[Warlock] Affliction Raiding Guide (with glyphs)

[dammongorian]

Was looking for talent specs for affliction raiding and found this guide by Vux from Warlocks Den.

Original post with working links here:
Vux's Guide to Affliction - The Warlocks Den Forums

Hope this helps someone

[ Table of Contents ]

#1, 2, 3
..... Affliction Talent By Talent Breakdown: Spellpower and Talent Coefficients

#4
..... Affliction Talent By Talent Breakdown: Conclusions and Results (Final Spell Formulae)

#5
..... Frequently Asked Questions
..... The New Hit Cap at Level 80

#6
..... Affliction Raiding Builds (Hit and Not Hit Capped)
..... Raid Boss Spell Rotation
..... Affliction Leveling Build

#7
..... Drain Soul vs. Shadow Bolt Under 25%
..... Molten Core Uptime

#8
..... Warlock Glyphs List


Affliction Talent By Talent Breakdown: Spellpower and Talent Coefficients:

• --All Testing Re-Done On 3.0.3 PTR: Nov 2, 2008--
  
  I decided to do some extremely in-depth testing of all the talents and spells on the PTR to see how they interacted with each other. There is quite a lot going on, especially since talents affect various spells and whether everything was additive, multiplicative, before spellpower, after spellpower, etc was a huge question.
  
  All questions I decided to find out the answers to.
  
  I started with a 0/0/0 spec and tested every single dot one by one. After seeing how each particular spell behaved, I added talents, one by one, continuing down the Affliction tree.
  
  (A chart with the summary of my results can be found after all the tests. Definitely check out the Everlasting Affliction test, not only because it's a new talent, but because it's very confusing talent and it seems not many people understand how it really works. But once you do, it's a very awesome talent
  
  Here are my results:

Affliction Tree Stress Testing

• Test I: 0/0/0 spec
  
  • Curse of Agony
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      56, 56, 57, 57, 113, 113, 113, 113, 170, 169, 169, 170 = 1356 total damage (Base Damage)
    • 1377 Spellpower
      194, 194, 194, 194, 251, 251, 251, 251, 307, 307, 307, 307 = 3008 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      1356 + 1377*1.20 = 3008.4
    • Conclusion(s):
      Curse of Agony has a 120% Spellpower coefficient.
      
      Spellpower Distribution: The 120% Spellpower is distributed evenly between all 12 ticks (120% / 12 = 10% for each tick). (Example: 1377*0.1=138 --> 56+138=194) This means that Curse of Agony will get "flatter" once you get more and more spellpower, because the difference between the 1st/2nd and 2nd/3rd ticks will always be 56 damage.
      
      Glyph of Curse of Agony: This will add two of the middle-strength ticks to the START of the curse (*before* the weakest ticks). So with 0 Spellpower, it would be 113, 113, 56, 56, 56 ,56, 113, 113, 113, 113, 170, 170, 170, 170. This is according to Glyph of Curse of Agony - Item - World of Warcraft
  • Corruption
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      150, 150, 150, 150, 150, 150 = 900 total damage (Base Damage)
    • 1377 Spellpower
      425, 425, 425, 426, 426, 425 = 2552 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      900 + 1377*1.20 = 2552.4
    • Conclusion(s):
      Corruption has a 120% Spellpower coefficient. (Yes, BUFFED!)
• Test II: Improved Curse of Agony 2/2 (+10%)
  
  • Curse of Agony
    
    • Base Damage:
      1356 total damage
    • 1377 Spellpower
      213, 214, 213, 214, 275, 275, 276, 276, 338, 338, 338, 338 = 3308 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.1 = 3309.24
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Curse of Agony acts after Spellpower.
• Test III: Improved Corruption 5/5 (+10%)
  
  • Corruption
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
    • 1377 Spellpower
      468, 467, 467, 467, 468, 468 = 2805 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*1.20) * 1.1 = 2807.64
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Corruption acts after Spellpower.
• Test IV: Empowered Corruption 3/3 (+36% Spellpower)
  
  • Corruption
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
    • 1377 Spellpower
      559, 558, 559, 559, 559, 559 = 3353 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*(1.2 + .36)) * 1.1 = 3352.932
      (900 + 1377*(1.56)) * 1.1 = 3352.932
    • Conclusion(s):
      Empowered Corruption yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 156%.
• Test V: Siphon Life 1/1
  
  • Siphon Life
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63 = 630 total damage (Base Damage)
    • 1377 Spellpower
      200, 200, 200, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201 = 2007 total damage
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      630 + 1377*1.00 = 2007
    • Conclusion(s):
      Siphon Life has a 100% Spellpower coefficient.

