Below I have compiled quite a bit of information about playing a Warlock since the new talents arrived in Patch 3.0.

Enjoy, my fellow Warlocks. =]

O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \ O /
|=< ~=~=~=~=~=~) //
/\ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /\



[ Table of Contents ]



• [Post #]:
  
  
• [1-3] Affliction Talent Breakdown: Spellpower and Talent Coefficients
  
  
• [4] Affliction Talent Breakdown: Conclusions and Results
  
  
• [5] Frequently Asked Questions
  
• [5] The New Hit Cap at Level 80
  
  
• [6] Affliction Raiding Builds (Hit and Not Hit Capped)
  
• [6] Raid Boss Spell Rotation
  
• [6] Affliction Leveling Build
  
  
• [7] Drain Soul vs. Shadow Bolt Under 25%
  
• [7] Molten Core Uptime
  
  
• [8] Warlock Glyphs List
  
• [8] "What Glyphs Should I Use?"
  
  
• [9] Affliction Gear Guide
  
  
• [11-13] Recent Blizzard Posts Regarding Warlocks
  
  

[ Changelog ]



• [February 24, 2009]:
  - Added more Blizzard posts, especially regarding 3.1 Siphon Life nerfs
  
  
• [February 2-5, 2009]:
  - Changed format of Table of Contents to be more readable (Feb 2)
  - Added more Blizzard posts, especially regarding 3.1 changes
  - Split up Blizzard posts into two posts (January / February)
  
  
• [January 31, 2009]:
  - Frequently Asked Questions: Updated glyph questions, Updated pet questions, Added information for acquiring the Infernal and Doomguard, Added Improved Shadow Bolt info, Mods: added more info on PolMonitor, added DrainSoulTimer
  - Talent builds: Updated talent builds and some talent descriptions, Separated Affliction / Destruction talents, Updated glyphs
  - Glyphs list: Updated Curse of Agony, Conflagrate
  - Updated "What Glyphs Should I Use"
  - Affliction Gear Guide: Updated to include all gear up through item level 300
  - Added more recent Blizzard posts about Warlocks (Feb 1)
  
  
• [January 12, 2009]:
  - Added a mini-section at the bottom for recent informative Blizzard posts for Warlocks
  
  
• [January 10, 2009]:
  - New Section! "What Glyphs Should I Use?"
  - New Section! Affliction Loot List
  - Completely re-did the Frequently Asked Questions
  - Other minor changes throughout
  

Affliction Talent By Talent Breakdown: Spellpower and Talent Coefficients:

--All Testing Re-Done On 3.0.3 PTR: Nov 2, 2008--

I decided to do some extremely in-depth testing of all the talents and spells on the PTR to see how they interacted with each other. There is quite a lot going on, especially since talents affect various spells and whether everything was additive, multiplicative, before spellpower, after spellpower, etc was a huge question.

All questions I decided to find out the answers to.

I started with a 0/0/0 spec and tested every single dot one by one. After seeing how each particular spell behaved, I added talents, one by one, continuing down the Affliction tree.

(A chart with the summary of my results can be found after all the tests. Definitely check out the Everlasting Affliction test, not only because it's a new talent, but because it's very confusing talent and it seems not many people understand how it really works. But once you do, it's a very awesome talent :)

Here are my results:

Affliction Tree Stress Testing

• Test I: 0/0/0 spec
  
  
  
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      56, 56, 57, 57, 113, 113, 113, 113, 170, 169, 169, 170 = 1356 total damage (Base Damage)
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      194, 194, 194, 194, 251, 251, 251, 251, 307, 307, 307, 307 = 3008 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      1356 + 1377*1.20 = 3008.4
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Curse of Agony has a 120% Spellpower coefficient.
      
      Spellpower Distribution: The 120% Spellpower is distributed evenly between all 12 ticks (120% / 12 = 10% for each tick). (Example: 1377*0.1=138 --> 56+138=194) This means that CoA will get "flatter" once you get more and more spellpower, because the difference between the 1st/2nd and 2nd/3rd ticks will always be a static amount of damage.
      
    
    
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      150, 150, 150, 150, 150, 150 = 900 total damage (Base Damage)
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      425, 425, 425, 426, 426, 425 = 2552 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      900 + 1377*1.20 = 2552.4
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Corruption has a 120% Spellpower coefficient.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test II: Improved Curse of Agony 2/2 (+10%)
  
  
  
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      1356 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      213, 214, 213, 214, 275, 275, 276, 276, 338, 338, 338, 338 = 3308 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.1 = 3309.24
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Curse of Agony acts after Spellpower.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test III: Improved Corruption 5/5 (+10%)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      468, 467, 467, 467, 468, 468 = 2805 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*1.20) * 1.1 = 2807.64
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Corruption acts after Spellpower.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test IV: Empowered Corruption 3/3 (+36% Spellpower)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      559, 558, 559, 559, 559, 559 = 3353 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*(1.2 + .36)) * 1.1 = 3352.932
      (900 + 1377*(1.56)) * 1.1 = 3352.932
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Empowered Corruption yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 156%.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test V: Siphon Life 1/1
  
  
  
  • Siphon Life
    
    
    
    • 0 Spellpower
      63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63, 63 = 630 total damage (Base Damage)
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      200, 200, 200, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201, 201 = 2007 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      630 + 1377*1.00 = 2007
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Siphon Life has a 100% Spellpower coefficient.
      
    
    
  
  

• Test VI: Shadow Mastery 5/5 (+15%)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      635, 635, 635, 635, 635, 635 = 3810 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.25 = 3810.15
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Corruption and Shadow Mastery are additive. (10% + 15%)
      Improved Corruption and Shadow Mastery both act after spellpower.
      
    
    
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      1356 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      243, 242, 243, 242, 313, 313, 313, 313, 384, 384, 384, 384 = 3758 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.25 = 3760.5
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Curse of Agony and Shadow Mastery are additive. (10% + 15%)
      Improved Curse of Agony and Shadow Mastery both act after spellpower.
      
    
    
  • Siphon Life
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      630 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      230, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231, 231 = 2309 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 = 2308.05
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Shadow Mastery acts after spellpower.
      
    
    
  • Curse of Doom
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      4200 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      6954, 6954, 6954
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (4200 + 1377*2.00) * 1.00 = 6954
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Curse of Doom has a 200% Spellpower coefficient.
      Shadow Mastery has no effect on Curse of Doom. (BUGGED)
      
    
    
  
  
• Test VII: Contagion 5/5 (+5%)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      661, 660, 660, 661, 661, 660 = 3963 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 = 3962.556
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion are additive. (10% + 15% + 5%)
      Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion all act after spellpower.
      
