Affliction Warlock Raid Guide

• Your Corruption is turned into Wither.
• You have access to a 1-minute cooldown called Malevolence.
• Wither can stack up and has multiple neat interactions with different talents which can increase its stack count or have other benefits.
  • Spending Soul Shards on damaging spells increases the stacks of Wither by 1 and has a chance to gain an additional stack due to Blackened Soul.
  • Casting Malevolence increases all active Wither stacks by 6 while each Malefic Rapture adds 1 additional stack during its duration.
  • Mark of Peroth'arn gives Wither the chance to add a stack whenever it crits.
  • Whenever Blackened Soul deals damage you have a chance to gain Tormented Crescendo stack.
• Wither has a built-in mechanic which consumes its' accumulated stacks one after another for more damage. This mechanic is called Acute.
  • The Acute state of Wither is triggered by the following:
    • Chance whenever Wither gains a stack.
    • If Wither reaches 8 stacks.
    • If the target Wither is on reaches 20% hp or is below 20% already.
    • When Malevolence is up.

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 2 or 3 enemies for an extended period of the fight.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

• Added
  • Death's Embrace
    • Passively increases damage of your DoTs and Malefic Rapture when your target is at or below 35% health.
  • Cull the Weak
    • Allows you to have funnel options with Malefic Rapture doing more damage the more targets it hits.
• Removed
  • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Removed for Death's Embrace.
  • Contagion
    • Removed for Cull the Weak.

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 4 or more stacked enemies for an extended period of the fight.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

• Added
  • Vile Taint
    • Strong AoE DoT that also applies Agony on up to 8 targets, another tool to spread your DoTs faster.
  • Death's Embrace
    • Passively increases damage of your DoTs and Malefic Rapture when your target is at or below 35% health.
  • Cull the Weak
    • Allows you to have funnel options with Malefic Rapture doing more damage the more targets it hits.
  • Malediction
    • Passively increases critical strike change of your main DoTs.
• Removed
  • Phantom Singularity
    • Swapped for Vile Taint.
  • Infirmity and Improved Haunt
    • Removed for Malediction.
  • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Removed for Death's Embrace.
  • Contagion
    • Removed for Cull the Weak.

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting a single enemy but need more mobility.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

• Added
  • Improved Shadow Bolt
    • Reduces the cast time and increases the damage of Shadow Bolt.
  • Sacrolash's Dark Strike
    • Increases the damage of Wither and makes your curses last longer.
  • Malediction
    • Passively increases the critical strike chance of your main DoTs.
• Removed
  • Drain Soul
    • Swapped for Improved Shadow Bolt.
  • Improved Haunt
    • Removed for Sacrolash's Dark Strike.
  • Dark Harvest and Ravenous Afflictions
    • Removed for Malediction.

Hero Talents

Changed Soul Harvester to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

• Curse of the Satyr
  • Your default pick since both talent choices are very niche and this one has more use cases than the other one.
• Hatefury Rituals
  • Outperforms Bleakheart Tactics currently.
• Zevrim's Resilience
  • Helps you recover your lost health from using Dark Pact.

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 2 or 3 enemies for an extended period of the fight and need more mobility.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

• Added
  • Improved Shadow Bolt
    • Reduces the cast time and increases the damage of Shadow Bolt.
  • Death's Embrace
    • Passively increases damage of your DoTs and Malefic Rapture when your target is at or below 35% health.
  • Malediction
    • Passively increases the critical strike chance of your main DoTs.
  • Cull the Weak
    • Allows you to have funnel options with Malefic Rapture doing more damage the more targets it hits.
• Removed
  • Drain Soul
    • Swapped for Improved Shadow Bolt.
  • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Removed for Death's Embrace.
  • Contagion
    • Removed for Cull the Weak.
  • Improved Haunt and Withering Bolt
    • Removed for Malediction.

Hero Talents

Changed Soul Harvester to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

• Curse of the Satyr
  • Your default pick since both talent choices are very niche and this one has more use cases than the other one.
• Hatefury Rituals
  • Outperforms Bleakheart Tactics currently.
• Zevrim's Resilience
  • Helps you recover your lost health from using Dark Pact.

