Overview

Affliction Warlocks win through attrition. Your damage comes from stacking multiple damage-over-time effects on your target and then amplifying them with hard-hitting spenders that deal bonus damage while those DoTs are active. The result is a spec that builds slowly, hits hard once rolling, and stays consistent across long fights.

Primary resource: Soul Shards, capped at 5. Agony is your primary passive generator throughout combat. Spent on Unstable Affliction (single-target) and Seed of Corruption (AoE). Regenerate to 3 out of combat.

Core loop:

1. Apply and maintain DoTs (Agony, Corruption or Wither)
2. Generate Soul Shards via Agony and proc reactions
3. Spend Shards on Unstable Affliction or Seed of Corruption
4. Use Summon Darkglare on cooldown with all DoTs active for maximum amplification

Strengths

• High durability with exceptional survivability toolkit
• Diverse talent tree accommodating single-target, AoE, or hybrid builds
• Consistent spread-target and sustained damage
• Utility: Demonic Gateway (instance skips), Soulstone, Soulwell

Weaknesses

• No damage immunity
• Ramp-up time before peak output
• Limited fast target-switching — DoT management punishes rapid swapping

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Stat Priority

Affliction leans toward Mastery and Critical Strike over Haste, unlike the other Warlock specs. Follow item level first — upgrades almost always win regardless of secondary stats.

Priority	Stat	Notes
1	Intellect	Always follow item level
2	Mastery	Increases DoT damage by a percentage; core to Affliction's damage profile
2	Critical Strike	Tied with Mastery
4	Haste	Lower priority than the other Warlock specs
5	Versatility	Damage dealt ↑, damage taken ↓ (at half the rate)

Diminishing Returns Thresholds

Stat	DR Threshold
Critical Strike	1,380 rating
Haste	1,320 rating
Mastery	1,380 rating
Versatility	1,620 rating

Stats are close enough that item level should be treated as the best stat. Sim your character via Raidbots for precise per-gear-set optimization.

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Talent Builds

Hero Talent Choice

Soul Harvester is stronger than Hellcaller for both single-target and Mythic+. Soul Harvester integrates cleanly with Dark Harvest — generating 3 Soul Shards per cast and extra damage. Hellcaller is situationally viable depending on fight damage profile, but Soul Harvester is the safe default.

The rotation priority lists below are separated by Hero Talent path — make sure you're reading the correct one.

Raid Build — Soul Harvester

Covers single-target and cleave. Import string for the in-game talent UI:

CkQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwMzMzoZhhZmZmlBAAYmZx2MzsMzAAjtlBGwEMDbBG2GAAAmBAAwMDzMjBGmZmZmxgZmZGAwMwA

Key talents: Absolute Corruption (simplifies DoT maintenance on 2+ targets), Dark Harvest (shard generation), Seed of Corruption (primary AoE).

Mythic+ Build — Soul Harvester

Import string:

CkQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwMjZGNbmxmZGzyAAAmZmlZzMzyYAgx22ADYCmhtADbDAAAGAAAzMjZMzsNzYGMzMzYYmZmBAMDMA

Delves Build

Same as the Mythic+ build above.

Import strings paste directly into the Talents window in-game via the "Import" button (bottom-left of the talent UI).

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Rotation & Cooldowns

Pre-Pull Checklist

• Food buff and Thalassian Phoenix Oil applied
• Pet summoned
• Soulwell dropped for the group
• Demonic Circle and Gateway positioned if needed

DoT Pandemic Windows

Refresh DoTs before they fall off — but not too early. Refreshing inside the pandemic window (the final 30% of a DoT's duration) carries over remaining time, preventing wasted uptime.

DoT	Refresh Before
Agony	4.5 seconds remaining
Corruption	4.2 seconds remaining
Unstable Affliction	6.3 seconds remaining

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Opener — Soul Harvester

Step	Action
−2s	Pre-cast Haunt
1	Agony
2	Corruption
3	Summon Darkglare
4–5	Unstable Affliction × 2–3
6	Dark Harvest
7+	Unstable Affliction (spend remaining Shards)
→	Malefic Grasp (filler); proceed to priority list

Opener — Hellcaller

Step	Action
−2s	Pre-cast Haunt
1	Agony
2	Wither
3	Dark Harvest
4	Summon Darkglare
5	Malevolence
6+	Unstable Affliction (spend Shards)
→	Malefic Grasp (filler); proceed to priority list

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Single-Target Priority — Soul Harvester

1. Haunt
2. Agony (maintain — primary Shard generator)
3. Corruption (maintain)
4. Summon Darkglare (on cooldown with DoTs active)
5. Unstable Affliction
6. Dark Harvest
7. Unstable Affliction (spend remaining Shards)
8. Malefic Grasp (filler)

Single-Target Priority — Hellcaller

1. Haunt
2. Agony (maintain)
3. Wither (replaces Corruption — maintain)
4. Dark Harvest
5. Summon Darkglare (on cooldown with DoTs active)
6. Malevolence (pair with Darkglare every 2 minutes)
7. Unstable Affliction (spend Shards)
8. Malefic Grasp (filler)

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AoE Priority — Soul Harvester

1. Seed of Corruption (primary AoE spender)
2. Haunt (on priority target)
3. Agony (on a handful of targets)
4. Summon Darkglare
5. Dark Harvest
6. Seed of Corruption (repeat)
7. Malefic Grasp (filler)

AoE Priority — Hellcaller

1. Seed of Corruption
2. Haunt (on priority target)
3. Agony (on a handful of targets)
4. Summon Darkglare
5. Malevolence
6. Dark Harvest
7. Seed of Corruption (repeat)
8. Malefic Grasp (filler)

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Cooldown Reference

Cooldown	Notes
Summon Darkglare	2-min CD. Increases active DoT damage by 20%. Cast with all DoTs applied — never into a clean target. Must be cast manually.
Dark Harvest	~40-sec CD (with Cull the Weak). Soul Harvester: generates 3 Soul Shards per cast. Hellcaller: direct damage.
Malevolence	1-min CD, Hellcaller only. Grants 8% Haste and increases Wither stack count by 6. Pair with Darkglare every 2 minutes. Must be cast manually.

