[6.1] Affliction Warlock Guide

[Styxxa]

@Asyntax: I've been fooling around with Affliction on my recent farm runs and can give you some general answers to some of your questions based on my limited experience.

1. Re: Soulswap: I know the Summonstone guide talks about using it with the glyph. I've messed around with that and I find almost no benefit to ever using Soulswap if you are spec'd into Soulburn: Haunt. You will definitely want those shards to keep 100% uptime on SB:H.

2. Re: Opener: It basically comes down to BL on pull or not. If you get BL on pull, I would recommend using SB:SS to get your DoTs up because between BL and DSx2 there's a really, really good chance that you're going to regenerate the shards to get up your next SB:H with <9s on Haunting Spirits.

3. Re: 3 Shards: You only want to re-cast SB:H when there is <9s remaining on your Haunting Spirits buff so it benefits from Pandemic. It's important to differentiate between the Huant debuff (lasts 10s on your target) and the Haunting Spirits buff (lasts 30s on you). The Haunt debuff gets applied when your Haunt spell lands on the target so you have to take travel time into account. The Haunting Spirits buff gets applied when you cast it. It's also important to note that SB:H actually applies the Haunt debuff AND your Haunting Spirits buff. The other thing to take into account is the double Nightfall proc we've been experiencing, that nobody can seem to figure out the reason for (though it seems to be narrowed down to the Draenor empowered abilities if I recall correctly), which sometimes refunds 2 shards for a single Nightfall proc. Therefore, in my view, you should cast Haunt whenever you have 3 shards so as not to waste the potential of a double Nightfall proc. The other "advanced" skill here would be to extend Haunt via Pandemic with the use of your 3rd shard (i.e. Try to extend the current Haunt on the target with your next Haunt cast - not always possible but when the opportunity presents itself, really important).

4. Re: Mutli-Target: I don't know where I'm getting this in my mind, but I seem to recall the number 4 floating around my head - in that you can DoT up 4 targets (if you're using SB:H). Personally I find maintaining DoTs on 3 targets (i.e. Maidens) a nightmare. So if you're in that situation, maybe you're thinking of playing another spec or using Cataclysm. Regarding "Prolonged 2 Targets SB:H", no you do not want to cast SB:H on both targets. Just cast SB:H on the target you're going to Drain Soul from - it's still going to apply the Haunting Spirits buff to you for 30s and the Haunt debuff on the target - and try to keep Haunt rolling on that target with 3+ shards.

[SpikeySquad]

Q5 & Q7 Have you tried SoC Astynax? Give it a whirl and you will see how awful it is. My best suggestion is respec if you ever have to AoE otherwise be the king/queen of ST.

Q6 Like Axxym already explained SB: H lasts 30 seconds and it increases the damage on all targets. So you want to aim (not always possible) for 100% uptime on the Haunting Spirits (HS) buff. If you have extra shards you can throw out more Haunts especially during BL and DS. Again be aware that SB: H gives you HS and a regular Haunt (though the latter on just one target).

As to using SS it is all very shard dependent. Perhaps on something like the Maidens or Hans & Franz when a boss keeps reappearing you could inhale DoTs when you are drowning in shards. Then later apply on the boss's return but only if you are fully covered with HS and enough Haunts for DS etc. As we get more haste this will be more feasible but right now I struggle on most fights in keeping up SB: Haunt and that is the priority.

Just realised that this was already covered in the post so apologies for the double information. I missed it all wrapped into number 4.

[Astynax]

@Asyntax: I've been fooling around with Affliction on my recent farm runs and can give you some general answers to some of your questions based on my limited experience.

1. Re: Soulswap: I know the Summonstone guide talks about using it with the glyph. I've messed around with that and I find almost no benefit to ever using Soulswap if you are spec'd into Soulburn: Haunt. You will definitely want those shards to keep 100% uptime on SB:H.

2. Re: Opener: It basically comes down to BL on pull or not. If you get BL on pull, I would recommend using SB:SS to get your DoTs up because between BL and DSx2 there's a really, really good chance that you're going to regenerate the shards to get up your next SB:H with <9s on Haunting Spirits.

