Wich bosses are best for affliction and..

[Mainoff]

Hey!,
Wich bosses do you switch spec for affliction?
I play destro all the fights in 10man normal atm but my guild is lackin dps.. I have an affliction spec ready but my main question is: Since im focusing on Mastery and crit, I have 0 haste and my affliction spec is really bad on the dummy.. Is it worth using this spec in 10man normal??, I guess u guys reforge and regem for Heroics fight, right??

[kilzog]

I've used a mastery > haste > crit setup for destruction with around 4-5k crit and 10k haste after the destro buff and worked out quite well, in my experience that compared to m > c > h doesn't really make a difference. On normal I've used affliction for Protectors, Juggernaut, Shamans, Malkorok and Thok.
On heroic I mostly use it for Protectors, IJ and Malk with our setup.
For normal:
Protectors: multidotting ftw obviously
Juggernaut and Malkorok: I prefer affli single target, the high opener burst keep my dps high in 5 min fights as well
Shamans: if others could handle the adds easily I see it more useful for cleaving than destro
Thok: you propably won't have too long screech phases so it's not a gamechanger, but dots keep rolling when he runs out of range and interrupting malefic grasp is less annoying than having your trinkets proc on high stacks and skipping beefy CBs

But also it depends on trinkets and what you like to play. If you have black blood it might be worth digging deeper into affliction, without it I wouldn't recommend it. The what you like part is pretty simple: affliction has a lot more micro-management with the dots and soul shards, if you don't fancy that system just stick with destro and you'll see better results.
Also I don't know a thing about your gear, but aff gets better on higher ilvs, I wouldn't bother speccing for it unless you can maintain the 9778 haste breakpoint while maxxing your mastery.

[Baconeggcheese]

When you say reforge / regem for heroics do you mean in general or between fights or what?

and to answer your question basically the only fight where its advantageous to be affliction this tier is protectors, everything else is just going to be preference. The longer the fight (say greater than 5-6 minutes) the better destruction is going to be vs affliction. Your strategy and raid could change it up a bit too depending on what damage there is to soak up with potential aoe or what have you.

But yeah only clear 100% aff is the bees knees fight this tier is protectors.

[Strifey]

I do the following fights as Destro/Aff:

Immerseus: Destro for H/N
Protectors: Aff for H/N
Norushen: Aff, although Destro is close I've always pulled more dps as Aff and beat out other destro, personal preference and how good you are at aff and keeping haunt above 70% from unlimited shards while SSing like crazy
Sha: Destro, although recently Aff has been pulling ahead but is more RNG and depends on you getting and tracking Power of the Titans to snapshot dots
Galakras: Destro
IJ: Aff for Heroic, especially if you use the strat to get away in P2 which is common in 10M, either for normal depending on length of fight, generally I just play Aff for this fight
DS: Destro for Heroic since you usually have them split, in normal I used Aff since we tanked them together and having your dots and tons of shards to haunt both of them pushes your dps up quite a bit
Nazgrim: I use Aff, Destro is good as well
Malkorok: Usually Aff on normal because no adds and how fast he dies, either works on Heroic
Spoils: Destro, although based on logs it looks like Aff is decent, depends on your strat
Thok: Aff for normal, either on heroic depending on raid needs for bats
Blackfuse: Either on normal, Destro on heroic for all the mines
Paragons: I haven't done heroic, but without padding it's pretty much Destro
Garrosh: Destro

As far as stat priority, if you play Destro and Aff and don't feel like reforging go Haste (10124) > Mastery > Haste > Crit
Generally you won't need to go above 10124 Haste ever and the rest will be dumped into Mastery even at Heroic ilvls. Haste up to that amount is very close to dps as a crit build for destro which is why people say you can go Haste > Crit or Crit > Haste for destro (after Mastery of course). Difference is crit is terrible for Aff, I also prefer the haste build just because lower cast times feel better and it's better for multi-target.

[Xandy]

Hey!,
Wich bosses do you switch spec for affliction?
I play destro all the fights in 10man normal atm but my guild is lackin dps.. I have an affliction spec ready but my main question is: Since im focusing on Mastery and crit, I have 0 haste and my affliction spec is really bad on the dummy.. Is it worth using this spec in 10man normal??, I guess u guys reforge and regem for Heroics fight, right??

If Destro is your main spec the only fight I would recommend going Affliction for is Protectors. Affy doesn't pull ahead of Destro by a large enough margin on any other fights to warrant switching, especially if you're not comfortable with the spec. Generally if you're not doing heroic progression, the rule of thumb is play the spec you are most comfortable with.

Since my main spec is Affy and I thus have very little Crit while my Haste is up the ass, I only run Destro on fights with AoE (since Haste is more valuable to Destro on AoE fights) or where RoF can be used constantly to generate embers (Paragons).

[Durantye]

Honestly I wouldn't even bother with Affliction on Protectors if you don't have the gear for it nor the practice, I barely lose to our affliction warlock on it and it is only 1 fight in SoO where Affliction usually dominates. But because if your gear isn't right you'll suffer quite badly and usually just end up screaming in frustration as you mess up your rotation lowering your dps by another 50k. The only reason I'd say do it is if you actually want to play it and learn it, otherwise it is unnecessary and generally the dps from affliction is less controllable than destruction which serves to make it harder on your guild unless you aren't making the enrage then it is probably a good idea.