Test VI: Shadow Mastery 5/5 (+15%)

• Corruption
  
  • Base Damage:
    900 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    635, 635, 635, 635, 635, 635 = 3810 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.25 = 3810.15
  • Conclusion(s):
    Improved Corruption and Shadow Mastery are addtive. (10% + 15%)
    Improved Corruption and Shadow Mastery both act after spellpower.
• Curse of Agony
  
  • Base Damage:
    1356 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    243, 242, 243, 242, 313, 313, 313, 313, 384, 384, 384, 384 = 3758 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.25 = 3760.5
  • Conclusion(s):
    Improved Curse of Agony and Shadow Mastery are addtive. (10% + 15%)
    Improved Curse of Agony and Shadow Mastery both act after spellpower.
• Siphon Life
  
  • Base Damage:
    630 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    230, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231 = 2309 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 = 2308.05
  • Conclusion(s):
    Shadow Mastery acts after spellpower.
• Curse of Doom
  
  • Base Damage:
    4200 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    6954, 6954, 6954
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (4200 + 1377*2.00) * 1.00 = 6954
  • Conclusion(s):
    Curse of Doom has a 200% Spellpower coefficient.
    Shadow Mastery has no effect on Curse of Doom. (BUGGED)

Test VII: Contagion 5/5 (+5%)

• Corruption
  
  • Base Damage:
    900 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    661, 660, 660, 661, 661, 660 = 3963 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 = 3962.556
  • Conclusion(s):
    Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion are addtive. (10% + 15% + 5%)
    Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion all act after spellpower.
• Curse of Agony
  
  • Base Damage:
    1356 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    252, 253, 252, 252, 326, 326, 326, 326, 400, 399, 399, 399 = 3910 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.30 = 3910.92
  • Conclusion(s):
    Improved Curse of Agony, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion are addtive. (10% + 15% + 5%)
    Improved Curse of Agony, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion all act after spellpower.

Test VIII: Malediction 3/3 (+3%)

• Corruption
  
  • Base Damage:
    900 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    680, 680, 680, 680, 680, 680 = 4080 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.33 = 4053.9996 (WRONG)
    (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4081.43268
  • Conclusion(s):
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
• Curse of Agony
  
  • Base Damage:
    1356 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    260, 260, 260, 260, 336, 335, 336, 336, 411, 411, 411, 411 = 4027 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.33 = 4001.172 (WRONG)
    (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4028.2476
  • Conclusion(s):
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
• Siphon Life
  
  • Base Damage:
    630 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    237, 237, 237, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238 = 2377 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.18 = 2368.26 (WRONG)
    (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 2377.2915
  • Conclusion(s):
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
• Curse of Doom
  
  • Base Damage:
    4200 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    7163, 7163, 7163
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (4200 + 1377*2.00) * 1.03 = 7162.62
  • Conclusion(s):
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
• Immolate
  
  • 0 Spellpower, no talents
    331 total direct damage
    123, 123, 123, 123, 123 = 615 total dot damage
  • 1377 Spellpower, no talents
    596 total direct damage
    387, 388, 388, 388, 388 = 1939 total dot damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    331 + 1377*0.192 = 595.384 (~19.2% DD coefficient)
    615 + 1377*0.962 = 1939.674 (~96.2% dot coefficient)
    
    -----
  • 1377 Spellpower, Malediction
    613 total direct damage
    399, 399, 399, 399, 400 = 1996 total dot damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (331 + 1377*0.192) * 1.03 = 613.24552 (DD)
    (615 + 1377*0.962) * 1.03 = 1997.86422 (dot)
  • Conclusion(s):
    Immolate has a ~19.2% DD coefficient and 96.2% dot coefficient. (Weird.)
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.

Test IX: Unstable Affliction 1/1

• Unstable Affliction
  
  • Base Damage (From MMO/Wowhead, unable to test without Shadow Mastery):
    875 total damage (Base Damage)
  • 1377 Spellpower
    534, 533, 534, 534, 534 = 2669 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    (875 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 2667.494
  • Conclusion(s):
    Unstable Affliction's coefficient is now 100% due to the 18 to 15 sec duration nerf. (Was 120%)
    Shadow Mastery acts after spellpower.
    Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.