    
    
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      1356 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      252, 253, 252, 252, 326, 326, 326, 326, 400, 399, 399, 399 = 3910 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.30 = 3910.92
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Improved Curse of Agony, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion are additive. (10% + 15% + 5%)
      Improved Curse of Agony, Shadow Mastery, and Contagion all act after spellpower.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test VIII: Malediction 3/3 (+3%)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      680, 680, 680, 680, 680, 680 = 4080 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.33 = 4053.9996 (WRONG)
      (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4081.43268
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      1356 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      260, 260, 260, 260, 336, 335, 336, 336, 411, 411, 411, 411 = 4027 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.33 = 4001.172 (WRONG)
      (1356 + 1377*1.20) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4028.2476
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  • Siphon Life
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      630 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      237, 237, 237, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238, 238 = 2377 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.18 = 2368.26 (WRONG)
      (630 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 2377.2915
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  • Curse of Doom
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      4200 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      7163, 7163, 7163
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (4200 + 1377*2.00) * 1.03 = 7162.62
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  • Immolate
    
    
    
    • 0 Spellpower, no talents
      331 total direct damage
      123, 123, 123, 123, 123 = 615 total dot damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower, no talents
      596 total direct damage
      387, 388, 388, 388, 388 = 1939 total dot damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      331 + 1377*0.192 = 595.384 (~19.2% DD coefficient)
      615 + 1377*0.962 = 1939.674 (~96.2% dot coefficient)
      
      -----
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower, Malediction
      613 total direct damage
      399, 399, 399, 399, 400 = 1996 total dot damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (331 + 1377*0.192) * 1.03 = 613.24552 (DD)
      (615 + 1377*0.962) * 1.03 = 1997.86422 (dot)
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Immolate has a ~19.2% DD coefficient and 96.2% dot coefficient. (Weird.)
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test IX: Unstable Affliction 1/1
  
  
  
  • Unstable Affliction
    
    
    
    • Base Damage (From MMO/WoWHead, unable to test without Shadow Mastery):
      875 total damage (Base Damage)
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      534, 533, 534, 534, 534 = 2669 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      (875 + 1377*1.00) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 2667.494
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Unstable Affliction's coefficient is now 100% due to the 18 to 15 sec duration nerf. (Was 120%)
      Shadow Mastery acts after spellpower.
      Malediction is multiplicative after spellpower and talents.
      
    
    
  
  

• Test X: Everlasting Affliction 5/5 (+5% Spellpower per tick)
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      900 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      772, 772, 772, 772, 773, 773 = 4364 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      Derivation:
      (900 + 1377*1.56) * 1.30 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*6) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Add EA damage)
      (900 + 1377*1.56 + 1377*.05*6) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Bring inside parentheses)
      (900 + 1377*1.56 + 1377*.3) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Multiply .05*6)
      (900 + 1377*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
      
      Final:
      (900 + 1377*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03 = 4634.57358
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 30% extra damage from Spellpower (6 ticks).
      Everlasting Affliction occurs before Improved Corruption, Shadow Mastery, Contagion and Malediction.
      Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 186% for Corruption.
      
    
    
  • Unstable Affliction
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      875 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      615, 615, 615, 615, 616 = 3076 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      Derivation:
      (875 + 1377) * 1.15 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*5) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Add EA damage)
      (875 + 1377 + 1377*.05*5) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Bring inside parentheses)
      (875 + 1377 + 1377*.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Multiply .05*5)
      (875 + 1377*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
      
      Final:
      (875 + 1377*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3075.258125
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 25% extra damage from Spellpower (5 ticks).
      Everlasting Affliction occurs before Shadow Mastery and Malediction.
      Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 125% for Unstable Affliction.
      
    
    
  • Siphon Life
    
    
    
    • Base Damage:
      630 total damage
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      319, 319, 319, 319, 319, 320, 320, 320, 320, 320 = 3195 total damage
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      Derivation:
      (630 + 1377) * 1.15 * 1.03 + (1377*.05*10) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Add EA damage)
      (630 + 1377 + 1377*.05*10) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Bring inside parentheses)
      (630 + 1377 + 1377*.50) * 1.15 * 1.03= 3192.81975 (Multiply .05*10)
      (630 + 1377*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975 (Final Sum of Total Spellpower Coefficient)
      
      Final:
      (630 + 1377*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 3192.81975
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Everlasting Affliction gives 5% Spellpower to each tick, for a total of 50% extra damage from Spellpower (10 ticks).
      Everlasting Affliction occurs before Shadow Mastery and Malediction.
      Everlasting Affliction yields a total Spellpower coefficient of 150% for Siphon Life.
      
    
    
  
  
• Test XI: Haunt
  
  
  
  • Haunt
    
    
    
    • Base Damage (From MMO/WoWHead, unable to test without Shadow Mastery):
      487-569 base (528 avg) (Base Damage)
      
      
    • 1377 Spellpower
      1310, 1260, 1270, 1263, 1260.66, 1279.33, 1322, 1301, 1288, 1287, 1316, 1297, 1274, 1345, 1314
      Total Average: 1292.466
      
      
    • Theoretical Formula to Match Results
      Derivation:
      (528 + 1377*x) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 1292.466
      x = 40.897%
      
      This is very close to the coefficient for any instant cast spell (1.5/3.5 = 42.857%)
      
      Final:
      (528 + 1377*0.42857) * 1.15 * 1.03 = 1324.44 (close to my average, even though I had a very small sample size)
      
      
    • Conclusion(s):
      Haunt has a 42.857% Spellpower coefficient.
      Haunt crits were nerfed to do 150% damage (before build 8970, they did 200% damage).
      
    
    
  
  
• Test XII: Dot Ticks with Haunt + 2 Stacks of Shadow Embrace
  
  
  
  • Corruption
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 773
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 1020
      
    • 773 * 1.3 = 1004.9 (Wrong)
      
    • 773 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 1020.36
      
    
    
  • Curse of Agony
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 260
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 343
      
    • 260 * 1.3 = 338 (Wrong)
      
    • 260 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 343.2
      
    
    
  • Siphon Life
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 319
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 422
      
    • 319 * 1.3 = 414.7 (Wrong)
      
    • 319 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 421.08
      
    
    
  • Unstable Affliction
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 615
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 812
      
    • 615 * 1.3 = 799.5 (Wrong)
      
    • 615 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 811.8
      
    
    
  • Immolate
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 399
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 527
      
    • 399 * 1.3 = 518.7 (Wrong)
      
    • 399 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 526.68
      
    
    
  • Curse of Doom
    
    
    
    • Tick Before Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 7163
      
    • Tick After Haunt + Shadow Bolt: 7163
      
    • No Change
      
    
    
  • Conclusion(s)
    
    
    
    • Total Formula is: Damage * 1.2 Haunt * 1.1 SE
      
      
    • In other words, Haunt and Shadow Embrace both act multiplicatively and on top of all talents and spellpower.
      
      
    • Haunt and Shadow Embrace DO increase dot damage if dot is casted first, and then Haunt/SE after. Though it seems to be bugged somewhat... (When both debuffs drop, dots tick for lower than they did without both debuffs...)
      
    
    
  
  

• Overall Test Conclusions
  
  
  
  
  • Talent modifiers are additive. The lump sum of talent modifiers is then is multiplied after spellpower.
    
    
  • Buffs (on yourself) and debuffs (on the target) are multiplicative.
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bugs
  
  
  
  
  • Curse of Doom is bugged:
    
    A) It doesn't get any benefit from Shadow Mastery, even though the tooltip clearly states it does shadow damage.
    