I play destro for every fight with a Mastery(19800)>Crit(11200)>Haste(3400) and I've seen some much more promising results than when I was master>haste>crit in single target, honestly I rarely ever did my sim on fights with the haste build but I usually beat my sim by 20-30k now. To be honest you should just do what you want, the only spec that really makes little sense to use is Demonology with lower multi dot than affliction and lower single target than destruction the only reason you should really play it is for fun.

[Xandy]

I only said that because that was what the guy asked: "Wich bosses do you switch spec for affliction?" I'm not at all suggesting all Warlocks should switch to Affliction for that fight indefinitely, regardless of gear or experience with the spec.

For example, we have a Destruction lock in our guild and I don't ask him to go Affliction on Protectors because a) he sucks at Affliction and b) that boss has been on farm for ages.

[Deleted]

Honestly I wouldn't even bother with Affliction on Protectors if you don't have the gear for it nor the practice, I barely lose to our affliction warlock on it and it is only 1 fight in SoO where Affliction usually dominates. But because if your gear isn't right you'll suffer quite badly and usually just end up screaming in frustration as you mess up your rotation lowering your dps by another 50k. The only reason I'd say do it is if you actually want to play it and learn it, otherwise it is unnecessary and generally the dps from affliction is less controllable than destruction which serves to make it harder on your guild unless you aren't making the enrage then it is probably a good idea.

I play destro for every fight with a Mastery(19800)>Crit(11200)>Haste(3400) and I've seen some much more promising results than when I was master>haste>crit in single target, honestly I rarely ever did my sim on fights with the haste build but I usually beat my sim by 20-30k now. To be honest you should just do what you want, the only spec that really makes little sense to use is Demonology with lower multi dot than affliction and lower single target than destruction the only reason you should really play it is for fun.

it doesnt really matter which secondary stat you stack as destro, as long as you primarily stack mastery, when it comes to crit vs haste the differences is minor, it depends more on the encounter than anything else and the strat.

on topic: basically any multidotting or short fight afflic will do best. i would suggest being destro on iron juggernaut hc if you use the "stand near the mountain furthest away" strat coz destro will allow you keep youself alive during siegemode, allowing you healers to focus on 1 less person.

[Werst]

All are heroic 25m...

Immerseus: destro...burst aoe for adds, good stop/start dps, ember tap if stuff gets through and you are out of range of healers.
Protectors: aff...get the big dots, soulswap my nuts off, pray for procs at good times...can use AD since you don't have to channel as much and 2x darksouls can really help for snapshotting the best dots around.
Nourshen: aff with the same setup as protectors...again you spend more time soulswapping adds and the movement of the fight is easy to plan around.
Sha: destro...blows up adds, does decent boss damage, lots of havoc/shadowburn abuse. KJC so I can always chase rifts.
Gala: destro...more to shadowburn the merrier. Tried aff just for S&G the other week...mistake.
IJ: can go either way...play what you are best at and what your gear is best suited for. I feel like aff is very rng in terms of getting trinket procs at semi regular intervals so you can snapshot. KJC to learn, AD to try to "rank" (if you care...I don't since most rankings these days are so cheesed) That said ember tap has saved my life however having to move during that perfect storm of buffs chaosbolt makes you cry every time.
Shaman: can go either way...aff opens harder and is the choice if they are tanked together. If tanked separate its far more flexible.
Nazgrim: another that can go either way...we've hit the point we just dps through defensive but for learning aff is more reliable for killing adds. AFAIK pets (not guardians) do generate fury/rage.
Malkorok: you can play either...aff w' kjc is super reliable, dest w' kjc has so much faster shielding/reshielding and you can RoF adds for embers
Spoils: destro and whomever shadowburns the most wins
Thok: either way...destro destroys bats with glyph'd UR and glyph'd havoc. Aff does quite a bit of reliable boss damage. Pick what your raid needs more.
Siegecrafter: destro...its too good vs the mines which are the wiper for the non belt crowd
Paragons: either...aff's padding threshold is crazy high and destro is right behind it. I like destro better just due to ember tap. No other fight in the game has as many combinations of panic moments and oh **** circumstances where bad things line up against you.
Garrosh: I tend to prefer destro BUT as you gear out boss (and even weapon) dps starts to outpace destro's advantages so aff is viable. Of course the ember tap thing again and breaking MC's is easier though for months I've never done more than a RoF, spell lock on a cast, and conflag/fel flame a MC'er.

In our raid there is some peer pressure to play aff for a lot of fights and I still don't have my heroic BB but do have a HWF KTT. So for me it makes sense to go destro on fights that are a choice. Again, play what you are best at and what your gear favors. Note what is holding up your progression and use whichever spec/toolkit best helps your raid (not your dps) overall.

[Xandy]

AFAIK pets (not guardians) do generate fury/rage.