Summon Darkglare and Malevolence are not triggered by rotation assistants — you must activate them yourself. Missing Darkglare is one of the most impactful DPS errors you can make on this spec.

Proc Handling

• Shard Instability — grants a free instant-cast Unstable Affliction. React immediately — don't hold it.
• Nightfall — react immediately to this proc as well.

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Enchants & Gems

Enchants

Slot	Enchant
Weapon	Enchant Weapon — Jan'alai's Precision
Helm	Enchant Helm — Empowered Rune of Avoidance
Chest	Enchant Chest — Mark of the Worldsoul
Shoulders	Enchant Shoulders — Flight of the Eagle
Legs	Sunfire Silk Spellthread
Boots	Enchant Boots — Lynx's Dexterity
Ring	Enchant Ring — Silvermoon's Alacrity

Gems

Gem	Stat
Indecipherable Eversong Diamond	Meta (prismatic socket)
Flawless Masterful Peridot	Mastery
Flawless Deadly Amethyst	Critical Strike
Flawless Quick Garnet	Haste

Affliction favors Mastery gems (Peridot) as the default. Sim your character to confirm exact choices for your gear set.

Consumables

Type	Item
Flask	Flask of the Magisters (Mastery)
Combat Potion	Light's Potential
Health Potion	Silvermoon Health Potion
Weapon Buff	Thalassian Phoenix Oil
Augment Rune	Void-Touched Augment Rune
Group Feast	Blooming Feast
Personal Food	Royal Roast (when no feast is available)

Affliction uses Flask of the Magisters (Mastery flask) rather than the Shattered Sun flask — Mastery's weight on this spec makes it the correct choice.

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Best in Slot Gear

Season 1 BiS. The 4-piece Abyssal Immolator's tier set (head, chest, gloves, legs) is clearly best — prioritise getting the four pieces before chasing individual slot upgrades. Note that Affliction uses a staff + off-hand combination rather than a single weapon.

Slot	Item	Source
Weapon	Belo'melorn, the Shattered Talon	Belo'ren (raid)
Off-Hand	Grimoire of the Eternal Light	Vorasius (raid)
Head	Abyssal Immolator's Smoldering Flames	Tier Set
Neck	Eternal Voidsong Chain	Crown of the Cosmos (raid)
Shoulders	Mantle of Dark Devotion	Windrunner Spire (dungeon)
Cloak	Adherent's Silken Shroud	Crafting
Chest	Abyssal Immolator's Dreadrobe	Tier Set
Wrists	Voracious Wristwraps	Vorasius (raid)
Gloves	Abyssal Immolator's Grasps	Tier Set
Belt	Whisper-Inscribed Sash	Belo'ren (raid)
Legs	Abyssal Immolator's Pillars	Tier Set
Boots	Slippers of the Midnight Flame	Vaelgor (raid)
Ring 1	Eye of Midnight	Midnight Falls (raid)
Ring 2	Signet of Azerothian Blessings	Crafting
Trinket 1	Gaze of the Alnseer	Chimaerus (raid)
Trinket 2	Emberwing Feather	Windrunner Spire (dungeon)

Crafted slots (Cloak + Ring 2): Accessible early via work orders. Both are BiS — prioritise them before waiting on raid drops.

Primary gearing avenues: Midnight Falls, Belo'ren, Vorasius, and Chimaerus for raid slots. Windrunner Spire (dungeon) for shoulders and trinket 2. Great Vault for targeted upgrades.

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Tips & Common Mistakes

• Cast Darkglare manually — rotation helpers will not activate it for you. Missing or delaying Darkglare is the single most impactful DPS error on this spec. Make it a keybind you don't forget.
• Don't refresh DoTs too early — refreshing outside the pandemic window wastes the ticks you're overwriting. Learn the pandemic timers (4.5s / 4.2s / 6.3s) and use a DoT timer WeakAura.
• Don't refresh DoTs too late — letting Agony drop is a Shard generation loss and a ramp restart. The pandemic window exists so you never have to choose between early and late.
• Hellcaller: pair Malevolence with Darkglare — Malevolence on its own is weaker; the combo every 2 minutes is how Hellcaller generates its burst windows.
• Proc react immediately — both Shard Instability and Nightfall are instant-cast procs that should be consumed the GCD they appear. Holding them bleeds value.
• Mastery flask, not Haste — Affliction's stat priority makes Flask of the Magisters the correct consumable choice. Don't use a generic Haste flask on this spec.
• Sim your gems — the Mastery default is right for most gear sets, but Affliction's secondary weights shift more than other specs as you accumulate rating. Raidbots is worth running periodically.