Tyler,

This is an interesting, provocative article. There are parts I agree with fully, parts I vehemently disagree with, and plenty in between. Well done!

I agree with your fundamental premise - that things in the game should have a purpose - but I disagree that that means it must have a role, or a niche. You phrased it as, "Each warlock pet has a specific function to fulfill," which is different than how I would put it - "each warlock pet has to be useful." When something is not useful and serves no purpose, I agree - it should be eliminated. But if useful things fail to fall neatly into niches, that doesn't mean they're not useful.

I also disagree with your categorizing the Felhunter as the only PvP demon, which is the foundation for your argument against the Succubus. While the Felhunter certainly was top dog in Wrath, the repeated nerfs to Devour Magic made him only situationally useful. The Succubus was always an excellent PvP demon with Destruction, and two changes in Cataclysm improved her general PvP utility: adding a knockback effect with Whiplash, and removing the need for talent points in Demonology to improve Seduction's cast time.

So I'd argue that your conclusion is incorrect, because the Succubus is the PvP pet AND the DPS pet, while the Felhunter has been relegated to only being situationally useful. But I don't think the Felhunter should be removed because he doesn't have a role - he's still useful! He just needs some love. (And a 6-second CD on Devour Magic again. I mean, seriously.)

(Also, he's adorable when he goes to nom on healers. Oh boy oh boy oh boy NOM!)

I think you hit the nail on the head when you were discussing the problem of Demonology; Demo locks are supposed to be masters of ALL of our demons, but they are always using the Felguard. We need a system that encourages complexity, of making real decisions about which demon to use, about making tradeoffs between DPS and utility, between passive buffs and active abilities.

We need to look at our toolbox of demons and go, what's the right tool for *this* situation? If their DPS or special abilities are normalized, then that sort of choice becomes meaningless, and no fun whatsoever.

I have a longer post on the matter, "The Lost Puppy and the Girl Everyone Hates," which was partly inspired by this post:

http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-lost-puppy-and-the-girl-everyone-hates-choosing-the-right-demon-for-your-warlock-in-4-0-6/

Thanks again for the post. I enjoyed it, even if I disagreed with parts of it.

-- Cyn

Reply