3. Re: 3 Shards: You only want to re-cast SB:H when there is <9s remaining on your Haunting Spirits buff so it benefits from Pandemic. It's important to differentiate between the Huant debuff (lasts 10s on your target) and the Haunting Spirits buff (lasts 30s on you). The Haunt debuff gets applied when your Haunt spell lands on the target so you have to take travel time into account. The Haunting Spirits buff gets applied when you cast it. It's also important to note that SB:H actually applies the Haunt debuff AND your Haunting Spirits buff. The other thing to take into account is the double Nightfall proc we've been experiencing, that nobody can seem to figure out the reason for (though it seems to be narrowed down to the Draenor empowered abilities if I recall correctly), which sometimes refunds 2 shards for a single Nightfall proc. Therefore, in my view, you should cast Haunt whenever you have 3 shards so as not to waste the potential of a double Nightfall proc. The other "advanced" skill here would be to extend Haunt via Pandemic with the use of your 3rd shard (i.e. Try to extend the current Haunt on the target with your next Haunt cast - not always possible but when the opportunity presents itself, really important).

4. Re: Mutli-Target: I don't know where I'm getting this in my mind, but I seem to recall the number 4 floating around my head - in that you can DoT up 4 targets (if you're using SB:H). Personally I find maintaining DoTs on 3 targets (i.e. Maidens) a nightmare. So if you're in that situation, maybe you're thinking of playing another spec or using Cataclysm. Regarding "Prolonged 2 Targets SB:H", no you do not want to cast SB:H on both targets. Just cast SB:H on the target you're going to Drain Soul from - it's still going to apply the Haunting Spirits buff to you for 30s and the Haunt debuff on the target - and try to keep Haunt rolling on that target with 3+ shards.

Ok thats immensely helpful thanks! I didnt realize one was a self buff and other a mob debuff. I thought by reading the tooltip that SB would just upgrade haunt to the other version, not do both

For 4 targets would you apply the full 3 DoTs? Seems that by the time you get back to the first target for the DoTs UA is already falling off. I dont think we ever have a prolonged 4 boss fight though coming up?

Q5 & Q7 Have you tried SoC Astynax? Give it a whirl and you will see how awful it is. My best suggestion is respec if you ever have to AoE otherwise be the king/queen of ST.

Q6 Like Axxym already explained SB: H lasts 30 seconds and it increases the damage on all targets. So you want to aim (not always possible) for 100% uptime on the Haunting Spirits (HS) buff. If you have extra shards you can throw out more Haunts especially during BL and DS. Again be aware that SB: H gives you HS and a regular Haunt (though the latter on just one target).

As to using SS it is all very shard dependent. Perhaps on something like the Maidens or Hans & Franz when a boss keeps reappearing you could inhale DoTs when you are drowning in shards. Then later apply on the boss's return but only if you are fully covered with HS and enough Haunts for DS etc. As we get more haste this will be more feasible but right now I struggle on most fights in keeping up SB: Haunt and that is the priority.

Just realised that this was already covered in the post so apologies for the double information. I missed it all wrapped into number 4.

Would it be correct to say Haunt should always be used when DS is up used then? Even with 1 shard cast it and DS if trinkets proc? Or if there's 2 wait until 9 sec remaining then SB:H over trinket procs?

Yeah I ran a bunch of LFRs last night to try out afflic. DoTs and drain simple enough, but I just dont like how I spent most of the time just looking at DoT and buff timers. Also felt absolutely useless during clearing trash, I did try out SoC and hit for something like 4k with 699 ilvl :/

Double DoT exercise w Bracken + Add and that seemed hectic enough to watch all the DoT and buff timers already. Dont think I'll bother w afflic on 3 target, might just go back to demo

[Count Zero]

Tried out Afflic for the first time this xpac, wasn't near as bad as I feared. Definitely more things to watch than the other two specs, but still a simpler decision tree than Demo definitely, about on par or maybe slightly more complex than Destro.

Tried it out on a funzie heroic Blackhand, so mostly just the one target, tiny bit of damage on the siegemakers.

So far my main concern is being shard starved at times - . I pretty much only used shards to maintain Haunting Spirits, but was definitely not able to maintain 100% ... maybe once or twice I shot up to 3 and burned one off for a regular Haunt. Actually that brings me to another concern, but it's more about managing my timers - firing off a regular Haunt then seeing I'm just a couple/few seconds outside of Haunting Spirits pandemic range.

But anyway, yeah, it'd be great if Afflic had a short-to-medium cd to generate at least one shard on-demand. Maybe a slightly longer cd if it generates two or something like that. I really don't like unreliable resource generation when there is simply not a damn thing you can do for periods of bad rng. Demo and Destro, you know exactly how much fury/embers you are generating in a worst-case scenario. Afflic is always a roll of the dice.

