[6.2.3] Affliction Warlock Guide

[Yorindesarin]

What were you comparing? The class trinket is a huge gain on Council.

I think I was using DUT at the time. I think I was playing wrong with the class trinket though. Quite likely the fact it was just the 705 one. I haven't really seen much info on how to play with it insofar as shard usage etc... Should I haunt all 3 targets? I'm also taking it you don't bother with drain soul at all really?

[Octa]

I think I was using DUT at the time. I think I was playing wrong with the class trinket though. Quite likely the fact it was just the 705 one. I haven't really seen much info on how to play with it insofar as shard usage etc... Should I haunt all 3 targets? I'm also taking it you don't bother with drain soul at all really?

Are you doing progression on council? If it is progression your raid will probably see a lot more benefit from you hard focusing down priority targets (specifically gurtogg) than they will from the extra damage on Blademaster/Dia. If you're able to kill it and you're meeting all the DPS checks then feel free to dot all of them up and spread haunt around (priority on your current "kill" target) for maximum DPS. Between keeping dots rolling on all 3 with the class trinket and managing your shards/haunts you'll find VERY little time to drain soul.

[Deleted]

I think I was using DUT at the time. I think I was playing wrong with the class trinket though. Quite likely the fact it was just the 705 one. I haven't really seen much info on how to play with it insofar as shard usage etc... Should I haunt all 3 targets? I'm also taking it you don't bother with drain soul at all really?

I meant what were you comparing in logs, was it two separate kills a week apart or 20-30 pulls of progression?

If you had good trinket RNG and the Fel Rage in week 1 with DUT but poor RNG, a messy kill and no Fel Rage in week 2 then it's kind of impossible to judge the impact of one trinket.

That's what I was trying to say.

[Deleted]

Class trinket vs Piston

on Reaver?
on Tyrant?
on Zakuun?
what if its HC class vs M Piston?

[zvvl]

I play Heroic CT + DSI on every fight

[Deleted]

Whilst I hate the play style of shorter DoTs I've really come to appreciate the shard generation the Class Trinket provides. Being able to multi haunt on Tyrant and still maintain Haunting Spirits and high boss Haunt uptime is really nice.

[striderZA]

Whilst I hate the play style of shorter DoTs I've really come to appreciate the shard generation the Class Trinket provides. Being able to multi haunt on Tyrant and still maintain Haunting Spirits and high boss Haunt uptime is really nice.

This so much.

[Yorindesarin]

I meant what were you comparing in logs, was it two separate kills a week apart or 20-30 pulls of progression?

If you had good trinket RNG and the Fel Rage in week 1 with DUT but poor RNG, a messy kill and no Fel Rage in week 2 then it's kind of impossible to judge the impact of one trinket.

That's what I was trying to say.

Not progression. Had council killed for a good 4-5 weeks. I think it was on our third kill I was attempting it. (At the time my binds were weird and I was trying to mouseover with extra mouse buttons, which nameplates/boss plates apparently eat as clicks oopsy). And I was just comparing my attempts prior on that night. I'll give it a go tonight and see what its like and compare it with last weeks kill I think.

Are you doing progression on council? If it is progression your raid will probably see a lot more benefit from you hard focusing down priority targets (specifically gurtogg) than they will from the extra damage on Blademaster/Dia. If you're able to kill it and you're meeting all the DPS checks then feel free to dot all of them up and spread haunt around (priority on your current "kill" target) for maximum DPS. Between keeping dots rolling on all 3 with the class trinket and managing your shards/haunts you'll find VERY little time to drain soul.

I figured that I'd find very little time to drain soul. But in the case of say haunt up on prio target + execute phase + DS up. I'd be better off drain souling instead of focusing on my DoTs at that point correct?

When we kill council currently we just zerg gurtogg down and kill him before blademasters first split. We easily manage it in all honesty (some dodgy wipes but no-ones perfect).

Anyway, class trinket - focus on DoTs and make sure to effectively use nightfall procs and jobs done?

[Deleted]

Just make sure that you aren't only comparing damage done and calling it quits. Trinket RNG at the right time and getting the Fel Rage debuff will skew it considerably.

