Quick Links
InWorld of Warcraft, high damage is often a sign of a coveted player in a battleground. Yet while some classes are flashy with their ever-increasing numbers and one-shot capability,Affliction Warlockopts for a more subtle approach and still tops the DPS charts.
Related:World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Destruction Warlock PvP Guide
By stacking several damage over time effects on their enemies, they watch from a distance as the opposition slowly succumbs to stacking damage that they don’t notice until it’s far too late. And if the Warlock falls in battle, their debuffs still net them eliminations from beyond the grave. If you’re a fan of the slow and methodical approach, then here’s everything you need to know.
Class Overview
When it comes todamage over time abilities, or DoTs, there is no other class that does it better than Affliction Warlock. Not only can they apply several to their enemies at any opportunity, but theirtalents buff their damage enough to rival other DPS classes, meaning that the Warlock only has to wait as their target withers away.
While they can be easy to target due to theirlower maximum health and cloth armor, Affliction often hasenhanced healing capabilities. They’re able to keep themselves alive throughout the fight until the other side succumbs to the countless DoTs, making themnigh invincibleif played well.
Racial Abilities
Human
Increased secondary stats like Mastery and can end a stunning effect early.
Void Elf
Spellcasts aren’t delayed by damage and abilities have a chance for additional Shadowfrost damage.
Undead
Able to drain health from enemies and remove sleep, charm, or fear effects.
Nightborne
More magical damage along with the ability to snare enemies.
While Affliction doesn’t have nearly as many optimal race pairings as its sister specializations, there are stilla few choice selectionsthat will make you stand out above the rest.
Stat Priority
Before you decide to jump into any secondary stat, you’ll want to focus on upping yourIntellect as your primary stat. Just like the other Warlock specializations, this will give youmost of your damage, and you’ll be able to find it on most of the gear you gain throughout the Dragon Isles.
Among your secondary stats,Mastery reigns as king for Affliction. Because of thePotent Afflictionspassive, yourcore rotation will increase in damageas you gain more Mastery, so seek this stat out whenever possible.
Lastly, targetVersatilityas your third priority. While your DoTs do have a chance toCritical Strikeand moreHastewould be able to channel your drains faster, thedamage gains from Versatility cannot be understated.
Gearing Up For PvP
After you’ve leveled your Affliction Warlock to max, you’ll want toincrease your Item Level, or ilvl, before you jump into any PvP. Luckily, Dragonflight is intent ongearing characters very quicklyin the endgame, so you shouldn’t have to wait long.
The easiest way to get better equipment is to check what kind ofWorld Quests have spawnedin the Dragon Isles and complete any that give you an upgrade. Not only do these practically take seconds to complete, butthey’ll scale with your power level, ensuring that you always get better pieces.
If World Quests spawn too infrequently for you, then you can easily grab a few upgrades fromdifferentcrafting professions, namelyTailoring or Jewelcrafting. However, keep in mind that the recipes can take time to gather.
After you’ve gained a bit of gear, it’s time to jump into those arenas and battlegrounds. Through winning or losing, you’ll rack upHonor and Conquest, the two currencies used to unlock PvP-specific equipment. You’ll find the vendors,Seltherex and Calderax, located inGladiator’s Refuge in Valdrakken.
You’ll want to grab these pieces as soon as you’re able to toenhance your ilvl in PvP to 410or higher. verify to purchase the specific set that grantsextra Mastery and Versatility.
Gems And Enchants
As you increase your Item Level and bring it to a comfortable place, try boostingIntellect, Mastery and Versatilityfurther by applying different gems and enchants.
Enchant Ring - Devotion of Versatility
Affliction Warlock PvP Talents
As an Affliction Warlock, you’ll want to build your talents toimprove your damage over time abilities, as this will be your main avenue for taking down your foes, while making sure your survivability is in order.
On yourAffliction tree, prioritize talents that relate to yourCorruptionor yourUnstable AfflictionlikeXavian TeachingsandMalefic Affliction, as these two abilities are your most reliable DoTs.
Yourgeneral Warlock treeshould be geared towardself-healing and stunsto push the enemy back, taking talents likeGrim Feast, Desperate Pact, and Shadowfury. You should also take abilities that play intoGrimoire of Sacrifice, which will let you absorb your main demon pet for more damage.
Related:World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Arcane Mage PvP Guide
Affliction Warlock PvP Rotation
Unlike most classes in the game that are focused on building their class resource just to spend it again, Affliction has a unique rotation, choosing tomonitor the state of their debuffsto refresh them if necessary.
As an Affliction Warlock, most of your time will be spentrefreshing these DoTs to increase their current duration. If possible, try to wait until the last possible moment to refresh them to benefit from thePandemic Invocationtalent.
If yourSummon Darkglareability is off cooldown, use it once all of your DoTs have been applied tocall forth a minion that deals scaling damagebased on how many effects you have on your target.
Utility Tips
Along with the large arsenal of DoTs you have at your disposal, Affliction also boastsa huge number of utility toolsthat you can use if things don’t play out in your favor, allowing you to live through an emergency orflee and regroup with your team.