Test X: Everlasting Affliction 5/5 (+5% Spellpower per tick)

• Corruption
  
  • Base Damage:
    900 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    772, 772, 772, 772, 773, 773 = 4364 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    Derivation:
    (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*6) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Add EA damage)
    (900 + 1377*1.56 + 1377*.05*6) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Bring inside parentheses)
    (900 + 1377*1.56 + 1377*.3) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Multiply .05*6)
    (900 + 1377*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
    
    Final:
    (900 + 1377*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358
  • Conclusion(s):
    Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 30% extra damage from Spellpower (6 ticks).
    Everlasting Affliction occurs before Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, Contagion and Malediction.
    Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 186% for Corruption.
• Unstable Affliction
  
  • Base Damage:
    875 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    615, 615, 615, 615, 616 = 3076 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    Derivation:
    (875 + 1377) * 1.15 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*5) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Add EA damage)
    (875 + 1377 + 1377*.05*5) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Bring inside parentheses)
    (875 + 1377 + 1377*.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Multiply .05*5)
    (875 + 1377*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
    
    Final:
    (875 + 1377*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125
  • Conclusion(s):
    Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 25% extra damage from Spellpower (5 ticks).
    Everlasting Affliction occurs before Shadow Mastery and Malediction.
    Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 125% for Unstable Affliction.
• Siphon Life
  
  • Base Damage:
    630 total damage
  • 1377 Spellpower
    319, 319, 319, 319, 319, 320, 320, 320, 320, 320 = 3195 total damage
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    Derivation:
    (630 + 1377) * 1.15 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*10) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Add EA damage)
    (630 + 1377 + 1377*.05*10) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Bring inside parentheses)
    (630 + 1377 + 1377*.50) * 1.15 * 1.03= 3192.81975 (Multiply .05*10)
    (630 + 1377*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
    
    Final:
    (630 + 1377*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975
  • Conclusion(s):
    Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 50% extra damage from Spellpower (10 ticks).
    Everlasting Affliction occurs before Shadow Mastery and Malediction.
    Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 150% for Siphon Life.

Test XI: Haunt

• Haunt
  
  • Base Damage (From MMO/Wowhead, unable to test without Shadow Mastery):
    487-569 base (528 avg) (Base Damage)
  • 1377 Spellpower
    1310, 1260, 1270, 1263, 1260.66, 1279.33, 1322, 1301, 1288, 1287, 1316, 1297, 1274, 1345, 1314
    Total Average: 1292.466
  • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
    Derivation:
    (528 + 1377*x) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 1292.466
    x = 40.897%
    
    This is very close to the coefficient for any instant cast spell (1.5/3.5 = 42.857%)
    
    Final:
    (528 + 1377*0.42857) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 1324.44 (close to my average, even though I had a very small sample size)
  • Conclusion(s):
    Haunt has a 42.857% Spellpower coefficient.
    Haunt crits were nerfed to do 150% damage (before build 8970, they did 200% damage).

Test XII: Dot Ticks with Haunt + 2 Stacks of Shadow Embrace

• Corruption
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 773
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 1020
  • 773 * 1.3 = 1004.9 (Wrong)
  • 773 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 1020.36
• Curse of Agony
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 260
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 343
  • 260 * 1.3 = 338 (Wrong)
  • 260 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 343.2
• Siphon Life
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 319
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 422
  • 319 * 1.3 = 414.7 (Wrong)
  • 319 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 421.08
• Unstable Affliction
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 615
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 812
  • 615 * 1.3 = 799.5 (Wrong)
  • 615 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 811.8
• Immolate
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 399
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 527
  • 399 * 1.3 = 518.7 (Wrong)
  • 399 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 526.68
• Curse of Doom
  
  • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 7163
  • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 7163
  • No Change
• Conclusion(s)
  
  • Total Formula is: Damage * 1.2 Haunt * 1.1 SE
  • In other words, Haunt and Shadow Embrace both act multiplicatively and on top of all talents and spellpower.
  • Haunt and Shadow Embrace DO increase dot damage if dot is casted first, and then Haunt/SE after. Though it seems to be bugged somewhat... (When both debuffs drop, dots tick for lower than they did without both debuffs...)

Overall Test Conclusions

• Talent modifiers are additive. The lump sum of talent modifiers is then is multiplied after spellpower.
• Buffs (on yourself) and debuffs (on the target) are multiplicative.