[Yorindesarin]

Just make sure that you aren't only comparing damage done and calling it quits. Trinket RNG at the right time and getting the Fel Rage debuff will skew it considerably.

Yeah I know. I was just unsure as to what I was doing wrong. If I didn't know it was such a big DPS increase it wouldnt bother me so much but the fact that it is and I know that I expect more from myself so to speak aha. Maybe I just need more tries with it

After playing class trinket tonight on Council I can see how it can be more damage. (When I don't derp about so hard) All of my DoTs are below 90% though and I keep reapplying them a bit early etc. I guess it's just a learning curve though. Also gotta remember I can't haunt dia when shes behind me and that the boss plates swap about after blademaster split.

[jmt01]

I need help picking which trinkets to use. I have HWF DUT (ilvl691), Heroic Piston, Heroic UGoS, normal DSI, and normal fragment. Is the normal fragment ever worth using? And DSI will always be in a trinket slot even though it's normal (still need heroic to drop). So I'm not sure whether H Piston or HWF DuT is better.

[Octa]

I figured that I'd find very little time to drain soul. But in the case of say haunt up on prio target + execute phase + DS up. I'd be better off drain souling instead of focusing on my DoTs at that point correct?

When we kill council currently we just zerg gurtogg down and kill him before blademasters first split. We easily manage it in all honesty (some dodgy wipes but no-ones perfect).

Anyway, class trinket - focus on DoTs and make sure to effectively use nightfall procs and jobs done?

Yeah pretty much. Focusing on DoTs will give you most overall and is honestly what I think is best for this fight IF (and only if) you're not struggling with the Gurtogg burn. In the Gurtogg execute I usually let my dots drop on the other bosses but that's just to help make sure we only get 2 stacks of gurtogg debuff.

[Zaroch]

Yeah pretty much. Focusing on DoTs will give you most overall and is honestly what I think is best for this fight IF (and only if) you're not struggling with the Gurtogg burn. In the Gurtogg execute I usually let my dots drop on the other bosses but that's just to help make sure we only get 2 stacks of gurtogg debuff.

I take the middle road and just keep Agony on the other two bosses during Gurtogg execute.

[Yorindesarin]

Yeah pretty much. Focusing on DoTs will give you most overall and is honestly what I think is best for this fight IF (and only if) you're not struggling with the Gurtogg burn. In the Gurtogg execute I usually let my dots drop on the other bosses but that's just to help make sure we only get 2 stacks of gurtogg debuff.

Yeah. It's just a bit odd having DoTs roll off so soon. It's nice having agony tick up quicker etc. If I get my DoT up times back up to 90-95% I should see a pretty decent damage increase. I actually like affliction this way... it's an actual DoT class again... Just a shame that the 4pc/2pc is drain soul oriented and that to be a DoT class we have to sacrifice 25% or more of our DoTs durations.. The nightfall procs are really nice though.. I think being at 29% haste really increased the efficiency of procs I get with class trinket compared to before so to speak. I'd rather play affi on every fight if I legitimately could.. Destro is so zzz.

[Deleted]

I need help picking which trinkets to use. I have HWF DUT (ilvl691), Heroic Piston, Heroic UGoS, normal DSI, and normal fragment. Is the normal fragment ever worth using? And DSI will always be in a trinket slot even though it's normal (still need heroic to drop). So I'm not sure whether H Piston or HWF DuT is better.

Piston+DUT for st patchwerk, if the fight is longer/you cant ds turret swap DUT for UGoS, for council or velari go with class trinket/Piston or DUT

[deadlydonkey]

The lack of consensus on the best affliction trinkets is a real struggle for me. I have geared my affliction warlock mainly using Ask Mr Robot's default Affliction warlock weights, and it's gone really well so far - my DPS is easily what it should be considering my ilvl, but trinkets completely confuse me.

It seems that wherever I look, there is a different opinion on what trinkets I should be using, and even if I simcraft it myself I can get completely different results depending on my weighting.

I was following Ask Mr Robot, which recommends the class trinket as BiS, and UGoS as 2nd BiS - I didn't have the class trinket so I was actually using Heroic DSI and normal UGoS, and my DPS was just fine.

