Affliction Warlock DPS Guide — Shadowlands 9.0.2

Affliction Warlocks excel at sustaining high single-target and multiple-target damage. Most of your damage comes from the application of harmful damage over time effects (DoTs). This allows them to effectively cleave on targets that are spread around an area, something many specializations struggle with or are flat out unable to do. Just like the other Warlock specializations, Affliction Warlocks bring the Demonic Gateway ability to the raid, which can be an invaluable mobility cooldown.

We are maintaining a list of changes for Warlocks, so you can see what changed between Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands. The new expansion also introduces new character customization options with Covenants and Legendary Powers, for which we have Warlock-specific pages that you can access below.

Affliction Warlocks have undergone a substantial change moving from Battle for Azeroth into the Shadowlands. Unstable Affliction has moved from the default single target Soul Shard spender to the previous iteration of Damage over Time spell with no Soul Shard cost associated, albeit limited to only 1 target this time. In its stead a new more versatile spender has been introduced: Malefic Rapture, a spell that hit any target in line of sight, with damage scaling based on the number of periodic effect active on each target.

Another change, result of the "unpruning" is the reintroduction of Curses baseline for all the 3 specs: Curse of Tongues, Curse of Weakness, Curse of Exhaustion, which provide additional utility tools without impacting the gameplay much.

Last but not least there has been a talent tree shuffle, which you can view in details in Affliction Talents page, the introduction of Demonic Circle baseline and the return of Howl of Terror as talent option.

We have a dedicated leveling guide to help you get your Affliction Warlock to max level, complete with many tips and suggestions.

While playing with the default UI for the leveling is entirely possible, transitioning to a max level rotation with a substantially different UI layout can feel overwhelming and ultimately disorient or frustrate the player. We recommend instead to implement Layout changes gradually in order to allow yourself to acclimate to a more effective and personal UI. The Addon page below offers some recommended options.

Affliction Warlock is a spec centered around Damage over Time effects, cooldown periods that require a setup to get the most out of them, and a relative amount of pet management. At its core the gameplay is about generating and spending the Warlock iconic resource: Soul Shards.

The fundamentals are simple: maintain Corruption and Agony on the target(s), spend your Soul Shards on Malefic Raptures or Seed of Corruption and cast Shadow Bolt in the downtime.

If you are a newcomer to the spec, but would like to learn the basics start browsing the Spell Summary and head over the page linked below

For those more familiar with Warlocks we invite you to check out the Talents and Rotation pages to have access to more detailed and in depth information.

Due the increased number of variables and additional systems, picking gear has become a much less intuitive and immediate process. Nevertheless you can find guidelines in how to best equip your Affliction Warlock in our dedicated gearing page, including the current Best in Slot equipment for the current tier.

Equipping gear is not enough, as you also need to choose the right consumables and gear augments to maximise your character potential. Below is listed a page that can guide you through those choices as well as a page to better understand the implications each stats has on your Warlock.

With Shadowlands release, players gain access to multiple new systems.

First and foremost is the Covenant system, the most influential in terms of power progression, granting access to Soulbinds and Conduit customisation, which have a very tangible impact in the overall output. Making the right decision is paramount, so head to the page below to learn more.

Affliction Warlock Best Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits

Another means to acquiring additional power is given by the Legendary system, tied to a new crafting experience with limited resources, making it very important to identify the most effective choice in terms of upgrade. Follow the link for a detailed explanation of Legendaries and what to craft for what type of content.

Affliction Warlock Best Legendaries

Being geared and well equipped is only half of the journey, as the end game activities require each a different approach to the spec. In order to find out more information regarding how to better tackle these challenges check the pages below.

Understanding your errors and refining your performance is a constant exercise, which can be frustrating or confounding at times. Below are listed some pages that offer tools and can point and help correcting those mistakes.

Affliction is a well rounded specialization, with more upsides than downsides. It offers good single-target damage, extremely strong burst, unrivalled multi-target distant cleave, with a mobility matched only by Beast Mastery Hunters.

The only downside Affliction suffers from in this expansion comes from its lack of burst AoE. While its sustained AoE can be actually strong, it requires specific talent choices and a certain setup time, meaning it is not effective when targets die too quickly.

Affliction is a highly sought after spec in raids. A combination of competitive single-target, with the possibility to increase it even further if additional targets are present, high self-sustain, high mobility, high burst, and one of the best multi-target outputs often make Affliction one of the spec you may want to stack during progress.

Affliction Warlock is the best specialization to level with, as it is mobile and provides good damage to spread out targets. It is very mobile while leveling, as DoTs can be cast while moving.

Affliction looks to be a prime contender for Castle Nathria progress, offering mobility, multi-target potential, and most importantly execute damage without sacrificing its single-target prowess.