Review of the Demonology & Destruction Warlock Changes in Patch 10.1.5 - Guide Writer Feedback

PTR Posted 2023/06/26 at 12:39 PM by Kalamazi

World of Warcraft Version 10.1.5 PTR – Fractures in Time

WARLOCK

Added 2 new Imp color customization options in this week’s ptr update.

Developers’ note: Customizing your demons in the Barbershop is still under development and will be available in a future PTR update.

Glyph of the Observer is being deprecated and will no longer be an available customization option for felhunters.

Developers’ note: With the arrival of the new warlock pet customization system coming in Fractures in Time, we will deprecate the Glyph of the Observer customization.Our reason for this is to ensure that each demon retains a similar silhouette across all available customizations, so that each demon and the functionality or power they provide to the warlock is easily understood by other players as well as the warlock.

Nightmare has been redesigned – Now increases the amount of damage required to break your fear effects by 60%.
Demon customizations are now available in the Barbershop after learning the Grimoire.

Developers’ note: Sayaad and Infernal customizations will be available in a later PTR build.

Grimoire of Sacrifice no longer has a duration and should no longer be removed when logging out, entering instances, or in between rounds of Solo Shuffle.
Demonology

Developers’ note:We’re working to reduce the peaks and valleys of Demonology’s throughput by depowering Call Dreadstalkers. This will allow us to compensate by increasing the throughput of Demonology’s other rotational spells. We hope to have those tuning adjustments soon.
Lastly, the Demonic Core economy has been too generous in Dragonflight. We want to return Demonology to a place where Shadow Bolt is frequently cast, Demonbolt damage feels impactful, and the number of instant casts available is a bit more limited.
Ripped through the Portal, Demonic Knowledge, Shadow’s Bite, Demonic Meteor, and Fel Might have been removed.
Fel and Steel has been redesigned – Your primary Felguard’s Legion Strike damage is increased by 10%. Your primary Felguard’s Felstorm damage is increased by 5%.
New Talent: Heavy Handed – Increases your primary Felguard’s critical strike chance by 10%.
Heavy Handed is located in Fel Might’s previous location.
New Talent: Cavitation – Your primary Felguard’s damaging critical strikes deal 10/20% increased damage.
Cavitation is located in Umbral Blaze’s previous location.
New Talent: Shadowflame Acolyte – Shadow Bolt deals 15% increased damage and Demonbolt deals 10% increased damage.
Shadowflame Acolyte is located in Demonic Knowledge’s previous location.
New Talent: Imp-erator – Increases the critical strike chance of your Wild Imp’s Fel Firebolt by 5/10%.
Imp-erator is located in Demonic Calling’s previous location.
New Talent: Dirty Hands – Hand of Gul’dan deals 8/15% increased damage and the critical strike chance of Hand of Gul’dan is increased by 8/15%.
Dirty Hands is located in Inner Demons’ previous location.
Fel Covenant has been moved to Shadow’s Bite’s previous location.
Fel Covenant is now 1 rank (was 2 ranks).
Umbral Blaze has been moved to Fel Covenant’s previous location.
Dread Calling has been moved to Ripped through the Portal’s previous location.
Dread Calling is now 2 ranks (was 1 rank).
Demonic Calling has been moved to Demonic Meteor’s previous location.
Demonic Calling is now 1 rank (was 2 ranks).
Inner Demons has been moved to Dread Calling’s previous location.
Inner Demons is now 1 rank (was 2 ranks).
Shadowflame Acolyte and Fel Covenant have been removed.
Demonic Knowledge has been re-added and is now located where Shadowflame Acolyte was.
Shadow’s Bite has been re-added is now located where Fel Covenant was.
Hand of Gul’dan damage increased by 25%.
Implosion damage increased by 15%.
Dreadstalker damage increased by 15%.
Demonbolt damage increased by 20%.
Bilescourge Bombers’ Soul Shard cost has been reduced to 0 (was 2).
Umbral Blaze now has a 15/30% chance of occurring (was 8/15%).
Umbral Blaze now retains remaining damage when reapplied.
Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible: 2-set bonus has been adjusted – Demonbolt damage increased 20% (was 15%). Consuming a Demonic Core reduces the cooldown of Grimoire: Felguard by 1 second.
Dirty Hands has been renamed to Malefic Impact.

Destruction

Crashing Chaos has been redesigned – Summon Infernal increases the damage of your next 8 casts of Chaos Bolts by 50% (10% in PvP combat) or your next 8 casts of Rain of Fire by 70% (15% in PvP combat).
Dimensional Rift damage increased by 15%.

In Patch 10.1.5, Destruction and Demonology (similar to Affliction) are receiving a handful of changes! Technically, Destruction has only received two changes, but one of them it is a pretty big one in Crashing Chaos. Demonology on the other hand initially received a large amount of changes, however a portion of them were reverted days later due to feedback from the community. Blizzard has continued to build upon those changes over the past few weeks, but we assume there is more numerical tuning to come.

Crashing Chaos and Dimensional Rift

-Crashing Chaos has been redesigned – Summon Infernal increases the damage of your next 8 casts of Chaos Bolts by 50% (10% in PvP combat) or your next 8 casts of Rain of Fire by 70% (15% in PvP combat).
-Dimensional Rift damage increased by 15%.

