MoP Classic Affliction Warlock — Guide (Phase 5)
viewsAbout the Class
Affliction Warlock is a damage-over-time specialization: 
Agony, 
Corruption and 
Unstable Affliction should be rolling on every target, while 
Malefic Grasp makes them tick faster.
The secondary resource is soul shards; they feed into 
Soulburn so that 
Soul Swap instantly spreads the full set of DoTs. In a raid it is a slow-ramping fighter, but one of the best in multi-target and execute phases, and it brings the standard warlock utility package.
Strengths
- Enormous multi-target and cleave damage thanks to spreading DoTs.
- Very strong, steady single-target damage.
- Best-in-class execute:
Drain Soul below 20% health. - Excellent at shifting damage when adds must die without dropping the boss.
- Good mobility: instant DoTs,
Burning Rush and 
Demonic Gateway. - Full warlock utility:
Curse of the Elements, 
Create Healthstone, 
Soulstone, Demonic Gateway.
Weaknesses
- Very weak burst damage; requires a long ramp-up.
- Demands careful management of stat snapshots and DoT refresh windows.
- Punishes target swaps and quickly dying adds harshly.
- Soul shard mistakes cost noticeable damage.
- You must watch your pet if you do not take
Grimoire of Sacrifice.
Stat Priority
- 1Hit up to the 15% cap (5100 rating)
- 2Intellect
- 3Haste up to the soft cap of 15.61% (6637 rating)
- 4Mastery
- 5Haste beyond the soft cap
- 6Critical Strike rating
Hit is mandatory and completely useless beyond the cap. The first haste breakpoint of 15.61% adds 2 ticks to Unstable Affliction and Corruption and 3 ticks to Agony; the next breakpoints are 32.32% (13737 rating), then 42.83% and 56.44%. A caster does not need mastery over it. Gnomes and humans gain 1% hit from their racial, which noticeably frees up gear budget.
Talents
Rotation (Ability Priority)
The opener is a set sequence of abilities you use as you engage an enemy. Memorising it helps initiate your rotation in the most optimal way possible.
- 1
Summon Felhunter - 2Curse of the Elements
- 3
Potion of the Jade Serpent - 4
Haunt - 5Soulburn
- 6Soul Swap
- 7
Dark Soul: Misery - 8
Grimoire of Service - 9
Blood Fury - 10
Summon Doomguard - 11Malefic Grasp
- Haunt — keep the debuff up; it amplifies all of your DoT damage
- Agony — 100% uptime; the stacks must ramp to maximum
- Unstable Affliction — 100% uptime; refresh within the pandemic window
- Corruption — 100% uptime
- Curse of the Elements — apply it if no one else can provide the debuff
- Drain Soul — replaces the filler below 20% target health, huge damage
- Malefic Grasp — the baseline filler; speeds up the ticks of all DoTs
Fel Flame — only to extend DoTs during forced movement
Key Abilities
Berserking or raid hasteDark Soul: Misery
Best in Slot (BiS)
Best in Slot (BiS)Tier 16 Set — Robes of the Horned Nightmare
Tier 16 Set — Robes of the Horned NightmareAffliction is recommended to collect only 2 set pieces: the 4-piece bonus is weaker than good off-set items.
Enchants, Gems, Consumables
Enchants
Gems
ConsumablesRaces
Expansive Mind — the gnome gives 1% hit and a mana reserve, freeing up gear budget.
The Human Spirit gives a little stats.Best Professions
Synapse Springs gives 1920 intellect on a one-minute cooldown — the strongest profession bonus.
Lightweave Embroidery on the cloak is the largest passive intellect gain among cloak enchants.
Socket Bracer and 
Socket Gloves — two extra gems.
Two 
Brilliant Serpent's Eye gems give more intellect than regular gems.
Author
Fouren
Fouren has been playing World of Warcraft for over 15 years. He is an active player with 12 Cutting Edge achievements under his belt, and has reached the top 1% and 0.1% multiple times on various classes. His main classes are healers, particularly Holy Paladin.
Comments
0No comments yet. Be the first to comment!