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 4 or more stacked enemies for an extended period of the fight and need more mobility.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

• Added
  • Vile Taint
    • Strong AoE DoT that also applies Agony on up to 8 targets, another tool to spread your DoTs faster.
  • Sacrolash's Dark Strike
    • Increases the damage of Wither and makes your curses last longer.
  • Improved Shadow Bolt
    • Reduces the cast time and increases the damage of Shadow Bolt.
  • Death's Embrace
    • Passively increases damage of your DoTs and Malefic Rapture when your target is at or below 35% health.
  • Malediction
    • Passively increases the critical strike chance of your main DoTs.
  • Cull the Weak
    • Allows you to have funnel options with Malefic Rapture doing more damage the more targets it hits.
• Removed
  • Phantom Singularity
    • Swapped for Vile Taint.
  • Infirmity
    • Removed for Sacrolash's Dark Strike.
  • Drain Soul
    • Swapped for Improved Shadow Bolt.
  • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Removed for Death's Embrace.
  • Contagion
    • Removed for Cull the Weak.
  • Improved Haunt and Withering Bolt
    • Removed for Malediction.

Hero Talents

Changed Soul Harvester to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

• Curse of the Satyr
  • Your default pick since both talent choices are very niche and this one has more use cases than the other one.
• Hatefury Rituals
  • Outperforms Bleakheart Tactics currently.
• Zevrim's Resilience
  • Helps you recover your lost health from using Dark Pact.

Opener

• Your goal in the opener is to apply and maintain all the DoTs and debuffs while also not overcapping on Soul Shards with Nightfall and Tormented Crescendo procs. Below, you can see an example of how your opener looks when using the recommended Hellcaller single-target spec.

• Always keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony, Wither, Haunt and Shadow Embrace on the target.
• Keep in mind that Haunt has travel time so you should precast it roughly ~2 seconds before the pull. Thus, half of your next cast, Unstable Affliction, is also casted before the fight even starts.
• All Soul Shards should be spent while Soul Rot and Phantom Singularity are active on the target.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

1. Keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony and Wither.
2. Cast Haunt on cooldown.
3. Cast Summon Darkglare on cooldown whenever Phantom Singularity and Soul Rot are up.
4. Cast Malefic Rapture if you are otherwise capping on Soul Shards or have Tormented Crescendo stacks.
5. Cast Shadow Bolt to refresh Shadow Embrace stacks or have Nightfall stacks.
6. Cast Phantom Singularity whenever you have Soul Rot ready to follow up.
7. Cast Malevolence on cooldown. Sync it with Soul Rot every time.
8. Cast Soul Rot on cooldown.
9. Cast Malefic Rapture to spend all Soul Shards whenever Phantom Singularity and Soul Rot are up.
10. Cast Shadow Bolt as your filler spell.

Opener

Multi-Target rotation is identical to single-target, only difference is the opener you do and amount of procs you get.

• Your goal in the opener is to apply and maintain all the DoTs and debuffs while also not overcapping on Soul Shards with Nightfall and Tormented Crescendo procs. Below, you can see an example of how your opener looks when using the recommended Hellcaller Multi-Target spec.

• Always keep up Unstable Affliction and Haunt on main target and Agony, Corruption and Shadow Embrace on both targets.
• Keep in mind that Haunt has travel time so you should precast it roughly ~2 seconds before the pull. Thus, half of your next cast, Unstable Affliction, is also casted before the fight even starts.
• All Soul Shards should be spent while Soul Rot and Phantom Singularity are active on the target.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

1. Keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony and Wither.
2. Cast Haunt on cooldown.
3. Cast Summon Darkglare on cooldown whenever Phantom Singularity and Soul Rot are up.
4. Cast Malefic Rapture if you are otherwise capping on Soul Shards or have Tormented Crescendo stacks.
5. Cast Shadow Bolt to refresh Shadow Embrace stacks or have Nightfall stacks.
6. Cast Phantom Singularity whenever you have Soul Rot ready to follow up.
7. Cast Malevolence on cooldown. Sync it with Soul Rot every time.
8. Cast Soul Rot on cooldown.
9. Cast Malefic Rapture to spend all Soul Shards whenever Phantom Singularity and Soul Rot are up.
10. Cast Shadow Bolt as your filler spell.

Opener

• Your goal in the AoE opener is similar to single-target with the only difference of applying DoTs to more targets, mostly through Seed of Corruption and Vile Taint. Below, you can see an example of how your opener looks when using the recommended Hellcaller AoE spec.

• All Soul Shards should be spent while Soul Rot and Vile Taint are up.
• Apply Wither and Agony manually on spread targets that didn't get hit by Seed of Corruption and Vile Taint.

