Reflecting on the Demonology Warlock in Dragonflight & War Within Wishlist - Editorial

With the sun setting on Dragonflight and The War Within on the horizon, our Demonology Warlock Writer offers a retrospective highlighting Demonology's journey in Dragonflight and shares their hopes for the spec's next evolution with a War Within Wishlist.

Demonology Gameplay Overall in Dragonflight

Throughout Dragonflight, Demonology has seen significant improvements in its gameplay. The new talent system has favored the spec, with strong capstone talents and overall good talent choices throughout the tree. However, there has been a lack of variety in talent builds, with one dominant build for each patch. This limited player choice and sometimes forced players to take specific talents due to tier bonuses. Despite this, the gameplay has generally been well received.

However, with the latest raid release, Demonology took a departure from its usual gameplay style, which many players found less enjoyable. The combination of the Summon Demonic Tyrant with Soulbound Tyrant and Grand Warlock's Design made the damage profiles more engaging. However, this also made Summon Demonic Tyrant feel like a remodeled Darkglare ability, which had lost its impact since Legion.

The addition of the Fel Invocation/Shadow Invocation talents helped to flesh out the talent tree, but one major issue stands out - Doom. While an iconic ability for Demonology, Doom has had little use throughout the expansion.

Demonology: The Poster Child of Warlock

Demonology has been the go-to spec for Warlocks in Dragonflight. It has been a strong choice for progression in raiding and excelled in Mythic+ dungeons. While Demonology has performed well in all content types, it has never been considered a "must-have" spec like other classes/specs. This strength has shielded Demonology from the lack of borrowed power in this expansion, though the spec did receive some minor talent reworks and additions that changed gameplay loops every tier.

The bonuses for Season 2 and Season 3 were particularly successful in changing gameplay loops. The ability to line up Grimoire: Felguard with Summon Demonic Tyrant felt powerful and fun during Season 2. Season 3 bonuses also added flavor to the spec by reintroducing the Doomguard and providing enjoyable gameplay in both single target and AoE situations.

Looking Forward with Demonology into The War Within

Moving into The War Within, there are several improvements that could enhance the Demonology spec:

1. Bake Soulbound Tyrant into baseline Summon Demonic Tyrant: It feels odd to have this ability as a 2-point node when it has been a staple of Demonology throughout Dragonflight and Shadowlands.
2. Introduce a mechanic similar to Shadowlands Tyrant's Soul, where additional damage or secondary stats are gained after casting Summon Demonic Tyrant, replacing Soulbound Tyrant.
3. Rework or remove Nether Portal: Change the design so that demons are summoned based on the number of soul shards spent during the active time of Nether Portal, rather than every shard expenditure. Consider adjusting the cooldown duration to align with other specs.
4. Rework Ner'zhul's Volition and Gul'dan's Ambition: These talents have undergone changes that affected the damage output of demons. A reevaluation is needed to ensure their effectiveness.

Regarding The War Within, there have been no previews of Hero Talents or the Demonology tree, Diabolist. However, based on the name, there are some possible speculations:

• We could become the servants of powerful Demonlords, transforming into their commanders.
• We may gain the ability to enhance our summoned demons with new abilities or more powerful versions.
• Our own demons could be transformed into stronger variants, adding variety to our demon lineup.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, Demonology has been in a favorable position in Dragonflight. Despite the ups and downs of the Warlock class, Demonology has remained strong. Talents tweaks and additions have helped improve the spec, and the Season 2 and Season 3 bonuses were well-received. Blizzard has worked to balance out the damage profile, although there is room for improvement.

As we look towards The War Within, there is a lot of promise for Demonology. With upcoming refinements, changes, and expansions, we hope to see a glimpse of the spec's potential. The Alpha/Beta phase is just around the corner, and it is an exciting time to anticipate what lies ahead.

Now is the time to conquer the content that came with the Guardians of the Dream update! From running  Mythic+ dungeons to slaughtering the mighty new bosses of the fresh Amirdrassil raid - all of that and beyond is one click away with WowCarry and its team of pro-players that will carry you through your journey!