09-30-2005, 11:21 AM
All the caster classes benefit from -resists in raids, so I don't think that is the core reason why properly equipped warlocks do such high damage. There are more buffs available to shadow than to other types, which isn't a problem with base value spells that are balanced around the available buffs but shows up as +damage gear accumulates. Warlocks gain significantly more than mages from this type of gear and I think this is the source of the issue.
For each +35 arcane damage, a Mage gets +35 damage to each five second cast of arcane missiles which is just 7 dps. That can benefit from a curse for about 20% more on average, so 8.4 dps.
For each +35 frost damage, a Mage gets +30 damage to each frost bolt - +12 dps. A few talents can boost this a bit but not significantly - raid targets don't freeze.
For each +35 Shadow damage, Warlock gets +30 damage to each shadow bolt - on the surface the same as the Mage gets from frost, but unlike the Mage this may also benefit by 20% from a prior ISB proc and 20% from Shadow weaving as well as Curse of Shadows. Oh, and possibly a further 10% from Shadow Mastery.
ISB and to a lesser extent Shadow Weaving only really come into their own in raids. If I was the one adjusting the warlock I'd look at ISB and try to make it less raid friendly while trying to keep it at least as useful in 5 man and solo play.
Another area I'd look at is statistic benefits - warlock equipment selection doesn't have the tradeoffs that a mage needs to make. A warlock with nothing but +damage gear can keep casting as fast as he can liftap; a mage will run dry well before a boss goes down.
Finally I'd look at the buffs from spammed spells. Spamming several mage spells is somewhat discouraged - for instance the fireball dot goes to waste if cast again too soon. Shadow bolt is the reverse - using Shadowbolt discourages the use of other shadow spells since Shadowbolt gains the most from the debuff it leaves.
For each +35 arcane damage, a Mage gets +35 damage to each five second cast of arcane missiles which is just 7 dps. That can benefit from a curse for about 20% more on average, so 8.4 dps.
For each +35 frost damage, a Mage gets +30 damage to each frost bolt - +12 dps. A few talents can boost this a bit but not significantly - raid targets don't freeze.
For each +35 Shadow damage, Warlock gets +30 damage to each shadow bolt - on the surface the same as the Mage gets from frost, but unlike the Mage this may also benefit by 20% from a prior ISB proc and 20% from Shadow weaving as well as Curse of Shadows. Oh, and possibly a further 10% from Shadow Mastery.
ISB and to a lesser extent Shadow Weaving only really come into their own in raids. If I was the one adjusting the warlock I'd look at ISB and try to make it less raid friendly while trying to keep it at least as useful in 5 man and solo play.
Another area I'd look at is statistic benefits - warlock equipment selection doesn't have the tradeoffs that a mage needs to make. A warlock with nothing but +damage gear can keep casting as fast as he can liftap; a mage will run dry well before a boss goes down.
Finally I'd look at the buffs from spammed spells. Spamming several mage spells is somewhat discouraged - for instance the fireball dot goes to waste if cast again too soon. Shadow bolt is the reverse - using Shadowbolt discourages the use of other shadow spells since Shadowbolt gains the most from the debuff it leaves.