A Retrospective of Affliction Warlock in Dragonflight & War Within Wishlist - Editorial

With the sun setting on Dragonflight and The War Within on the horizon, our Affliction Warlock Writer, Kalamazi, offers a retrospective highlighting Affliction's journey in Dragonflight and shares their hopes for the spec's next evolution with a War Within Wishlist. Our Guide Writers have reviewed their specs throughout Dragonflight and share wishlists of what they'd like to see in the War Within.

Affliction Warlocks in Dragonflight: A Retrospective

Affliction Warlocks have had an interesting journey over the course of Dragonflight, often being the target of buffs to both single target and AOE, while also receiving a handful of minor changes to spells such as Doom Blossom and Dread Touch. While the current version of Malefic Rapture-based Affliction is one that can adapt to many different situations, it also has a handful of issues that are hopefully addressed heading into 11.0 and The War Within.

• Affliction's Overall Gameplay

The current version of Affliction is one that's based around Malefic Rapture as your main "Spender" or source of damage. The shift away from DOT's being the majority of your damage was actually made in Shadowlands, and Blizzard has continued to iterate upon the Malefic Rapture version into Dragonflight. While there are certainly some strengths to having a Rapture based profile, such as priority target swapping and more shard based burst damage, the playstyle has also left some players wishing for a return to Unstable Affliction-based Affliction. There is also the issue of "Button Bloat" with Affliction with spells such as Siphon Life being at the forefront of the argument. As an Affliction Warlock, you are tasked with maintaining Agony, Corruption, Siphon Life, Haunt, Unstable Affliction, Shadow Embrace and Dread Touch all while pooling resources around casting your Soul Rot and Vile Taint every 30 seconds. When comparing the complexity of Affliction's rotation to Destruction or Demonology, Affliction is easily the most demanding.

The largest issue that Affliction faces currently, however, is the lack of a universally applicable damage profile, mainly due to the choice you have to make between Dread Touch and Doom Blossom. If you are playing Dread Touch, you bring a relatively strong single-target damage profile, one that can nearly rival Demonology. You can also swap a few early talents into Seed of Corruption, Soul Flame, and Sow the Seeds if you want a bit of an AOE/Cleave based profile, sacrificing a bit of single-target damage. If you would like a stronger AOE profile, then Doom Blossom is the definite choice over Dread Touch but leaves you lacking in the single-target department without the DOT damage increase that Dread Touch brings. If you choose to play Doom Blossom in Mythic+, for example (which is typically the talent of choice in said content), your single-target damage is certainly lacking. On the other hand, if you opt to play Dread Touch, you are leaving a very large amount of AOE damage on the table by not selecting Doom Blossom. This is sadly not the case when it comes to both Destruction and Demonology in the same setting. While most specs may need to sacrifice a bit in certain areas for a better-rounded profile, Affliction has the awkward choice of one or the other, not both.

• Affliction's PVE Journey Throughout Dragonflight

Affliction has received many buffs over the course of Dragonflight, ranging from single-target to AOE. In Season 1, Affliction saw niche play due to Demonology and Destruction being the better-tuned specs in both Mythic+ and Raiding alike. The spec was also very punishing to play due to the Malefic Affliction talent. It made priority target swapping difficult, as there was no way to maintain your stacks and also was incredibly punishing/difficult to recover from if your Unstable Affliction fell, for whatever reason. In Patch 10.0.5, however, Affliction received a handful of buffs that greatly increased its value in raiding, becoming a suitable option on fights such as Dathea, Broodkeeper, and even Mythic Raszageth.

Patch 10.1 brought along a handful of changes to Affliction, including the removal of Malefic Affliction, the introduction of Doom Blossom, and a shuffling of talent points. While Affliction was stronger in earlier Aberrus progression compared to Vault of the Incarnates, it was not as strong as Demonology. Doom Blossom was not introduced until Patch 10.1.5 but did bring with it a significant boost to Affliction's burst AOE damage in Mythic+. In Season 3, Affliction is overshadowed by Demonology in both Mythic+ and Raiding. However, with optimized gear, Affliction can reach nearly the same amount of single-target damage sims, all while having a more consistent damage profile due to our Tier bonus revolving around Soul Rot. While Demonology is still the front-runner in 10.2.5 partitions, Affliction is expected to climb the ranks in a similar fashion to both 10.0 and 10.1. When it comes to Mythic+, however, Demonology is certainly the better choice.

Potential Changes to Affliction in 11.0 & The War Within

I do feel that overall, Affliction has gotten better over the course of Dragonflight and this is likely the best version of Malefic Rapture we have had. With that being said, however, I do think it's worth discussing a few changes that we could potentially see in The War Within.

• A Return to Unstable Affliction

One of the most discussed topics when it comes to Affliction in Dragonflight has been about which spender is more suitable, Malefic Rapture or Unstable Affliction. While both effects offer unique damage profiles, the community has remained divided on which is the best iteration of Affliction. A version of Affliction that has Unstable Affliction as its main spender certainly embraces the "DOT management" playstyle of Affliction that many are longing for, but also brings with it an often slower "Rot" based damage profile. Other abilities from the past such as Deathbolt and Malefic Grasp were part of the Unstable Affliction spender versions of Affliction, which did help shore up our lack of initial burst a tad. Affliction that is based around Malefic Rapture, however, has a faster, often "burstier" damage profile via casting multiple Malefic Raptures. You still use your DOT applications as a way to fuel harder hitting Rapture casts, but a large portion of your damage is from Malefic Rapture specifically, which is where the divide in which version was the "best" lies.

• Siphon Life and Absolute Corruption

Siphon Life has been a frequent topic of discussion over the course of Dragonflight. The talent has primarily been a single-target spell for the duration of its lifespan. It would at times see niche play in two-target encounters, but for most council-based fights, you would choose Absolute Corruption over Siphon Life. In Dragonflight, however, Siphon Life has been your go-to talent choice in nearly every setting, whether it's been a single-target raid encounter, council fight, or Mythic+. This is primarily due to the interaction between Siphon Life and Malefic Rapture. Malefic Rapture deals increased damage per DOT-based effect on the enemy, making it essentially the best option in 2-3 target settings as well. This has led to an exceptional amount of "button bloat," lack of GCD's, and a general sadness around not selecting Absolute Corruption in settings where it was previously played and enjoyed. A potential change to Siphon Life could solve the issue of button bloat as well as make the rotation of Affliction in a wide variety of settings, much more user-friendly. This would also allow Absolute Corruption to be used in settings where it was previously.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, Affliction Warlock has not necessarily been in a rough spot in Dragonflight. While early tuning may have been a bit low in 10.0 and 10.1, it did see a rise in play once initial tuning passes hit. From a Mythic+ perspective, it feels that Affliction has to make the choice of bringing exceptionally strong AOE and a lack of single-target, or opt for a "subpar" build playing Dread Touch over Doom Blossom. Both Destruction and Demonology don't have to make that choice, which has landed them in a better position overall when looking at Mythic+ in Dragonflight. The spec can certainly excel in certain areas, but it does not have the overall reach and universally applicable damage profiles that its counterparts do. This is the best overall version of Malefic Rapture-based Affliction we have seen all expansion, but it does make one wonder what an Unstable Affliction version would look like in 11.0.

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