The Warlocks Den - WoW Warlock Discussions

Thanks for taking the time to read this! I was not sure exactly where I should post this, and I apologize if it is in the wrong spot...

I am writing a raiding guide for the affliction warlocks of my guild (though not many). We seem to be growing in amount of warlocks, and I've been asked just how to raid affliction, and if afflictions is right for them, etc. SO, I decided to write my own "guide" for my guild to read so that I could be lazy and just direct them to there. My guide is based off of the information I have found in this site (which I LOVE) and from my own experiences. I admit, I'm not the wisest of our class ... but I'm trying! :-)

Anyway, what I would like from you guys is some critiques, and anything you can recommend that I change, add, or tell me of anything that is missing. I know that there are guides on this site, but I wanted to compile one myself, just to gain some experience in it. It is not complete. I've been slowly working on it, trying to tweak it and make it good... but I need some helps please!

Thank you for any help you can be! :-)

Warning: This is kinda long ... so yeah.

______ Start of it. _____

Now, as a warning, some of this will seem like I am speaking to an idjut … but that is just so that I can get the point across and be sure that I am understood.


First: Is affliction for me? – Not sure? Read this!

Let’s start this with a discussion …

I am going to start off by saying affliction is one of the poorest “DPS” specs around. Oh snap! Did I really say that? Yes, I did. Now let me clarify and support that statement before you go running off screaming.

“DPS” stands for damage per second. Got it? Good. Now, an affliction lock’s damage is done mostly by what are called “DoT”s … which stands for damage over time. Still following? I know I’m going over stuff you are going “well, no duh.” But hear me out! DPS is highest when one can deal the highest amount of damage the fastest, right? Following that logic, by definition, affliction warlocks are NOT good dps.

An affliction warlock’s damage is done over time (DoT). If the lock’s overall damage is being done over time, then their DPS is not going to be as high as another DPSer. Therefore, DoTs do not equal that great DPS by the definition, therefore affliction warlocks are not that great with the DPS.

What an affliction warlock IS good as it putting out a shit ton of damage. Just because the DPS itself is low, does not mean affliction does not put out a lot of damage. Affliction puts out an *** ton of damage over time!

Now, I do not mean to be misleading in saying affliction is poor DPS. Hell, we can kill things quickly with our DoTs solo, but we do NOT under any circumstances have the highest DPS. I will give an example. In an Al’ar attempt, I ran violation to see what was going on. On my damage done window, it had me up near the top, but on my DPS section, I was 9th! And if that still confuses you, just remember the definitions of DPS, DOTS, and damage done.

If you want to be one of the top DPSers, this spec is not for you. Go destruction. If you do not like having to keep track of DoTs and making sure they are up all the time, this is not the spec for you. If you like burst DPS … look elsewhere, my friend. However, if you like putting out an *** ton of damage on boss fights and are good at managing DoTs and such, then by all means, check out this hawt spec! This spec does require you to be able to multitask and pay attention! You must be able to keep an eye on the timers, while also listening to the raid leaders and being aware of what is going on around you during a raid. That is true for any spec, really, but with affliction it is crucial you be able to do a lot at once.

Now if you are sure you want to raid affliction … here are some tips!

1. DoT Timers

VERY IMPORTANT! Have a DoT timer. I do not care what kind of DoT timer you have. This is a MUST have for raiding and keeping your DoTs up! There are several out there. From what I remember there is Necrosis and Necronoman or whatever it is called. Again, just get one, does not matter what.

A DoT timer is the ONLY way you will be able to keep track of your DoTs and such. So get one!!

There is also Forte Warlock, which is a GREAT addon. It tracks your DoTs, tells you which are resisted, and even has a nifty summoning mod that allows for you to see who in raid actually needs a summon, and all you have to do is double click the name to summon.

2. Recasting DoTs

Try not to recast your DoTs until the last tick of damage. This is especially important for corruption, you want that last tick to go off because that is the most damage it will do! I know it is instinct to immediately recast when it gets low, but you want that last tick.

The exception to this rule is silences and stuns. Before a silence or stun, renew your DoTs for maximum DPS. Your raid mods should tell you so many seconds before the silence or stun.

3. Spell Rotation!

Let me begin by saying that the following is not rigid. The great thing about affliction is it is versatile and able to adapt really well, and change, while still smacking a lot of damage on a boss mob.