    B) It doesn't get any benefit from Haunt or Shadow Embrace, despite the fact that it *IS* a periodic effect. (See http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=30910 for proof: "Apply Aura: Periodic Damage, Value: 4200 every 1 minute")
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Summary of Results
  
  
  
  • Corruption:
    (900 + Spellpower*1.86) * 1.30 * 1.03
    
    
  • Curse of Agony:
    (1356 + Spellpower*1.20) * 1.30 * 1.03
    
    
  • Curse of Doom (Bugged):
    (4200 + Spellpower*2.00)
    
    
  • Immolate (DD):
    (331 + Spellpower*0.20) * 1.03
    
    
  • Immolate (DoT):
    (615 + Spellpower*1.00) * 1.03
    
    
  • Siphon Life:
    (630 + Spellpower*1.50) * 1.15 * 1.03
    
    
  • Unstable Affliction:
    (875 + Spellpower*1.25) * 1.15 * 1.03
    
    
  • Haunt + 2 stacks of Shadow Embrace:
    Tick * 1.20 * 1.10
    
  
  

Frequently Asked Questions:

Glyph Questions



• Best Glyphs for Affliction: What are the best glyphs to use? Siphon Life, Immolate, and Curse of Agony.
  
  
• Glyph of Corruption: Does it stack with Nightfall for 8%? Yes
  
  
• Glyph of Curse of Agony: How does it work? This will add two ticks to the end of the curse, with even higher damage. Naked, without Fel Armor, Curse of Agony (Glyphed) will tick as follows:
  
  97, 97, 97, 97
  194, 194, 194, 194
  291, 291, 291, 291
  388, 388
  
  Notice it ramps up by 97 damage each time.
  
  
• Glyph of Drain Soul: What is its proc rate? It is about 5% (very lame).
  Note that you might not notice when it procs because the loot window doesn't say "You receive [Soul Shard]x2". Instead it just says "You receive [Soul Shard]" twice, one line after another (it's helpful to have a timestamp mod so you can see that you receive 2 Soul Shards in the same second).
  


Pet Questions



• Imp or Felhunter?: As an Affliction Warlock, you should definitely use a Felhunter. First, he can provide Fel Intelligence if there is not a Discipline Priest or a Mage in your raid. And secondly, his DPS is quite competitive now. (The Felhunter was previously bugged, but has been fixed in Patch 3.0.8.) There is little reason to use the Imp as an Affliction Warlock, even when considering Blood Pact, since it doesn't stack with a Warrior's Commanding Shout.
  
  
• Infernal and Doomguard: How do these pets work now? The Infernal lasts for 1 minute with a 20 minute cooldown. The Doomguard lasts for 15 minutes with a 60 minute cooldown. Both pets will stay under your control without any enslaving needed (they simply disappear once their time is up). Both pets do pretty good DPS in PVE (a common tactic is summoning the Infernal near the end of a boss fight). Also, summoning the Doomguard no longer kills anyone who assists in the summoning; it just takes a big chunk of their HP.
  
  
• Infernal: How do I get this pet? You learn the spell "Inferno" after completing the quests starting from Niby the Almighty in Felwood: http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=14469
  
  
• Doomguard: How do I get this pet? You learn the spell "Ritual of Doom" after completing a series of quests starting from Daio the Decrepit in the Blasted Lands: http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=14463
  
  
• WWS & Doomguard: Why doesn't the Doomguard show up in WWS reports? WoW Web Stats currently does not assign Doomguards to the player who summoned him (side note: WoWMeterOnline.com does). However, there is a manual fix that you can do to get it to work (thanks Faal!). Check it out here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14990467617&pageNo=1#0
  


Talent Questions



• Everlasting Affliction: How does it work? If you have 100 Spellpower and Corruption ticks for 100 100 100 100 100 100, after putting 5 points into EA, it will do 105 105 105 105 105 105.
  
  
• Improved Fear: Does it stack with Curse of Exhaustion for 60%? No. You can verify this by putting CoEx on a mob that has the Nightmare effect active. Once the Nightmare effect ends, the mob will continue moving at the same speed.
  
  
• Improved Shadow Bolt: Does this talent affect dots? No, it was nerfed in beta to no longer increase dot damage. The talent itself is poorly worded, but the buff you gain when it procs is clear: "Shadow Mastery: Shadow damage dealt increased by 10% from non-periodic spells. 12 seconds remaining" http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=17800
  
  
• Malediction: Does Malediction's self-only effect increase your Spell Power or all damage? It increases *all* damage. So if your Shadow Bolt hits for 100 damage, after putting 3 points into Malediction, it will hit for 103 (*without* CoE being on the target.)
  
  
• Molten Core: What can proc it? All shadow dots (UA, Corr, CoA, Siphon Life) and shadow DD's (Shadow Bolt, Haunt). Immolate cannot proc Molten Core.
  
  
• Pandemic: How does it work? Pandemic does not make UA/Corr tick for double damage. Instead, it shoots a "shadow bolt" equal to the damage of the dot tick and you can see it in your combat log as "Pandemic". (Also, it's bugged to only do 1 damage versus target dummies)
  


Miscellaneous



• Drain Soul: Why isn't Drain Soul doing 400% damage for targets under 25% life? A) Check the tooltip. It is only for the max rank Drain Soul (Rank 6 at Level 77). B) Drain Soul must be recast AT 25% to gain the increased damage; it will not ramp up automatically if you start channeling at 26% or higher. Alternatively, if a target gets healed above 25%, Drain Soul will retain its high damage ticking.
  
  
• Heroic DPS: I'm having trouble DPS'ing trash in 5 mans, what do I do? If you're having trouble, try using Rain of Fire. According to Dr Damage, Rain of Fire does about 700+ DPS per target. So for 3 targets, you'll be doing 2100+ DPS (depending on gear of course). Dr Damage: http://www.wowace.com/projects/dr-damage/
  
  Alternatively, you can try a 0/41/30 build, which is highly regarded as one of the best, if not the best, Warlock builds for Heroic dungeons. Check out Fallenman and Clearly's Guide to Warlock Raiding for more info on that build.
  
  
• Stats - Hit? Haste? Crit? Spirit?: What items should I go for??
  
  See the section titled "Affliction Gear Guide" for an easy guide.
  


Mods



• What are some good mods to help with dot tracking?
  
  - Dot Timer: http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/fileinfo.php?s=&id=5302
  
  - Quartz (Casting Bar / Debuffs Monitor): http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info7158/
  
  - PolMonitor (Missing debuffs monitor): http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9332-PolMonitor.html
  
  Personally, I use PolMonitor as I prefer to always have my dots visible. As well, PolMonitor allows me to keep my dots and debuffs in one specific order (the order I cast them), regardless if they are up or not.
  
  Screenshot of PolMonitor in action: http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/7717/polmonitorsetup2mi3.jpg
  Quick setup guide: http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2074/polmonitorsetuptl3.jpg
  OmniCC (for numerical timers): http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info4836-OmniCC.html
  
  
• Is there a mod to help with Drain Soul ticks?
  