Crashing ChaosGrand Warlock's DesignSummon InfernalGrand Warlock's DesignCrashing ChaosInfernal BrandChaos IncarnateDiabolic EmbersSummon InfernalWilfred's Sigil of Superior SummoningCrashing ChaosChaos BoltRain of FireSummon InfernalGrand Warlock's DesignNeltharion's Call to DominanceDimensional RiftChaos IncarnateCrashing ChaosChaos IncarnateDimensional RiftDestruction FeedbackCrashing ChaosMadness of the Azj'AqirConflagrateDread TouchDemonology ChangesDemonic KnowledgeRipped through the PortalDemonic Knowledge
Developers’ note: We’re working to reduce the peaks and valleys of Demonology’s throughput by depowering Call Dreadstalkers. This will allow us to compensate by increasing the throughput of Demonology’s other rotational spells. We hope to have those tuning adjustments soon.

-Ripped through the Portal, Demonic Meteor, and Fel Might have been removed.
-Shadowflame Acolyte and Fel Covenant have been removed.
-Demonic Knowledge has been re-added and is now located where Shadowflame Acolyte was.
-Shadow’s Bite has been re-added is now located where Fel Covenant was.
-Hand of Gul’dan damage increased by 25%.
-Implosion damage increased by 15%.
-Dreadstalker damage increased by 15%.
-Demonbolt damage increased by 20%.
-Bilescourge Bombers’ Soul Shard cost has been reduced to 0 (was 2).
-Umbral Blaze now has a 15/30% chance of occurring (was 8/15%).
-Umbral Blaze now retains remaining damage when reapplied.
-New Talent: Heavy Handed – Increases your primary Felguard’s critical strike chance by 10%.
-New Talent: Cavitation – Your primary Felguard’s damaging critical strikes deal 10/20% increased damage.
-New Talent: Imp-erator – Increases the critical strike chance of your Wild Imp’s Fel Firebolt by 5/10%.
-New Talent: Malefic Impact – Hand of Gul’dan deals 8/15% increased damage and the critical strike chance of Hand of Gul’dan is increased by 8/15%.
-Dread Calling is now 2 ranks (was 1 rank).
-Demonic Calling is now 1 rank (was 2 ranks).
-Inner Demons is now 1 rank (was 2 ranks).
Losing Ripped Through the PortalRipped through the PortalDemonic KnowledgeDemonic CoreCall DreadstalkersAddressing Demonology's SustainNether PortalPower InfusionNeltharion's Call to DominanceCavitationImp-eratorMalefic ImpactFiendish ProwessDemonic CallingInner DemonsUmbral BlazeBilescourge BombersDemonic StrengthDemonic CallingInner DemonsCall DreadstalkersDemonboltHand of Gul'danNether PortalGul'dan's AmbitionNether PortalGul'dan's AmbitionPower InfusionNeltharion's Call to DominanceIrideus FragmentKalamaziLiquidTwitchYoutubeTwitterDiscord

Comment by HilgonoThanks for the exquisite write up Kalamazi!Comment by DreadfuryDKSo you're telling me that Demo's coming out of this patch BETTER? Sheesh.Comment by NagasshI often have quibbles with Kalamazi's takes but this entire writeup is spot on and nails the specs two biggest problems.

Kudos to Blizzard for making fundamental changes to Crashing Chaos so Destruction at least has options - I wouldn't have expected that considering the boring % talents demo had from it's mid-expansion rejigging, but Demo and Destro still have the same issues they've had for a while now - Madness being incredibly domineering - destruction has went from a burst spec that was THE king of target swapping by banking resources and dumping bolts into priority targets, to having an absurd mountain of maintenance buffs, Madness is the worst but Eradication and Immolate bringing a damage buff also conflate to the amount of ramp up destro has before it actually does proper damage.
Demo has it's CD overlaps resulting in an absurd damage profile which Blizzard oddly identified and then did nothing to address, instead nerfing dogs, the only notable button doing damage outside of CDs. I understand the removal of the 3rd dog if it made balancing easier, but the issue is still Nether Portal, Pitlord and Power Infusion - none of which will rotate away, unlike the trinkets.Comment by FerLuque1696Wheres affComment by DougFMKalamazi is the man when it comes to all things warlock.Comment by DougFMWheres affComment by MasterikSo you're telling me that Demo's coming out of this patch BETTER? Sheesh.Comment by warlocktankwarlocks-still the best class since 04! now if only we could tank or heal or support, but that would be too good.Comment by BrimzWheres affComment by Auzsifun fact. Bliizard nerf IH the right side of the demo tree which is all about sustained damage, and left nether portal as it is. Whatever they doing with demo this patch cycle makes no sense.Comment by DantuzzoWheres affComment by kkikzI hope all specs can have same damage profile! No more burst classes and no more sustain classes! Everyone has 2 min cd that does same amount of dmg and then everyone does the same dmg outside of cds!Comment by puxiikcan we just delete PI at this point please?
why do they hate on people who enjoy using the damage meter?
its the reason alot of us play their game........Comment by Darkness4everPlease stop buffing this stupid class already.....wtf is wrong with Blizzard?Comment by onvyrkalamazi is my dadComment by iettloppWheres affComment by BonkyI were always suprised that wowhead didnt use Kalamazi for warlock guides, he is great at explaining how rotation works and is not just about minmaxing. He cares for how the spec plays which is a very important factor.Comment by RaliathI hope all specs can have same damage profile! No more burst classes and no more sustain classes! Everyone has 2 min cd that does same amount of dmg and then everyone does the same dmg outside of cds!Comment by warlocktankI hope all specs can have same damage profile! No more burst classes and no more sustain classes! Everyone has 2 min cd that does same amount of dmg and then everyone does the same dmg outside of cds!Comment by elhoraswarlocks-still the best class since 04! now if only we could tank or heal or support, but that would be too good.

Been saying this too, locks to tank! xD
Malganis style in HOTS! :D