Affliction Warlock Raid Guide

11.1 - Undermine(d)

Last Updated:March 3, 2025|Changelog|FAQ

Welcome to the Affliction Warlock Raid guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.1! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!

Overview

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock
Affliction WarlockRaid
Single-Target
Average
AoE
Strong
Utility
Strong
Survivability
Excellent
Mobility
Weak
Affliction Warlock Raid Best in Slot

Hero Talents

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock
  • Soul Harvester performs better on smaller amount of targets while Hellcaller excels at bigger amount of targets.
Soul Harvester
Hellcaller
  • Generating a Soul Shard now has a chance to grant a Succulent Soul.
    • Succulent Soul empowers your next Malefic Rapture cast.
  • Sataiel's Volition makes Haunt grant you a Nightfall proc.
    • Be careful to not overcap on Nightfall stacks as Sataiel's Volition also makes your Corruption tick faster which leads to more frequent procs.
  • Necrolyte Teachings increases Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul damage and amplifies Nightfall.
  • Shadow of Death makes your Soul Rot grant 3 Soul Shards that each contain a Succulent Soul.
  • 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.

Talents

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

← Scroll for more Talent Builds

Soul Harvester Single Target
Soul Harvester Multi-Target
Soul Harvester AoE
Hellcaller Single Target
Hellcaller Multi-Target
Hellcaller AoE
Soul Harvester Affliction Warlock Single-Target talents in Raids

Gameplay Altering Talents

Discover all talents that significantly alter your gameplay within the Spec and Class Talent trees. This section gives a concise overview of these talents and their applications but for a more detailed look check out the Rotation and Deep Dive sections below.

Spec Tree

  • Seed of Corruption
    • Allows you to spread your Corruption on a large number of targets quickly. Costs 1 Soul Shard.
  • Phantom Singularity
    • Strong DoT that also cleaves off the target it was applied onto.
    • Infirmity makes your Burn Windows even stronger.
  • Soul Rot
    • Strong AoE DoT on up to 5 targets.
    • Malign Omen allows you to have a short damage burst every minute both on ST and AoE.
    • Dark Harvest makes your Burn Windows stronger the more targets Soul Rot hits.
  • Nightfall
    • Buff that reduces the cast time of your next Drain Soul by half and increases its damage. Stacks up to 2.
  • Tormented Crescendo
    • Buff that helps you with Soul Shard drought on ST or when there are a low number of targets. Stacks up to 2.
  • Haunt
    • Flat 10% damage increase debuff on your main target.
  • Summon Darkglare
    • Main cooldown for burst windows. Extends the duration of all your DoTs on every enemy.
    • Malevolent Visionary also grants the ability to do instant AoE burst damage on demand.
  • Cunning Cruelty and Volatile Agony
    • Boost your filler windows with passive AoE during your Drain Soul spam and refreshing Agony with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Class Tree

  • Fel Domination
    • Helps you recover quickly in the event of death by allowing you to resummon a pet rapidly without cost.
  • Burning Rush
    • Your main mobility spell aside from Demonic Circle and Demonic Gateway, however, both of which require preplanning.
  • Curses of Enfeeblement
    • Gives you access to Curse of Exhaustion and Curse of Tongues.
    • Remember that you can only have one curse active per target.
    • Curse of Tongues can be very useful in pug groups to make it easier to deal with dangerous enemy casts.
  • Soulburn
    • Empowers a multitude of utility spells for the cost of 1 Soul Shard.
    • Mainly used for Demonic Circle: Teleport, Demonic Gateway and Healthstone.
  • Mortal Coil
    • A single-target CC that can also be used as a defensive spell if you need to heal on demand.
  • Dark Pact
    • A defensive spell that grants you a big absorb shield depending on your current health plus a certain amount on top of it.
  • Sweet Souls
    • Passive heal whenever your teammates use a Healthstone from you.
    • Can be considered a fairly big defensive and shouldn't be overlapped with your own Healthstone to avoid overhealing.
  • Pact of Gluttony
    • Combining Healthstone with Soulburn becomes a strong 1 minute defensive CD on long boss fights.

