Affliction Warlock Guide for WoW Forever: Talents, Rotation and Leveling

Affliction is the DoT warlock and the spec most people recommend for leveling. Since the 10 November rework, raiding Affliction revolves around Wrack: while you channel it, Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony tick twice as fast. Banes are separate from Curses in Forever, so you put both on one target. That rework moved Affliction from B to A for raids.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Affliction leveling (points 41/7/3). Instant Corruption first, then Suppression for fewer misses and less threat, and Unholy Power just before the Sayaad at 20. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Affliction raid (Wrack) (points 35/11/5). Built around Wrack: while you channel it, Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony tick twice as fast, and Soul Siphon counts those three DoTs.
• Raid: Affliction raid (SM Ruin) (points 30/0/21). 'SM Ruin': Shadow Bolt is your filler, and the Destruction points speed up and strengthen every Shadow Bolt.
• Dungeons: Affliction dungeon (SM Ruin) (points 30/0/21). SM Ruin for dungeons with one point moved from Cataclysm into Shadowburn.
• PvP: Affliction PvP (Soul Link) (points 30/21/0). Assumes you are close to the 4% PvP hit cap, so Suppression gets few points.

Where it ranks

• PvE DPS (raid): Rises from B to A: since 10 November Wrack makes Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony tick twice as fast while you channel it, and Soul Siphon counts exactly those three. The newest simulation rates Affliction A after that.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Mostly A: Curse of Exhaustion slows, Siphon Life heals, Fear keeps enemies away. One list says S, one B.
• Leveling: A to S: DoTs on several targets, Drain Life and Life Tap against downtime, a demon as a buffer. Wrack needs 30 points, so level 40.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

Single-target rotation

1. Bane of Agony, with Amplify Curse before it. Bane of Doom is no longer worth it, because Wrack and Soul Siphon only count Bane of Agony.
2. Curse: whichever your raid assigns. Curse of the Elements now raises damage from every magic school, Curse of Recklessness helps melee-heavy raids.
3. Keep Corruption and Siphon Life up.
4. Wrack once all three DoTs are on. For 6 seconds it deals 60 Shadow damage every second and makes the three DoTs tick twice as fast. The skipped time is kept after the channel, so the DoTs run out earlier. Refresh them before you start the next channel.
5. Shadow Trance from Nightfall makes your next Shadow Bolt instant. Use it between two channels.
6. Life Tap in gaps.

Soul Siphon gives Wrack, Drain Life and Drain Soul 12% more damage for each of your Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony effects on the target, up to 36%. Since 10 November other Affliction effects no longer count.

On two targets, Corruption goes on the second, plus Bane of Agony and Siphon Life if it lives long. From three mobs up, spread Corruption and Bane of Agony while the tank gathers, then Hellfire or Rain of Fire.

Wrack or SM Ruin?

The linked raid build is now the Wrack build (35/11/5). It sacrifices the Imp with Demonic Sacrifice, takes Siphon Life and Soul Siphon in full and fills with Wrack. SM Ruin (30/0/21), with Shadow Bolt as filler and the Destruction points making every Shadow Bolt faster and stronger, has been behind it since the rework. It stays linked as a second raid build and is the base of the dungeon build.

Before 10 November, channelling nothing but Wrack beat casting your DoTs at all. Blizzard turned that around without raising total damage: Wrack itself deals 30% less damage but speeds up the three DoTs instead.

Stats

Hit rating to 17% against raid bosses is mandatory. 5/5 Suppression already gives 5%, leaving 12%, about 120 rating. After that, spell power and crit rating. Crit is far stronger than in Classic, because DoTs can crit and 3/3 Pandemic adds 100% to the crit bonus of your DoTs, drains and Wrack. Shadow damage counts almost like spell power. Life Tap scales with Spirit, not spell power, and Stamina makes it safer.

Common mistakes

• Channelling Wrack while one of the three DoTs is missing.
• Bane of Doom instead of Bane of Agony on raid bosses.
• Letting DoTs drop after a channel because they end sooner than you are used to.
• DoTing mobs that die before most ticks land.
• Life Tap instead of a filler, or tapping for mana you won't use.
• Hellfire on just two targets.
• Amplify Curse on Bane of Doom. It only affects Bane of Agony, Curse of Weakness and Curse of Exhaustion.

Leveling

Affliction is the standard route to 60, and the leveling lists rate it A to S. Take instant Corruption first, then Suppression to 4% so you stop missing mobs of your level. DoTs plus your wand save mana and downtime. From around level 30 you can drain-tank with the Sayaad: Drain Life and Life Tap with almost no breaks. The Voidwalker comes at 10, the Sayaad at 20 and the Felhunter at 30, each from a class quest.

The linked leveling build needs no respec and only picks up Wrack at level 47. It kills faster but doesn't heal you. Use it on about one pull in three and drain the rest.

In groups

You bring Healthstones, a Soulstone as a battle res and Ritual of Summoning, plus your curse and crowd control with Banish and Fear. Improved Shadow Bolt now only boosts your own damage in Forever. The Wrack build sacrifices the Imp; if the group needs an interrupt, bring the Felhunter with Spell Lock instead.

Further reading

• Warlock class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Demonology Warlock, Destruction Warlock
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Warlock talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link