I now have the normal Fragment, so I've switched my UGoS for that, and my DPS hasn't increased - if anything, it's reduced. I also really don't like the playstyle of shorter DoTs - it seems to go against our tier bonuses, and everything about how the class is supposed to be structured.

I guess I'm just looking for some concrete confirmation on what trinkets I should be using, and what I should be aiming for, and whether the class trinket is really as terrible as it seems. I currently own:

Heroic Darmac's Unstable Talisman
Heroic Desecrated Shadowmoon Insignia
Normal Fragment of the Dark Star
Normal Unblinking Gaze of Sethe with socket
Normal Prophecy of Fear
Mythic Warforged Blackiron Micro Crucible

Is there a general agreement on what trinkets I should be using, or is it completely open to debate? I'm talking about real raid usage, not patchwerk style perfect world dps, vs single target and vs multi-targets. Currently I'm leaning towards using my hc DSI and my normal UGoS, with the goal of using my three tokens a week to try and get the hc UGoS (I already have all the gear I need from hc besides trinkets).

[Deleted]

use your coins to get class trinket hc instead, and start doing kazzak every week aswell, that trinket is a beast actually

[Yorindesarin]

Is there a general agreement on what trinkets I should be using, or is it completely open to debate? I'm talking about real raid usage, not patchwerk style perfect world dps, vs single target and vs multi-targets. Currently I'm leaning towards using my hc DSI and my normal UGoS, with the goal of using my three tokens a week to try and get the hc UGoS (I already have all the gear I need from hc besides trinkets).

Generally speaking... Multi DoT fights with 3+ targets constantly up (council) are class trinket. Everything else should really be piston (after all you are playing affi for ST boss damage). At least as far as I understand. It's the way I tend to play affi currently. (And I play it quite often on fights where I could destro instead since we have them on farm now) Generally speaking... It really lands on whatever you have available to you. DSI obviously being the best choice 100% of the time for one slot. The other slots really quite interchangeable... But depends greatly on what you need/prefer. Hence the no way to really say "this ones better" other than trawling through logs on every single fight/looking at sims for all the different match ups...

[Octa]

Is there a general agreement on what trinkets I should be using, or is it completely open to debate? I'm talking about real raid usage, not patchwerk style perfect world dps, vs single target and vs multi-targets. Currently I'm leaning towards using my hc DSI and my normal UGoS, with the goal of using my three tokens a week to try and get the hc UGoS (I already have all the gear I need from hc besides trinkets).

A few of us (locks who frequent these forums, not necessarily the best locks of all time haha) have been using class trinket and DSI for a while now despite sims originally saying that class trinket was pretty lackluster. I'm not going to say "It is 100% certain that class trinket is better than x" because I don't want someone coming in with a sim showing it 100 DPS behind and calling me a liar but I will say that even on single target I find heroic class trinket to be really strong. The quality of life it brings in regard to shard generation/haunt/Haunting Spirits uptime is worth it alone for me. It allows you to be more aggressive with shards and Haunting Spirits isn't an issue with the class trinket. I am a HUGE advocate of class trinket and have only taken it off a few times since I got the heroic one to test out other trinkets.

[Woz]

The lack of consensus on the best affliction trinkets is a real struggle for me. I have geared my affliction warlock mainly using Ask Mr Robot's default Affliction warlock weights, and it's gone really well so far - my DPS is easily what it should be considering my ilvl, but trinkets completely confuse me.

There is consensus on what trinkets Affliction can use and they all give fairly similar results:

1. DSI (the only trinket that won't change ever)
2. Fragment
3. CSP
4. DUT
5. Piston

#'s 2-5 are pretty equal in terms of DPS unless you have a Mythic Fragment, otherwise it's whatever you think will be better for you. Fragment usually gives more shards over time and is better for multi-dotting, CSP/Piston are good static options if you only want to pay attention to one trinket proc and DUT is usually the go-to on short duration single target fights (Fel Lord for example).

PoF and UGoS are both equally horrible for Affliction, BMC isn't bad but the other trinkets are just better.