Hero Talents

  • Friends In Dark Places
    • Your default pick because it increases your overall survivability unlike the other talent choice.
  • Shared Fate
    • Outperforms Feast of Souls.
  • Eternal Servitude
    • Your default pick but can be swapped for Gorefiend's Resolve if you are the only CR in the team.
Soul Harvester Affliction Warlock Multi-Target talents in Raids

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
    • Cull the Weak
    • Dark Harvest
  • Removed
    • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Contagion
    • Xavius' Gambit
Soul Harvester Affliction Warlock AoE Build in Raid

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
    • Death's Embrace
    • Cull the Weak
    • Malediction
    • Dark Harvest
  • Removed
    • Phantom Singularity
    • Infirmity
    • Improved Haunt
    • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Contagion
    • Xavius' Gambit
Hellcaller Affliction Warlock Single Target Build in Raid

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
    • Sacrolash's Dark Strike
    • Malediction
    • Siphon Life
  • Removed
    • Drain Soul
    • Improved Haunt
    • Dark Harvest
    • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Absolute Corruption

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.
Hellcaller Affliction Warlock Multi-Target Build in Raid

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
    • Death's Embrace
    • Malediction
    • Cull the Weak
  • Removed
    • Drain Soul
    • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Contagion
    • Improved Haunt
    • Withering Bolt
    • Xavius' Gambit

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.
Hellcaller Affliction Warlock AoE Build in Raid

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
    • Sacrolash's Dark Strike
    • Improved Shadow Bolt
    • Death's Embrace
    • Malediction
    • Cull the Weak
  • Removed
    • Phantom Singularity
    • Infirmity
    • Drain Soul
    • Ravenous Afflictions
    • Contagion
    • Improved Haunt
    • Withering Bolt
    • Xavius' Gambit

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.

Rotation

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Tier Set

  • 2-Set: Your spells and abilities have a chance to hit a Jackpot! that increases your Haste by 12% for 12 seconds. Casting Summon Darkglare always hits a Jackpot!
  • 4-Set: Hitting a Jackpot! also increases damage of Unstable Affliction by 50% and causes Unstable Affliction to spread to up to 3 targets within 40 yards for 17 seconds.

Single-Target

Soul Harvester
Hellcaller

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 Soul Harvester single-target spec.
Affliction Warlock Single-Target opener in Raid
  • Always keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony, Corruption, 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.
  • Soul Harvester has a higher number of total Nightfall procs over the fight which leads to a higher amount of Tormented Crescendo procs compared to Hellcaller. Always keep that in mind and never overcap on either of the procs.

Priority List

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

  1. Keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony and Corruption.
  2. Cast Haunt on cooldown but you can delay it for a few seconds if the debuff is not about to expire on the target and you have maximum amount of Nightfall stacks.
  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 Drain Soul to refresh Shadow Embrace stacks or have Nightfall stacks.
  6. Cast Phantom Singularity whenever you have Soul Rot ready to follow up.
  7. Cast Soul Rot on cooldown.
  8. Cast Malefic Rapture whenever you have Soul Shards.
  9. Cast Drain Soul as your filler spell.

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.
Affliction Warlock Single-Target opener in Raid
  • 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.

Multi-Target

Soul Harvester
Hellcaller

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 Soul Harvester Multi-Target spec.
Affliction Warlock Multi-Target opener in Raid
  • 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.
  • Soul Harvester has a higher number of total Nightfall procs over the fight which leads to a higher amount of Tormented Crescendo procs compared to Hellcaller. Always keep that in mind and never overcap on either of the procs.

Priority List

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

  1. Keep up Unstable Affliction, Agony and Corruption.
  2. Cast Haunt on cooldown but you can delay it for a few seconds if the debuff is not about to expire on the target and you have maximum amount of Nightfall stacks.
  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 Drain Soul to refresh Shadow Embrace stacks or have Nightfall stacks.
  6. Cast Phantom Singularity whenever you have Soul Rot ready to follow up.
  7. Cast Soul Rot on cooldown.
  8. Cast Malefic Rapture whenever you have Soul Shards.
  9. Cast Drain Soul 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.
Affliction Warlock Multi-Target opener in Raid
  • 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.