  Yes! DrainSoulTimer: http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info12161-1.1.html
  
  Thanks Magisterial
  

--------------------------------------------------



The New Hit Cap at Level 80:

• What is the new hit cap at level 80?
  
  
  
  • At 80, 1% = 26.23199272 +Hit Rating.
    Source: http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t29453-combat_ratings_level_80_a
    
    
    A) 17% Hit
    B) 14% Hit (Suppression & Cataclysm, OR Misery or Faerie Fire)
    C) 11% Hit (Suppression & Cataclysm, AND Misery or Faerie Fire)
    (Misery = Shadow Priest, Faerie Fire = Moonkin)
    
    A) 17% = 446 +Hit Rating
    B) 14% = 367 +Hit Rating
    C) 11% = 289 +Hit Rating
    
    If you're raiding with a Draenei, subtract another 1% Hit as follows:
    A) 16% = 420 +Hit Rating
    B) 13% = 341 +Hit Rating
    C) 10% = 262 +Hit Rating
    
    
    
    
  • Note that Blizzard removed the 99% max resist cap (finally). So the hit cap is 17%.
    
    "Also, note that with the wotlk patch you can completely eliminate resist chance through hit chance (you can overcome that final 1% resist chance)."
    
    Source: Kalgan:
    http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679398983-upcoming-racial-ability-changes.html
    
    
    
    
  • Also note that all hit %'s on wowhead.com tooltips are for melee, which is 32.78998947 per 1%. Don't do calculations based on those percentages. See the Elitist Jerks link for more Combat Ratings at 80 like Crit (45.90598679), Haste (32.78998947), and more.
    
    
    
  • http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t29453-combat_ratings_level_80_a
    
  
  

Affliction Raiding Builds:

• Level 80 Raid Build (17% Hit Capped from Gear/Buffs):
  http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IbxrbhzAoVi0IstZEM0V
  
  
  
  • Thanks to Fallenman for a lot of help constructing this build! What follows is a brief overview of the talents chosen. For more details and a much more in-depth Affliction Warlock raiding guide, see his sticky thread here:
    
    http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12354806660&sid=1&pageNo=1#0
    
    
    
  • Key Talents: Haunt + Ruin: The key to this build is maximizing the best Affliction DPS talents and then adding Ruin, since Shadow Bolt will still be the Affliction filler spell for the majority of fights (aside from Drain Soul at sub-25%).
    
    
    
  • Affliction Talents:
    
    
    
  • Life Tap vs. Dark Pact: With the scaling on Life Tap being so good (scaling with 300% of Spirit), as well as having so much spirit on ALL caster gear at 80 (pretty much unavoidable), Life Tap quickly surpasses Dark Pact in terms of raiding efficiency and GCD's. This frees up 3 talent points in Dark Pact and Improved Felhunter.
    
    
    
  • Improved Drain Soul: Once you start getting well-geared, this will be necessary as threat will become a major issue once again. Hopefully Soulshatter's cooldown is reduced in 3.1 or it becomes a 100% threat drop. (Feel free to spend the points elsewhere if threat is not an issue for you yet.)
    
    
    
  • Soul Siphon: Sub-25%, we'll be using Drain Soul as the Affliction filler, rather than Shadow Bolt. This is because it does 400% the damage to targets under 25% HP (and this is on top of ALL talents, buffs, etc). (This is only possible with Rank 6 of Drain Soul at level 77.)
    
    
    
  • Eradication 2/3: Points 2 and 3 still have diminishing returns. Ghostcrawler once posted that they were looking into fixing this talent, but unfortunately there has been no word on this issue for the rest of beta, or anything at all since that one post. However, there are few other places to put points into for PVE purposes, so Eradication it is. One point can be switched into Nightfall if desired, but that makes the rotation a bit more complicated. For more details on Eradication's diminishing returns, see the post below:
    
    Math thread: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=5963126369&sid=1#0
    Ghostcrawler's response: http://blue.mmo-champion.com/9/10873899107-eradication-needs-changed--blue-please-read.html
    
    
    
  • Destruction Talents:
    
    
    
  • Improved Shadow Bolt: This is still a necessary talent for Affliction Warlocks, despite not increasing the damage of dots anymore. Improved Shadow Bolt is still a great boost for Shadow Bolt and Haunt, especially given the potential 18% crit from raid buffs along with the 2-piece bonus of T7: (2) Set: Your Corruption and Immolate periodic effects have a chance to increase the critical strike chance of your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate by 10%.
    
    
    
  • Molten Core: This is also a great talent for Affliction, even though the only fire spell used is Immolate. The combination of Haunt, Shadow Embrace, Glyph of Immolate, and Molten Core makes Immolate's DPCT (damage per cast time) shoot through the roof, much higher than even Shadow Bolt's DPCT. For more information about Molten Core, see the section titled "Molten Core Uptime".
    
    
    
  • Glyphs: Get Siphon Life, Immolate, and Curse of Agony for maximizing DPS.
    
  
  

• Level 80 Raid Build (Not Hit Capped from Gear/Buffs):
  http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IfxMbhzAoVi0IstZqMhV
  
  
  
  • This build is similar to the one above but with Suppression and Cataclysm.
    
    
  • With this build, you need 14% Hit from gear or 367 Hit Rating.
    
  • With a Moonkin or Shadow Priest in the raid, you need 11% Hit from gear or 289 Hit Rating.
    
  • With a Draenei in the raid, that's 13% (341) and 10% (262).
    
    
  • For more details on Hit Rating, see "The New Hit Cap" section.
    
  
  

--------------------------------------------------


Raid Boss Spell Rotation:

• 1. Start off with a Shadow Bolt and a Haunt so that both stacks of Shadow Embrace and Haunt are already up.
  
  
  
• 2. Always cast UA and Immolate right after each other, since their cast times / lengths are the same. (1.4 sec before UA drops, start casting it. And immediately after that, cast Immolate. This will mean they'll both be down for 0.1 sec before they get refreshed.)
  
  
  
• 3. The full rotation would look like this:
  
  (DD) Shadow Bolt, Haunt -> (Cast Time Dots) Unstable Affliction, Immolate -> (Instants) Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life.
  
  
  Then SB, Haunt, and refresh dots as necessary. The most important thing is UA/Immolate together. Also, replace Shadow Bolt with Drain Soul under 25%.
  
  
  
• If you are going to be the CoE lock, cast it first before SB. That way, all dots get full benefit of Haunt, Shadow Embrace x2, and CoE at first cast.
  
  
  
• Summary/TLDR:
  
  1. SB -> Haunt
  2. UA / Immo
  3. Corr, CoA, SL
  
  - Repeat category 2 as a single unit; always.
  - Refresh dots in category 3 as needed.
  
  

--------------------------------------------------


Affliction Leveling Build:

• Leveling 70-80 Talent Build:
  http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ibxr0uMAoiqoIstZV
  
  
  
  • 56/0/5 Key Talents: Haunt + Bane
    
    
    
  • Affliction AoE Farming: Start off with a UA, Corruption, and Siphon Life on the first mob. Then cast Siphon Life, Corruption, and CoA on the next mob. Repeat for half a dozen or more mobs :)
    
    
    
  • The pet you'll want to use is the Felhunter, so you can Dark Pact as necessary. (Put him on defensive, so he attacks whatever mob you start dotting. This gives him the mana regen for Dark Pact through Shadow Bite.)
    
