Scoop! Leaked notes at least partially accurate!

[bonemage]

I appreciate the comments on these. You have valid points. I also don't believe all of the complaints listed in my above post. I sprinkled in some of my opinions with a overall attempt at a summary. I'm sure it was difficult to follow what was my opinion and other was a restate of a heard complaint. There was some disjointedness (is that a real word?) in my post as it was done while distracted at work (yes, I have time for this, but this post will likely have some of the same issues), and sometimes PvP is 1v1 and sometimes group. Sorry for that, you needed ESP to detect that. I'm also sure my post came across much more negative than I am about warlocks. I love them. Again, some of the complaints listed in my previous post aren't mine.

My point of comparing warlocks to mages and priests is that we have fewer effective choices in a PvP setting (mainly 1v1) as a warlock has a vast number of channeled spells. These don't work in the 1v1 setting. I listed two instant spells and discussed those. Shadowbolts are too slow and interupted too many times in a single cast to be effective. Searing pain is better IMO. In a 1v1 setting, I really don't see any issues with the warlock. My experience in dueling (limited as it is) reinforced that. I've always done quite well in the duels I've been involved in. My assumed lack of skill about myself due to lack of experience makes me think that warlocks rock. My complaints there in my post weren't mine. Sorry for the lack of clarity. I used my positive dueling experience to reinforce my statement that they are strong duelers. PvP is not dueling though. I took the time to choose my pet and prep for the fight. Slightly different than the unexpected encounter. But, all my experience supports that warlocks are scary 1v1 opponents. By bringing up the continued nerfs, was to help explain why warlocks are so negative. We have some big issues that aren't being addressed. We do however, find ourselves subjected to nerf after nerf.

Further explanation behind the duel aspect was to illustrate the sheer number of shards I burned, and the downtime to recover. I burned a pet and a healthstone in each fight. Meaning I had a 10 second summon after each battle to get another pet. Not a luxary in group PvP. No one please bring up the demonology talents to summon pets faster. One thing that warlock's hate is the fact that most feel they need to be demonology specced to be useful in PvP. Most of that tree is loaded with crap. Add a couple of shards for shadowburn and you're burning a dozen shards every couple encounters. Also, as far as not being on the front and taking hits in group PvP, who get attacked first in Group PvP? Squishies. You will be targeted pretty quickly and channeled spells, and therefore gaining shards even whe it is a possibility are out. The DoTs in group PvP are useful, especially smaller skirmishes to be sure that those fleeing only move the location of their corpse's resting place.

My personal issues with warlocks are the shards (especially PvP), and the fact that high end pets (hearsay) rewards aren't worth the risk. I love the enslave demon idea, and like the higher risk, but currently there isn't much to show for it. That is from a lot of reading, my warlock is level 52.

PvE, I have no issues. I don't feel like I'm outdamaging the mage however, and I do have Ruin, which is the talent that doubles damage on crits rather than the 50% of a normal crit. I'm sure that's what you were referring to when talking destruction based. An exception is when there are effective tanks and I can DoT several mobs. Then I think I'll out DPS a mage, but I was thinking single target. In longer fights, I'm sure my DPS is quite good, but smaller, properly engaged encounters don't give my DoTs enough time to be effective, and even Bane talented shadowbolts are a bit slow. Searing pain with curse of elements is quite nice and casting time is low. However, this is quite likely to get aggro, so I use it only when things go wrong and I'm trying to either kill them before they kill me, or take aggro off the healer, who, by the way, is tougher than I am, as he is a druid, but better I die than he.

So, to try to sum up my rambling post. I only have a few issues with warlocks, but I voiced more than my own in my original post. I was trying to be thorough (though Icebird pointed out some glaring options) in my list, as what I listed were repeated complaints in the forums. As I don't play on a PvP server, I wanted to give some voice to their complaints, beyond the ones that are my own. I don't have the experience to disprove some of the complaints as invalid. You have provided some evidence that they are not valid, and I tend to agree with you.