Patch 3.3 PTR: More Warlock changes

On the WoW Insider Show a few weeks back I made a comment about a lack of patch 3.3 warlock changes. Now I'm not saying that it had anything to do with it, but we have seen an awful lot of changes since then. I've posted three previous articles covering some fairly significant changes to our spells, talents and pets (as well as our clothes) and here we are with a fourth.
The balancing of the different trees continues with one change to each. I'll start with destruction as it's one that a lot of people were anxious about.
The balancing of the different trees continues with one change to each. I'll start with destruction as it's one that a lot of people were anxious about.
- Conflagrate: Redesigned. This talent now consumes an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the enemy target to instantly deal damage equal to 9 seconds of Immolate or 8 seconds of Shadowflame, and causes additional damage over 3 seconds equal to 3 seconds of Immolate or 2 seconds of Shadowflame. In addition, the periodic damage of Conflagrate is capable of critically striking the afflicted target.
This ability had previously changed to move a portion of its damage from the initial hit to a subsequent DoT (in the case of Immolate). The concern raised was that this is a damage reduction as the DoT couldn't crit. Now that they have added a crit mechanic to this DoT, the damage imbalance has been somewhat redressed, though a few questions are outstanding.
If not then this means the damage drop from the mechanic currently in live is only half compensated for by this change.1. Does the amount of increased damage from criticals increase for this DoT with points in Ruin?
Fire and Brimstone increases the crit chance of the direct damage portion by 25%, if this is not shared by the DoT portion then this means the DoT is still not making up for the loss to the direct damage.2. Will the DoTs have the same crit chance as the direct damage portion of Conflagrate
If so then you have four chances to proc the effect for each cast of Conflag.3. If the Conflagrate DoTs do crit, will they trigger Pyroclasm?
More testing will undoubtedly be done over the coming week to answer these questions and fine tune the numbers. Whatever the result this is a damage increase for destruction, albeit one that is redressing a prior nerf.
Next we see a change for affliction:
- Shadow Mastery: This talent now also increases the damage done by the felhunter's Shadow Bite ability by 3/6/9/12/15%.
Finally, for demonology, Molten Core has changed once again:
- Molten Core: Redesigned. This talent now increases the duration of Immolate by 3/6/9 seconds and provides a 4/8/12% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Corruption deals damage. The Molten Core effect empowers the next 3 Incinerate or Soul Fire spells cast within 15 seconds (Incinerate: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and reduces cast time by 10/20/30%; Soul Fire: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and increases critical strike chance by 5/10/15%). Molten Core now has a new spell effect.
Another change is that the effect will now only trigger from Corruption; so no more procs from Shadow Bolt or CoA. This is likely to cause a reduction in MC uptime, especially during the execute phase. Also, interestingly, the Glyph of Quick Decay might become more viable for builds using Molten Core.
The third change is to the duration of the Molten Core effect. Previously this was a flat 12 seconds, which could be refreshed. Now it's for the next three casts of either Incinerate or Soul Fire within 15 seconds. This is a reduction in the number of casts one proc will empower but it will depend on the proc-rate as to whether this is a reduction in the number of empowered casts in a fight. Since that proc-rate is going down it does look like there will be less casts under the effect of MC.
That's not all though, the effect that Molten Core has upon your casts has changed dramatically. Incinerate used to have up to 15% extra damage but now has 18% extra damage and 30% reduced cast time. Soul Fire used to have 10% extra damage but now also has 18% damage increase as well as a 15% extra critical strike chance. This is a huge buff to these abilities, though is offset by the reduction in the number of times they will be buffed.
The changes to Molten Core make it a very complicated but interesting talent. It's likely to mean a change to the standard builds that use it -- to have all three talent points invested in it, probably at the cost of Demonic Empowerment. It is also likely to change the demonology build rotations so that when Molten Core is active Incinerate is cast instead of the normal Shadow Bolt (except where the boss is below 35%, in which case Soul Fire).
One final thing; I forgot to mention previously:
- Glyph of Life Tap: The effect of this glyph now has a chance of activating when Dark Pact is used.
