During the release of the "Lord of Hatred" expansion, the new Warlock class turned out to be unexpectedly weak compared to other heroes, including the second new class—the Paladin. While other classes with their updated skill trees easily breezed through the game's content, Warlocks suffered from low damage and clunky mechanics. The necessity to stand still while casting certain skills ruined the fast-paced action-RPG dynamics, making the gameplay uncomfortable.
In the next season, Blizzard will drastically change the situation. According to the test results on the PTR server, the developers have fixed the problematic skills and significantly buffed the class. As content creators, particularly MacroBioBoi, point out, Warlocks are now capable of clearing the highest difficulty tier dungeons even with unoptimized gear. For comparison: in the current season, such results were only possible by exploiting bugs.
The massive buffs have been evenly distributed across all skills, opening up new ways to scale damage and making a wide variety of builds viable. Builds that were previously considered mediocre (for example, those summoning flaming skull minions) now effortlessly melt high-level monsters. A portion of this power relies on a new seasonal gem that gradually increases your strength for killing enemies; however, testers are confident that even without it, the Warlock claims the title of the season's absolute leader.
Against the backdrop of the Warlock's revival, the developers are also introducing controversial changes to the gear system. Mythic Uniques will remain the highest tier of equipment, but finding and crafting them will become significantly easier than in the current season.
Other details of the upcoming update are currently being kept under wraps. A key seasonal mechanic, other than the new gems, is missing from the PTR server, but Blizzard promises to reveal all the details at BlizzCon. There is a possibility that the new season's storyline will tie directly into the game's main story, setting the stage for the release of the third expansion.
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