[5.4] Affliction Warlock and Encounter Specific Guides

[Bonkura]

Sure you can. It's certainly "safer" to use VW and it's not like you should really be caring about your damage or needing your Observer's damage to push the boss or anything at that point of the fight.

I thought the Voidlord does more damage than the Observer if it's tanking.

[Woz]

I thought the Voidlord does more damage than the Observer if it's tanking.

It's possible, but you can use whatever pet you want. VW is less likely to get randomly smashed by an empowered add and has an "oh shit" just in case whereas Observer doesn't. Really the only reason I would use VW over Observer. Plus you can toggle the big damage (Void Shield) on or off depending.

[Shauni]

That's correct, the observer can do a decent job (not sure in heroic) but the void lord offer better DPS, better survivability (he required less healing from your friends) and can be sacrified if you chose to. If you play supremacy then re-summon your obsverver mid fight when his add is dead is not a great DPS loss

[EvreliaGaming]

I don't get why I keep seeing this. You don't need the Void out to tank it. You can just as easily use your Observer to tank it.

If your pet is tanking an add, use the Voidlord. He has much better threat generation, can taunt other adds if needed later on, has a massive damage reduction and does more damage than the Observer does whilst tanking. His damage reduction also makes it less likely that you will die (if using Soul Link, which you should). Later on in the fight when the add he is tanking is dead, just Soulburn out an Observer and recast Soul Link.

[Deleted]

Evrelia, do you think you are staying Affliction as much as you are now when 5.4 lands?
Despite the well-talked about KjC nerf.

Just interested in how you feel about it.

[EvreliaGaming]

Evrelia, do you think you are staying Affliction as much as you are now when 5.4 lands?
Despite the well-talked about KjC nerf.

Just interested in how you feel about it.

I think it's early days yet, so who knows! Demo is looking a lot more attractive in its current state.

[Werst]

Its early yet in 5.4 ptr but in both pve and pvp the devs have built constant channeling into aff too deeply which is why 99% of afflocks use it. Either locks need baseline filler spells castable on the move or that needs to be the new passive KJC with the on use acting more like spiritwalker's. PVP it probably needs to be treated like steady/cobra shots and act as uninterruptable. Especially if we are going to be losing dmg redux and will still be wearing melee as a buttplug.

[Bonkura]

Its early yet in 5.4 ptr but in both pve and pvp the devs have built constant channeling into aff too deeply which is why 99% of afflocks use it. Either locks need baseline filler spells castable on the move or that needs to be the new passive KJC with the on use acting more like spiritwalker's. PVP it probably needs to be treated like steady/cobra shots and act as uninterruptable. Especially if we are going to be losing dmg redux and will still be wearing melee as a buttplug.

if you wanna go that route they would have to make it something like MG not being interruptible if haunt is on the target. like the warlock getting a buffed version of MG which you cant interrupt.

[Werst]

If the devs don't want to force raiding locks further into demo (for the mobility) they are going to have to budge on KJC. Mobile casting is the elephant in the room and its way bigger than just locks. This late in the expansion just ripping it away is heavy handed and not in line with other classes. The most balanced approach is probably give locks baseline filler mobility with KJC as an option for a spirit walker's grace type period of mobile casting everything.

Especially since they aren't changing the model of MG/DS doing the dps heavy lifting vs the dots themselves. Thus when its just our dots and we are forced to move we can't keep up whereas in the past at least our dots alone had decent pressure. So at least for affliction they are going to have to find some middle ground if they want people playing the spec pve or pvp. That would still leave lvl 90 as a choice and take the "gotta have it" mobile fillers out of the equation.

[Cyberthug32]

To fix the problem, remove the increase dmg our dots do while MG is being channeled and put that into the dots dmg. So pretty much MG will be a filler. Sub 20% Drain soul will buff them but since thats our execute it is what it is.

[Hatelocker]

To fix the problem, remove the increase dmg our dots do while MG is being channeled and put that into the dots dmg. So pretty much MG will be a filler. Sub 20% Drain soul will buff them but since thats our execute it is what it is.

