Maybe I'm Retarded...Follow

Actually it makes sense. In WotLK they will take reduced damge from AoE, so will actually be able to stay alive. Getting mana back through Imp Fel Hunter will be the only way to make him viable with Dark Pact.

I think the Fel Hunter was really the only pet that wasn't getting used in raids, and was pretty much seen as a PvP only pet. So they were trying to find a way to give you variety in choice of pets. Imp is the new Destro Pet with all the Fire changes, Felguard of course for the Demo Guys, and now Fel Hunter for Affliction. With Succubus still being used for CC, the only thing that really leaves out is the Void Walker, which is ok by me, cause he's our personal tank, so not really needed in groups.

Edited, Sep 8th 2008 12:20pm by Lathais

Ok maybe I am retarded, but I don't see the damn Talent he is referring to at all. The link he gives pops up an interface I can not interract with. What am I missing?

http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?spell=54053 - This is why there's an Improved Felhunter talent.

Avoidance is going to be baseline for all warlock pets, and Blizz Devs have stated that warlocks shouldn't be able to outdps mages (as an example) without having pets out. Currently, they are working to get warlocks away from Demo Sac specs for raiding and make pets a more integral part of warlock raiding - they definitely took a step in the right direction making avoidance baseline. They've seriously buffed both the Felhunter and the Imp for raiding purposes, as well, making the Imp the Destro pet, and the Felhunter the Affliction pet. I could possibly see the Succubus as a Demonology pet, but the Felguard will probably outdo it, leaving the Succubus as our redheaded stepchild ... except without red hair.

For raid-utility Affliction right now, I'm quite happy with the Imp. He stays out of the way (Phase Shift), and is squeezable for mana on par with a Super Mana Potion every minute or so. He also provides Blood Pact to the group, which isn't a *lot* of extra HP, but it does help. Overall though, the main reason I keep him around is for mana.

For me to swap to the Felpup, he'd have to provide *better* mana than the Imp. This either means a much larger pool (the Imp is tapped out in ~1.5 Dark Pacts), better mana regen (which it looks like this talent is for), or both. Preferably both, as he'll require more management (careful about positioning, aggro, etc...), and won't provide the HP benefit the Imp does. Plus, it requires talent points...which the Imp technically doesn't.

I should really play around with this a bit in the beta, if the lag ever calms down enough to be bearable.