Affliction Warlock DPS Gear and Best in Slot — Shadowlands 9.2.5

Welcome to our Gearing Page for Affliction Warlock, this section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

If you have a new piece of gear that you need gems and enchants advice for, you can find everything you need on our dedicated page below.

Due to the simplicity of determining upgrades with a simulation in the current era of the game, we recommend using the popular Raidbots tool to determine which pieces of gear offer the most potential for your character. The main reason why this is a huge advantage is due to the huge number of variables that differ from character to character, such as Stat Quotients, and Scale Factors.

The Top Gear function can be especially useful, as it allows you to compare multiple items and item types to find the best combination of upgrades.

Learning to use the tools available will allow you to reach the most accurate conclusions with the least effort. It is highly recommended you avail yourself of these tools, and they will serve you well when evaluating items.

The Droptimizer feature from Raidbots lets you identify which dungeons and Raid Bosses you should spend your Bonus Rolls on. It simulates all of the potential upgrades in a raid or a dungeon, and lists the bosses/dungeons by rank order of how much DPS you can expect to gain from bonus rolling on it. We have a guide for it that you can access using the link below.

Patch 9.2 reintroduces Tier Sets in the game providing unique bonuses tailored for each specialisation. For Affliction these bonuses are the following:

• Affliction Warlock 2-Piece — Malefic Rapture damage is increased by 15% and each cast extends the duration of Corruption, Agony and Unstable Affliction by 2 seconds.
• Affliction Warlock 4-Piece — while Agony, Corruption, and Unstable Affliction are active, your Shadow Bolt has a 20% chance to make your next Malefic Rapture cost no Soul Shards and be cast instantly.

Wearing 4 pieces of the set will be a noticeable damage increase for single targets and situations where Malefic Rapture is being used. In Dungeons and PvP however, the set does not provide full benefits as there are few times where Drain Soul is used and in the latter Malefic Rapture is not used as shard payoff.

There are different methods of acquisition for Tier Pieces: the usual Sepulcher of the First Ones bosses alongside the Great Vault weekly reward. A new option is the Creation Catalyst which allows to change a non tier piece into the correspective tier item in the appropriate slot.

Of the 5 different slots the Tier set pieces will be available in, only 4 are needed to activate the last set bonus, meaning there is some flexibility in how to optimise the gear and what piece to replace with possibly better statted or higher item level options.

Affliction Warlocks in raid will run Malefic Wrath on Hands slot which result in no tier set piece in that specific slot.

Crafting Malefic Wrath (Hands) will cover any single target requirement, while picking Wrath of Consumption (Back) or Relic of Demonic Synergy (Back) will handle any multitarget and Mythic+ situations. It is advisable to craft them with Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste.

Additionally, after 5 weeks of 9.2, you can get Unity to get your Covenant specific Legendary alongside the Legendary above.

If you are looking for an in-depth explanation on what Legendary to pick for what situation and how to obtain them, read our Legendary page below.

1. Withering Bolt
2. Focused Malignancy

1. Rolling Agony
2. Corrupting Leer
3. Soul Eater (as Night Fae)

For more info regarding what Conduits to pick for what situation, check our full Covenants, Soulbinds, & Conduits page.

During Shadowlands Season 4 each week one of the raids of the expansion Castle Nathria, Sanctum of Domination, and Sepulcher of the First Ones will be designated as Fated, with higher item level drops. Below are listed multiple tables featuring BiS lists for each raid as reference, plus a combined one.

Recommended Raid Gear Table
Combined		Castle Nathria	Sanctum of Domination	Sepulcher of the First Ones

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Horns of the Demon Star	Anduin Wrynn in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Neck	Worldkiller Iris	The Jailer in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Shoulder	Mantle of the Demon Star	Lords of Dread in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Cloak	Crest of the Legionnaire General	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Chest	Robes of the Demon Star	Rygelon in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Wrists	Cuffs of the Covert Commander	Lords of Dread in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Gloves	Grim-Veiled Mittens	Crafted Legendary with Malefic Wrath, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Belt	Illicit Artifact Holster	Artificer Xy'mox in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Legs	Leggings of the Demon Star	Halondrus the Reclaimer in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Boots	Grim-Veiled Sandals	Crafted Legendary with Unity, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Ring #1	Overclocking Bit Band	Operation: Mechagon - Workshop
Ring #2	Logic Loop of Recursion	Operation: Mechagon - Junkyard
Main-hand + Off-hand	Antumbra, Shadow of the Cosmos + Lyre of Decadent Frivolity	Rygelon in Sepulcher of the First Ones + Weapon Token from Castle Nathria (or Puzzling Cartel Dinar)
Trinket 1	Shadowed Orb of Torment	Remnant of Ner'zhul in Sanctum of Domination (or Puzzling Cartel Dinar)
Trinket 2	Tome of Monstrous Constructions	The Tarragrue in Sanctum of Domination (or Puzzling Cartel Dinar)