AoE

Soul Harvester
Hellcaller

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 Soul Harvester AoE spec.
Affliction Warlock AoE opener in Raid
  • All Soul Shards should be spent while Soul Rot and Vile Taint are up.
  • Apply Corruption 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 Soul Rot on cooldown.
  7. Cast Malefic Rapture if you are about to cap on Soul Shards or have Tormented Crescendo proc.
  8. Cast Drain Soul if you have Nightfall procs.
  9. Cast Malefic Rapture whenever you have Soul Shards.
  10. Cast Drain Soul as your filler spell.

While Haunt, Drain Soul 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.

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.
Affliction Warlock AoE opener in Raid
  • 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.

Deep Dive

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Burn Windows

As an Affliction Warlock, you want to cast as many Malefic Raptures as possible during your Burn Windows.

  • Burn Window is whenever you have Soul Rot with Phantom Singularity or Vile Taint up. Thus, your main goal is to save as many Soul Shards as you can for those windows without overcapping them.
  • Keep in mind that you can use Vile Taint as a Mini-Burn Window all alone and spend some Shards here as well. Still, your main goal is to save as many Soul Shards as you can for your Main Burn with Soul Rot. Any extra Soul Shards that would have been used to not overcap could all be spent in Mini-Burn instead. The amount of Soul Shards spent in Mini-Burn depends on the number of targets you fight. For example, if you fight 8 targets or more then you can spend every Shard you get during Vile Taint but if it is single or low number of targets then it would only be few casts of Malefic Rapture. It all depends on how many Soul Shards you can generate in a 30 second window in between your Mini and Main Burn.

With experience, you get a better understanding of how many Soul Shards you want to spend outside of your burns, which varies on the number of targets you fight.

Managing Soul Shards as Hellcaller vs Soul Harvester

Main difference is that as a Hellcaller you want to save Soul Shards for your Burn Windows but as a Soul Harvester it is the opposite. You shouldn't save any Soul Shards and spend them whenever you can. Your main goal is to cast as few unbuffed Drain Souls as possible, almost never. That way it will be much easier to manage and not overcap on your procs and Soul Shards.

Once you are more used to the Soul Harvester playstyle you can try saving *1* Soul Shard for your Burn Windows to make them slightly more efficient. It is not recommended to save any more than 1 as it is very likely or guaranteed to overcap with 2 or more.

Although Burn Windows are more important with Hellcaller playstyle rather than Soul Harvester, it is still useful to know for the later one as it may change your priority slightly. For an example, in the end of the Burn Window, if you have a Nightfall proc but not overcapping on it, you may want to cast Malefic Rapture, if you can, instead of Drain Soul.

Nightfall and Tormented Crescendo

With the addition of hero talents, the amount of procs you get over the fight is significantly increased. To the point that managing them and not overcapping is as important as keeping up your DoTs and not failing you Burn Windows.

Hellcaller increases your Tormented Crescendo proc rate with Seeds of Their Demise and Soul Harvester increases amount of Nightfalls you get with Sataiel's Volition.

Difference between Hellcaller and Soul Harvester is quite big to the point that you need to manage your Soul Shards differently depending on the spec. That is due to Nightfall also interacting with how you get Tormented Crescendo. You have a very high chance of getting Tormented Crescendo proc during your Drain Soul channel buffed by Nightfall. Thus, as a Soul Harvester, you end up with an increased amount of both Tormented Crescendo and Nightfall procs.

Drain Soul clipping

Clipping means manually interrupting your cast. It is not necessary to finish your Drain Soul channel cast unless it is buffed by Nightfall. So any time you cast Drain Soul without it, you should clip it whenever any other spell higher in priority comes in.

For example, if you are casting normal unbuffed Drain Soul and you get a Nightfall or Tormented Crescendo proc then you should clip your cast and spend the proc.

Malefic Rapture vs Seed of Corruption

With The War Within coming, there is no more confusion on what spender to cast anymore. Your next cast should always be:

  • Seed of Corruption if you need to apply Corruption on the pack of mobs.
  • Malefic Rapture in any other situation, it is your main and only spender.

Vile Taint, Phantom Singularity and Soul Rot

Although usage of these spells is pretty straightforward, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind:

  • Soul Rot is a 1 minute cooldown spell and should always be paired with Vile Taint or Phantom Singularity.
  • Phantom Singularity should always be held for Soul Rot unless the fight is ending and you are not getting another cast of Soul Rot lined up.
  • Vile Taint being a 30 second cooldown spell allows it one additional use before Soul Rot comes off CD.

