Life tap coefficient, future of Dark Pact

Life tap is now working on the PTR, and the conversion is... strange.

Cost: 1490+1.5*spirit
Return: 1490+0.5*spellpower (untalented).

I'm assuming the cost is in error, as this will cause a much larger cost at lower gear levels when the return is much lower. However, our primary concern is the return. To that extent, note that the scaling coefficient IS indeed lower than 0.8, meaning dark pact will outscale talented life tap with sufficient gear.

As currently, the main consideration between DP affliction and LT affliction is which one returns more mana.

Dark pact: 1200+0.96*spellpower
Life tap: 1.2*(1490+0.5*spellpower)

Math after the break...



The break even point when LT=DP is solved thusly:
1200+.96sp=1.2*(1490+.5*sp)
1200+.96sp=1788+.6sp
.36sp=588
sp=1633.333 (repeating of course)

WOW. That's really low, I had that much unbuffed before fel armor back in Naxx. Of course, being a raid consideration, DP vs. LT is going to be based on raid buffed spellpower. Most level 80 warlocks these days have considerably more than 1633 straight off of armory, so life tap affliction looks pretty much obsolete with this change, the only meaningful downside now being loss of effective range on large bosses facing the raid, as dark pact range can potentially become very restrictive. That's not an exceptionally common situation, as so many bosses are tanked facing away from ranged and many very large bosses (dragons in general, as the tail is just as deadly as the head) are tanked parallel to the bulk of the raid.