Bugs

• Curse of Doom is bugged:
  
  A) It doesn't get any benefit from Shadow Mastery, even though the tooltip clearly states it does shadow damage.
  
  B) It doesn't get any benefit from Haunt or Shadow Embrace, despite the fact that it *IS* a periodic effect. (See Curse of Doom - Spell - World of Warcraft for proof: "Apply Aura: Periodic Damage, Value: 4200 every 1 minute")

Summary of Results

• Corruption:
  (900 + Spellpower*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03
• Curse of Agony:
  (1356 + Spellpower*1.20) * 1.30 * 1.03
• Curse of Doom (Bugged):
  (4200 + Spellpower*2.00)
• Immolate (DD):
  (331 + Spellpower*0.20) * 1.03
• Immolate (DoT):
  (615 + Spellpower*1.00) * 1.03
• Siphon Life:
  (630 + Spellpower*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03
• Unstable Affliction:
  (875 + Spellpower*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03
• Haunt + 2 stacks of Shadow Embrace:
  Tick * 1.20 * 1.10

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Does Nightfall and Glyph of Corruption stack for 8%? YES
• How does Everlasting Affliction work? If you have 100 Spellpower and Corruption ticks for 100 100 100 100 100 100, after putting 5 points into EA, it will do 105 105 105 105 105 105.
• How does Pandemic work? Pandemic shoots a "shadow bolt" equal to the damage of the dot tick; you can see it in your combat log. (Also, it's bugged to only do 1 damage versus target dummies)
• Does Improved Fear stack with Curse of Exhaustion for 60%? NO
• Is Drain Soul doing 400% damage for targets under 25% life? Rank 6 at Level 77 only
• Why doesn't Drain Soul do 4x damage sometimes? If you cast it at 26%, and the target goes under 25%, the damage will not increase. You must *start* casting Drain Soul at 25% or less. (This is the same mechanic for Molten Core and Death's Embrace -- spells won't ramp up automatically, they will take benefit on the next cast.) The nice thing is that if a target gets healed to over 25%, it will still keep ticking for 4x damage. (Same with casting Immolate while Molten Core is up, and then Molten Core falling off.)
• What can proc Molten Core? All shadow dots (UA, Corr, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life) and shadow DD's (Shadow Bolt, Haunt). Immolate cannot proc it.
• Does Malediction's self-only effect increase your +Spellower or all damage? It's all damage. So if your Shadow Bolt hits for 100 damage, after putting 3 points into Malediction, it will hit for 103. (Without CoE being up.)
• What is the proc rate on Glyph of Drain Soul? About 5% (very lame).
  Note that you might not notice when it procs because the loot window doesn't say "You receive [Soul Shard]x2". Instead it just says "You receive [Soul Shard]" twice, one line after another (it's helpful to have a timestamp mod so you can see that you get 2 Soul Shards within the same second).
• What are the best Glyphs to use? Corruption, Siphon Life and Immolate are the best for maximizing DPS. Glyph of Curse of Agony is nice, but doesn't give as much DPS as these three do. (For details, see "Warlock Glyphs List")
• How does Glyph of Curse of Agony work?
  This will add two of the middle-strength ticks to the START of the curse (*before* the weakest ticks). So with 0 Spellpower, it would be 113, 113, 56, 56, 56 ,56, 113, 113, 113, 113, 170, 170, 170, 170. This is according to Glyph of Curse of Agony - Item - World of Warcraft
• What are some good mods to help with tracking dots?
  
  Dot Timer DoTimer : WoWInterface Downloads : Warlock
  
  Quartz (Casting Bar / Debuffs): Quartz - Modular Casting Bar : WoWInterface Downloads : Casting Bars and Cooldowns
  
  PolMonitor (Missing debuffs monitor): PolMonitor : WoWInterface Downloads : Buff/Debuff/Spell Mods

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The New Hit Cap at Level 80:

• What is the new hit cap at level 80?
  
  • At 80, 1% = 26.23199272 +Hit Rating.
    Source: Combat Ratings at level 80 - Elitist Jerks
    
    
    A) 17% Hit
    B) 14% Hit (Suppression & Cataclysm, OR Misery or Faerie Fire)
    C) 11% Hit (Suppression & Cataclysm, AND Misery or Faerie Fire)
    (Misery = Shadow Priest, Faerie Fire = Moonkin)
    
    A) 17% = 446 +Hit Rating
    B) 14% = 367 +Hit Rating
    C) 11% = 289 +Hit Rating
    
    If you're raiding with a Draenei, subtract another 1% Hit as follows:
    A) 16% = 420 +Hit Rating
    B) 13% = 341 +Hit Rating
    C) 10% = 262 +Hit Rating
  • Note that Blizzard removed the 99% max resist cap (finally). So the hit cap is 17%.
    
