Rant on DPS

This is just me complaining. I play a warlock and have since the burning crusade expansion. I love the warlock, I love the idea and the play style. I have many things I wish for such as the ability to get new pet demons like hunters can, but for the most part I am happy.

Except for one thing. Where is the warlock love? We are the least dominant class in pvp, and although I do decent damage in pve I question my purpose when pretty much every other class can keep up with me. Now that everyone can be dps why am I not playing a class that can do other roles as well?


I ran VOA today in both 25 and 10 man, and had issues with both. While my dps is where I expected it to be, at 3k, I had problems with two other issues. The first was the 10 man VOA. I am doing a solid 3k dps, my job as we have a 5 min enrage timer when I draw aggro away from the tank. Granted our main tank knew what he was doing the problem was our off tank who I found out was new when he got the achievement for VOA when we completed. Since the tanks need to switch when one gets eaten, it is essential that both tanks remain at the top of the meters.

I survive by luck and some quick healing. So i move off to the side, regain all my health and mana, fill my imp back to full health, and blow my one threat reducing talent which is usable every 5 mins and costs a soul shard. Then I start up again with my dps which has in the mean time dropped from 3k to 2.3k. Fifteen seconds later I pulled aggro again and the healers weren't able to keep me alive this time. Although I died we still completed I still ranked third for overall damage and first for dps.

I guess I am irritated that unless I have a good tank I am going to die. I can slow down my dps, but the problem lies more with my crit chance which is static at 35% and can go higher depending on party make up. All it takes is a string of crits and I easily blow past bad tanks on the threat meter. Perhaps it is more my fault as I have gotten used to running with some excellent tanks that can out threat me no matter what I do, but part of me wants a more reasonable threat reduction like the hunters feign death or the priest fade.

My second gripe has to do with the VOA 25 man, I had no issues with threat and ran with an excellent group in terms of dps, tanking and heals. At the end of the fight I ranked 6th in dps and overall damage with my dps in the 3k range. My issue was that our main tank ranked right behind me. Yeah he was a death knight.

Our frost spec'd tank hit 3k dps. In fact the top 5 dps were 3 hunters and two death knights, followed by me and then our main tank another death knight. I am slightly saddened that I can't keep up with hunters, but I keep telling myself that they must be better geared then me. My gear averages out to only item level 200, its mostly epic but could be better. I tell myself that if I was wearing ilvl 213 or 226 gear I would be able to hit the 4k dps that hunters seem to hit so easily.

I think I am lying to myself. I have yet to see a warlock in my party out dps me. My problem has less to do with the hunters which are also a pure class like myself then with the death knights, which are able to be both tanks and dps. What really gets me is that they can out dps me as a tank (almost). What is my role really? Why not take four death knight tanks and a healer? They dps as well as me and take a lot less damage if they take aggro.

While I am at it, they kick my but in pvp too. Maybe I should just reroll a death knight.