Minmaxing Volatile Agony

Another small thing to manage in The War Within is a new passive effect of refreshing Agony with less than 10 seconds remaining as it does decent AoE damage if executed properly. Aside from manually refreshing Agony, it is more important to remember that Vile Taint also triggers Volatile Agony. So in AoE scenarios, if trash lives long enough for a second Vile Taint, it's often beneficial to hold it for a few seconds to trigger more Volatile Agonys for more AoE output.

Optimizing Summon Darkglare

The main feature of Summon Darkglare lies in extending your DoTs, rather than just gaining pure damage from it, thus increasing the duration of your Burn Windows. Make sure to only cast it when Vile Taint and Soul Rot are up alongside your other DoTs.

Another important thing to know is that Summon Darkglare is a guardian and how it updates its stats. It happens differently the moment Darkglare is summoned and when it is already up.

Once you cast Summon Darkglare it snapshots your characters stats instantly but when it is already active it may take up to few seconds to update. That is why you should press potion, racial and any on use stat trinket right before Summon Darkglare and not after.

Understanding Mechanics

Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.

Liberation of Undermine

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

← Scroll for more Bosses

Vexie
Cauldron
Rik
Stix
Sprocketmonger
One-Armed Bandit
Mug'Zee
Gallywix
Affliction Warlock Vexie talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • It is possible to delay the Tune-Up phase until around 2 minutes into the fight which means you can use your Summon Darkglare on pull and have it on time for the Tune-Up damage amplification.
  • Place a Demonic Gateway to help your raid get away with Spew Oil quickly.
  • Use your defensives whenever you're affected by Incendiary Fire.
Affliction Warlock Cauldron talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

  • Use Dark Pact and Unending Resolve alternating each Scrapbomb soak. You get 3 Scrapbombs per phase meaning you can cover all of them this way.

Boss Tips

  • Place your Demonic Circle in the middle of the room to be able to cross it later when you need to swap sides quickly.
  • Set up a Demonic Gateway the same way to help out your fellow raiders.
  • Start the fight on the opposite side of your assignment to apply all your DoTs on both bosses on pull and use your Demonic Gateway towards the correct side right after to gain an edge on your opener.
    • You can also play the whole fight in the middle of the room, cleaving both bosses, which increases your DPS significantly.
Affliction Warlock Rik talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use your defensives on Sound Cannon or when you're about to get hit by Resonant Echoes.
  • If you can't make it to an Amplifier before Blaring Drop hits you during the intermission utilize your Demonic Circle: Teleport to skip a wave and catch up with your raid!
Affliction Warlock Stix talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Summon Felhunter on this boss to be able to interrupt Scrap Rockets as often as possible with Spell Lock.
  • Use your defensives whenever you're afflicted by Incinerator.
Affliction Warlock Sprocketmonger talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

  • Use your defensives on overlaps of Sonic Ba-Boom and Foot-Blasters explosions.

Boss Tips

  • Use Demonic Circle: Teleport right after Beta Launch goes off to quickly reposition yourself.
    • Additionally, place a Demonic Gateway for your raid to make it easier to get in position in the intermission.
Affliction Warlock One-Armed Bandit talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use defensives whenever the Reel Assistants cast Withering Flames on you. This together with Pay-Line explosions is dangerous.
  • Interrupt Overload! as late as possible to avoid potential Withering Flames casts.
Affliction Warlock Mug'Zee talents in Raids
Affliction Warlock Gallywix talents in Raids

Stat Priority

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Raid boss fights as an Affliction Warlock. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.

Affliction Warlock Raid Stat Priorities

For early gearing your main goal is to avoid Vers, every other stat is good for Affliction Warlocks.

!
Higher Item Level Items are Better in Most Scenarios

For an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft!

A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your current gear.

  • All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!

Tertiary

  • Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
  • Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing. The damage of your pets does not heal you thus Leech is a great tertiary for you since most of your damage is coming from your own spells.
  • Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.

