[6.1] Affliction Warlock Guide

[Zevoa]

It seems to be very confusing for a lot of newer affli players when to pick what level 100 talent so I'll just type down some general rules of when to pick SB:Haunt:

1. If there is some way to generate shards from dying adds to make you guarantee a 100% uptime (Brackenspore, Butcher, Ko'ragh).
2. If the fight is around 4 minutes or shorter (Butcher). On very short fights (1-2 mins) it's even a dps loss to pick demonic servitude over nothing due to the DG CD being gone.
3. If there are consistent multiple targets that will benefit from the buff (Brackenspore, Twin Ogron).

This is with mainly mythic in mind.
Ilvl shouldn't matter if you play properly as long as you are not extremely undergeared for mythic I.E. 640 or less or you have a low amount of raid dps making your kills very close to enrage on the longer fights. First week Twin Ogron was close to 7 mins which made Demonic Servitude a fine choice for example.

You can probably go more in depth on this but this should be the general basic rules. Demonic Servitude is generally better for progression than farm as fights tend to shorten down a lot on farm. If you still have 6+ Twin Ogron kills, 8-9 min+ Brackenspore kills then servitude should be completely fine. Also, read the "Specific Boss Encounter Tips (Mythic)" in the guide.

On any encounter I'd consider playing Affliction on I wouldn't take anything but SB:Haunt. Haven't really bothered with the best spec since week one of mythic prog, but even then SB:Haunt beat every player playing Servitude on encounters such as Twin Ogron/Kargath.

[Tramzh]

On any encounter I'd consider playing Affliction on I wouldn't take anything but SB:Haunt. Haven't really bothered with the best spec since week one of mythic prog, but even then SB:Haunt beat every player playing Servitude on encounters such as Twin Ogron/Kargath.

Yes, right now sb:haunt is superior on pretty much every encounter except possibly imperator due to length but my point is that it's justifiable to pick it under certain circumstances as a newer player who doesn't play at a 100% level. Rank 1 on twin ogron was demonic servitude during first 1-2 weeks ( good players are not loggingg blahblah kappa keepo, hopefully you get my point).

[FurtyIRL]

Yes, right now sb:haunt is superior on pretty much every encounter except possibly imperator due to length but my point is that it's justifiable to pick it under certain circumstances as a newer player who doesn't play at a 100% level. Rank 1 on twin ogron was demonic servitude during first 1-2 weeks ( good players are not loggingg blahblah kappa keepo, hopefully you get my point).

I mean there isn't a whole lot to it. It's a 30s maintenance mechanic and as long as you don't let it fall or cap on shards then you're doing it right.

[Tramzh]

I mean there isn't a whole lot to it. It's a 30s maintenance mechanic and as long as you don't let it fall or cap on shards then you're doing it right.

With lower gear levels you will not manage a 100% uptime on a long fight, which means you will have to use your shards very conservatively and if you don't have full dot uptimes/low ds uptime, sb:haunt drops a lot in value too. This has nothing to do with difficulty though, all I wanted to try to explain was when it is "OK" to pick demonic servitude as there have been a couple different posts about it recently to save some peoples time asking about it other than just giving them a "pick sb:haunt" which might not be incorrect but it's a very sloppy answer, but yeah fuck whoever is trying to be informative right? I'm not trying to downrate sb:haunt, I know it's good and not very difficult to manage.

[Norp]

first round of 6.1 ptr changes are out

Warlock
Talents
Cataclysm now also applies Unstable Affliction for Affliction Warlocks.
Charred Remains (Destruction) now reduces Incinerate damage by only 50% (down from reducing Incinerate damage by 60%).
Grimoire of Sacrifice (Affliction, Destruction) now increases damage of affected spells by 25% (up from 20%).
Grimoire of Service now summons a second demon for 25 seconds (up from 20 seconds).
Kil'jaeden's Cunning now has a 35-second cooldown (down from 1 minute).

[Santoisms]

first round of 6.1 ptr changes are out

Warlock
Talents
Cataclysm now also applies Unstable Affliction for Affliction Warlocks.
Charred Remains (Destruction) now reduces Incinerate damage by only 50% (down from reducing Incinerate damage by 60%).
Grimoire of Sacrifice (Affliction, Destruction) now increases damage of affected spells by 25% (up from 20%).
Grimoire of Service now summons a second demon for 25 seconds (up from 20 seconds).
Kil'jaeden's Cunning now has a 35-second cooldown (down from 1 minute).

These changes are interesting more so for Affliction / Destruction.

[Psidum]

mhe

/10char

[Darkoblivien]

Hey guys is there a 6.1 aff trinket list buried in this forum somewhere?

[Veterok]

Good guide.Thanks!

[Deleted]

Hey guys is there a 6.1 aff trinket list buried in this forum somewhere?

I don't believe there's one yet, but I imagine the OP will be updated sooner or later - cabana has put plenty of effort into keeping it up to date / adding boss specific stuff, so I doubt he'll shy away from updating the trinket listing.

[uhhwateva]

Hey guys is there a 6.1 aff trinket list buried in this forum somewhere?

Bumping for this, as well.

[Deleted]

Bumping a sticky thread eh

[FurtyIRL]

Hey guys is there a 6.1 aff trinket list buried in this forum somewhere?

I don't believe there's one yet, but I imagine the OP will be updated sooner or later - cabana has put plenty of effort into keeping it up to date / adding boss specific stuff, so I doubt he'll shy away from updating the trinket listing.

Haven't done any official sims but the choices are fairly intuitive — Darmac's & Crucible are going to be your strongest choices in BRF.

[Zevoa]

I don't believe there's one yet, but I imagine the OP will be updated sooner or later - cabana has put plenty of effort into keeping it up to date / adding boss specific stuff, so I doubt he'll shy away from updating the trinket listing.

Pretty sure he's stepped down from raiding, could be wrong.

[Darkoblivien]

Yeah I was just wondering if the heroic BRF versions are going to be better then my mythic Highmaul ones so I can properly optimize for funnel runs.

[FurtyIRL]

Yeah I was just wondering if the heroic BRF versions are going to be better then my mythic Highmaul ones so I can properly optimize for funnel runs.

Depends on the trinket but basically just compare the stats on them, not a whole lot of math to it.

[Deleted]

SB: Haunt is pretty much better on every right if you are 670ilvl or higher. If less then use it for tectus, twin ogron and maybe brackenspore.

I am 672 ilvl rigth now and i am not be able to mantain even a 80% of SB:haunt uptime. i don't believe that is a matter of RNG , you cann't have bad luck all combats. i think the shards gain is lower that is needed to mantain 100% uptime in SB:haunt in spite of RNG.

[Deleted]

Anyone spare a thought on wether Affliction would be a good choice for mythic Tectus with the 6.1 changes to Cataclysm ? a Cataclysm + SB:SoC would dot up the lot so it sounds like it could be good.

[Santoisms]

Anyone spare a thought on wether Affliction would be a good choice for mythic Tectus with the 6.1 changes to Cataclysm ? a Cataclysm + SB:SoC would dot up the lot so it sounds like it could be good.

It has always been "good" but the two other specs will outperform it.

[Zevoa]

It has always been "good" but the two other specs will outperform it.

Haha no. It's always been the worst choice and a terrible one at that.