[bio347]

Affliction is designed differently than the other two warlock specs, and I think that leads to people have somewhat of a tough time wrapping their heads around it. Both Demonology and Destruction generate their secondary resources through their general rotation, and as such there's almost no time when you are 100% totally without embers or fury to do something with. This is not the case for Affliction - it is designed to have some amount of dead time where nothing you do affects your shard count. IE, being "shard starved" is a feature and not a bug.

They could likely pretty easily fix it so that you always have shards around, but it would fundamentally change the spec somewhat. Just like with CR destro, you would almost always be able to 100% react to procs. Also, the benefits of haunt/SB:H would have to be lowered to account for the part where they're significantly easier to maintain high uptime with. It'd probably still play fine, but I imagine it'd be a bit dull.

[Count Zero]

Affliction is designed differently than the other two warlock specs, and I think that leads to people have somewhat of a tough time wrapping their heads around it. Both Demonology and Destruction generate their secondary resources through their general rotation, and as such there's almost no time when you are 100% totally without embers or fury to do something with. This is not the case for Affliction - it is designed to have some amount of dead time where nothing you do affects your shard count. IE, being "shard starved" is a feature and not a bug.

They could likely pretty easily fix it so that you always have shards around, but it would fundamentally change the spec somewhat. Just like with CR destro, you would almost always be able to 100% react to procs. Also, the benefits of haunt/SB:H would have to be lowered to account for the part where they're significantly easier to maintain high uptime with. It'd probably still play fine, but I imagine it'd be a bit dull.

I'm not asking for guaranteed 100% uptime on Haunting Spirits or Haunt. I'm asking for one or two shards like every two or three minutes - maybe even just 1 every 3. That's not gonna change a whole lot in terms of uptime at all, but I think it would make things "feel" a lot better. RNG-based dead time is fine, not always having what you need to react to procs is fine. I'm just asking for a very minimal level of control. Having a small amount of resource generation on a short/mid cd also adds in a small amount of complexity, in that it adds to the decision tree - do you burn it on cd and hope rng doesn't screw you down the road, or do you hold it for bad rng / hold it to pour it on during a burn phase, etc, etc

[Astynax]

I think with more haste it'll be better for shards. When testing on dummies I ran out and DPS felt like crap but did a few LFR and alt heroic raids this week and with the raid buffs + lust it wasnt as much of an issue.

Destro looks like you need plenty of crit to generate embers and do more CB damage too

It's a huge reason why I love Demo too, not reliant on secondaries to generate which IMO is a massive design flaw in the game of "you can't play this spec properly until you have enough of x secondary". I dont feel this on my pally but absolutely felt in afflic (havent played destro yet) and hugely felt on warrior.

[SpikeySquad]

I would say like Demo you want to know what your best buffs are Astynax and then if you do have a spare shard then that's the time. Same for DS ideally want to pair it with another buff and then to have double Haunts is fantastic great. Will it always be possible? Not at all.

Yeah I definitely find that Affliction needs haste but for Destro with CR I don't think that it needs crit nearly as much. Hence my plan is mastery and then haste (assuming that I am going Aff/Destro but who knows!) as I will not be in a situation really to have 2 sets of gear.

Yeah I also really find 3 target Affliction a nightmare but I wonder even with my crappy DoT upkeeping whether it would still beat one of the other specs come 6.2.

Count Zero what you can do in that situation where HS isn't quite due but you have 3 shards and are playing a little more conservatively is just hold it with Soul Burn.

[Cyberthug32]

For when I play Affliction I hard cast all my dots on pull. Shards are more important to have long term to keep Haunting Spirits up longer.

Btw, has anyone checked out and tested the class trinket for Affliction? Hows it stack up between the other options from the zone.

[Count Zero]

I think with more haste it'll be better for shards. When testing on dummies I ran out and DPS felt like crap but did a few LFR and alt heroic raids this week and with the raid buffs + lust it wasnt as much of an issue.

Well the testing I did was in an actual raid (heroic Blackhand). Looked at the log after and I had 85% Haunting Spirits uptime, only using a shard on regular Haunt if I had 3

Count Zero what you can do in that situation where HS isn't quite due but you have 3 shards and are playing a little more conservatively is just hold it with Soul Burn.

Brilliant, thanks for the tip. Probably gonna take some getting used to tho

[Taalyn]

@Astynax regarding multi dotting - on a fight like maidens I only put Agony on the 2 secondary targets. Trying to maintain UA is a nightmare and you have to be careful with corruption. Remember Nightfall only procs on your most recent cast Corruption. On a fight like Hans and Franz I will fully dot up both targets. Its easier to maintain UA and it's easier to track your Corruption.