    "Also, note that with the Wrath of the Lich King patch you can completely eliminate resist chance through hit chance (you can overcome that final 1% resist chance)."
    
    Source: Kalgan:
    ************ BlueTracker - Upcoming racial ability changes
  • Also note that all hit %'s on wowhead.com tooltips are for melee, which is 32.78998947 per 1%. Don't do calculations based on those percentages. See the Elitist Jerks link for more Combat Ratings at 80 like Crit (45.90598679), Haste (32.78998947), and more.
  • Combat Ratings at level 80 - Elitist Jerks

Affliction Raiding Builds:

• Level 80 Raid Build (17% Hit Capped from Gear/Buffs):
  Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
  
  • Thanks to Fallenman for a lot of help constructing this build! What follows is a brief overview of the talents chosen. For more details and a much more in-depth Affliction Warlock raiding guide, see his sticky thread here:
    
    World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums - WOTLK affliction raiding rotation guide
  • Key Talents: Haunt + Ruin: The key to this build is maximizing the best Affliction DPS talents and then adding Ruin, since Shadow Bolt will still be the Affliction filler spell for the majority of fights (aside from Drain Soul at sub-25%).
  • Life Tap vs. Dark Pact: With the scaling on Life Tap being so good (scaling with 300% of Spirit), as well as having so much spirit on ALL caster gear at 80 (pretty much unavoidable), Life Tap quickly surpasses Dark Pact in terms of raiding efficiency and GCD's. This frees up 3 talent points in Dark Pact and Improved Felhunter.
  • Soul Siphon: Sub-25%, we'll be using Drain Soul as the Affliction filler, rather than Shadow Bolt. This is because it does 400% the damage to targets under 25% HP (and this is on top of ALL talents, buffs, etc). (This is only possible with Rank 6 of Drain Soul at level 77.)
  • Eradication 1/3: Only one point because points 2 and 3 still having diminishing returns. Ghostcrawler once posted that they were looking into fixing this talent, but unfortunately there has been no word on this issue for the rest of beta, or anything at all since that one post. For more details on Eradication's diminishing returns, see the post below:
    
    Math thread: World of Warcraft (en) Forums - Talent Review: Eradication
    Ghostcrawler's response: ************ BlueTracker - Eradication needs changed. Blue please read.
  • Molten Core/Improved Shadow Bolt: Both are necessary for Affliction Warlocks, and not only for picking up Ruin: A) Haunt makes Immolate's DPCT (damage per cast time) too good to pass up (even higher than Shadow Bolt's). And B) Improved Shadow Bolt is still a great boost to DPS for Shadow Bolt and Haunt, especially given the potential 18% crit from raid buffs.
  • Demonic Power (Imp vs. Felhunter): The Felhunter is currently bugged so that he sometimes does not attack for extended periods of time. (Thank you to Fallenman for reporting this bug.) Because of this, the Imp should be used for maximizing DPS, at least until these bugs are fixed. Demonic Power will be a great boost to his DPS.
  • Glyphs: Take Corruption, Siphon Life and Immolate for maximizing DPS. (For details, see "Warlock Glyphs List")

• Level 80 Raid Build (Not Hit Capped from Gear/Buffs):
  Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
  
  • This build is similar to the one above but with Suppression and Cataclysm.
  • With this build, you need 14% Hit from gear or 367 Hit Rating.
  • With a Moonkin or Shadow Priest in the raid, you need 11% Hit from gear or 289 Hit Rating.
  • With a Draenei in the raid, that's 13% (341) and 10% (262).
  • For more details on Hit Rating, see "The New Hit Cap" section below.

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Raid Boss Spell Rotation:

• 1. Start off with a Shadow Bolt and a Haunt so that both stacks of Shadow Embrace and Haunt are already up.
• 2. Always cast UA and Immolate right after each other, since their cast times / lengths are the same. (1.4 sec before UA drops, start casting it. And immediately after that, cast Immolate. This will mean they'll both be down for 0.1 sec before they get refreshed.)
• 3. The full rotation would look like this:
  
  (DD) Shadow Bolt, Haunt -> (Cast Time Dots) Unstable Affliction, Immolate -> (Instants) Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life.
  
