Originally Posted by Zendelfin

While I agree with the duties that you state of warlocks I disagree in your value assessment of backlash. I really doubt anyone with this build would ever bother to "sit there casting shadowbolts". At least the times i've had backlash I never stood around; it was always kite time and occasionally a pet or a melee got on me and I would jump and spin, get off the shadowbolt and keep running, if they were close to dead it was shadowburn/nightfall etc. With this build you always keep your dots up and do some kiting and drain tanking, it's the nightfall procs and backlash+shadowburn combo that finishes people off. (If you've ever PVP'd with a destro build you know that if a melee or pet is on you then backlash is constantly up which means every 8 seconds you get a instant cast shadowbolt) Backlash comes out to about a 250dps talent with some variation depending on crit rate.

Now, perhaps you are simply stating that currently the build is mitigated too much by resilience gear, this I would agree with. However, when resilience begins to mitigate dot damage (as rumor has it) then damage wise it will be viable.

Defensive maybe not so much. Though, there is certainly a high level of defense involved if the melee on you drops in 12 seconds as opposed to 1-2 minutes of drawn out combat (Granted, the same can be said of the warlock who dies in 12 seconds because he doesn't have soul link). Also, becoming immune to shadow and fire damage can be quite defensive.