[Restitution]

Regarding multiple targets, it's rather easy to keep up Corruption and Agony on all targets due to lengthy run time which allows uptime on drain souls for the dot damage buff. However, depending on the number of targets i run into a "wall" of when to cast affliction and when not to. This is due to short duration and cast time while having to stand still...you can see why that would be bad. What is the untold rule of use for this dot on multi target fights? I'v been applying Corruption and Agony on all targets, then apply all 3 dots to main target and drain soul...then refreshing dots as needed and sniping low hp targets for shards. Is this correct or am i missing something? I was beating other locks with much more gear and running destro so figured i was close to the "proper" way but always room to improve.

[Werst]

@Restitution: I found 3x targets is about the limit for sustained multidotting which gets even tighter with the archi trinket. Just remember to refresh corruption on the target you intend to drain soul on so it gets the most nightfall chance (is that still a thing the *last* cast corruption vs any corruption - pretty sure it still is) The only thing is to never let agony drop and I do like the UA glyph since it may not actually speed up dotting it does let you get the short cast off before having to move again. Just keep up SB:H as much as you can and if you still have T17x4 watch that darksoul cooldown timer as it gets dynamic (if you don't have your brain or a WA tuned to it yet) Great info is already in this thread but up to H.Archi been aff/dest and just my pair of cents...

[Deleted]

I believe that's only with 2pc T17. You can freely Drain Soul once you hreak it.

[toothreaper]

would love to get better at affliction>. thanks alot!

[Decrepitate]

Should we always make sure we're casting Drain Soul on the target with the most recently applied Corruption?

Nightfall says:
Your most recently applied Corruption has an 8.5% chance when it deals damage to cause you to regain a Soul Shard.

Drain Soul says:
When Drain Soul deals damage, it causes all of your other damage over time spells on the target to instantly deal 40% of their normal damage.

If I'm understanding them both correctly, that means our chances of generating a shard every few seconds will be substantially higher if we're casting Drain Soul on the target that has the most recent Corruption. On the other hand, the "damage" triggered by Drain Soul may not be counted as Corruption damage, in which case it wouldn't matter.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Deleted]

Gahhda said that ghost Corruption ticks don't proc nightfall.

[Deleted]

I've been a bit of a loss lately when it comes to handle high prio adds like the ones on Kilrogg, Gurtogg or Xhulhorac(sp?): How do you deal with them in an optimal way as an Affliction Lock? Dotting and Sould Draining them seems to take ages compared to the lifespan of the adds and Haunt sometimes feels like a waste since the add is usually not allowed to live that long due to mechanics... is there something I'm missing or does Affliction just suck on those types of adds (a bit like feral).?

Thanks for your input

[Duckz0rs]

I've been a bit of a loss lately when it comes to handle high prio adds like the ones on Kilrogg, Gurtogg or Xhulhorac(sp?): How do you deal with them in an optimal way as an Affliction Lock? Dotting and Sould Draining them seems to take ages compared to the lifespan of the adds and Haunt sometimes feels like a waste since the add is usually not allowed to live that long due to mechanics... is there something I'm missing or does Affliction just suck on those types of adds (a bit like feral).?

Thanks for your input

You're right on the ball. Affliction, despite being somewhat front-loaded now, can't do anything on such adds. At best you can SB:SS/regular SS to get your dots on, but on adds like the ones at kilrogg you'd still only get one tick off at best. So it's the "best" option, but still a waste of shards. Better to keep tunneling the boss as affli, or switch to Destro/demo db to some extent if you want to contribute on the adds.

EDIT: Sorry if this post comes off hostile (definitely not intended). But yeah... if you're affli, ignore the add (unless it's a long-living one like the vanguard on Xhul'horac) and keep tunneling the boss. If your raid has specific issues with getting low-health high-prio adds down, you'd want to re-consider your specialisation, harsh as it sounds.

EDIT2: Didn't exactly notice this is the Affli guide topic, sorry! In that case, focusing on just affli; Your best option would be to spend some shards using Soul Swap from the main target to the off target. It's gonna be a hit in your shards for SB:Haunt, but to be fair most high-prio adds shouldnt live long enough for you to be hard-casting dots.

[FurtyIRL]

Did you guys hear we were buffed today? Classic Blizzard