  Then SB, Haunt, and refresh dots as necessary. The most important thing is UA/Immolate together. Also, replace Shadow Bolt with Drain Soul under 25%.
• If you are going to be the CoE lock, cast it first before SB. That way, all dots get full benefit of Haunt, Shadow Embrace x2, and CoE at first cast.
• Summary/TLDR:
  
  1. SB -> Haunt
  2. UA / Immo
  3. Corr, Curse of Agony, SL
  
  - Repeat category 2 as a single unit; always.
  - Refresh dots in category 3 as needed.

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Affliction Leveling Build:

• Leveling 70-80 Talent Build:
  Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
  
  • 56/0/5 Key Talents: Haunt + Bane
  • Affliction AoE Farming: Start off with a UA, Corruption, and Siphon Life on the first mob. Then cast Siphon Life, Corruption, and Curse of Agony on the next mob. Repeat for half a dozen or more mobs
  • The pet you'll want to use is the Felhunter, so you can Dark Pact as necessary. (Put him on defensive, so he attacks whatever mob you start dotting. This gives him the mana regen for Dark Pact through Shadow Bite.)
  • Also, try to use Drain Soul on a few mobs as they die so you get back 1000+ mana from Improved Drain Soul. (It helps if you have enemy nameplates enabled so you see when a mob is about to die. Then just click the nameplate.)
  • For the last mob or two still standing, cast Haunt and then Life Tap right away. When the mob dies, you'll gain 1500+ Life. (You can Life Tap and Haunt early on as well, but I say the last mobs because the pushback will make it not worthwhile if you're tanking 5+ mobs.)
    
    Improved Drain Soul + Haunt + Siphon Life + Dark Pact = no downtime ever. After having killed plenty of mobs, you'll end fights with full health and mana!
  • Using Drain Soul often will quickly fill up your bags with uneeded Soul Shards. To destroy any extraneous shards, use this macro from WoWWiki.com:
    
    Quote:
    /run i="Soul Shard"d=GetItemCount(i)-28 for x=0,4 do for y=1,GetContainerNumSlots(x) do if (d>0) then l=GetContainerItemLink(x,y) if l and GetItemInfo(l)==i then PickupContainerItem(x,y) DeleteCursorItem() d=d-1 end end end end
    
    This will destroy any shards in excess of 28. Change the "28" in "d=GetItemCount(i)-28" to set the number of shards you want to carry. (Works great if you set it to the capacity of your shard bag.)
    
    Useful macros for warlocks - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft
  • For talent progression, take up Grim Reach for the range first. This will help a lot with questing. Then Soul Siphon for drain tanking, Eradication 3/3, and Curse of Exhaustion. The final points are a wash, as nothing else really speeds up leveling too much. And once you hit 80, you'll want to respec to one of the above raiding builds [=

Drain Soul vs. Shadow Bolt Under 25%:

• Drain Soul gets 214.3% Spell Power coefficient.
  
  At max rank (level 77), the spell does 710 damage over 15 seconds.
  
  Let's say you have 2000 Spellpower.
  
  So Drain Soul's damage would be (710 + 2000*2.143) * 1.15 Shadow Mastery * 1.03 Malediction = 5917.762
  
  Now add in
  10% Shadow Embrace
  20% Haunt
  ~32% Soul Siphon (assuming 1-2 Warlocks in raid)
  12% Death's Embrace
  13% Curse of Elements
  
  5917.762 * 1.1 * 1.2 * 1.32 * 1.12 * 1.13 = 13049.74 over 15 seconds
  
  Finally, the 4x multiplier (for targets under 25% HP):
  
  13049.74 * 4 = 52198.96 over 15 seconds
  
  -----
  
  52198.96 / 5 = 10439.792 for EACH Drain Soul Tick
  
  To match that kind of DPS with Shadow Bolt it would be as follows:
  
  52198.96 / 15 = 3479.93 DPS for Drain Soul
  3479.93 * 2.5 sec = 8700
  
  You would need an average Shadow Bolt hit of 8700 to match Drain Soul's DPS.
  
  The average Shadow Bolt for an Affliction Warlock is more around 4000, which divided by 2.5 is 1600 DPS.
  
  So Drain Soul has more than double the DPS of Shadow Bolt sub-25% [=
  
  And remember, you don't need to sit there channeling the whole time. All you need is 3 seconds to get one tick off in order to get the DPS benefits. Just remember to keep ALL your dots up, since Drain Soul's damage is directly proportional to the number of dots you have on the target (due to Soul Siphon). (Basically, treat Drain Soul as if it was a 3 second Shadow Bolt.)