    
    
  • Also, try to use Drain Soul on a few mobs as they die so you get back 1000+ mana from Improved Drain Soul. (It helps if you have enemy nameplates enabled so you see when a mob is about to die. Then just click the nameplate.)
    
    
    
  • For the last mob or two still standing, cast Haunt and then Life Tap right away. When the mob dies, you'll gain 1500+ Life. (You can Life Tap and Haunt early on as well, but I say the last mobs because the pushback will make it not worthwhile if you're tanking 5+ mobs.)
    
    Improved Drain Soul + Haunt + Siphon Life + Dark Pact = no downtime ever. After having killed plenty of mobs, you'll end fights with full health and mana!
    
    
    
  • Using Drain Soul often will quickly fill up your bags with unneeded Soul Shards. To destroy any extraneous shards, use this macro from WoWWiki.com:
    
    

    ---

    Q u o t e:
    /run i="Soul Shard"d=GetItemCount(i)-28 for x=0,4 do for y=1,GetContainerNumSlots(x) do if (d>0) then l=GetContainerItemLink(x,y) if l and GetItemInfo(l)==i then PickupContainerItem(x,y) DeleteCursorItem() d=d-1 end end end end
    
    This will destroy any shards in excess of 28. Change the "28" in "d=GetItemCount(i)-28" to set the number of shards you want to carry. (Works great if you set it to the capacity of your shard bag.)
    
    http://www.wowwiki.com/Useful_macros_for_warlocks

    ---

    
    
    
    
  • For talent progression, take up Grim Reach for the range first. This will help a lot with questing. Then Soul Siphon for drain tanking, Eradication 3/3, and Curse of Exhaustion. The final points are a wash, as nothing else really speeds up leveling too much. And once you hit 80, you'll want to respec to one of the above raiding builds [=
    
  
  

Drain Soul vs. Shadow Bolt Under 25%:

Drain Soul gets 214.3% Spell Power coefficient.

At max rank (level 77), the spell does 710 damage over 15 seconds.

Let's say you have 2000 Spellpower.

So Drain Soul's damage would be (710 + 2000*2.143) * 1.15 Shadow Mastery * 1.03 Malediction = 5917.762

Now add in
10% Shadow Embrace
20% Haunt
~32% Soul Siphon (assuming 1-2 Warlocks in raid)
12% Death's Embrace
13% Curse of Elements

5917.762 * 1.1 * 1.2 * 1.32 * 1.12 * 1.13 = 13049.74 over 15 seconds

Finally, the 4x multiplier (for targets under 25% HP):

13049.74 * 4 = 52198.96 over 15 seconds

-----

52198.96 / 5 = 10439.792 for EACH Drain Soul Tick

To match that kind of DPS with Shadow Bolt it would be as follows:

52198.96 / 15 = 3479.93 DPS for Drain Soul
3479.93 * 2.5 sec = 8700

You would need an average Shadow Bolt hit of 8700 to match Drain Soul's DPS.

The average Shadow Bolt for an Affliction Warlock is more around 4000, which divided by 2.5 is 1600 DPS.

So Drain Soul has more than double the DPS of Shadow Bolt sub-25% [=

And remember, you don't need to sit there channeling the whole time. All you need is 3 seconds to get one tick off in order to get the DPS benefits. Just remember to keep ALL your dots up, since Drain Soul's damage is directly proportional to the number of dots you have on the target (due to Soul Siphon). (Basically, treat Drain Soul as if it was a 3 second Shadow Bolt.)

-----

Use DrainSoulTimer:

http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info12161-1.1.html

--------------------------------------------------


Molten Core Uptime:

Spells that proc Molten Core: UA, Corr, SL, CoA, Haunt, SB.


- UA/Corr/SL tick every 3 seconds. In a 24 sec period, each will tick 8 times. 8 ticks * 3 dots = 24 ticks.

- CoA ticks every 2 seconds. In a 24 sec period, it will tick 12 times.

- That's 36 ticks in every 24 second period from UA/Corr/SL/CoA.

- Say you Haunt twice and SB twice in a 24 sec period. That's a total of 40 chances to proc MC in 24 sec.

- 40 chances * 5% = average of 2 procs in every 24 second period.

- MC lasts 12 sec. So 2 procs * 12 sec = 24 seconds.



So you'll have 100% uptime with just a single point in Molten Core. However, that's only if one proc happens at the *exact* moment that the previous proc's buff wears off. Of course, that probably won't happen.

With 2 points, you'll have 40*10% or 4 chances to proc MC in every 24 second period, which would be on average every 6 seconds. Proccing every 6 seconds with a 12 second duration is a pretty safe bet for theoretically 100% MC uptime throughout a boss fight.

Warlock Glyphs List

http://www.wowhead.com/?items=16.9


Major Glyphs



• Damage Over Time Spells:
  
  Glyph of Corruption: You Corruption spell has a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Shadow Trance state after damaging the opponent. The Shadow Trance state reduces the casting time of your next Shadow Bolt spell by -100%. (Stacks with Nightfall)
  Glyph of Curse of Agony: Increases the duration of your Curse of Agony by 4 sec. (Adds two even higher-strength ticks to end, see FAQ for details.)
  Glyph of Immolate: Increases the periodic damage of your Immolate by 20% but decreases its initial damage by -10%.
  Glyph of Siphon Life: Increases the effect of your Siphon Life spell by 20%.
  Glyph of Unstable Affliction: Decreases the casting time of your Unstable Affliction by 0.2 sec.
  
  
• Direct Damage Spells:
  
  Glyph of Conflagrate: Your Conflagrate spell no longer consumes your Immolate or Shadowflame spell from the target.
  Glyph of Searing Pain: Increases the critical strike bonus of your Searing Pain by 20%.
  Glyph of Shadow Bolt: Reduces the mana cost of your Shadow Bolt by -10%.
  Glyph of Shadowburn: Increases the critical strike chance of Shadowburn by 20% when the target is below 35% health.
  
  
• Pets:
  
  Glyph of Felguard: Increases the Felguard's total attack power by 10%.
  Glyph of Felhunter: Increases the critical strike chance of your Felhunter's Shadow Bite ability by 6%.
  Glyph of Imp: Increases the damage done by your Imp's Firebolt spell by 10%.
  Glyph of Succubus: Increases the duration of your Succubus's Seduction by 3 sec.
  Glyph of Voidwalker: Increases your Voidwalker's total Stamina by 20%.
  
  
• Conjured Items:
  
  Glyph of Healthstone: You receive 30% more healing from using a healthstone.
  Glyph of Soulstone: Increases the amount of health a player gains from resurrecting via your Soulstone by 100%.
  
