Affliction Warlock DPS Spell Summary (Legion 7.3)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.3 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources
  • 3. Basic Abilities
    • 3.1. Damage Over Time Spells (DoTs)
    • 3.2. Direct Damage Spells
    • 3.3. Demonic Summons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target
      • 2.1.2. 2 Targets
      • 2.1.3. 3 Targets
    • 2.2. Mythic+
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Third Golden Trait
    • 1.4. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice
  • 2. Tier 2 Upgrade Priority
  • 3. Tier 3 Upgrade Priority
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Playstyle
    • 1.1. Single Target Rotation
    • 1.2. 2-Target Priority List
      • 1.2.1. 3-Target Priority List
    • 1.3. Mythic+
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. DoT Usage (7.2.5)
    • 2.2. Reap Usage
    • 2.3. Unstable Affliction Usage
      • 2.3.1. 2-3 Targets
    • 2.4. Soul Shard Sniping
    • 2.5. Pet Choice
    • 2.6. Agony
    • 2.7. "Nightfall" — Shard Generation Explained
    • 2.8. "Pandemic" — Learning to Efficiently Refresh DoTs
    • 2.9. Defensive Utility
    • 2.10. Doomguard and Infernal
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. DoT Uptimes & Shard Expenditure
    • 3.2. Movement Management
      • 3.2.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Opening Sequence
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Stat Weights
    • 2.1. Why is Mastery Good?
  • 3. Statistics Explanations
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons
    • 1.1. Generic Addons for Warlocks
    • 1.2. ElvUI
    • 1.3. Weak Auras
    • 1.4. Boss Mods
      • 1.4.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.4.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.5. Name Plates
      • 1.5.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.5.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.6. Damage Meters
      • 1.6.1. Skada
      • 1.6.2. Details
    • 1.7. Extra AddOns
      • 1.7.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.7.2. DeathNote
      • 1.7.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.7.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros
    • 2.1. Warlock Macros
      • 2.1.1. Pet Macros
      • 2.1.2. Soulstone Mouseover
      • 2.1.3. Demonic Circle
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Trinket Discussion
  • 3. Best in Slot List
  • 4. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights
  • 5. Legendaries
    • 5.1. Legendary Quick Reference
  • 6. Loot Competition
  • 7. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list the spells that you will often use as an Affliction Warlock.

The other pages of our Affliction Warlock guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Deepshades, a top raider who plays in Method; you can his stream on Twitch and follow him on Twitter.

1. Spell Summary

If you are new to Affliction, it is recommended you read this before proceeding! In this section we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, and how they interact with important cooldowns. If you have played this spec before or have already achieved a level of comfort playing this spec in a practical environment, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

2. Main Resources

Soul Shards are the main resource of Affliction Warlocks. Soul Shards are generated by your main damage over time spell, and they can be spent on a powerful damage over time nuke and the summoning of powerful demons. You can have a maximum of 5 Soul Shards.

Mana is another primary resource of Affliction. Most of your spells cost Mana, which can be periodically restored through Life Tap. Mana is not very essential to your rotation, so long as you have enough to continue to cast spells.

3. Basic Abilities

These abilities are available no matter what talents you chose, and form the bread and butter of this specialization.

3.1. Damage Over Time Spells (DoTs)

Agony is your main DoT spell, and it is the most powerful and important. This spell takes a long time to ramp up, as it gains a stack every time it ticks, up to a maximum of 10 (20 with the Writhe in Agony talent). Every time Agony gains a stack it deals increased levels of damage. Agony ticks also have a chance to generate a Soul Shard. Reapplying Agony refreshes the duration and allows you to keep your stacks at maximum without re-stacking them. You should keep this applied to your target at all times.

Unstable Affliction is a DoT nuke that consumes a Soul Shard. It does high damage and has a short duration, but if the target dies while it is active the Soul Shard cost is refunded. Each Unstable Affliction applied is a separate instance of the spell, and each will refund a Soul Shard if the target dies during the duration of Unstable Affliction. You can have a maximum of 5 Unstable Afflictions active on a single target at one time.

Corruption is a medium strength DoT. You should keep this applied to your target at all times.

3.2. Direct Damage Spells

Drain Soul is your main filler. It is a channelled spell that deals damage every time it ticks, and also heals you for 200% of the damage dealt. This ability generates decent self healing and deals solid damage and generates 1 Soul Shard if the target dies during the effect.

Seed of Corruption is an AoE ability that embeds a seed in your target, which explodes after 18 seconds and spreads Corruption to all targets damaged. The seed is detonated early if the target takes enough damage from you. This ability is used for damage on large AoE packs, as it deals moderate damage and spreads your Corruption to every target without having to waste global cooldowns applying it.

Life Tap restores 30% of your maximum Mana in exchange for 10% of your maximum health.

3.3. Demonic Summons

Summon Felhunter is your default choice for a permanent pet, as its Shadow Bite deals increased damage based on the number of DoTs active on its target. If you are talented into Grimoire of Service, you should also use Grimoire: Felhunter as your grimoire cooldown.

Summon Doomguard is your main DPS cooldown. It deals strong damage and has a 3-minute cooldown. If you are talented into Grimoire of Supremacy, you should use the Doomguard as your permanent pet for all situations.

4. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 13 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Updated as Drain Life has now been replaced with Drain Soul in Patch 7.1.5.
• 12 Dec. 2016: Now mentions Writhe in Agony in the Agony paragraph.
• 25 Oct. 2016: Updated the Unstable Affliction system as it functions differently for multiple applications in Patch 7.1.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.