Affliction 3.3.5 PVE DPS
Introduction
Affliction warlock is not one of the Skada/Recount topper RDPS classes (like mage) but when it comes to multi doting it becames one of the best. Afflictions multi doting ability is what makes this spec unique and strong in many fights of ICC. Also affliction needs a lot of time to build-up its DPS (as the burst is low) but by the time you get to 35% you'll get a big jump in DPS then under 25% you'll be able to jump up 3-4 places on charter!
Talent
This is the highest singlet-target DPS talent.
For multi-doting you want to change from Improved Life Tap to Curse of Agony. (On single target you would want to use Curse of Doom when the fight is longer than a minute (I'll explain later))
Glyphs
1. Major Glyphs
- Glyph of Quick Decay Your haste now reduces the time between periodic damage ticks of your Corruption spell.
- Glyph of Life Tap When you use Life Tap or Dark Pact, you gain 20% of your Spirit as spell power for 40 sec.
- Glyph of Haunt The bonus damage granted by your Haunt spell is increased by an additional 3%.
2. Minor Glyphs
- Glyph of Drain Soul Your Drain Soul ability occasionally creates an additional soul shard.
Enchants
Head - Arcanum of Burning Mysteries +30 spell power +20 crit
Shoulder - Greater Inscription of the Storm +24 spell power +15 crit
Cloak - Greater Speed +23 haste
Chest - Major Spirit +18 spirit
Powerful Stats +10 all stats
Bracers - Superior Spellpower +30 spell power
Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower +28 spell power
Waist - Eternal Belt Buckle +1 belt socket
Legs - Brilliant Spellthread +50 spell power +20 spirit
Boots - Icewalker +12 hit +12 crit if you need hit otherwise
Great Spirit +18 spirit
Staff - Greater Spellpower +81 spell power, if you can, never use a staff you lose a lot of spellpower if you use staves.
One-handed - Mighty Spellpower +63 spell power
Gems
Meta: - [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] +21 Critical Strike Rating and 3% Increased Critical Damage
Red: - [Runed Cardinal Ruby] +23 spell power
Yellow: - [Reckless Ametrine] +12 spell power +10 haste
Blue: - [Purified Dreadstone] +12 spell power +10 spirit (Only use this when socket bonus is +7 sp or more (under than that use +23 sp gem) and also you will need 2 blue gems to activate your meta gem.
Stat Priorities
1. Hit rating: The most important stat ofc. You need 17% hit chance in total but you have 3% from talent ( Suppression ), 3% from Shadow Priests ( Misery ) or Balance Druids ( Improved Faerie Fire ), and on alliance side you can have a Draenei in your group giving you 1% hit chance ( Heroic Presence ). This means that for ICC25, RS25 you will most probably have at least one Balance Druid or Shadow Priest, you need 11% hit chance, with a Draenei in your group it is 10%.
2. Spell Power
3. Haste
4. Crit
5. Spirit
Professions
1. Tailoring: Gives you an average of 98 Spell Power
2. Jewelcrafting: +48 Spell Power
3. Leatherworking/Enchanting/Inscription/Blacksmithing: +46 Spell Power
4. Skinning: +40 Crit Rating
5. Engineering: +340 Haste for 15 seconds on 1 minute cooldown
Best in Slot Gear
Head - [Sanctified Dark Coven Hood]
Neck - [Amulet of the Silent Eulogy]
Shoulders - [Sanctified Dark Coven Shoulderpads]
Cloak - [Cloak of Burning Dusk]
Chest - [Sanctified Dark Coven Robe]
Bracers - [Bracers of Fiery Night]
Gloves - [Sanctified Dark Coven Gloves]
Waist - [Crushing Coldwraith Belt]
Legs - [Plaguebringer's Stained Pants]
Boots - [Plague Scientist's Boots]
Ring1 - [Ashen Band of Endless Destrution]
Ring2 - [Ring of Rapid Ascent]
Trinket1 - [Charred Twilight Scale]
Trinket2 - [Dislodged Foreign Object]
Wand - [Corpse-Impaling Spike]
Off-Hand - [Shadow Silk Spindle]
Main-Hand - [Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony]
Our version of RAWR (the last one from WOTLK) does not use Drain Soul at all meaning you cannot correctly count your DPS as the Execute range is completely missing from the calculations :( (But still you can calculate the best gear, gemming, enchanting, upgrades etc ^^)
Gameplay
Your pet always should be Felhunter.
Always use Grand Spellstone.
Use Potion of Wild Magic (2x/fight).
Use Spiced Mammoth Treats to increase your pets DPS.
Rotation
Opener: Before fight use Life Tap and "Prepotion" >> then use Curse of the Elements (if you do not have a balance druid or unholy DK in your group) > then cast Unstable Affliction > then Shadow Bolt x1 > Curse of Doom (if you don't have to use Curse of the Elements) > Haunt > Corruption (should use before your Potion of Wild Magic falls off, I'll explain at the Rolling Corruption part below)> Shadow Bolt (this is your filler, use when you are not casting any DoT)
After the Opener you should keep your DoT's always up like this:
1. Haunt debuff must have a 100% uptime, meaning you should never let it drop off from your target
2. Curse of Doom should be refreshed all the time, except when the fight is shorter than 1 minute
3. Unstable Affliction should be refreshed ideally after the last tick of it, you should never overlap it by recasting it too early
4. Corruption is refreshed automatically by your Shadow Bolt and Haunt hits, and your Drain Life, Drain Soul casts (not on their ticks!) You would want to recast it when you have your Devious Mind (T10x4 bonus) proc! (Explaining at the Rolling Corruption part below)
5. Curse of Agony should be refreshed after it's last tick
When you have Eradication proc up you should try to squeeze as much as possible Shadow Bolts to that period of time. This means you can kinda neglect your Unstable Affliction for a few seconds (maximum 3-4 seconds if it would take more just recast Unstable Affliction then start Shadow Bolt spamming) just to cast more Shadow Bolts, BUT never neglect your Haunt!
At the Execution Phase (25% as affliction)
You should keep your DoT's up just as all the time but your filler is going to be Drain Soul.
Don't let your Corruption fall off the target ( because with Heroism and Eradication at full gear it might be like 2-3 seconds long)!
Usually you can let your Drain Soul tick 2-3 times before you have to cast anything else.
To track Drain Soul ticks it's not always easy but there is an addon called "DrainSoulTimer" which plays a sound when the boss is at 25% and plays a sound at each tick of Drain Soul that makes affliction warlocks life way easier. You can find this addon Here.
For AoE simply use Seed of Corruption.
Rolling Corrption
Corruption has a unique calculation mechanic with Crit rating and % damage increasing buffs/debuffs. Corruption will roll with the crit rating you have at the time you cast it through the whole fight (for instance Potion of Wild Magic's crit) or with an extra +%10 damage on it with T10x4 Devious Mind. This is why you have to cast a Shadow Bolt before applying your first Corruption of the fight.
Also this is also why the trinket [Nevermelting Ice Crystal] is so good for affliction warlocks. At the start of the fight just before you cast Corruption you can simply use this trinket with it's large amount of Crit rating (920) and roll this corruption until the boss goes down to 35% Health...
Yes, at 35% you MUST recast your Corruption!!! Ideally with a Devious Mind proc and your second Potion of Wild Magic combining the 10% damage, the 200 crit rating from the potion AND your talent Death's Embrace that gives you and 12% damage for your Corruption.
Trinkets Priority List