Priority List

1. Keep up Agony on up to 8 targets.
2. Keep up Unstable Affliction on the main target.
3. Cast Haunt on cooldown on the main target.
4. Cast Summon Darkglare on cooldown when Vile Taint and Soul Rot are up.
5. Cast Vile Taint on cooldown. Make sure to have every second cast line up with Soul Rot.
6. Cast Malevolence on cooldown. Sync it with Soul Rot every time.
7. Cast Soul Rot on cooldown.
8. Cast Malefic Rapture if you are about to cap on Soul Shards or have Tormented Crescendo proc.
9. Cast Shadow Bolt if you have Nightfall procs.
10. Cast Malefic Rapture whenever you have Soul Shards.
11. Cast Shadow Bolt as your filler spell.

While Haunt, Shadow Bolt and Unstable Affliction could lower your overall dps, it's still a damage gain on a priority target which is often more important than overall in many boss fights.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

If you're assigned to Group 1:

If you're assigned to Group 2:

• Do note that the length of the fight impacts your cooldown usage heavily. If your fight lasts shorter than 6 minutes you use your Summon Darkglare on pull followed by using it after every Goresplatter.

Defensive Cooldown Usage

If you're assigned to Group 1:

If you're assigned to Group 2:

Boss Tips

• Use Demonic Circle to easily jump over the Spewing Hemorrhage geysers to save globals.
• You can outplay Goresplatter easily by pre-placing a Demonic Circle and Demonic Gateway. Use the Demonic Gateway first to get away from the Boss and use Demonic Circle: Teleport to get back. This way you are not forced to run through the Black Blood and take unnecessary damage.
• Cast Soul Rot on a Lost Watcher, the tank mob, to cleave the maximum amount of targets.
• Consider swapping Drain Soul to Improved Shadow Bolt if you feel like you are struggling with movement.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• Dark Pact whenever you are targeted by Decimate or Decimates are about to hit Cosmic Simulacrums.
• Place a ‍Demonic Circle in the middle of the room to reposition after getting targeted by either ‍Decimate or ‍Phase Blades.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• Stun Infested Spawn with Shadowfury.
• Move out with Spinneret's Strands and quickly teleport back with Demonic Circle: Teleport.
• Put down a Demonic Gateway to help your raid keep up with the boss when he changes his position.
• The boss flies away at 1:27, 3:07, 4:47 and 6:20 minutes, whenever one of these timers is approaching you should start pre-moving on your instant casts to minimize downtime while running.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• Use Demonic Circle: Teleport to quickly cleanse yourself from Unstable Web.
  • Be careful of your Demonic Circle placement since you're going to trigger a Web Eruption at your Demonic Circle's location.
  • You can also pre-use Demonic Circle: Teleport with Soulburn and avoid getting webs at all.
• Use Summon Felhunter on this boss to be able to interrupt Poison Burst with Spell Lock.
• Apply Curse of Tongues on Voracious Worms.
• Starting with a 3rd use of Soul Rot in the fight, it's very important to not delay next uses of it, as it's pretty tight to line it up with every set of adds for major set of cds for it.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• Rotate Dark Pact and Demonic Healthstone whenever you are targetted by any abilities, such as Twilight Massacre and Assassination, or Regicide during the intermission.
• Use Unending Resolve as an emergency button. For example, if you get hit by multiple Twilight Massacres.
• Multiple stacks of Queensbane can be quite dangerous. Consider using a defensive!
• The main thing to keep an eye out for on this boss is the position of each Nether Rift. Their placement dictates how much you get pulled towards them. Try to position yourself in a way that each Nether Rift is at a similar distance to you.
• Consider swapping Drain Soul to Improved Shadow Bolt if you feel like you are struggling with movement.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• Pre-place a Demonic Circle and teleport back instantly after getting pulled in by Web Vortex to save yourself some movement.
  • Alternatively, use Demonic Gateway to negate the pull in effect.
• Try to get some good distance from the adds that spawn from Call of the Swarm since they fixate the closest target.

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

• During P1 rotate your defensives whenever you get more Frothy Toxin stacks than planned or if you are stacked with anyone during Silken Tomb, or Wrest during Intermission. During P2 have a defensive whenever Gloom Touch is dispelled. And during P3 watchout whenever Royal Condemnation is out.
• Make sure to use Demonic Circle: Teleport with Soulburn before every Silken Tomb cast to avoid getting rooted. However, remember that there will still be a puddle underneath you, so take the right position.
• Always replace Demonic Circle on each platform during P2, so whenever Wrest is happening, you can easily avoid random unfortunate deaths.
• During Frothing Gluttony, you can use your Demonic Circle to get over the ring without taking a portal. That will allow you to avoid getting Abyssal Reverberation debuff and save some space for the rest of the raid to spread more comfortably.
• During P3, apply Curse of Tongues on the Summoned Acolytes that are dying latest, so you have an easier time dealing with their casts.

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