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Molten Core Uptime:

• Spells that proc Molten Core: UA, Corr, SL, Curse of Agony, Haunt, SB.
  
  • - UA/Corr/SL tick every 3 seconds. In a 24 sec period, each will tick 8 times. 8 ticks * 3 dots = 24 ticks.
    
    - Curse of Agony ticks every 2 seconds. In a 24 sec period, it will tick 12 times.
    
    - That's 36 ticks in every 24 second period from UA/Corr/SL/Curse of Agony.
    
    - Say you Haunt twice and SB twice in a 24 sec period. That's a total of 40 chances to proc MC in 24 sec.
    
    - 40 chances * 5% = average of 2 procs in every 24 second period.
    
    - MC lasts 12 sec. So 2 procs * 12 sec = 24 seconds.
  
  
  So you'll have 100% uptime with just a single point in Molten Core. However, that's only if one proc happens at the *exact* moment that the previous proc's buff wears off. Of course, that probably won't happen.
  
  With 2 points, you'll have 40*10% or 4 chances to proc MC in every 24 second period, which would be on average every 6 seconds. Proccing every 6 seconds with a 12 second duration is a pretty safe bet for theoretically 100% MC uptime throughout a boss fight.

Warlock Glyphs List

• Warlock Glyphs - Items - World of Warcraft
  
  
  Major Glyphs
  
  • Damage Over Time Spells:
    
    Glyph of Corruption: You Corruption spell has a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Shadow Trance state after damaging the opponent. The Shadow Trance state reduces the casting time of your next Shadow Bolt spell by -100%. (Stacks with Nightfall)
    Glyph of Curse of Agony: Increases the duration of your Curse of Agony by 4 sec. (Adds two middle-strength ticks to the start, see FAQ for details.)
    Glyph of Immolate: Increases the periodic damage of your Immolate by 20% but decreases its initial damage by -10%.
    Glyph of Siphon Life: Increases the effect of your Siphon Life spell by 20%.
    Glyph of Unstable Affliction: Decreases the casting time of your Unstable Affliction by 0.2 sec.
  • Direct Damage Spells:
    
    Glyph of Conflagrate: Reduces the mana cost of your Conflagrate by -20%.
    Glyph of Searing Pain: Increases the critical strike bonus of your Searing Pain by 20%.
    Glyph of Shadow Bolt: Reduces the mana cost of your Shadow Bolt by -10%.
    Glyph of Shadowburn: Increases the critical strike chance of Shadowburn by 20% when the target is below 35% health.
  • Pets:
    
    Glyph of Felguard: Increases the Felguard's total attack power by 10%.
    Glyph of Felhunter: Increases the critical strike chance of your Felhunter's Shadow Bite ability by 6%.
    Glyph of Imp: Increases the damage done by your Imp's Firebolt spell by 10%.
    Glyph of Succubus: Increases the duration of your Succubus's Seduction by 3 sec.
    Glyph of Voidwalker: Increases your Voidwalker's total Stamina by 20%.
  • Conjured Items:
    
    Glyph of Healthstone: You receive 30% more healing from using a healthstone.
    Glyph of Soulstone: Increases the amount of health a player gains from resurrecting via your Soulstone by 100%.
  • Other Spells:
    
    Glyph of Banish: Increases the duration of your Banish by 5 sec.
    Glyph of Death Coil: Increases the duration of your Death Coil by 0.5 sec.
    Glyph of Fear: Increases the damage your Fear target can take before the Fear effect is removed by 20%.
    Glyph of Health Funnel: Increases the chance you'll resist spell interruption when channeling your Health Funnel spell by 100%.
    Glyph of Howl of Terror: Reduces the cooldown on your Howl of Terror spell by 8 sec.
  
  
  Minor Glyphs
  
  
  • Glyph of Curse of Exhaustion: Increases the range of your Curse of Exhaustion spell by 5 yards.
    Glyph of Drain Soul: Your Drain Soul ability occasionally creates an additional soul shard. (~5% proc rate)
    Glyph of Enslave Demon: Reduces the cast time of your Enslave Demon spell by 50%.
    Glyph of Kilrogg: Increases the movement speed of your Eye of Kilrogg by 50% and allows it to fly in areas where flying mounts are enabled.
    Glyph of Souls: Reduces the mana cost of your Ritual of Souls spell by 70%.
    Glyph of Unending Breath: Increases the swim speed of targets affected by your Unending Breath spell by 20%.