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Horns of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Neck	Noble's Birthstone Pendant	Lady Inerva Darkvein in Castle Nathria
Shoulder	Mantle of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Cloak	Crest of the Legionnaire General	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Chest	Robes of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Wrists	Grim Pursuant's Maille	Huntsman Altimor in Castle Nathria
Gloves	Grim-Veiled Mittens	Crafted Legendary with Malefic Wrath, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Belt	Cinch of Infinite Tightness	Hungering Destroyer in Castle Nathria
Legs	Leggings of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Boots	Grim-Veiled Sandals	Crafted Legendary with Unity, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Ring #1	Most Regal Signet of Sire Denathrius	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Ring #2	Ritualist's Treasured Ring	Lady Inerva Darkvein in Castle Nathria
Main-hand + Off-hand	Spire of the Long Dark	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Trinket 1	Glyph of Assimilation	Artificer Xy'Mox in Castle Nathria
Trinket 2	Cabalist's Hymnal	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Horns of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Neck	Interplanar Keystone	Kel'Thuzad in Sanctum of Domination
Shoulder	Mantle of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Cloak	Cloak of Scarred Honor	Soulrender Dormazain in Sanctum of Domination
Chest	Robes of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Wrists	Desecrator's Keening Wristwraps	Sylvanas Windrunner in Sanctum of Domination
Gloves	Grim-Veiled Mittens	Crafted Legendary with Malefic Wrath, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Belt	Sash of Duplicitous Magics	Kel'Thuzad in Sanctum of Domination
Legs	Leggings of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Boots	Grim-Veiled Sandals	Crafted Legendary with Unity, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Ring #1	Tarnished Insignia of Quel'Thalas	Sylvanas Windrunner in Sanctum of Domination
Ring #2	Miniature Breaking Wheel	Painsmith Raznal in Sanctum of Domination
Main-hand + Off-hand	Maledict Opus	Kel'Thuzad in Sanctum of Domination
Trinket 1	Shadowed Orb of Torment	Remnant of Ner'zhul in Sanctum of Domination
Trinket 2	Tome of Monstrous Constructions	The Tarragrue in Sanctum of Domination

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Horns of the Demon Star	Anduin Wrynn in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Neck	Worldkiller Iris	The Jailer in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Shoulder	Mantle of the Demon Star	Lords of Dread in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Cloak	Shroud of the Sire's Chosen	Lords of Dread in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Chest	Robes of the Demon Star	Rygelon in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Wrists	Cuffs of the Covert Commander	Lords of Dread in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Gloves	Grim-Veiled Mittens	Crafted Legendary with Malefic Wrath, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Belt	Illicit Artifact Holster	Artificer Xy'mox in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Legs	Leggings of the Demon Star	Halondrus the Reclaimer in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Boots	Grim-Veiled Sandals	Crafted Legendary with Unity, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Ring #1	Rygelon's Heraldric Ring	Rygelon in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Ring #2	Loquacious Keeper's Peridot	Lihuvim, Principal Architect in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Main-hand + Off-hand	Antumbra, Shadow of the Cosmos + Forbidden Truth	Rygelon + The Jailer in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Trinket 1	Elegy of the Eternals	Prototype Pantheon in Sepulcher of the First Ones
Trinket 2	The First Sigil	Prototype Pantheon in Sepulcher of the First Ones

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Horns of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Neck	Choker of Barbed Reins	Lower Karazhan
Shoulder	Mantle of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Cloak	Grim-Veiled Cape	Crafted Legendary with Wrath of Consumption or Relic of Demonic Synergy, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Chest	Robes of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Wrists	Bracelets of the Sorrowful Bride	Lower Karazhan
Gloves	Cyphered Gloves	Tazavesh, the Veiled Market
Belt	Frost-Touched Cord	Grimrail Depot
Legs	Leggings of the Demon Star	Creation Catalyst conversion of another item in this slot
Boots	Grim-Veiled Sandals	Crafted Legendary with Unity, Missive of Mastery and Missive of Haste
Ring #1	Overclocking Bit Band	Operation: Mechagon - Workshop
Ring #2	Logic Loop of Recursion	Operation: Mechagon - Junkyard
Main-hand + Off-hand	Staff of Fractured Spacetime	Tazavesh, the Veiled Market
Trinket 1	Enforcer's Stun Grenade	Iron Docks
Trinket 2	Tovra's Lightning Repository	Grimrail Depot

Introduced in Season 4 as part of Fated Raids, up to 3 Puzzling Cartel Dinars can be acquired and used as a means to target specific weapons and/or trinkets from the raid loot pool. Below is a list of highly valuable drops to aim for, in the case of bad luck with drops:

1. Antumbra, Shadow of the Cosmos — currently the best obtainable weapon for casters.
2. Shadowed Orb of Torment — strong on-use trinket that fits extremely well in Affliction's damage profile and has been buffed in Season 4.
3. Tome of Monstrous Constructions and Cabalist's Hymnal — your best passive trinket options for single-target.
4. The First Sigil offers tremendous burst potential and should always be considered in very short encounters and speed kills.

If you would like to learn more about acquiring Puzzling Cartel Dinars or how to further upgrade gear from Fated Raids, please see our overview of this new system below.

As part of the changes in Season 4, Valor upgrade system will not retain a weekly cap, allowing to upgrade items without being limited each lockout, up to item level 298 after achieving Shadowlands Keystone Master: Season Four. As a general rule it is advisable to prioritise trinkets, then weapons, then head/chest/legs pieces for the highest value gain.

Shards of Domination will not work in any Shadowlands Mythic+ Season 4 dungeons or within any Fated Raids, therefore both the shards and the items with a shard slot can be disregarded for any type of content outside Torghast.

Due to the prevalence of high item level trinkets via Mythic+, raiding, and PvP, there are a variety of suitable options when it comes to trinkets. It is always best to use Raidbots Top Gear to determine what your optimal trinkets are.

In Fated Raids there are few noteworthy options:

• The First Sigil offers a tremendous burst potential and can be considered in situations where a stronger burst phase is needed;
• Tome of Monstrous Constructions offers the highest damage in single-target situations, losing value as more targets are present;
• Shadowed Orb of Torment is the best on-use trinket for general purposes.
• Cabalist's Hymnal is a great passive option whenever cooldowns do not get delayed.

From dungeons, Tovra's Lightning Repository and Enforcer's Stun Grenade are the default choices for single-target and general use. For more AoE-oriented situations Deteriorated Construct Core has better scaling.