Pets do not generate rage it has been confirmed several times, also you can refresh DoTs on Nazgrim without generating rage. Applying DoTs however DO generate rage.

[Turturin the Warlock]

All are heroic 25m...

Paragons: either...aff's padding threshold is crazy high and destro is right behind it. I like destro better just due to ember tap. No other fight in the game has as many combinations of panic moments and oh **** circumstances where bad things line up against you.

Destro wins hands down on "effective damage" on this fight (damage you are doing to the boss you are killing). It's not close. Affliction will underperform in every segment of the fight except during the intial skeer burn and the Korven burn when you need to burn two bosses simultaneously. The difference is entirely due to abusing ember generation from RoF on mulitple bosses/adds as well as havoc 4pc immolates on mulitple bosses. factor in the additional burst Destro offers on kunchongs + the survivability aspects you mentioned.....if you can play both decently well you are crazy not to choose destro for this fight.

Again, I'm talking completely independent of padded or useless damage. My perspective is totally around killing bosses, not ranking on WoL or padding meters.

[Deleted]

Affliction is also good on the Xaril burn when you lust too.

I've done the fight as both specs, destruction is just way safer with ember tap and huge soul leech values, but I held my own when I played affliction without any multi dotting save for swapping dots from dying Paragon to living in order to save agony.

[Santoisms]

Top DPS on each fight by each spec: http://sparkuggz.com/the-best-spec-o...nuary-week-04/

[Deleted]

play affli for all

[Rammoo]

Thank you for your insightful wisdom Lygod. Play affliction for all to avoid any suicidal thoughts.

[Turturin the Warlock]

Top DPS on each fight by each spec: http://sparkuggz.com/the-best-spec-o...nuary-week-04/

That link contains comparisons of the highest single parse for each spec. To me, that is very different from: "what is the best spec".

- top parses are often gained using behavior you wouldn't use on progression (i.e. needless padding, tricks of trade, guild strategies to funnel damage opportunities toward a single player, etc...)
- top parses are ALWAYS post-progression parses, meaning it's not an accurate depiction of fight time or raid gear level compared to someone looking to progress on a given fight.
- The Best Spec, imho, is the one that benefits your raid/strategy the most. Whether that's the best for killing troublesome adds, the spec which has the best survivability, or the spec that does the most boss damage, depends partly on the strenghts of a spec in a given encounter, but also on what YOUR raid group needs to get the job done.

In general these spec and dps discussions are too focused on absolute max throughput rather than the nuances of the situation. For example: Sure, if you can get the rest of your raid to leave the reflection adds alone on Sha of Pride you can do crazy AoE and put up big numbers....that still is nowhere near as IMPORTANT as killing corrupted fragments and manifestations of pride quickly. That doesn't mean destro isn't the best spec for Sha of Pride, but it does mean that whether its the best or not has very little to do with how well it can AoE reflections.

I try to give people credit for being intelligent here, a lot of high-end raiders frequent and post on these forums. I don't know many of them that would say that rankings are their focus during progression. Most will appropriately have the mindset that whatever it takes to kill the boss is what they'll do, personal numbers notwithstanding. Just because ranking (or attempting to) is something to do after the fact on farm (for some players), doesn't in any way imply that we should be answering questions for less progressed players without appropriate context.

[Santoisms]

That link contains comparisons of the highest single parse for each spec. To me, that is very different from: "what is the best spec".

- top parses are often gained using behavior you wouldn't use on progression (i.e. needless padding, tricks of trade, guild strategies to funnel damage opportunities toward a single player, etc...)
- top parses are ALWAYS post-progression parses, meaning it's not an accurate depiction of fight time or raid gear level compared to someone looking to progress on a given fight.
- The Best Spec, imho, is the one that benefits your raid/strategy the most. Whether that's the best for killing troublesome adds, the spec which has the best survivability, or the spec that does the most boss damage, depends partly on the strenghts of a spec in a given encounter, but also on what YOUR raid group needs to get the job done.

In general these spec and dps discussions are too focused on absolute max throughput rather than the nuances of the situation. For example: Sure, if you can get the rest of your raid to leave the reflection adds alone on Sha of Pride you can do crazy AoE and put up big numbers....that still is nowhere near as IMPORTANT as killing corrupted fragments and manifestations of pride quickly. That doesn't mean destro isn't the best spec for Sha of Pride, but it does mean that whether its the best or not has very little to do with how well it can AoE reflections.

I try to give people credit for being intelligent here, a lot of high-end raiders frequent and post on these forums. I don't know many of them that would say that rankings are their focus during progression. Most will appropriately have the mindset that whatever it takes to kill the boss is what they'll do, personal numbers notwithstanding. Just because ranking (or attempting to) is something to do after the fact on farm (for some players), doesn't in any way imply that we should be answering questions for less progressed players without appropriate context.

Oh I'm sorry, next time I'll be blatantly obvious, and "best" usually applies the spec that does more DPS.

With that being said, some fights I can see the argument for it being a difference of opinion on certain fights / difficulties. But this link is pretty accurate and the difference from one spec to another on most fights is still big enough to assume that the top spec on each fight is accurate.