Filed under: Warlock, Patches, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
theonetrueduddy Oct 21st 2009 9:25PM
I like where the new MC is going, i.e. away from totally pants, but the Immolate addition to the talent is not ideal.
I understand that it is probably to try and make up for the loss of damage we may have got on Immo before, however I think it is going to make things more troublesome.
Currently in my Demonology rotation the fact that Immolation and Corruption end at similar times allows me to use a smooth rotation, usually life tapping just prior to re-application.
The new change means that these two spells will nw no longer be of the same length, causing my rotation most likely to become more jerky and potentially awkward. This will probably will only be made worse by Glyph of quick decay.
So yeah, I like it, could still be much better though.
Nazgûl Oct 21st 2009 9:27PM
I'm loving the change to Molten Core. It may make Demo/Destro builds compete with Deep Destro builds, especially when coupled with the apparent Conflagrate nerfs.
n1nesp1ne Oct 21st 2009 9:52PM
The changes to Molten Core are just too complicated. It's too many effects jammed into one talent. Don't get me wrong, they sound better than what is already there but I'm always leery of overly complicated game mechanics. It's usually a sign that they are desperate to fix something.
On top of that, none of these Demonology changes that are going in 3.3 address the real problems with Demonology:
1. Lack of engagement with the actual pet. The vast majority of fights don't require you to acknowledge the existence of the Felguard. He just goes in and attacks.
2. Not enough DEMONOLOGY abilities in the DEMONOLOGY tree. When not in Demon form, there aren't any actual Demonology abilities to use. Instead, it's just rotating through a bunch of abilities that are gimped because you have very few points augmenting them. This is supposed to be made up for by the pet... the one you don't do anything with on most fights.
3. I'm of the opinion that Demon Form should have a melee attack that does more damage than your normal shadowbolt spam. It would encourage the hybrid melee/caster feel that Demonology feels like it is teetering on but afraid to fully cross into.
Mind you, I'm talking about PvE. In PvP there is a whole slew of things that should be fixed (like Turn Evil and Banish).
I love Demonology. The tree is the reason I made a Warlock and kept it as my main forever, but it's getting very frustrating how half-baked everything in it feels. The Warlock class is unbelievably solid from a gameplay-fun perspective for our other two trees. We are almost there Blizzard... almost...
Angus Oct 22nd 2009 1:09AM
The problem with this is how on earth would they figure out the stats needed for demon form?
Hit translates well, but then you are well over the normal hit cap unless they consider you to be DWing, in which case you are well under. Haste also translates in the current system but may not in cataclysm. Spellpower becomes AP? If so your AP is likely well under a well geared melee's AP. Expertise is not there at all. You are also still wearing cloth and clothies in melee range are usually dead clothies. It would have to be near plate in damage soaking and add some sort of melee AE survival ability. Of course then it needs a decent spread of melee abilities. Which means the Demo lock has to learn how to be melee. While enhance does this somewhat, they tend to use their spells as melee attacks. This would be almost completely a hybrid. Something pure classes aren't supposed to do.
The PVP implications of having a guy that can pound you at range, has a pet that can lock you down, or use a myriad of abilities, CC you and then when you get close turn into a plate wearer and beat on you are not a good thing for Demo. That is better than ret and look how often they have been hit by the nerf bat after some bitching on the forums.
There needs to be a balance, but making the demon form into a melee form is not the answer. It will only lead to tears.
C.Christian.Moore Oct 22nd 2009 1:45AM
Best WoW.com user comment ever?
raspybunk Oct 22nd 2009 3:48AM
I'd say destro is the only full tree. You wanna go affliction? Sweet... how many points can you afford to put into destro? You wanna go demo? Sweet... how many points can you afford to put into destro?
Demo should have had some moves long ago. Affliction should be draining instead of casting s-bolts somehow. The points in other trees should be for hit, minor dot stuff, or a spellpower buff or whatever.
Stone_Rhino Oct 22nd 2009 7:47PM
@ Angus
His point was that Demonolog DOES have a melee attack currently (shadow cleave), but it only does around 1200 damage, and on the next attack at that. Compare that to a shadowbolt that is going to do 5-10k and its pretty clear which one is superior.