  
• Other Spells:
  
  Glyph of Banish: Increases the duration of your Banish by 5 sec.
  Glyph of Death Coil: Increases the duration of your Death Coil by 0.5 sec.
  Glyph of Fear: Increases the damage your Fear target can take before the Fear effect is removed by 20%.
  Glyph of Health Funnel: Increases the chance you'll resist spell interruption when channeling your Health Funnel spell by 100%.
  Glyph of Howl of Terror: Reduces the cooldown on your Howl of Terror spell by 8 sec.
  


Minor Glyphs


Glyph of Curse of Exhaustion: Increases the range of your Curse of Exhaustion spell by 5 yards.
Glyph of Drain Soul: Your Drain Soul ability occasionally creates an additional soul shard. (~5% proc rate)
Glyph of Enslave Demon: Reduces the cast time of your Enslave Demon spell by 50%.
Glyph of Kilrogg: Increases the movement speed of your Eye of Kilrogg by 50% and allows it to fly in areas where flying mounts are enabled.
Glyph of Souls: Reduces the mana cost of your Ritual of Souls spell by 70%.
Glyph of Unending Breath: Increases the swim speed of targets affected by your Unending Breath spell by 20%.

--------------------------------------------------

What Glyphs Should I Use?

The best Glyphs for maximizing Affliction DPS are as follows:


• Glyph of Siphon Life: because the 20% increase is pretty huge.
  
  
• Glyph of Immolate: since the glyph stacks with Haunt, Shadow Embrace, and Molten Core.
  
  
• Glyph of Curse of Agony: because the two added ticks at the end ramp up in damage now (changed as of Patch 3.0.8). It increases your DPS and makes the Affliction spell rotation a bit easier. Naked, without Fel Armor, Curse of Agony with the glyph will tick as follows:
  
  97, 97, 97, 97
  194, 194, 194, 194
  291, 291, 291, 291
  388, 388
  

Affliction Gear Guide:

For those wondering where to see a nice list of gear upgrades to get ready for 10 or 25 man raiding, or even just to gauge DPS increases between items if you're already raiding, check out these links. They are links to WoWHead item lists, with various filters and weight scales attached.

The links show all items usable by Warlocks for all slots (with a tab separating each individual gear slot). The big feature here is that all the items are sorted by best DPS Score according to weight scale numbers calculated from a DPS spreadsheet. (They are quite accurate for evaluating DPS gains between items, but feel free to modify them as you wish of course.)

Item level 174-200 = quest rewards and normal dungeons.
Item level 200 = Heroic dungeons, Emblem of Heroism gear, and 10 man Naxx gear.
Item level 213 and higher = 25 man gear (with the exception of a few weapons from 10 man Naxx that are also 213).




• Armor:
  
  http://www.wowhead.com/?items=4&filter=minle=174;maxle=300;ub=9;gm=3;gb=1;wt=119:123:103:24:96;wtv=14.97:13.07:7.49:3.92:3.7#chest
  
  
• Weapons:
  
  http://www.wowhead.com/?items=2&filter=minle=174;maxle=300;ub=9;cr=123;crs=1;crv=1;gm=3;gb=1;wt=119:123:103:24:96;wtv=14.97:13.07:7.49:3.92:3.7#main-hand
  
  
• Gems:
  
  http://www.wowhead.com/?items=3&filter=qu=0:1:2:3;ty=0:1:2:3:4:5:7;ma=1;gm=3;wt=119:123:103:24:96;wtv=14.97:13.07:7.49:3.92:3.7
  
  
• And just for good measure, a list of all Enchants:
  
  http://www.wowwiki.com/Enchantments_by_slot
  http://www.wowhead.com/?spells=11.333&filter=sl=21;na=spellpower;ex=on#0-7+1
  


Highly suggested to bookmark these links for a quick and easy gear guide. Personally, I found myself alt-tabbing a lot to see if a drop was better than what I had when trying to evaluate two items with spirit/haste/crit/hit etc.

Another handy tip: if you're already above 14 or 17% hit, click Remove next to the Hit Rating weight scale and bookmark that too. That way you can tell which items give DPS increases regardless of hit.

Reserved

Recent Blizzard Posts Regarding Warlocks:

• Re: GC...will ISB stack with Improved Scorch?
  02/25/2009 12:23:59 AM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/15199339267-will-isb-stack-with-improved-scorch.html
  
  The idea was to make a very potent dps buff (though slighlty less potent now) a little more availale. No, they do not stack.
  
  
  
• Re: [Math] 3.1 Pandemic in PvP
  02/24/2009 10:48:18 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/15230880048-math-31-pandemic-in-pvp-934-nerf.html
  
  Under the new system, dots don't get hit more from resilience than direct damage spells.
  
  If the dot doesn't crit, then its damage is reduced as it is on live today. If it does crit, then it is treated like a normal (non-dot) spell and the damage is reduced from the crit, but not the dot.
  
  That may sound confusing, so I will try and explain it another way. Resilience does the following (among other things):
  
  A) Reduce the chance to crit
  B) Reduce the damage of crits
  C) Reduce the damage of dots
  
  If a dot has a chance to crit, then A applies. If the dot does not crit, then C applies. If it does crit then B applies (the same way it does to Shadowbolt) but C does not.
  
  
  
• Re: "Siphon Life" Changes. Damage Loss?
  02/24/2009 02:45:23 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910372732-siphon-life-changes-damage-loss.html
  
  Sorry, many many questions and many other classes have them too at the moment. Patch day FTW. :)
  
  I will try to hit several that came up a lot:
  
  1) Affliction required Siphon Life for PvP. Without it, Affliction is doomed.
  
  First, we are making many changes to warlocks for 3.1. We can't be too scared to make a change we think is needed because of the status quo. We thought Affliction had to maintain too many dots, which did bad things to the class, such as making them feel underpowered in short PvE or PvP fights. Along with these changes come many other changes that are going to make players rethink the builds they are even using for PvP. Second, we don't believe dot (or buff or debuff) protection is a fun mechanic. If your dots are too easy to dispel and that hurts locks, we would rather solve it in other ways than to give you more protection dots. Third, Arena matches can't just be about instant cast spells or a whole lot of spells in the game are going to have to be re-designed.
  
  2) Warlocks are still terribad in PvP so why nerf them?
  
  I don't want to derail the entire thread here, but we don't believe the entire success or failure of Affliction in Areas was dependent on Siphon Life. Abilities, especially on-demand ones, tend to have a much bigger effect in PvP than just raw damage, unless it is very bursty damage, which Siphon Life wasn't. I'm a little skeptical that SL was 30% of dps for too many Affliction locks in Arenas, but even if that were true, it doesn't mean the only solution is that SL is somehow sacred. If warlocks aren't competitive in PvP, we will buff them. Perhaps we will even juice Corruption through the Siphon Life talent if that's what it takes. But we have to be able to change spells and rotations in order to move the game design forward. "You can't cut Siphon Life -- we need it," is not a very strong argument. "We want to be competitive in PvP, and Siphon Life helped to do that," is totally valid, but we care a lot more about the first part of that sentence than the second.
  
  3) We don't want to spam Shadowbolt.
  