We are a very strong class in single target, cleave and AoE. There is about zero chance they increase the damage of our dots because that would make us even better at cleave type fights and would also result in our playstyle becoming even closer to shadow priests which I am sure they also do not want.

[Werst]

The reason locks as in this mess regarding need for constant filler use is blizzard's jihad against powerful dots as they pertain to multidotting. They also have a bit of illogical bias (how SB:SS is bad but unholy DK dot application or spreading in pvp is okay) for example. The meta gem kinda carries aff the way UVLS carries demo. This late in an expansion its extremely damaging to gut KJC when the larger issue of mobile casting for all ranged is still out there. IE they are leaving shaman and hunters untouched while everyone else has better mobility. Demo can survive due to its mechanics but aff really can't. Destro has the longest in combat cast in the game and will be losing out on RoF single target so it will have even less instant gcd's to sneak movement into.

They either need to give us mobile casting on fillers baseline (as I suggested) or do something else for destro/aff to give them better mobile dps. Something like cutting the mana cost of fel flame in half so it can be used more in destro. Something like having MG leave a debuff if channeled for X seconds that if you start up again you get a "catch up" bonus? Granted the aff one is a lot of work which is why its simply a better idea for blizz to leave us mobile fillers and let KJC be a choice at 90. Even give KJC different CD's for different specs. IE aff gets a very high uptime (eg shorter CD), destro is in the middle, and demo gets the present CD.

[TheShade]

Lore just posted this on the blizzard forums. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...?page=111#2202

Got a few updates for you guys. Standard disclaimer applies that this is all still in early testing and subject to change.

Fel Flame has gotten a slight rework. It now has a 1.5 second cast time, but can always be cast while moving. Also, it no longer extends the duration of damage over time effects (and, as such, no longer causes them to lose their "snapshotted" stats) and has gotten a small damage buff. The intent here is that you should be able to use this to keep up some damage when you need to move, but you'll want to stick to your standard rotation otherwise.

Looking specifically at Affliction, we're lowering the bonus damage that Malefic Grasp provides and moving that damage over into Haunt and the DoT effects themselves to compensate. We still want Malefic Grasp to be your primary filler for single target DPS, but this will make it a bit less punishing when you can't afford to channel it (especially in PvP). Haunt will once again be interrupted by movement, in favor of the Fel Flame change.

There's been a couple adjustments to the level 90 talents as well. Both Kil'Jaeden's Cunning and Mannoroth's Fury have had their cooldowns and durations lowered to 60 and 10 seconds, respectively. Mannoroth's Fury now only applies to the core AoE damage spells (Seed of Corruption, Hellfire, Immolation Aura, and Rain of Fire), but increases their damage by 100% while active in addition to the range increase. Note that Rain of Fire is being changed to no longer generate enough Burning Embers to be worth using in a single target rotation (so, Destruction shouldn't feel forced into Mannoroth's Fury).

These should hopefully be hitting the PTR in the next build. Once again, please remember that we're very early in the 5.4 development process. Any or all of this may still change before the patch goes live.

[Werst]

Fel flame is going to be a mess in pvp bigtime! PVE its basically aff-scorch which doesn't really fix things. Just give FF the damage buff, a minor glyph to change whether or not it extends dots, and let it ride. Maybe cut its mana cost in half for destro but that way its a playstyle choice. Aff in pvp casting anything isn't happening especially the spell we were allowed to use previously when we were locked out of shadow. Since aff has 100% of its CC and damage in shadow and now we can't even FF when locked out aff's pvp problems will be worse not better. If they are going to stick with castable fel flame they need to make MG, DL, and DS uninterruptable for aff so we can at least use something in pvp.

Haunt for MG damage sources is fine. Also has good synergy with "haunt dispels grant a shard". If locks are still casting fel flame while moving what is the difference between just being able to use MG while moving and having to stop to cast the more powerful stuff? If destro is casting an incinerate (which already gcd caps easily during meta gem procs) how is a shorter cast going to help or be that different from incinerate? I think the devs are trying to backpedal a bit but we are coming into changes that are just changes for the sake of NOT doing what the community asks for (and makes the most sense...) baseline mobile fillers with KJC on use as a talent choice.

