Ever since the 0.2 scaling nerf to Touch of Rancora, which was pretty much at expansion release, Destruction Diabolist warlocks have been nonexistant in rated pvp. I have yet to actually face one myself, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve given it a try myself.
How about you give it a shot? Try to balance the hero talent tree for PvP rather than just obliterating it with a 80% nerf.
Touch of Rancora and Ruination need to matter numbers-wise to make the spec viable.
Being able to cast Wither while running is so much difference for arena instead of casting Immolate. As a destro you are no.1 target for training with all of that micro-CCs and interrupts. In Hellcaller you can just spread Wither and then spam Shadowburn/Conflag rarely casting Chaos Bolts while burst windows. In Diabolist you should hardcasting all the time, even hero-talent empovered spells like Ruination and Infernal Bolt. And they are interruptable lol.
I’ve tried Diabolist at BGB. Maybe it does a little more single target dmg but still Hellcaller is a lot more viable. Overlord Wicked Cleave damage is a joke in PvP now hitting about 300-400k single target.
So the problem is not only in dmg numbers. It should have some insta/protected spell mechanics.
The main appeal of Diabolist for both Demo and Destro were the two uninterruptible nukes that it gave you access to on Mistress/Pit Lord.
Now that’s “fixed” there’s just nothing it offers to either spec. It’s tuned around being able to chain cast into NPCs and falls off a cliff the second you can’t.
Interruptible nukes is not biggest issue.
The biggest problem is that your damage ecxist only when you finish the ritual.
Destro can execute ritual with the soul burn and get some efficiency from it. Demo need to cast hand of gul’dan. It is punishable and still deals not enough damage.
Helcaster for destro is just better on all fronts.
Another weekly balance round and once again you haven’t touched Diabolist for Destruction in PvP. All you have to do is apply your balance philosophy for Marksman hunters: “Is it not working in PvP? Apply Aimed shot/rapid fire buff”
It’s not always the right answer, but a similar approach to Diabolist for Touch of Rancora and Ruination could make it viable for the rest of this season at least.