Trash: Here is the key to damage for affliction locks: DoT every target that has a tank attached to it! DO NOT tab target and accidentally DoT up a freakin’ sheep. Use the tank windows, that is what they are there for!

Boss: Amplify Curse + Curse of Doom, Unstable Affliction, Corruption, Immolate, Siphon Life, Dark Pact, Shadow Bolt Spam

Now, I know what some may be thinking. “Now wait a minute, what about casting instant DoTs first?” Forget that … its not right. We must take into account for the global cool downs that all spells have. Casting two instant DoTs in time with each other is not in the best interest. Don’t know what global cool down is? WoWwiki is a great site to go look it up! :-P

UA and corruption are typically put together because the timers are pretty much the same. You can cast UA and then corruption, and then both will go down at the same time, easily recast. SL is a bit of a butt in being longer, but just work around that.

Now, you will not be able to just sit there and keep casting it. You are going to have to move or die some of the time … but the great thing is you can take advantage of that needed movement. Dark pact while moving, or just recast your instant DoTs if you need to, just don’t waste that time!

Technically, because of movement, there is no “perfect” spell rotation, but keeping the one above in mind is a great way to maximize your damage output.

As for CoD … it is a MUCH better damage per cast time than Curse of Agony. With CoD you can smack it on the boss and forget about it for 60 seconds and focus on keeping DoTs up and shadow bolting. 60 seconds later, for an instant cast … nice big BAM … about 9k and up depending upon stats and such.

Now, I would HIGHLY recommend if you have not already, keybind your spells!!!!! It makes casting quicker, easier, and if you lag, you can still punch those keys and be able to get some spells off. The easiest I find is to have my main spells bound to keys 1-4 and then bind any other crucial ones to the function keys (F1, F2, etc). It makes a difference in your damage output, believe me.

4. Managing Mana and Health

Manage your mana! Tough to do for some people, but it is a must do. Get dark pact and use it! Yes, the imp is a little bit more dps, but totally not worth it in the grand scheme of things. The imp is for more stamina, and is your mana battery! Now, my suggestion is to do your DoT order, then dark pact, then SB, … then pot at 75%.

Make SURE you have Blessing of Wisdom on your imp, this will increase his mana regen, making it faster for you to be able to dark pact mana from him. Just take him out of phase shift for buffs and he should get it.

You can lifetap, but try not to too much. Use it as a last resort. The SL typically cancels out the effects, but lifetap still makes a healer twitch.

5. Stats

Until you reach the maximum of 202 spell hit (about 16%) … you will focus mainly upon your spell hit. 202 is the magic number! Your spells will hit 99% of the time! Woot! Get it if you can, but it is not as big of a necessity, but you still want it. Here is why:

As an affliction, you can get Suppression, which gives you 10% more spell hit for AFFLICTION spells. Meaning, at 76 (which equates to about 6%) spell hit, with the suppression, you are maxed out with spell hit for the affliction spells. However, spell hit does NOT affect your shadow bolt nor your immolate spell … so it is highly recommended that you get to 202. More points to spend elsewhere!

Anyway, the main focus of afftarded warlocks is:
Spell hit > spell damage > spell crit

5A. So what is the logic behind the stats?

As a reminder, affliction damage is done mainly through DoTs, and some of the throwing of shadow bolts while waiting to refresh DoTs. If your DoTs do not hit the target, you are not doing any damage. The same is true for any spec for a warlock. You REALLY want to have 202 spell hit if you can get it. It is the magic number. Again, if the spell is not smacking the target, you’d have more luck doing damage to the mob by throwing your computer across the room.

To have your spells hit at 99% of the time, you want to have 202 spell hit. I cannot stress that number enough, its magical! Again, at 76 spell hit, with 5/5 Suppression, you will have maxed out your affliction spells spell hit.

Spell damage is kind of self-explanatory … the more spell damage you have, the more your spell can hit for.  I’ll expand this out at a later time.

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I want to address one thing … does this mean all of this is absolutely so correct and must be followed? No. It is only recommended. However, I found, by following the things I outline here, I can put out a lot of damage.

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Again, thanks for reading it ... if you made it through. If not, thanks for reading part of it! Any help I can get with this will be much appreciated! :-)