Afflic or Destro?

[Nition]

Hey, with the new drain life nerf, whats now considered the highest dps spec? Afflic or destro. Ive been trying out both on the dummy and been pulling pretty much the same numbers, but I'm very rusty on my destro rotation. Not to mention my gear is shocking. Anyone been testing this extensivly that can point me in the right direction?
Cheers.

[Irisel]

I'm no lock expert, but if I'm not mistaken one is more of an AoE spec for fights like Magmaw, Maloriak, and Chogall, and the other is better single target?

[lagslayer]

Demo is the spec you're referring to.
Op: Ive been going back and forth between the two lately and destro has been doing better for me imo.

[Mantús]

it is simply a matter of flavor ... choose what you like.

[afhald]

i think affly is still better

[Prez-]

They're pretty close, personally i go on fight dependant.

[beforememory]

Supposedly, AfflicDrain is still better then AfflicShadowBolt, but Afflic is still ahead of destro, demo is the lowest =(

[afhald]

demo is good only for aoe fights

[silverhatred]

Supposedly, AfflicDrain is still better then AfflicShadowBolt, but Afflic is still ahead of destro, demo is the lowest =(

Aff drain no longer exists, DL was nerfed by 25% in a hotfix the other day.

demo is good only for aoe fights

Wrong again. They are all within 1k dps of eachother which can vary profusely with procs and crits and shit. Demo actually sims higher than the other two specs if no 10% spellpower buff is being applied to the raid otherwise.

[beforememory]

as of right now, the only 4.2 Lock changes is the 25% Drain Life Nerf

[niteline]

Demo actually comes in highest in most AOE fights, Regardless what others say, a well executed Demo aoe rotation beats the other 2 by far!
AOE wise Sims say NOTHING!

Single target Afflic turns out to be the highest not only due to DoTS but also with the quicker casts of your important spells.
Simming specs aint always the key to find the highest DPS spec.

Destro is everywhere in between and your safest option due to a fairly easy rotation and alot of utility.
Afflic might need some time to get into and theres alot less utility in PVE.
PVP wise, its afflic afflic and oh yeah afflic.

[silverhatred]

as of right now, the only 4.2 Lock changes is the 25% Drain Life Nerf

was hotfixed on the 19th, so in 4.1 -.-

[Xorn]

Demo actually comes in highest in most AOE fights, Regardless what others say, a well executed Demo aoe rotation beats the other 2 by far!
AOE wise Sims say NOTHING!

Single target Afflic turns out to be the highest not only due to DoTS but also with the quicker casts of your important spells.
Simming specs aint always the key to find the highest DPS spec.

Destro is everywhere in between and your safest option due to a fairly easy rotation and alot of utility.
Afflic might need some time to get into and theres alot less utility in PVE.
PVP wise, its afflic afflic and oh yeah afflic.

Are you joking? Of the three specs destro is by FAR the hardest spec for pve. Then affliction, then demo.

[beforememory]

was hotfixed on the 19th, so in 4.1 -.-

yes, but those are Sims of 4.2, so i was clarifying that the only change was currently in effect

Are you joking? Of the three specs destro is by FAR the hardest spec for pve. Then affliction, then demo.

and, i have always found destro far easier then the other specs

[Jadle]

as of right now, the only 4.2 Lock changes is the 25% Drain Life Nerf

That data isnt correct, in the 4.2 PTR build they only applied a 2.5% nerf to the coefficent. However in the hotfix they applied the full 25% nerf to both the base damage and cofficent. So Aff Drain is dead, its below shadowbolt by a decent ammount and will only go lower due to the t12 4pc when people have it.

[beforememory]

ah, I thought they had done the full 25% on the PTR already

amg Ensidia^^^

---------- Post added 2011-05-21 at 04:09 PM ----------

It wont let me quote you(because the thread is locked), but I can still copy and paste.

"Drain life is still yielding higher dps than shadow bolt filler, even with this change, mostly because of how the fel hound works, but its pretty minimal, might be a better idea to just play shadow bolt filler so you are used to it for tier 12 4 set." - Jadle, 25% nerf drain life - riduculous, yesterday

[Jadle]

ah, I thought they had done the full 25% on the PTR already

amg Ensidia^^^

---------- Post added 2011-05-21 at 04:09 PM ----------

It wont let me quote you(because the thread is locked), but I can still copy and paste.

"Drain life is still yielding higher dps than shadow bolt filler, even with this change, mostly because of how the fel hound works, but its pretty minimal, might be a better idea to just play shadow bolt filler so you are used to it for tier 12 4 set." - Jadle, 25% nerf drain life - riduculous, yesterday

Yeh you are correct in that I said that, but that was when everyone was hopeful the 2.5% coefficent nerf would be the same on live, as it turns out, its not. On 4.2 PTR they only nerfed the base damage by 25% and the coefficent by 2.5%. everyone assumed (wrongly as it turns out) that the live hotfix nerf would be the same. Unfortunatelly though, the live nerf is 25% to both base and coefficent.

EDIT: you can read about it here if you would like more info on it http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t110222-...m_edition/p18/

[Hobb]

as of right now, the only 4.2 Lock changes is the 25% Drain Life Nerf

Actually that's old data, he hasn't updated it with nerf yet. Here's a link to the new data with the nerf included.

http://www.simulationcraft.org/410/Warlock.html

[beforememory]

ah, thnx for clearing that up guys =)

[Deleted]

In spite of the 4.1 buff to affliction I've stuck with Destruction/Demo as my two specs. I think they're better suited to the mechanics of the current content. Dest: Bane and double dotting, Demo: AoE. If the content looks as though it will benefit from affliction in 4.2 I will happily change my specs. In spite of the higher dps with affliction, I still beat the dps of the other locks in my guild, one of which has been affliction since before the buff and their dps does not reflect the practice or buff. I guess it is just personal preference though and what you're best at.