Affliction Warlock Rotation & Talent Build - Wrath Classic (WOTLK) (2024)

Introduction

Affliction Warlocks bring important buffs and debuffs to the raid. For buffs,

Fel Intelligence

provides intellect and spirit. For debuffs,

Improved Shadow Bolt

provides increased spell critical strike chance,

Curse of the Elements

increases spell power taken, and can even spec into

Improved Curse of Weakness

which further decreases the enemy's attack power if neccessary.

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Rotation

Affliction Warlocks become a true DoT specialization in Wrath of the Lich King, with access to new tools such as

Haunt

, and the new interaction of

Drain Soul

during execute phases. They excel in situations where they can apply dots on multiple enemies, and continue to be a reliable source of AoE damage thanks to

Seed of Corruption

.

Opener

1. Cast

   Life Tap

   for

   Glyph of Life Tap

   pre-pull.
2. Pre-pot

   Potion of Wild Magic

   .
3. Pre-cast

   Shadow Bolt

   to apply

   Improved Shadow Bolt

   if assigned.
4. Cast

   Haunt

   .
5. Cast

   Unstable Affliction

   .
6. Cast

   Corruption

   .
7. Cast

   Curse of Agony

   .
8. Cast

   Shadow Bolt

   .
9. Perform normal priorities.

Single Target

1. Use

   Summon Felhunter

   .
2. Cast

   Inferno

   if available and the rest of the fight will not last longer than 1 minute.
3. Maintain

   Improved Shadow Bolt

   See Also

   WotLK Classic Affliction Warlock GuidePvE Affliction Warlock Overview - WotLK Classic - Warcraft TavernPvE Affliction Warlock Talents, Builds & Glyphs - WotLK Classic - Warcraft TavernWoW Wrath Classic: Affliction Warlock Guide (WotLK)
   debuff if assigned. This means you might need to cast

   Shadow Bolt

   every now and then during your execute phase.
4. Maintain

   Curse of the Elements

   if assigned.
5. Maintain

   Corruption

   .

   Drain Soul

   ,

   Shadow Bolt

   , and

   Haunt

   will take care of this with

   Everlasting Affliction

   .
6. Maintain

   Glyph of Life Tap

   buff.
7. Refresh

   Corruption

   manually when the target reaches 35% health so it benefits from

   Death's Embrace

   .
8. Maintain

   Haunt

   . Keep in mind this spell has a travel time.
9. Maintain

   Unstable Affliction

   . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
10. Maintain

    Curse of Agony

    . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
11. Cast

    Drain Soul

    on targets 25% HP or below. You should interrupt

    Drain Soul

    right after one of its 5 ticks to maintain your DoTs if they are about to expire.
12. Cast

    Shadow Bolt

    .

AoE

For 1 or 2 additional targets

• Maintain

  Corruption

  ,

  Unstable Affliction

  , and

  Curse of Agony

  on all of them.
• Maintain

  Haunt

  on highest priority target.
• Cast

  Shadow Bolt

  or

  Drain Soul

  .

For large pulls:

• Cast

  Shadowflame

  if targets are close enough.
• Cast

  Seed of Corruption

  .

Snapshotting

1. Snapshotting is a term where abilities "snapshot" certain buffs and debuffs such as Percentage Damage Modifiers (

   Tricks of the Trade

   ,

   Death's Embrace

   ,

   Shadow Weaving

   , etc), and Critical Strike (

   Potion of Wild Magic

   ,

   Moonkin Form

   ,

   Improved Shadow Bolt

   , etc) at the time it was casted. Technically all of the caster's stats will be snapshotted, but the one's mentioned previously are the only one's that persist for DoTs that are not refreshed manually such as

   Shadow Word: Pain

   ,

   Corruption

   for Affliction Warlocks, and

   Serpent Sting

   for Survival Hunters.The reason this is important for Affliction Warlocks is because they never refresh their

   Corruption

   after applying it since

   Drain Soul

   See Also

   WotLK Classic Affliction Warlock Spell Summary
   ,

   Shadow Bolt

   , and

   Haunt

   will take care of this with

   Everlasting Affliction

   . This is why you also re-apply

   Corruption

   manually when the target reaches 35% health so it benefits from

   Death's Embrace

   .

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Talents

Standard Build

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Glyphs

Major:

Haunt

,

Quick Decay

,

Life Tap

Minor:

Drain Soul

,

Enslave Demon

,

Souls

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Stats

Hit Cap

• 10% (263 Rating) with

  Heroic Presence

  ,

  Suppression

  , and

  Misery

  or

  Improved Faerie Fire

• 11% (289 Rating) with

  Suppression

  and

  Misery

  or

  Improved Faerie Fire

• 13% (342 Rating) with

  Heroic Presence

  and

  Suppression

• 14% (368 Rating) with

  Suppression

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Best Consumables

Flasks and Elixirs

Best:

• Flask of the Frost Wyrm

Alternatives:

• Spellpower Elixir

  ,

• Elixir of Spirit

Food

Best:

• Fish Feast

  ,

• Tender Shoveltusk Steak

  ,

• Firecracker Salmon

Alternatives:

• Great Feast

  ,

• Dalaran Clam Chowder

  ,

• Shoveltusk Steak

  ,

• Smoked Salmon

  ,

• Snapper Extreme

  ,

• Worg Tartare

Potions

Best:
• Pre-pot

  Potion of Wild Magic

  ,
• In Combat

  Potion of Speed

Miscellaneous

Best:

• Spiced Mammoth Treats

• Dark Rune

  or

  Demonic Rune

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Best Races

Alliance

1. Human:

   The Human Spirit

2. Gnome:

   Expansive Mind

Horde

1. Orc:

   Blood Fury

2. Blood Elf:

   Arcane Torrent

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Affliction Warlock Best Professions

1. Engineering: Best profession thanks to

   Nitro Boosts

   ,

   Hyperspeed Accelerators

   ,

   Springy Arachnoweave

   enchants,

   Global Thermal Sapper Charge

   , and

   Visage Liquification Goggles

   for early gearing.
2. Tailoring: Second best profession thanks to

   Lightweave Embroidery

   .
3. Jewelcrafting: Third best profession thanks to the 3 unique gems such as

   Runed Dragon's Eye

   and

   Rigid Dragon's Eye

   .
4. Blacksmithing: Fourth best profession during phases 3+ thanks to

   Socket Bracer

   and

   Socket Gloves

   .
5. Leatherworking, Enchanting, Inscription, and Alchemy: All provide comparable stat bonuses with

   Fur Lining - Spell Power

   ,

   Ring - Greater Spell Power

   ,

   Master's Inscription of the Storm

   , and

   Mixology

   respectively.
6. Skinning:

   Master of Anatomy

   .