Originally Posted by
gherkin
It's called ramp-up time. A Direct Damage class can press 2-3 buttons and be at their top dps. A DOT class has to press 3-4 buttons and wait an additional 3 seconds for everything to tick at least once. By this time, the target is almost dead and 50% of the damage output of each dot has been wasted.
If you think about it in terms of your prot pally, the new Seal of Vengeance does a lot of damage at 5 stacks, but it takes a bit to get to 5 stacks. Conversely, if you use Righteousness, you get that damage up front with no waiting. If the target dies every time you hit 5 stacks then your dps is going to be low because you spent 4 stacks doing piddly damage and didn't have a chance to really let loose.
What the Affliction lock should do is Corruption/UA 2 or 3 targets, cast Haunt on the second kill target, and just spam shadow bolt the rest of the pull, with a drain soul thrown in for shards/extra damage.