class campaign freshly completed. which spec?

[MightyCrixus]

Hey guys new to Warlocks, boosted one sunday hit 110 monday and got some gear from mythics from friends helping, just finished my campaign and unlocked my 3rd relic slot-thank goodness the warlock campaign is short. I've been playing affliction because from what I've read they're very good at aoe and I really made this character because A. I've always wanted to try a Lock, and B. I want this to be a mythic + aoe fast trash clearing class. I'm not really interested in Demo but at the same time i've only ever tried it for 10 minutes so it's not a good judge of the spec. Affliction i enjoy the instant dots on multiple targets and the seed of corruption with sow of seeds is sweet.

Seed of corruption-When is it not worth using this ability?(How many targets) when there are 2 targets i feel it's not worth casting this. Also if there are 4+ targets do you cast it once then drain life to make it explode and repeat? Or only cast it once with Sow of seeds talented and then use agony on the 4 targets?

Destro is also very fun, i'm definitely up for Aff or Destro, which would be best for M + only? Using this character for aoe fun and mythics to help gear friends and run M+ for guildies while being able to carry once i get some gear-only 839 currently. All thoughts and opinions are highly appreciated, thank you

[Akumaryuujin]

If you're mainly only going to doing mythic+ dungeons, then I'd def say Affliction. That's about all they're good for other than PvP right now. Affliction AoE right now is insanely good for fast clears in mythic+. If you're looking to raid though, demo is def what you want to look at too

[Deleted]

Very rough breakdown:

Affliction: Best for mythic trash, good in PvP. Very inflexible if you later change your mind about what you want to do with your warlock.
Demonology: Relatively good in mythics, PvP, raiding. Hands down the hardest spec to learn and play well, very add-on dependent.
Destruction: Relatively good in mythics, most versatile for raiding, very inflexible in PvP. Hands down the easiest spec of the three, has always been considered warlock lite. Expect Blizzard to buff it because it's the simplest spec, both mechanically and conceptually, and they have always tried to pigeonhole warlocks into Destruction since MoP (short period before Demonology nerfs in WoD excluded).

[muto]

Affliction hands down first. It makes grinding Artifact Power and gear for the other two way easier. Affliction shits all over Mythic+ trash. It sucks on most bosses, but most of your time spent in dungeons will be on trash, and the affixes affect the trash.

[Gaidax]

If you want success in Mythic+, you need to go Destruction. People who vouch for Affliction must be stuck in M+2 farm, because all this supposed AoE superiority evaporates once you start hitting high level Mythic+ runs, where herding a bunch of trash and AoEing it down no longer works.

I'm not even saying that Affliction has no access to pretty much the best spell Warlocks have for M+ - Shadowfury.

So the deal is simple - if you want to so higher level M+ eventually - you either go Destruction or go home.

[muto]

If you want success in Mythic+, you need to go Destruction. People who vouch for Affliction must be stuck in M+2 farm, because all this supposed AoE superiority evaporates once you start hitting high level Mythic+ runs, where herding a bunch of trash and AoEing it down no longer works.

I'm not even saying that Affliction has no access to pretty much the best spell Warlocks have for M+ - Shadowfury.

So the deal is simple - if you want to so higher level M+ eventually - you either go Destruction or go home.

Well eventually he can go Destro, but for him, on a fresh 110 Affliction is better. I don't think he's going to be doing Mythic +10 on a fresh 110.

[Feesh]

If you want success in Mythic+, you need to go Destruction. People who vouch for Affliction must be stuck in M+2 farm, because all this supposed AoE superiority evaporates once you start hitting high level Mythic+ runs, where herding a bunch of trash and AoEing it down no longer works.

I'm not even saying that Affliction has no access to pretty much the best spell Warlocks have for M+ - Shadowfury.

So the deal is simple - if you want to so higher level M+ eventually - you either go Destruction or go home.

Pretty much this, a quick look at mythic+ parses will confirm this. Right now there's 420 parses for destro and 75 parses for aff at mythic 2+, and 67 parses for destro and 3 parses for aff by mythic 10. Yes seed does quite a bit to trash, but destro isn't that far behind on aoe especially with cataclysm, fire and brimstone and the rain of fire buff while absolutely trashing aff on single target and cleave as well as the utility of shadowfury.

[Gaidax]

Well eventually he can go Destro, but for him, on a fresh 110 Affliction is better. I don't think he's going to be doing Mythic +10 on a fresh 110.

Then you are basically setting the OP for failure with your advice.

Point is simple, Destruction is one of the better M+ specs in game, Affliction is not even close with only one advantage, which is AoE, which does not come into play in most of the things you do ingame, that is especially compared to Destruction which is superior to Affliction in every way imaginable - better utility, better burst, better cleave, better ST, heck even its AoE is pretty damn decent.

You really need to realize what you are doing here, the guy will stick with Affliction, level the artifact, get relics and legendaries for it and in the end it will be for nothing, just to join the shambling hordes of people complaining about Affliction being weak.

[muto]

Then you are basically setting the OP for failure with your advice.

Point is simple, Destruction is one of the better M+ specs in game, Affliction is not even close with only one advantage, which is AoE, which does not come into play in most of the things you do ingame, that is especially compared to Destruction which is superior to Affliction in every way imaginable - better utility, better burst, better cleave, better ST, heck even its AoE is pretty damn decent.

You really need to realize what you are doing here, the guy will stick with Affliction, level the artifact, get relics and legendaries for it and in the end it will be for nothing, just to join the shambling hordes of people complaining about Affliction being weak.

