Affliction Warlock Guide (patch 4.1)

*Update* - Due to recent nerfs - the Affliction drain life spec is weaker than the Affliction shadow bolt spec.

Going over the Affliction shadow bolt and drain life specs.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Spell Priority:
Haunt
Demon Soul
Bane of Doom / Agony
Corruption
Unstable Affliction
Drain Soul -25% execute phase-
Shadowflame
Shadow Bolt / Drain Life

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Drain Life spec should never have to hard cast shadow bolts - but in some uncommon situations it will have to. If no one else in your raid can provide the +5% crit debuff, casting 1 shadow bolt on your target every 30 seconds is required - but normally you will get enough nightfall procs to meet the requirement.

If you aren't able to maintain shadow and flame on your target through nightfall procs alone (and no one else can bring the +5% crit debuff) then hard casting shadow bolt is your only option. Those cases should be few and far between in most encounters.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• world
• of
• warcraft
• wow
• cataclysm
• cata
• warlock
• affliction
• shadow
• bolt
• drain
• life
• rotation
• spell
• priority
• dps
• damage
• dealing

[MrJollyandy]

Sitting at a 352 iLvL, on training dummies i'm only sitting at about 12k, give or take. I'm using the proper rotation, my gear is enchanted for haste, my gems are SP or Hit Gems, I'm capped around the board. I sit at about 15% haste with DI up, but I still only seem to be doing marginally decent dps. Is there something im missing here?

[MaanaWoW]

@MrJollyandy - Yeah you're missing several key raid buffs, the 9% dot buff from having a DI buddy, and the execute phase.

You'll do better in raids just as long as you properly handle boss mechanics :)

[Kowwabunga]

you said to never hard cast the SB in drain life spec. But what about the +5% crit chance SB provides? I found myself few times not getting enough nightfall procs to cover it 100%. Would it be advised to hardcast SB when the debuffs about to fall off or should I wait for next nightfall proc?

[MaanaWoW]

@Kowwabunga - Ideally you should never have to hard-cast shadow bolts with the drain life spec. If no one else in your raid brings +5% you should be casting 1 shadow bolt every 30 secs (30 secs = the duration of shadow and flame).

From my experience the drain life spec tends to get enough nightfall procs to cover it but in some cases it may be necessary to hard cast shadow bolt...but ideally you won't find yourself in that situation.

Updating the description with more info.

[sangrealnotreal]

i love you maana no homo

[hypxtheory]

Hi, i do 25 man raids and i always have another class bringing the 5% crit debuff from shadow and flame. i was wondering if i could put the points somewhere else or is the 12% dmg bonus for nightfall proc worth keeping?

[mtcoqui]

are you in Puerto Rico?!?



[moonraven312]

Are those "coquis" singing in the background?!? Do you live in Puerto Rico? :D

Tyvm for the vid bro.

[WizardKing78]

No curse of exhaustion in either of your specs... CoE is a 'must have' when it comes to fighting melee.

[Kirbytroid]

Hi, thanks for making this video.

I know that 4.2 is out now, so things may have changed a little, but I'm going to try spamming Seed of Corruption for packs.

I was just wondering, since I don't often see other warlocks in groups, roughly how much DPS could I expect to be doing now that I'm running heroics? My DPS is terrible atm, but it'd be good to know what I'm aiming for.

[0pt1muzPr1m3]

I'm a newbie and I gota say, this is a bit overwhelming. Started at hunter, but I'm interested in Warlock next. Read that they are going to nerf lock in 4.2, in a veteran's opinion how does the warlock's future look?

[Bluebunnyboi]

Does anyone else hear that whistling noise?

[Jdlikefood]

For the drain spec do you just replace the filler? I tried this but it lowered my dps

[lovinreginald]

I plan on using this spec in the future, but do you have to have really good gear to pull it off? like bis (best in slot)? as of right now with my 85 affliction is just out of the question as my dps is just way too low while using it.

[onewayout1]

Nice video. Thanks.