I see where you are going with our class, Blizzard…and I like it.

My main character is a warlock, and has been since early closed beta back in 2004. I’ve never re-rolled, even through the bad times. Currently my main spec is Affliction, with Demonology as my secondary. I think Blizzard has finally defined the warlock class and has even further differentiated us from mages. I don’t agree with ALL of the changes and new abilities, but I am very excited about what’s to come.

So here is my take on the changes(NOTE: My views are PvE focused with raiding and some soloing in mind.):



New Warlock Spells:



• Fel Flame: Instant cast direct damage spell that refreshes Unstable Affliction? Yes, please! Of course you Destruction locks will enjoy Immolate being refreshed as well. And it being green fire just screams win.

• Dark Intent: The jury is still out on this spell. I’m assuming this is a self-buff since it says “target’s chance”. How long does it last? How much damage do we get from the buff after a crit? Again, not too sure about this one.

• Demon Soul: This spell looks to be the replacement to sacrificing our demons. I like what it sounds like it will be, but still we do not know what the actual effect is yet.



Soul Shard Overhaul:



I think I speak for the majority of warlocks when I say thank goodness shards are going away! I still can’t figure out how Blizzard ever thought soul shards were a fun mechanic. I liked some of the micro-managing portions of it, but carrying 32 soul shards around was never fun and it never would have been.



So now we have 3 shards that are in the UI and are only used during combat. I can dig it. Nothing is mentioned here about us being able to gain a soul shard back during combat, but I would welcome some type of mechanic to get at least one back!



The secondary effects are a toss up for me. I’m torn between a few of them. So if I Soul Burn then Drain Life I get my cast speed reduced 60%...sounds great if Drain Life wasn’t instant cast! Does this mean if I Soul Burn then Drain Life I get my next spell reduced by 60%? Again, need some clarity!



Long story short, good riddance soul shards! Bring on the resource system!



Changes to Abilities and Mechanics:



• No more DoT clipping? Yes, please! This is a joy to all Affliction locks. We can now re-apply a dot without risking DPS. Awesome change Blizz. Kudos! Haste adding more ticks to DoTs is also a welcomed change.

• So Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom are no longer curses...I can dig that. Maybe some of those other neglected curses can come to life *cough*Curse of Weakness*cough*

• Hellfire no longer dealing self-damage? Yay! Metamorphosis Immolation + Hellfire = win.

• Imps getting a DoT sounds cool. Nothing major IMHO.

• Even with the succubus’ changes, I don’t see her being used in raids. Maybe in PvP and Arenas, but she is still too squishy to be taken seriously.

• Yawn on the voidwalker changes. Good ol’ VW still will not outshine the Felguard for solo-leveling.



New Talents and Talent Changes:

• Drain Soul refreshing Unstable Affliction and Bane of Agony on mobs with lower than 25% is a much welcomed change. It really hurts my heart to see my DoTs falling off while channeling Drain Soul, having to interrupt Drain Soul to recast my DoTs, then going back to Drain Soul. Glad to see this change coming soon.

• Demon Bolt sounds cool, but not knowing how much of a damage buff it will give to our pets makes it a toss-up.

• Anything that would make my Metamorphosis’ cooldown lower is a win in my eyes, and Impending Doom will do just that.

• Making Metamorphosis immune to demonic crowd control should go into effect now and not later!

• Shadowburn might be used a little more, but only on mobs lower than 25% health and while Metamorphosis is active. Not about to walk up to a boss just to Shadowburn it without Metamorphosis up.



Mastery Passive Talent Bonuses



I find it interesting that Blizzard would put Spell Haste into Demonology and not Affliction. Other than that, nothing special about the Mastery bonuses.



Too Long Didn’t Read:

Overall, I am very excited about the changes to Warlocks in Cataclysm, mainly the new spells and the Soul Shard Overhaul. I am a little disappointed in some of the spells and mechanics, but only because not enough information was given. However, since this is just a preview, I am even more eager to see how this information progresses up until release of Cataclysm.