Affi state in 5.2

[Seanali]

Hello fellow locks.

May I ask how does the state of Affi look on ptr?
I am interested how is the damage PVE wise will lock stay as a higher dps class, I am asking this for both affi and destro?
How does affiction look in PVP did they nerf anything like mobility survival dmg PVP wise?

Thanks in advance for those kind enough to answer.

[Woeful]

The only affliction related change was the nerf to GoSac. It's power or relative power is going to be related to its scaling with high end gear. I think you will find that affliction will still be good, but you will see other classes and specs become more competitive.

[Bonkura]

I'm still doing top DPS during raid tests, but I can't vouch for the skill of the people I'm playing with.

[Deleted]

I'm still doing top DPS during raid tests, but I can't vouch for the skill of the people I'm playing with.

Ghostcrawler said something smart regarding that, something like: Compare yourself to the middle pack and not the one highest on the list, the one highest is probably overpowered.

So with that beign said, and with you saying the other players in your raid might not be very skilled, affliction might still be a bit too good. Depending on the fight you were having in terms of multidoting, running+fel flaming etc. etc.

[Deleted]

im fairly sure that affliction will still be best spec for locks BUT the difference between affliction and the other lock specs will be a lot small.

[Deleted]

im fairly sure that affliction will still be best spec for locks BUT the difference between affliction and the other lock specs will be a lot small.

This is only half right for 5.2 so far. Before 5.2 Affliction was the lead in dps spec regardless of fight mechanics even though those mechanics might favor destro or demo. However, with the 5.2 buffs to destro and demo, you will have more options to choose what spec you play depending on the mechanics of the encounter as they are more equal now (It also brought destro and demo a lot closer to affli for those players who just HATE affli or simply love one of the other two).
To answer OP's original question Affli is still a very good dps spec, as mentioned earlier in this post, the only real nerf was to the GoSac so it will still be a contender for one of the highest dps specs.

[Deleted]

neothos is right, with the buffs to destro and demo you'll have the choice to use those specs, the problem i have, is that im optimized for affliction, so i would prolly be suboptimized for demo, i should still be able to do alright as mastery is still high on demo's stat priority, but demo tend to perform better when you have a more balanced stats.

[Deleted]

Ye but the stat weights for demo in T14H (509 ilvl) are very similar to those of affli.. so hopefully there won't be much reforging/re-gemming needed to switch specs :P

[ykza]

The only affliction related change was the nerf to GoSac. It's power or relative power is going to be related to its scaling with high end gear. I think you will find that affliction will still be good, but you will see other classes and specs become more competitive.

What is going to happen is exactly the oposite if things remain the same. Affli scales much better than any other class atm (except for arcane mages pre 5.2)
so the difference will only become bigger as the gear becomes better.

[Deleted]

What is going to happen is exactly the oposite if things remain the same. Affli scales much better than any other class atm (except for arcane mages pre 5.2)
so the difference will only become bigger as the gear becomes better.

Not really, fire mages scale insanely well with gear as well - on par with, if not better than Affli gear scaling.

[ykza]

Not really, fire mages scale insanely well with gear as well - on par with, if not better than Affli gear scaling.

That's why they were nerfed (and their crit multplier too, to lessen the scaling). They may still scale well but generally speaking Aff's scaling is one of the best if not the best.

[Divinedoom]

One thing to remember is that we will have more crit on gear compared to t14, which is not ideal for affliction.

That said it seems to me that affliction is still slightly ahead, but fights where the mechanics favour demo it will be demo which is ahead. On the ptr atm on a dummy I'm actually doing more as demo then as affliction (in affl gemming and reforging). But my (limmited) raid testing experiences show affliction ahead on fights that favour affliction and demo ahead on fights that favour demo. For example affliction seems great for Horridon due to draining adds for shards (like WotE), while council seems like a great demo fight (4 full uptime dooms, extra knockback for spirit, great burst aoe for sand adds).

Destro might have it's spot as well if a fight is a great fit for it, but it's still a little behind in terms of dps compared to the other 2 specs afaik. However I have not really tried myself so take that with a grain of salt.

[Jainzar]

knowing blizzard, im pretty sure there will be some last-minute nerfs to affliction before the patch.

[Ezzyo]

So scaling is the incorrectly, overused buzzword of the expansion then.

[Deleted]

I'm not sure if affliction will stay as strong as it is right now, since there's quite a good chance that it will be nerfed.

"Because Arcane is ahead of everyone else (along with Affliction). (...)"
(Stated by Ghostcrawler in the Mage Blue Tweets)

[Hatelocker]

If all 3 specs are balanced around BiS gear for t15 but affliction scales the best then that would mean that at the start of the tier demo/destro will actually be better. Assuming something like that is the the best spec for progression may not be affi at all.

[Deleted]

I'm not sure if affliction will stay as strong as it is right now, since there's quite a good chance that it will be nerfed.

"Because Arcane is ahead of everyone else (along with Affliction). (...)"
(Stated by Ghostcrawler in the Mage Blue Tweets)

Pretty sure he was referring to live. (Pre GoS nerf).

[Cypherr]

Pretty sure he was referring to live. (Pre GoS nerf).

Man I hope so >.< Although an Aff nerf is a good excuse for me to actually take the time to learn Demo :P

[Screwtape]

If I were Blizzard I'd be a little cautious about nerfing affliction even more. Affliction was even more dominant through Naxxramas but after that tier moved back to the pack.

[Deleted]

hehe Cypherr, i feel the same way, if aff gets nerfed to the point where its worse than demo(cant stand destro, i find it horribly boring, like playing a mage) then i would have to take the time to actually play demo and learn it properly but i hope not coz i love affliction.

If I were Blizzard I'd be a little cautious about nerfing affliction even more. Affliction was even more dominant through Naxxramas but after that tier moved back to the pack.

ye, we dont want affliction to be like fire was after the nerfs in MoP where every1 quit playing it.