  I think this is just trying to be argumentative. In BC, warlocks spammed Shadowbolt the way Frost mages spam Frost Bolt. It was dull and we tried to fix it for LK. Our intent is not that you take Shadowbolt off your bar. Our intent was that it doesn't become the centerpiece of your entire rotation, and I don't think it is any longer. My point was actually that you can't just subtract the Siphon Life damage and call it a nerf because you are going to end up using the time and mana on another spell.
  
  4) But I liked Siphon Life!
  
  WoW has a huge and vocal community. Almost no matter what change we make to the game, somebody is going to disagree. Even the most annoying and weak spell in the game probably has a few fans who would be sad to see it go. We just didn't want to keep Siphon Life as an active spell any longer. We wanted to reduce the number of dots Affliction had. I'm sorry if it was a spell that you really liked for whatever reason.
  
  5) You lied to us GC! You lied! Why? Oh why?
  
  Be reasonable. We change our minds. Stuff can change very fast when it is in iteration mode sometimes. We sometimes mistate things or have mistaken assumptions about how things work. I know the spells and abilities very well, and still I do it all the time. We try to always be very, very careful in our correspondence with players to caveat the heck out of anything we say. "Assuming nothing changes. At this time. For now." Those get tacked on to everything we say just to avoid players freaking out if we are working on A ,and A ends up getting cut or we do B instead. WoW is a living game. It's going to change over time. You have to give us room to manuver and not try to nail us to the wall anytime something changes. The only thing I am ever going to promise with a capital P is that we will do the best we can to make WoW a great game, and that we will listen to your feedback and take it seriously.
  
  
  
• Re: "Siphon Life" Changes. Damage Loss?
  02/24/2009 12:18:07 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910372732-siphon-life-changes-damage-loss.html
  
  I am breaking one of my rules here and responding before I finished reading the entire thread because it is growing so quickly. I will go back and read it all after posting this.
  
  1) The change to Siphon Life just adds a healing component to Corruption. It does not inflate Corruption's damage and it does not add a second dot to Corruption.
  2) Protecting debuffs with junk debuffs is not a part of the game we want to encourage, and in fact will probably spend more effort to prune.
  3) Losing Siphon Life alone would be a damage loss of maybe 6 to 8% in an ideal raid setting. However you have to remember that you are buying time to work in say additional Shadowbolts.
  4) In addition, other changes in the tree should buy you some free talent points (in Suppression perhaps) that you can then invest in dps.
  5) All in all it should be about a wash or possibly a small nerf. Affliction dps is very high in most raid settings, particularly once so many other classes get brought under control. So we weren't at all trying to buff Affliction with these changes, and all in all a small nerf is probably fine.
  
  P.S. Calling us liars is a great way to get banned. The purpose of these forums is not to have a platform to voice your outrage. If you have intelligent feedback on changes coming in 3.1, even if you disagree with they changes, we have no problem with you expressing them.
  
  
  
• Re: "Siphon Life" Changes. Damage Loss?
  02/05/2009 12:09:36 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910372732-siphon-life-changes-damage-loss.html
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  I'm reading this as: you cast corruption, and it applies the SL debuff, which does the SL damage and returns health appropriately. Basically, it's one cast for 2 dots.

  ---

  
  Correct.
  
  
  
• Re: "Siphon Life" Changes. Damage Loss?
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910372732-siphon-life-changes-damage-loss.html
  02/05/2009 10:08:12 AM PST
  
  Basically, what this means is that warlocks who choose to take Siphon Life will be able to activate the full existing effects of the talent by simply casting Corruption.
  
  

• Re: Voidwalkers better sarth tanks than warriors?
  02/15/2009 10:50:56 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/26/14990446882-voidwalkers-better-sarth-tanks-than-warriors.html
  
  I would not expect the Voidwalker to continue to be an excellent tank for challenging raid content.
  
  The health boost was largely for PvP reasons and the damage avoidance was to make up for limitations in pet AI and master control, not to let you opt out of having to manage tons of incoming damage on your main tank. :)
  
  
  
• Re: Warlock Pets
  02/10/2009 10:42:27 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/14990913818-warlock-pets.html
  
  We're looking into making further improvements (though there is no current ETA) for these pets, however, specifics haven't been locked down. We'll let you know when more information becomes available on this subject.
  
  
  
• Re: GC, "Siphon Life" Changes. Damage Loss?
  02/05/2009 10:08:12 AM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910372732-siphon-life-changes-damage-loss.html
  
  Basically, what this means is that warlocks who choose to take Siphon Life will be able to activate the full existing effects of the talent by simply casting Corruption.
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  I'm reading this as: you cast corruption, and it applies the SL debuff, which does the SL damage and returns health appropriately. Basically, it's one cast for 2 dots.

  ---

  
  Correct.
  
  
  
• Re: No Destro love?
  02/05/2009 10:01:35 AM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910062777-no-destro-love.html
  
  There will be improvements to the Warlock's Destruction tree as well. As others have already pointed out, we're only providing a preview at this time.
  
  
  
• Upcoming Class Change Highlights (Part 2)
  02/05/2009 07:57:18 AM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/14910422662-upcoming-class-change-highlights-part-2.html
  
  # Improved Shadow Bolt – this talent now provides a 5% spell critical strike buff (similar to Improved Scorch).
  # Improved Soul Leech – this talent now provides Replenishment (similar to shadow priests)
  # Drain Soul now has a chance to produce Soul Shards even if the target doesn’t die.
  # Siphon Life no longer as an active ability but the talent grants the old Siphon Life effect to Corruption.
  # Curse of Recklessness and Curse of Weakness have been combined into one spell
  # Consume Shadows – this Voidwalker ability is no longer channeled but has a cooldown.
  # Several other warlock talents have had their ranks reduced, their effects changed or removed. This list includes but is not limited to Demonic Empathy, Shadow Embrace, Eradication, Suppression, and Pandemic.
  # Additional new talents have been added.
  
  
  
• Re: GC, Questions about Rogue Preview notes
  02/04/2009 11:50:45 PM PST
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14910582358-gc-questions-about-rogue-preview-notes.html
  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14910582358&sid=1&pageNo=6#103
  
  I don't want to ninja a rogue thread, but the buffs to demons went beyond fixes to scaling problems. The Infernal and Doom Guard were already scaling correctly, and even they went up. I was mostly joking with my comment anyway. And yes, more love for locks in 3.1. Stay tuned.
  
  
  
• Re: Logic behind being banishd/Turned in Meta
  2009-02-02 11:09:39
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14697555778-logic-behind-being-banishdturned-in-meta.html
  
  We are okay (for now) with exposing yourself to CC if you use certain abilities.
  
  However, the glyph of Turn Evil turning that spell into an instant cast is probably a problem and something we are likely to fix.
  
  
  
• Re: GC - Demo Warlock - Fel Armor bug?
  2009-02-02 09:11:20
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14697621436-demo-warlock--fel-armor-bug.html
  
  It is a bug. The intent is that the Spirit benefit is similar to the other buffs mentioned (and that none of them stack).
  

• Re: Ghostcrawler: just a few questions plz
  2009-01-25 21:56:55
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14595170174-ghostcrawler-just-a-few-questions-plz.html
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  1. are all the locks tree's getting overhauled or just the demon tree?