Not really. That is why you level all 3 artifacts equally. You also get fel and fire artifacts from world quests quite a bit, or at least I do. I play Affliction when I can, especially for World Quests, because it's far faster, which is a major aspect of this expansion. Saying it's AoE doesn't come into play in most things in the game is pure ignorance. My Affliction weapon has the most traits and is the highest ilvl, but I'm not suffering over here, because I have 20 traits into Destro and Demo (25 in Affliction -893), and both are 875. I play all 3 pretty frequently, but I do for sure enjoy Affliction the most, even though I have my loot spec set to Demo, because it has no bad legendary's.

[Deleted]

i do 400-500k on trash in mythics and 300k on bosses. it just depends on ur playstyle. destro. i like affliciotn in raids more tho. really more sustained dps and more mobility.

[Deleted]

i main affliction and i wish i had specced into destro from the start, weapon is level 27 and 2 legendarys on me and i feel like its too late to swap now.
Destro is just better, affli would be on par with destro in mythic+ if he had shadowfury but without that its not going to happen, in raids destro is the best spec, demo close second and affli just at the rock bottom.
And the way blizzard is going with their nerfs and buffs, i feel like they might even nerf affli even more so it would stay down, they probably want destro to be the top spec for warlocks.
What i have also heard from people who have been playing since wotlk and before that there has never been a full dps class with 3 viable specs at the same time(i don't know how true that is since im not a veteran and have no other info on this just what i have been told), so yeah most likely affli will be the black sheep of this expansion with destro being the top spec.

[Gaidax]

Not really. That is why you level all 3 artifacts equally. You also get fel and fire artifacts from world quests quite a bit, or at least I do. I play Affliction when I can, especially for World Quests, because it's far faster, which is a major aspect of this expansion. Saying it's AoE doesn't come into play in most things in the game is pure ignorance. My Affliction weapon has the most traits and is the highest ilvl, but I'm not suffering over here, because I have 20 traits into Destro and Demo (25 in Affliction -893), and both are 875. I play all 3 pretty frequently, but I do for sure enjoy Affliction the most, even though I have my loot spec set to Demo, because it has no bad legendary's.

What you do does not translate to what is the experience of majority of the people playing warlocks, there is a very good reason why Affliction is not played in any sort of challenging content and in my opinion giving some delusions of Affliction grandeur to a new guy is literally backstabbing him, especially because his intent is to carry in the end and affliction ain't carrying shit at the moment.

I am happy you like Affliction, but really, Destruction is simply hands down better aside from some seriously edge cases like mass AoE, which simply do not happen often at all in any sort of serious content, while Destruction strengths are well felt in every pull and content type.

[SpikeySquad]

If one spec only then Destro.

[TummyBoy]

Destruction is far more versatile than Affliction. On Affliction, on big packs with decent gear you can do millions of DPS, but Destruction does better ST, does better on 2-3 target cleave (the majority of pulls in higher Mythic+ dungeons), has an AoE stun, and has very good burst with Lust. Burst damage is what you want for Mythic+ bosses because they're usually dead within 75-90 seconds.

Disgustingly good AoE is very easy to find. Monks do it. Demon Hunters do it. Fury Warriors do it. Both kinds of Hunters do it too. It's worth mentioning that all of the above burst their strong AoE, while Affliction has a ramp-up time.

Doing extremely good sustained 2-3 target cleave, however, is the primary reason why people bring Warlocks in the first place. With 2-3 targets (you know, the vast majority of trash pulls in high Mythic+), we are among the best DPS classes in the game. When Pelters start throwing discs at us, we jump to being the best DPS class in the game, as we can target both even if they're very far away. When a priority add needs to die on a boss fight, again, our damage doubles. When you're Affliction and a priority add jumps up? Good luck bursting that down.

With no question about it, Destruction.

[Deleted]

You should totally go affliction so you can burst aoe the roaming crabs/spiders/imps faster because that's all that matters in mythic plus /s

Seriously tho, just go destruction. It is by far the most versatile spec for warlocks. It has decent single target, decent aoe and the best two target cleave in the game.

[Deleted]

Not really. That is why you level all 3 artifacts equally. You also get fel and fire artifacts from world quests quite a bit, or at least I do. I play Affliction when I can, especially for World Quests, because it's far faster, which is a major aspect of this expansion. Saying it's AoE doesn't come into play in most things in the game is pure ignorance. My Affliction weapon has the most traits and is the highest ilvl, but I'm not suffering over here, because I have 20 traits into Destro and Demo (25 in Affliction -893), and both are 875. I play all 3 pretty frequently, but I do for sure enjoy Affliction the most, even though I have my loot spec set to Demo, because it has no bad legendary's.

Since at this point in time it's a freshly dinged warlock and an alt that he probably won't play as much as you do your main, chances are he'll not be rocking 3 artifact weapons at 870+ with 3 golden traits on each anytime soon.

OP: Don't make my mistake and go afflction, pick up destro while it's still early.

[MightyCrixus]

Thank you all very very much for the replies and all the input and experience. "Affli would be on par with destro in mythic+ if he had shadowfury but without that its not going to happen" what's shadowfury?. So for destro what are good talents for aoe/Trash dmg for mythics and Mythic + dungs? What's the overall good setup for them? I know the priority is haste/crit and mastery gives extra damage so i'm guessing that's pretty good. Also is the destro guide pretty good for artifact traits? If not or you have other suggestions i'm open to them. Currently my destro weapon is level 12, i have the 1st, then 3/3 eternal struggle, 1/1 impish incineration, 3/3 burning hunger, 1/1 lord of flames, 3/3 fire from the sky for aoe packs dmg. Which direction should I head next? Thanks everyone!