Since the beginning of World of Warcraft Dragonflight season two, Arcane Mages have been a must-have DPS spec for Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible. But that has changed in the second week of season two and a new class has taken their spot as the top raiding DPS in Patch 10.1.
When Dragonflight season two kicked off May 9, there wasn’t a class or spec that could even get close to the damage Arcane Mages could output in extended raid encounters. But in the second week of the season, Warlocks have taken over the DPS charts, namely Demonology and Affliction Warlocks.
On the overall damage done charts from Warcraft Logs on May 23, Demonology Warlocks are shamelessly mopping the floor with other DPS specs. The only spec that managed to get close to Demonology’s power level is Elemental Shamans.
In single-target scenarios where DPS only have to worry about the boss and its mechanics, Demonology and Affliction Warlocks are undoubtedly top DPS, just ahead of Arcane Mages.
The main reason why Warlocks are suddenly topping the DPS charts in Aberrus right now is their strong tier sets and they are even stronger with their class trinket that increases their primary stats by 920.
While Arcane Mages were busy the first two weeks blasting bosses, Warlocks were diligently gathering their tier sets and class trinkets, only waiting for their moment to shine. Besides that, Blizzard hotfixed specific Warlock spells just for Aberrus, giving them a nudge in the right direction.
Unfortunately, Demonology Warlocks have a grim future coming in Patch 10.1.5. On May 23, Blizzard cooked up major changes for the spec that will entirely shift the rotation and gameplay. Although the community is overall unhappy with the changes, it’s possible we see Demonology Warlocks plummet to the bottom of the barrel in the next patch.