  ---

  
  I am reluctant to use the word "overhaul" because that sets up an expectation for some players that is difficult to meet. We are changing some talents and spells in all 3 trees.
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  2. like new pets for locks plz?? its been a long time some reg summons maybe switching 41 point to infernal and making fg a reg summon? we have no reg summons for 60 ,70 and 80 we need to keep up with other classes and lets make the game more fun for the people playing years

  ---

  
  Additional demons are something we would like to do at some point, but first we want to get all the current demons useful. Hunters have a lot more flexibility in which pet they pick. Locks need certain demons for certain jobs and we're not convinced yet that they are all there (particularly that female one).
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  3. can we get a perma meta with a few nerfs for the QQers or will we have something new ?

  ---

  
  We think we have enough instances of characters turning into other forms already.
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  3. faster dots? or cutting the dot timers down to make it seem like burst damage ?

  ---

  
  Adding some on-demand burst damage for locks is something we are looking at.
  
  

  ---

  Q u o t e:
  4. maybe enslave demon being perma to kinda customize locks like the hunters ..im not asking to be as uber as hunters pets but we should almost match them since they are pet/burst class and we are pet/dot class

  ---

  
  Hunter pets are supposed to be more like life-long companions while warlocks tend to use and discard their demons as necessary. So we aren't really going for that one to one comparison.
  
  
  
• Re: [Hunter] BM and MM are broken.
  2009-01-23 12:51:23
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14578748409-hunter-bm-and-mm-are-broken.html
  
  BM is an easier spec to play. We tend to reward specs that are a little tougher to play if played very well with higher dps. Affliction and Mutilate are good examples, though we went overboard with Mutilate's dominance over other specs.
  
  
  
  
• Re: Warlock pet health buffs
  2009-01-22 13:05:44
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14496620664-lol-significant-pet-hp-buffs.html
  
  I understand that players want, and think it is good design for, their pets to have resilience. That might still be something we do. Our concern has always been that players need to be able gang up and kill pets when they really set their mind to it. It can be very frustrating to hack your way through the hunter or warlock pet, finally dispatch it, then still have to deal with the master (who, to be honest, have ways for bringing their pets back sometimes). I understand the situation I described isn't at all happening now, but with enough resilience there is a risk of very tanky pets.
  
  
  
• Re: please don't change affl rotations/refreshes
  2009-01-20 00:11:12
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14318871670-please-dont-change-affl-rotationsrefreshes.html
  
  We have no problem with warlocks, and Affliction specifically, asking a little more from the player in order to maximize their potential.
  
  However, you shouldn't need a mod in order to play your spec correctly. They should be optional.
  
  
  
• Re: Need a mod to play your spec?
  2009-01-20 08:22:42
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14498229804-need-a-mod-to-play-your-spec.html
  
  At what point you need a mod is going to be a very subjective call and varies greatly from player to player. Some people try and raid or PvP with the minimum while others aren't happy unless they have 50 or 100 mods arranged just so.
  
  We feel like dot timers are probably close to crossing the line from "nice convenience" to "can't live without."
  
  
  
• Re: Merging Warlock Curses
  2009-01-17 23:22:36
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14318869779-merging-warlock-curses.html
  
  Interesting....
  
  We wouldn't want to do anything that encouraged warlocks to yet spend more GCDs throwing on additional dots, but getting the same benefit from fewer casts is intriguing.
  
  
  
• Re: /Jump /Wave GC - Druids have Questions Too
  2009-01-14 13:25:39
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/27/14318876511-jump-wave-gc--druids-have-questions-too.html
  
  Honestly, there is a technical limitation that prevents hots (and dots) from being able to crit. We are removing that limitation though, so who knows. :)
  
  
  
• Re: Simple Question for GC
  2009-01-13 23:16:37
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14318706014-simple-question-for-gc.html
  
  Yes, I have tried to post several times that the way pets receive buffs from their masters is inconsistent. We need to take a holistic look at stats, especially those like hit, spell pen and haste. It doesn't make sense, for example, for a pet to receive a percentage of your spell hit. Where are they ever going to get the remainder of their hit from?
  
  Many classes have pets now, and those classes have different stats to provide to those pets. While locks and hunters (and DKs to a lesser extent) are the most dependent on having a good system in place, the whole paradigm just needs to be reexamined. It is on the list.
  
  
  
• Re: A clarification on Warlock buffs.
  2009-01-12 12:27:06
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14318914384-a-clarification-on-warlock-buffs.html
  
  The changes we got in for 3.0.8 (aside from some general bug fixes) were mostly designed to help locks survive longer in PvP. I don't think you have all of the changes yet -- for instance we very recently juiced up pet health for some pets. I start to lose track of which changes are on the PTR versus changes we've announced that you haven't seen yet versus changes we haven't announced. Once 3.0.8 ships this will all be a lot clearer.
  
  For 3.1 we are probably going to make some larger changes to the class. I still don't want to oversell these. A popular yet cynical phrase among players is that their class needs to be rebuilt from the ground up (though I see this with probably every class, which is slightly amusing). We are not deleting the warlock and starting over. We are not doing that with any class and probably never will. We do want to smooth out some rough edges of the class though. A few things that I have said we want to look at are:
  
  1) Improve deep Demonology for PvP and PvE.
  2) Make Affliction feel less dependent on dot timers and other external mods (nothing wrong with the mods -- we just think it's getting harder and harder to play the spec with the default UI).
  3) Take a hard look at Soul Shards.
  4) Take a hard look at the way pets scale.
  
  
  
• Re: GC, why does Demo have to wait? :(
  2009-01-09 17:29:15
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14318771763-gc-why-does-demo-have-to-wait-.html
  
  We think we improve Demo mostly by improving demons, which unfortunately takes a little more work. That's not the only thing we want to do, by the way, but it's certainly part of it.
  
  
  
• Re: Glyph of Conflagrate
  2009-01-08 19:56:42
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14287249118-glyph-of-conflagrate.html
  
  We fixed the Glyph of Curse of Agony too. Not sure if that made the notes or not. It now is an actual dps increase.
  
  
  
• Re: Chaos Bolt haters do not post
  2009-01-07 17:05:15
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14133099530-chaos-bolt-haters-do-not-post.html
  
  We tried Chaos Bolt as a unique school of magic that pierced immunities. It was quite overpowered.
  
  Consider that part of the reason Holy damage is so good is because you can't resist it. Now imagine a Holy spell fired with warlock-level spellpower that could also go through defenses. It was just too good. Sorry.
  
  
  
• Re: Thats IT for warlocks? Are you SERIOUS?
  2009-01-07 08:17:32
  http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/14133218850-thats-it-for-warlocks-are-you-serious.html
  
  There is more that didn't show up yet on the PTR.
  
  

Reserved

---

Q u o t e:
Most fun with Kazzak since Reck Bomb!

---

I thought your account got hacked when I saw the title.
Edit: No imp shadow bolt?? Not even like 3 points? Then Molten core, is it necessary for 3/3 or is 1/3 give the same effect with 4 shadow dots ticking for immolate?

Awesome work Vux.

Edited

Very impressive.. Good work Sir

Looks like you did your homework.. GOOD READ!