Newb Affliction question

[Saverem]

OK, so I just respecced Affliction from Destro and gained around 1.5k DPS.

Problem is, this is my first time going Affliction since vanilla so everything's new and exciting.

I got most of the questions answered from this board like >25% rotation (Haunt->Corr->UA->CoA->SB spam->repeat).

My questions pertain to <25% rotation. What exactly should I keep up while Drain Souling? Does Haunt's damage increase apply to DS's damage? Does the affliction debuff 'Shadow Embrace' apply to the 'Soul Siphon' buff of DS? (if so, then I only have to keep CoA and Cor up to save time).

[Marithas]

star off with shadowbolt>haunt>ua>corr>coa and shadowbolt fillers than and refresh dots as they drop (remember not to clip dots)

as for DS time, break it only to reapply haunt and when doing so refresh dots that dropped during DS

[Accolade]

I'd say it is also important to time your DS spell at less than 25% as well... when the Boss's health is around 27% (depending on how fast he is dropping), pay close attention to the timers left on your dots.

(Assuming you have a boomkin or UH DK in your group, or another lock with CoE) Make sure that you are at least going to get 1 tick off DS off before your CoA falls off, if not throw another SB before you renew the DoT. Now, I haven't thoroughly tested this yet, so I would appreciate some feedback from someone that has... But at 26% I renew all DoTs on the target that are close to expiration (except for rolling corruption with NM-Ice Crystal trinket and CoA) in order to roll out at least 3-4 ticks on DS.

Does clipping the dots in order to do this lower DPS? Or should a player time 1 DS tick between DoT replacements? If the DoTs still have decent time on them I'll start casting DS at 26% so my 1st DS tick pops at 25%. (once again depending on how fast the Boss's health is falling).

@Sengura - I believe it is important to keep all your DoTs up always... especially on Boss's with a lot of health or a decent amount of movement involved, b/c the last 25% can still be a good bit of time left to fight.

[SpookyGhost]

You want to keep your dots up even when a boss goes under 25%, especially haunt/double stack of shadow embrace. I usually let drain soul do its thing until haunt is about to fall off, and then I refresh any dots that fell off in between that and the haunt renewal.

[Rhiudean]

ofourse u want to keep your dots up, the only thing is-- letting CoA fall off and re applying it instantly is better for your dps
if u read it it does say that the dmg starts off slowly and ramps up, meaning if u are reapplying the CoA before the last tick gets off -- u are actually losing your highest DoT tick from CoA, which in turn would lower your overall dps
personally i let both CoA and UA barely fall off before re applying, giving me the full spell DoT dmg
its not hard timing your UA to be re applied as soon as it falls off

[purebalance]

There are times when clipping dots is fine such as:

1) If something will otherwise prevent you from refreshing it when it falls off(only in the case of UA). CoA is the ONLY backloaded dot contrary to popular misconception. Typically CoA is much easier to refresh than UA also being that it's an instant cast and max hasted already.

2) If you are about to start a drain soul soon, you want to refresh everything except CoA especially before the rehaunt since haunt lasts the least time, assuming you already have haunt up. So if you hit 25% and haunt is coming off cd soon and UA has less than 10 seconds left, you would recast UA and then rehaunt as it comes off cd. Then drain soul. UA falling off before you need to stop drain soul for haunt loses more dps than recasting it before a haunt.

[Slotter]

So once patch hits is it going to be best to put up 2 SB's to start or do the current rotation getting the 3rd Shadow Embrace stack after your dots are up?

[gherkin]

There are times when clipping dots is fine such as:

1) If something will otherwise prevent you from refreshing it when it falls off(only in the case of UA). CoA is the ONLY backloaded dot contrary to popular misconception. Typically CoA is much easier to refresh than UA also being that it's an instant cast and max hasted already.

2) If you are about to start a drain soul soon, you want to refresh everything except CoA especially before the rehaunt since haunt lasts the least time, assuming you already have haunt up. So if you hit 25% and haunt is coming off cd soon and UA has less than 10 seconds left, you would recast UA and then rehaunt as it comes off cd. Then drain soul. UA falling off before you need to stop drain soul for haunt loses more dps than recasting it before a haunt.

#1 is the only reason, despite being worded strangely.

#2 is a net dps loss.

[conqq]

OK, so I just respecced Affliction from Destro and gained around 1.5k DPS.

Problem is, this is my first time going Affliction since vanilla so everything's new and exciting.

I got most of the questions answered from this board like >25% rotation (Haunt->Corr->UA->CoA->SB spam->repeat).

My questions pertain to <25% rotation. What exactly should I keep up while Drain Souling? Does Haunt's damage increase apply to DS's damage? Does the affliction debuff 'Shadow Embrace' apply to the 'Soul Siphon' buff of DS? (if so, then I only have to keep CoA and Cor up to save time).

What I do personally with my lock, I open w/ SB - UA - Haunt - Corruption - CoE and use SB whenever I don't need to refresh dots or debuffs.

[gherkin]

@Sengura - Normal rotation because Corruption, UA, and CoA all have a higher DPET than Drain Soul, even in execute range. Haunt to keep the 20% buff alive, and Shadow Bolt only when Nightfall procs to keep the 5% crit debuff going.

[moode]

So once patch hits is it going to be best to put up 2 SB's to start or do the current rotation getting the 3rd Shadow Embrace stack after your dots are up?

I have been wondering the answer to this as well?

[Antares]

See, now I've been doing:

Haunt>Unstable Affliction>Corruption>Curse of Agony>Shadow Bolt

And I usually refresh as needed.

Is this wrong? Because, looking at the rotations here...I must be out in left field!

[nocturnus]

See, now I've been doing:

Haunt>Unstable Affliction>Corruption>Curse of Agony>Shadow Bolt

And I usually refresh as needed.

Is this wrong? Because, looking at the rotations here...I must be out in left field!

It is. Your corruption rolls with your crit values. Therefore you want to apply all crit buffs/debuffs possible before putting it up.

From 3.3 start rot will be:

Sb - sb- Haunt - cor - ua - coa

At execute range, nothing changes. You just replace your filler spell (sb) with ds. You do not clip any dots and you cast Haunt to keep your 3 stacks of SE on the target at all times. The only thing you should focus on is not to interrupt DS before it has ticked, even if 1 or 2 dots have fallen off. Tick, then refresh and restart draining.

[Antares]

Ah, see! Now I know! Excelelnt! I'll apply this tonight!