Blizzard have given players a preview of the upcoming 10.1.5 PTR build where they are giving Demonology some buffs after the very bad reaction the community had to recent changes.
While Affliction and Destruction are also getting some changes, Demonology is the star of the show, as it will be receiving many changes to compensate for the recent massive nerfs. Let’s take a look!
Warlocks (Source)
Greetings Warlocks,
We’ve been reading through the feedback provided over the past week and want to provide an update with a look at the changes you’ll see in the next PTR build.
Affliction
Unstable Affliction damage increased by 10%.
Seed of Corruption’s cast time has been reduced to 2 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
Demonology
Shadowflame Acolyte has been removed.
Fel Covenant has been removed.
Demonic Knowledge has been re-added and is now located where Shadowflame Acolyte was.
Demonic Knowledge now more reliably procs at a 15% chance.
Shadow’s Bite has been re-added and is now located where Fel Covenant was.
Hand of Gul’dan damage increased by 25%.
Implosion damage increased by 15%.
Call Dreadstalkers 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.
2-piece tier set bonus adjusted – Demonbolt damage increased 20% (was 15%). Consuming a Demonic Core reduces the cooldown of Grimoire: Felguard by 1 second. This has no effect in PVP combat.
Dirty Hands has been renamed to Malefic Impact.
Destruction
Crashing Chaos 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%.
Ripped through the Portal
Regarding Demonology, these adjustments are being made to compensate for Ripped through the Portal not returning to the Demonology talent tree. We want talents to be competitive options against one another and, given the synergistic value of Ripped through the Portal, it’s very difficult for us to adjust it in a way that it becomes an option rather than the right choice.
Demonic Cores
The removal of Demonic Knowledge, Demonic Meteor, and Ripped through the Portal was too much of a push in the direction of reining in Demonology’s mobility. Demonbolt is a cool spell that enables Demonology to be reactive. We don’t want to create a drought of Demonic Cores, but at the same time we don’t want it to be the only generator you cast. By re-adding Demonic Knowledge, the cadence of Demonic Cores should be in a healthier place.
Conclusion
The feedback provided has been extremely helpful and we appreciate the community’s thoughts on the changes we’re making in Fractures in Time. Thank you for the insights provided and we’ll continue to watch for further discussion.
