When Blizzard weakened Demonology in Warlords of Draenor, one of the factors was that the spec could maximize and capture the effects of a trinket that provided 100% critical chance, significantly enhancing Doom’s potency. Following this, Blizzard restructured how buffs interact with abilities, ensuring they impacted in real-time. For instance, if Corruption were cast on a target, and a damage buff was received three seconds later lasting four seconds, the damage from Corruption would be normal for the first three seconds, increased during the next four seconds, and then return to normal afterward.
After that blizzard, it was decided that snapshotting would not be incorporated into WoW class design… Yet. However, they still implemented a poorly-received snapshot mechanic in Demonology, particularly with the Tyrant.
Tyrant’s mechanical buffs increase the damage and extend the lifetime only for demons present at the time of his summoning; any demons summoned afterward do not receive the 15% damage boost or the extra 15 seconds of lifetime. This limitation clashes with the brief lifespan of our demons, the restriction of possessing only five soul shards, and the ability to summon merely three imps at once, not to overlook the casting time required for summoning other demons.
Tyrant should enhance and prolong the duration of all demons summoned in his presence. Given that he isn’t particularly threatening—his damage output remains low even in the Diabolist tree—his true value lies in augmenting the abilities of other demons. Therefore, Blizzard should provide a more player-friendly mechanic by allowing him to extend the duration of all demons summoned while he is active.
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The dynamics of the Tyrant is very problematic, in addition to the problems you have exposed this “burst” tends to greatly slow down a spec that is already particularly slow in producing damage.
The damage ramp up is objectively too high in this spec. Often obsessive timing is needed to be able to have a “perfect” Tyrant based on the imps. All with a CD burst with cast time, unique in the game and absolutely no-sense for a “summoner” spec to have to cast a demon for the burst unlike affliction and destruction with two instant demons. Something that has been debated for years.
My personal “solution” would be to change the dynamics of the demonology burst by eliminating the Tyrant and replacing it with a very simple instant that infuses the caster and summoned demons with Demonic Knowldedge, increasing caster and demon damage and duration of the demons themselves, aka the old Darksouk: Knowledge
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Good idea, but demo is just tinkered to have a tyrant in it’s toolkit right now.
Your idea is perfect for grounds up rework of the spec.
What I propose is a fix to mess of a spec we have right now. And sadly I doubt that blizz would even dare to think about full rework because - they just don’t care about us, and they don’t wanna waste resources on us.
I don’t know how complicated it is to insert a pure instant CD of this kind compared to the very bizarre current design, in any case my idea is to have the classic two birds with one stone: an instant CD that modifies the warlock also on an aesthetic level making it " similar" to the late Metamorphosis to make “everyone happy”. It would be enough for demonic horns and wings to emerge, a blackish aura and changes to some spells (perhaps an increase in haste, in order to replace the fel obelisk). Basically the old Dark Aphoteosis graphically
p.s. I don’t understand why I can no longer post with my warlock Xanatas (I received a notification that I was unblocked from being able to write in the forum, but I had not been temporarily banned)
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It’s probably Blizzard as you’re making logical, creative, and decent suggestions on how to improve Warlocks.
They found it to be most offensive XD)
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I have a great solution.
Remove tyrant and replace it with metamorphosis.
Make meta metamorphosis instant cast and made it be just the same as current tyrant. But instead of tyrant getting more damage for the amount of demons are out. Make the player deal more damage.
This would make the whole dmg profile of DB and SB be larger.
All that is needed is to make so you can have DB do aoe damage when you cast it.
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Or instead of giving us Darksoul back, give us metamorphosis 
Hi, yes it’s a great idea and one I’ve also written about in the past here with the hope of attracting attention. I don’t like the dynamics of the Tyrant at all, I don’t like the idea of having to cast a lot to summon several demons and then having to cast again to summon one and strengthen the others. Plus in PvE you have to check the timing and imps count. Very brainy as a burst (and one fear AOE and you lose everything after you’ve spent tens of seconds to get it).
Having a Darksoul: Knowledge like it used to would help a lot, also increasing the warlock’s damage though. Ok to be a spec summoner, but not that you become a prothesis of the demons you have summoned… The Metamorphosis discussion must be closed from the start for reasons we know, but it would be enough for the Darksoul, infusing demonic knowledge, to make the caster similar to the Dark Aphoteosis of years ago (a glyph that allowed you to remain in a semi-demonform with demonic wings and horns and you could tank decently), with perhaps the shadowbolt that transforms into Demonic Slash (as happened during Metamorphosis), instant and with a CD of a few sec.
I believe it would be the best solution ever to satisfy (at least partially) those who would like to have the Demonform back and those who would like a more intuitive, faster CD in line with the current gameplay.
