Thumbs/CoTh - Replaces CoW. Now also disarms an enemy for 6 seconds when cast. Additionally, enemies afflicted have a chance to disarm themselves for 3 seconds while attacking or using an ability afterwards.
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Curse of Impotence/CoI - Reduces critical strike chance & damage by 50%
Row 8
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Cripple - If your target has CoW or CoT and CoEx on them, your Drains reduce the target’s stamina & armor by 33% and move/attack/cast speed by 99% over 6 seconds, returning to normal over 6 seconds.
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Grandmaster - The Warlock can now apply a 3rd curse (means Affliction can have up to 4 if pet talent is taken), and Drains apply to all Cursed enemies for up to 66% of their damage.
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Witchcraft - Curses are enhanced. They are stronger, have 100% increased duration, and gain some unique benefits
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- CoW/Th - Reduces primary stat by 15% for the first 6 seconds and increases time between attacks by an additional 15%
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- CoT - Silences the target for 3 seconds and increases cast time by an additional 15%
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- CoR - Now stuns all nearby targets for 1 second, and increases attack speed, crit chance, & crit damage by an additional 3%
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- CoEx - Reduce movement speed by an additional 10% and increases the cooldown of any ability used by 6 seconds
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- CoDe - Reduce range of abilities by an additional 3 yards and adds Kil’jaeden Blackout effect for the first 3 seconds.
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- CoI - Reduces critical strike chance & damage by an additional 10% and adds 15 stacks of Anhedonia
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- CoG - Increases the mana and resource cost of abilities by an additional 6% and reduces maximum mana/resource by 15%
PvP Talents
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Curse of Rage - Rearranges the abilities on the target’s action bars for 10 seconds (kek)
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Curse of the Old Gods - 20 seconds - makes the target appear as an enemy to allies and makes all enemies appear like the warlock who curse them
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Curse of Mirrors - A target with CoM will swap places with your Demonic Circle or another target with CoM
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Cover of the Damned (passive applies to all Warlock Armors) – being damaged reduces the cooldown of Mortal Coil, Demonic Circle, Gate, & Howl of Terror. Can only occur once every 60 seconds
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Volatile Affliction (Replaces Unstable Affliction) - Dispelling a warlock DoT, removing a curse has a 1-33% chance to silence a target for 0-15 seconds, and deal 0-600% of the remaining damage instantly. Removing/dispelling Fear or Howl of Terror has a 1-33% chance of Fearing the dispeller.
