With the launch of Diablo 4’s latest expansion, the Warlock has been added to the game as the second class to be featured in Lord of Hatred. Following in the overall theme of Light versus Dark and Good versus Evil of the story, the Warlock serves as the diametrically opposite end of the spectrum to the Paladin, in more ways than just one.
While the Paladin has been a relatively straightforward class, the Warlock’s core mechanics have involved more intricate synergies in the form of Skill Tag sharing, as well as long damage setups and arduous buff upkeep.
The Warlock in Season 13
With it being the new class in Season 13, the Warlock has been the season starter for many players, as shared by Blizzard’s latest stat infographic. While the class has been sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack, a few builds have stood out. The Apocalypse build has been packing a serious punch in terms of damage, with it being the highest pushing Warlock build, capable of clearing a Pit Tier 150 in just over 12 minutes, while also one-shotting Lair Bosses. The Command Fallen Lunatic build has also emerged as a very good all-rounder, comfortably clearing all content in the game while also being on the less complex end of the spectrum as far as Warlock builds go.
Clunky & Complicated
One of the biggest issues with the Warlock has been its reliance on setting up damage windows and keeping up important buffs. The class relies on juggling many 10 to 15-second buff windows before it can deal damage, which makes the class feel clunky and slow. An example of such a buff would be the Command Soul Shard Demon skills, which are necessary for activating the bonuses of the Horazon’s Chains set. Another issue with these spells is their long casting animation, which makes the gameplay feel clunky and sluggish. Other examples would be summoning multiple Greater Demons for the 2-set bonus of the Horazon’s Chain set, or activating a Sigil for the Rite of the Nameless set bonus. The class could benefit from seeing a reduction in the number of upkeep buffs it has to maintain, to allow for a more fluid playstyle.
The Resource Situation
The Warlock is unique in that it uses two different resources. One of these two resources, Dominance, is used for summoning most Greater Demons (such as Tortured Wretch and Porfane Sentinel), but it is also used to cast many of the Warlock’s utility spells (such as Rampage and Tyrant’s Grasp). While having multiple skills and skill categories share the same resource is not inherently an issue, the problem comes with the regeneration of Dominance. It being a limited resource and not generating as fast means that the Warlock needs to be very careful with spending it before becoming unable to cast any utility. A possible solution for these issues would be to convert some skills to being cooldown-based, instead of having a resource cost. A prime example would be the Rampage skill, which would allow the Warlock to jump around without having to worry as much about resources or having to choose between spending resources on mobility versus damage.
Visual Clutter
Another issue with the Warlock is the flashy visuals, which often cover the entire screen. Many skills, particularly the Hellfire ones, have bright visual effects that make it hard to see what is going on. This is especially egregious on the Apocalypse build, since Apocalypse covers the entire screen in flames. This can often make it hard to notice dangerous enemy effects on the ground, such as explosions or poison pools.
Final Thoughts
Diablo 4’s newest class definitely feels unlike any other in terms of both theme and mechanics, but it comes with the downside of being overly complex and clunky. If the above pain points are fixed, then we are looking at a very unique class that has a decent variety of build options.