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The best Glyphs for maximizing Affliction DPS are Corruption (for the Nightfall procs), Siphon Life (20% is huge), and Immolate (since the glyph stacks with Haunt, Shadow Embrace, and Molten Core).

Why not Glyph of Curse of Agony?

Check out this great information from the Elitist Jerks forums, thanks for Blacksen who did the math on it:

Quote:

Glyph Choice - Page 4 - Elitist Jerks

Curse of Agony
Alright, I did the Math, and I want people to know why the Glyph of Curse of Agony is pretty bad.

The Glyph of Curse of Agony does NOT give you significant extra time. You don't magically have 4 seconds that you didn't have before from this glyph. This is the core of why the Glyph of Curse of Agony is terrible. The average person is going to look at the glyph and go "hmmm, so that's 4 seconds that I didn't have before." That's an extremely flawed line of thinking. Here's the simple math for it:

UNGLYPHED:
Over 168 seconds, you must cast Curse of Agony 7 times. (24*7 = 16.
This means that to keep an unglyphed Curse of Agony up with 100% DoT uptime, you must devote 7 global cooldowns to Curse of Agony every 168 seconds.

GLYPHED:
Over 168 seconds, you must cast Curse of Agony 6 times. (24*6 = 16.
This means that to keep a glyphed Curse of Agony up with 100% DoT uptime, you must devote 6 global coodlwons every 168 seconds.
This saves 361 mana (assuming 3/3 Suppression).

Note that over those 168 seconds, the BOTH CURSE OF AGONIES DO THE SAME AMOUNT OF DAMAGE
Unglyphed:
21 "low ticks"
21 "middle ticks"
21 "high ticks"

Glyphed:
18 "low ticks"
30 "middle ticks"
18 "high ticks"

***6 "middle ticks" = 3 "low ticks" + 3 "high ticks"***
Or, another way to look at is that at the end of those 168 seconds, both glyphs will have hit their full duration. The average damage doesn't change since the "extra ticks" gets added to the middle.

It's critical to understand that you're not "gaining 4 seconds" of DPS time every Curse of Agony. Instead, you're gaining 1 global cooldown every 2 minutes and 48 seconds. On average, that means that the glyph of curse of agony is saving you .8% time, and that time also goes DOWN with haste. This means that every 2 minutes and 48 seconds, you're getting 60% more of a shadowbolt (Shadowbolt 2.5 second cast, GCD is 1.5 seconds. I think the ratio stays the same with haste, but I could be wrong. Either way, it's close).

But wait! You've got a talent to reduce the GCD on Curses down to 1 second. For affliction builds, the dps goes down even more. This "60%" quickly turns into a 40% - 50% (I'm going to be generous and call it a 49%), and timed save turns into .06%.

Let's look at the mana saved, because some people like to point fingers there. 361 mana saved every 168 seconds, or roughly 2.15 mana consumed / second. Improved Life Tap gives 2328 mana base (1490 * 150*3 * 1.2). This means you're saving one global cooldown every 1082.8 seconds. That's approximately 18 minutes. Very few fights are ever that long, which means that the Glyph of Curse of Agony really isn't saving you any time in terms of # of lifetaps. Also considering that many fights require mobility, a smart warlock can tie in lifetaps with movement. What I'm really trying to say here is that the mana saved won't give you a DPS increase. You're saving .14% time in life-taps, but really, that "extra lifetap" will never occur.

So, the amount of DPS that curse of agony gives is this:
(Shadow bolt damage) * .6 / 168
=(Shadow Bolt damage) * 0.0035714285714285714285714285714286 more DPS
If your Shadowbolt hits for 5000 average, this means you're getting about 18 dps from this Glyph.

If you're affliction, this becomes even more terrible...
(Shadow bolt damage) * .49 / 168
= (Shadow Bolt damage) * 0.0029166666666666666666666666666667 more DPS

[TrueRomance]

Amazing post, +rep just for the information!

[Kritis]

Excellent post! Think you'll ever do one for destruction?

[khornn]

Thank you very much for this post, ive really been looking for a good spell rotation.

+Rep

[codyscafe7]

Excellent, will definitely try this

[Ziddy1337]

Pretty interesting read. Thanks for posting

[DrPieper]

Very nice, i was looking for this!