This week I took a break from “that treadmill” and decided to roll a warlock for the first time in a very long time. I chose Void Elf, then chose to level him in Legion.
Started with Destruction but switched to Affliction when it came time to go after that artifact.
Affliction seems fun and seems to me to better fit the whole “Void Elf” theme, what with all the shadow magic.
He’s only around level 35 though as of last night and we all know everything just falls over just by sternly looking at it at that level bracket.
My level of endgame is usually just heroic raiding, and M+ 2-10. Being realistic, this new lock won’t see endgame probably until well within the next xpack.
So with all that in mind, how are Lock players liking Affliction? Do they do alright in that content? I know it’s kind of a loaded question since what’s happening there now will probably be different in, say, 11.1 or .2.
It’s the least favorable spec right now truthfully among general Lock fans and this is true historically speaking as well. But that’s because Destro and Demo have just been so good in recent history.
Affliction is a love it or hate it type of spec. A lot of the satisfaction I derive from the class is in the journey and watching how my character scales opposed to flashy instant gratification
It’s my favorite spec in the game. Maybe tied with MM Hunter. It has been since BFA.
11.0 is a huge improvement too, probably my favorite iteration of Affliction Warlock, but that’s a strong stance to take so early.
There’s a build I have been enjoying that is all about DoTs and amplifying their crit chance & damage. It doesn’t use Dark Glare but specs into Hellcaller so I still have a good 1min CD. It’s the most enjoyable caster experience I’ve had in a good while.
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Affliction is hands down my favorite spec in the game regardless of how much more powerful any of the other specs are.
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Not sure about PVE but in PvP aff is incredibly strong, which is how it typically goes for the spec, as it scales extremely well with haste and mastery, and triple dips on versatility (damage, healing, and damage reduction) better than almost any other class.
Aff struggles early in expansions because it needs haste, vers, and mastery to succeed typically, but the new talent tree looks extremely good, so it might have some surprise success in season 1. Only time will tell.
So far, hellcaller aff feels great.
A lot of the kit’s power is packed into wither so it feels like a throwback to when dots were a stronger part of aff rather than it all being about malefic rapture.
Though some worry wither being such a huge part of the damage profile is prone to getting nerfed which will likely flip aff back to it’s previous tedious iteration.
They could get around it by making blackened souls a bit stronger if they want to spread out damage more evenly or buffing agony That 40% haste to it that was in alpha would help with both spreading damage and shard gen which aff is pretty bad at right now
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Pve wise is okay manage dots and aggro and itsca breeze, pvp on the other hand kinda bad.
Numbers are decent but to me the spec feels like wet socks.
I hate it so I play demo instead
affliction died with kil’jaeden
I know this is from a few days ago but I have to push back on this. Aff is stronger right now than it has been in PvP since probably Legion.
the best warlock spec is arcane mage so far in the beta!
Removal of siphon life dot is good, but you still need to pick up the new siphon life if you’re for max dps, and they add another skill to press (or 2 depending on which hero talent you choose), and soul rot still exists, so basically the spec didn’t change much, still button bloating and highly addon tracking recommended.
They removed dread touch, Haunt buff and i have no idea what your talking about with The new siphon life but it just bakes it into corruption which you use anyway.
Like this entire paragraph is completely 100% wrong there isn’t even a single sentence that is correct.
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I’m playing as affliction on my lock now because of the shadow magic theme. For the most part I like it. It is kind of clunky and there’s too many active spells to cast, especially with on use trinkets. I wish the dots were a one time cast per enemy unit and other spells increase the strength of the dot
You’re not picking up Siphon Life, you’re just making it so Corruption needs a refresh once every what, 24 seconds?
Previously you’d have to do that and maintain the SL spell.
What’s wrong with SR? 1min CD cleave DoT that amps stats and can have a fun interaction with Drain Life.
It has changed significantly.
For example in AOE you no longer seed spam, which means Afflictions issue of ST verse AOE has been improved significantly.
The only tracking I think a fairly experienced Affliction lock “needed” in DF was Dread Touch/MA, but they made improvements to it over the expansion and in TWW it’s just gone.
If you go Soul Rot, Dark Glare, Hell Caller then yeah there can be a slightly weighty 2min CD cycle but outside of that I have no idea what bloat you’re really talking about.
And I personally have been enjoying a build without Dark Glare but rocking all DoTs + crit amp.
Also, not everything needs to be viewed through the lens of a min-maxer. For an average joe player the spec is drastically better.
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Please don’t ruin affliction with these bad suggestions to make it easier. if you want an easier spec to play I recommend beast master hunter. Affliction warlocks like it complicated. that’s why we play it.
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Right?
If you don’t want to have to manage DoTs don’t play a DoT spec lol
If you like DoTs thematically but don’t want DoT management game play then play something like Assassination Rogue or Death Bringer Frost DK
I have to mention that not everyone shares your opinion.
Dot management is one thing but thinking clunkiness = complex is wrong. Not to mention your perception is skewed based on your endgame of choice, the specs vary greatly in “feel” depending on which content u r doing.
The spec could use some polishing in most cases.
I recommend playing a warrior then. For warriors you just have to throw a cat at the keyboard. I’m ok with making affliction flow better. I’m not ok with taking away dots for the sake of some call of duty player can’t handle dot management and making it a 2 button spam spec. Not everything in the game has to be easy.
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That’s not really what i’m saying though.
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