Yet I can cast a shadowbolt anytime. Why is a ability that can only be used for the 30 seconds Im in demon form so weak in comparison? The fact is, it shouldnt be.
ratskinmahoney Oct 23rd 2009 8:57AM
@Angus
I don't really see that as being a problem. There's clearly equivalency between caster and melee stats. Okay, so sp will be much lower than ap for similarly level-geared characters, but the ratio of one to the other is fairly standard. In fact, if Blizz were to consider using Meta to effectively turn the lock (if only temporarily) into a melee class, they could easily place additional contingent stats on caster gear, in much the same way that fap used to work for drood staves. Hit can stay; there's no reason to change the hit cap just cuz we switch to melee for a little while. Crit also need not change as we metamorphose. Armor's not a big deal as meta already has an armor buff built into it, and to be honest you can neglect expertise or set a fixed value to it for the whole class.
I personally love the idea. I loves my lock, but a bit more option for tactical and role diversity across the trees wouldn't go amiss. Almost all other classes can fulfil disparate roles depending on spec, why not a bit of that for us? I appreciate that your average mage is too stupid to handle much more than stand, spam and iceblock, but us locks are a much more sophisticated bunch. I think the idea of a 'pure' class is overrated, especially given the ever-increasing level cap.
I don't pvp much, but i reckon sticking a big fat cd, or putting a cast time of even a second or so on Meta would be quite enough to prevent it resulting in much op, if it does at all, and it's not as though locks are already teetering on the edge of pvp dominance so...
Derrek Dec 8th 2009 10:56AM
@Angus
Methinks the stats would translate like this:
Spellpower to Melee Damage, not AP, as AP scales differently from SP. 2k SP = 3.2k melee hits with Shadow Cleave.
Expertise would come from Hit, since you need Exp and are bound to have Hit already.
+600% armor sounds like plate to me. That + Demo Armor = win.
Haste translates fine, so does Hit and Crit.
lyposomething Oct 21st 2009 9:58PM
I'm really interested to see how this all plays out. Locks were my favourite in vanilla and then in BC and i've become so sick of my DK that im back on my old Belf lock. But affliction was my tree of choice for levelling and so while i'm liking destro i'm excited to see how all three look when 3.3 goes live. I'd love to see affliction be competitive again with out having to have the most rediculous rotation ever
Urza Oct 21st 2009 10:25PM
Some how I don't think that's helping affliction.
Hailene Oct 21st 2009 10:43PM
These changes all look interesting and I'm looking forward to Affliction buffs; it's always been my favorite spec.
As a side note, THANKS YOU Mr Hobbs for your frequent and well-written Warlock posts (even with bonuses outside of Blood Pact). I know others have said this, but you're a great addition to WoW.com!
Malsi Oct 21st 2009 11:05PM
Where is the Mage hate?
Dan Oct 21st 2009 11:11PM
We don't need to hate on that which is inferior to us. Deep down, all mages know they shoulda rolled a lock.
Angus Oct 22nd 2009 1:13AM
I would think you guys would be ganging up on Rossi after his comments...
"Admittedly, it's grown on me because I keep using it to tear mages' faces off after they try and root me and run away. I love killing mages. And warlocks, wow, I love killing warlocks. Basically, it's my life's goal to bring Blood Pact and Arcane Brilliance together. In death. I want to kill all the warlocks and mages and stand triumphantly over their savaged, cloth wearing corpses. "
:)
EnhShammy Oct 22nd 2009 1:43PM
HATE mages, My Undead Warlock loves them, gnomes are the best they taste like chicken , LOL
Malsi Oct 21st 2009 11:15PM
But it's so much fun!
Sengir Oct 21st 2009 11:16PM
Sure, affliction is seeing a buff. But really? Buffing the pet damage? What an absolute joke.
Lokasenna Oct 22nd 2009 12:55AM
Compared to the status quo, where Affliction might as well not have a pet...
MasterAsh Oct 22nd 2009 12:32AM
As much I love what's going on with Molten Core, that has to be the most convoluted talent I've ever seen. Certainly there has to be another way to handle it than making it some bizarro Backdraft.