[Fanatik]

So let me see if I understand this correctly...

Fel flame is now a 2-school scorch (double lockout on interrupt? another spell with cast time for destruction? How does this affect void ray?)
Fel flame has a cast time of 1.5 seconds and can be casted while moving (was instant with 1.5s gcd, now interruptable and has cast/flight time)
Fel flame DoT extension is removed. This means proc refreshes after a pandemic refresh will cost us 3 gcd's instead of 2 for affliction.
Fel flame damage will be buffed, but the amount of damage will not sway you away from your spec's filler.
DoT damage receiving a compensation increase. DoT damage was previously reduced to balance multi-target cleaving, so either the compensation isn't very much or it will eventually be reduced once the patch goes live.
Malefic grasp damage reduced and redistributed into Haunt/DoTs. Will Drain soul follow with the same redistribution and will GoSac be balanced to compensate for the damage loss to MG?
Haunt's damage compensation won't be enough to make up for the loss in Haunt+MG uptime.
Haunt not castable while moving just means you can't move for the next 9.5 seconds or your damage tanks.
The 10/60 change for KJC/MF is a change to balance cooldowns with raid mechanics. Its still terrible.
MF now affects fewer spells (doesnt include HoG, Chaos Wave, Carrion Swarm, Void Ray, FnB) and there is no way the 100% damage increase makes it to live (RoF and Hellfire/IAura DPET makes them part of the single target rotation).
Nothing yet on ember compensation for the RoF nerf.
Nothing yet on UVLS being inevitably nerfed.
Nothing yet on shifting soul shard use from soulburn soul swap to something else
Nothing yet on a fix for Agony soul swap snapshot.
Nothing on nerf to Soul Leech capping at 30% hp on the PTR (bug perhaps?)
I'm still not using Archimonde's Vengeance, which goes against blizzard philosophy of taking damage to do damage...

I personally have no confidence in my class at the moment. I've played my lock since vanilla, from the glory days of SL/SL to the dark days of "Global the warlock". KJC was one of the greatest quality of life changes blizzard made to this class since they removed soul shard farming (hopefully they don't read this and get an idea), and casted movement will be missed. Just a reminder though:

Greg Street ‏@Ghostcrawler

@johnlvarner Knowing game rules is critical for PvP. Asking players to learn new rules (run from the dying lock!) in mid-season is harsh.

#Xelnath2013!!!!!!!

[Neika]

Hi.

I actually have 525 iLvL, and I wonder what's the best between :

- 9k Haste cap and ~7k Mastery.
- 12k Haste and ~4k Mastery.

=> Trinkets : Mageara + Pandashan, I have the legendary meta.

SimC tells me that 12k Haste is a 3k DPS gain. But loosing so much Mastery might be a huge lost in multi-targets fights isn'it ?

[Kink]

Hi.

I actually have 525 iLvL, and I wonder what's the best between :

- 9k Haste cap and ~7k Mastery.
- 12k Haste and ~4k Mastery.

=> Trinkets : Mageara + Pandashan, I have the legendary meta.

SimC tells me that 12k Haste is a 3k DPS gain. But loosing so much Mastery might be a huge lost in multi-targets fights isn'it ?

I'd go for 9778, very comfortable spot at your gear level and beyond.

[Bonkura]

yea just go for 9778 haste and put rest into mastery. you can start thinking about grabbing more haste at higher ilvl.

[Deleted]

Council heroic as affliction tonight, as i don't have UVLS. Are haste breakpoints any important on a multidot fight like this? I'm thinking of reforging into mastery, which puts me at ~7k haste and ~11k mastery. Would this be the wise thing to do?

[Deleted]

Council heroic as affliction tonight, as i don't have UVLS. Are haste breakpoints any important on a multidot fight like this? I'm thinking of reforging into mastery, which puts me at ~7k haste and ~11k mastery. Would this be the wise thing to do?

It's extra important on multi target fights, and less important on single target fights.

More ticks overall on 4 targets is pretty darn sweet!
More ticks overall on 1 target is pretty good too I guess.