I would really like it if the old Demonic Fury bar (aesthetically beautiful) became directly Demonic Knowledge and worked instead of the soul shards (which I prefer for affliction). Demonic Knowledge is recharged during the fight and demons are summoned based on it and no longer on single shards
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Yes! The only reason we lost meta in WOD was because Demon Hunters coming out next expansion. I don’t really think DH players would rebel just because having a similar cd with another class that works in a completely different way.
Meta form and Thalkiel’s Consumption instead of Tyrant and braindead shadowbolt > HOG spam would bring a lot of QOL and modernize the spec as it should.
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But in fact you don’t necessarily have to transform yourself completely into a demon, it would be enough if you empowered yourself with a CD and had an aesthetic that shows that the warlock has infused himself with demonic knowledge with demonic attributes, such as a dark aura , horns, demonic wings and claws. The old Dark Aphoteosis with improved graphics, so to speak.
Surely the DHs won’t be angry at the fact that we partially regain possession of something of ours, just as we weren’t angry at having seen the antimagic shell kindly given to the DKs (the old spellstone) taken away from us along with various other abilities given away for free
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Maybe an unpopular opinion but
…
I genuinely think tyrant is arguably the most unsatisfying and misplaced spell in the entire warlock class, the problem is pretty simple, he doesn’t do anything special enough to feel good nor can he ever be allowed to be without breaking demonology.
When you play destro, casting infernal feels EPIC! you get that dopamine hit of first hitting it then knowing you next spells are gonna drop bombs. Essentially you get a feeling of payoff for using it at key timing. A big thing here is that the infernal feels very different to every other spell you use, its noticeable.
The reason tyrant cant hit that same pay off is honestly because- he legit doesn’t do anything different than what everything else you summon does, im still confused why instead of tyrant we didn’t get some kind of direct attack on a cooldown.
Right now and for 3 expansions demo has basically had the same issue where it feels like were missing a tool that brings pay off, tyrant is meant to be it but his damage is so drawn out plus non visible so we just dont get it.
Dear blizzard, remember in legion when we could use artifact to rip hp from our summons to cast a bolt ? This was way more satisfying and im still confused why that spell never managed to become part of the demonology spell list, i even imagine its easier to balance than tyrant who is forever going to be super weak anyway
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I played the BFA alpha and as soon as I discovered this new scuffed version of the doomguard was going to be a caster I knew demo will forever be trash as long as tyrant exists
Removing meta is one thing but completely gutting thal’kiels consumption for this trash ai is a complete joke
Hi, the warlock’s Burst is a further problem both in terms of thematicity and gameplay. Demonology is a spec already largely enslaved by perennial cast times and damage that struggles to increase, it is not clear why we have to give it an additional cast time summon which increases the duration and damage of the other demons. Among other things, the ONLY burst in the game that involves a long setup and an additional cast time.
Unfortunately, for absurd reasons, they thought that the warlocks’ Burst must be obtained by summoning demons that often have nothing to do with the spec (Affliction is the most emblematic case, an octopus that increases the duration of the DOTs and shoots laser beams. …). When all you needed was an instant Burst that increases damage and a haste/crit/mastery bonus.
In the case of demonology they could give the old Darksoul: Knowledge and during the Burst the warlock’s appearance changes, infusing itself with demonic knowledge (it was enough to partially take up the old glyph of Dark Aphoteosis with black wings, horns and dark aura), perhaps the shadowbolts became shadow lash like in the old Metamorphosis. This way you killed two birds with one stone, a thematic, simple and non-brainy Burst and made Demon Form lovers happier
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So, would you say our demons act like the dark soul ability we used to have? For example:
- Darkglare gives you haste (Dark Soul: Misery)
- Infernal increases critical strike (Dark Soul: Instability)
- For Demo you turn into a Tyrant and your mastery increases (Dark Soul: Knowledge/ Demonic Consumption)
- The caster then has visuals similar to Malevolence to show we’re empowered
I know we have malevolence with Hellcaller but you could change that so it empowers your demon summons by %
I dont know if the tyrant needs to go or needs to be changed dramatically cause there are people who like that snapshot gameplay but it would be nice for tyrant to not be the core of demos tree.
Let it be a capstone and give us a diffrent way of playing on the other side of the tree. I personally would like something with even more imps like a zerg swarm type of gameplay
No i don’t want demons to “burst”, darkglare is the ugly spell in the game. I’d like a CD to self increase haste/leech or damage without an octopus with laser beam. Don’t fit affliction theme.
Infernal synergy is good but need to increase crit chance, or give a CD separate from Infernal.
Tyrant is difficult to setup, require very long time, and AI is a problem. For me is better a simple CD Darksoul: Knowledge, deleting tyrant, for more damage, spell change and the visual to become darker and “possessed”
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if they had to follow people’s tastes, affliction wouldn’t have malefic rapture, destruction would have more mobility, demonology would have metamorphosis
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That makes sense to me. They tied the specs too much to the main CD demons.
That would require a big work.