Gear

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock
Best in Slot
Farmable Alternatives
SlotItemLocation
HeadSpliced Fiendtrader's TranscendenceTier / Catalyst
NeckSemi-Charmed AmuletRik Reverb
ShoulderSpliced Fiendtrader's Loyal ServantsTier / Catalyst
CloakTest Pilot's Go-PackSprocketmonger Lockenstock
ChestBottom-Dollar BlouseThe One-Armed Bandit
WristConsecrated CuffsCrafting
GlovesSpliced Fiendtrader's Demonic GraspTier / Catalyst
BeltRefiner's Conveyor BeltSprocketmonger Lockenstock
LegsSpliced Fiendtrader's Skin TightsTier / Catalyst
BootsHotstep Heel-TurnersCauldron of Carnage
Ring 1Faded Championship RingCauldron of Carnage
Ring 2The Jastor DiamondChrome King Gallywix
Trinket 1House of CardsThe One-Armed Bandit
Trinket 2Eye of KezanChrome King Gallywix
WeaponBlastfurious MacheteVexie and the Geargrinders
Off-handVagabond's TorchCrafting

Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.

SlotItemLocation
HeadInventor's Ingenious TrifocalsOperation Mechagon: Workshop
NeckStrapped Rescue-KegCinderbrew Meadery
ShoulderShoulderguards of Fraying SanityOperation Mechagon: Workshop
CloakElectrician's Siphoning FilterOperation: Floodgate
ChestPetticoat of the Self-Stylized Azerite BaronThe MOTHERLODE!!!
WristGleamwax ShacklesDarkflame Cleft
GlovesOperator's MittsOperation Mechagon: Workshop
BeltExcavator's Safety BeltThe MOTHERLODE!!!
LegsRazorchoke SlacksOperation: Floodgate
BootsDeranged Alchemist's SlippersThe MOTHERLODE!!!
Ring 1Footbomb Championship RingThe MOTHERLODE!!!
Ring 2Ring of Perpetual ConflictTheater of Pain
Trinket 1Signet of the PrioryPriory of the Sacred Flame
Trinket 2Carved Blazikon WaxDarkflame Cleft
WeaponVoltaic StormcallerThe Rookery

Trinkets

Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the raid boss.

Active Trinket alternatives

  • Signet of the Priory
    • Very good on use alternative.
  • Soulletting Ruby
    • Good active trinket, can be "cheesed" sometimes by sniping low health mobs to get maximum value of the trinket.
  • Geargrinder's Spare Keys
    • Decent on use damage trinket for single target but loses value during AoE.

Passive Trinket alternatives

  • Mug's Moxie Jug
    • Second best passive trinket, just a high uptime Crit stat stick.
  • Synergistic Brewterializer
    • Strong option for single target but loses value the more targets you add to the encounter. Also can be quite annoying and hard at times to trigger during AoE.
  • Carved Blazikon Wax
    • Good passive trinket that increases your Versatility.
  • Suspicious Energy Drink
    • One of the best passive trinkets in its item level range. Drops from delves which caps its ilvl at 665, still a very good passive option though.
  • Reverb Radio
    • Decent passive stat stick.
Affliction Warlock ST trinket sims in Raid

Embellishments

  • 1x Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension
    • Only crafted on your main hand or off-hand weapon. Craft it on your main hand for more power early on or on your off-hand for long-term BiS.
  • 1x Writhing Armor Banding
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

or

  • 1-2x Elemental Focusing Lens
    • Deals a decent amount of damage in Single-Target.
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

or

  • 1-2x Dawnthread Lining
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

Simcraft

To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.

Consumables

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock
  • Phials
    • Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- maximum DPS.
    • Flask of Tempered Versatility -- less DPS but more survivability.
  • Food
    • Feast of the Midnight Masquerade -- default
  • Combat Potion
    • Tempered Potion
  • Health Potion
    • Algari Healing Potion -- a big burst of healing
  • Weapon Oil
    • Algari Mana Oil -- default
    • Oil of Deep Toxins
  • Augment Rune
    • Crystallized Augment Rune
  • Sockets
    • Masterful Ruby
    • Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique, use one of each gem color to enhance your Culminating Blasphemite.
      • Masterful Sapphire
      • Masterful Emerald
      • Deadly Onyx

Enchantments

HeadS.A.D.
NeckMagnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
CloakEnchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace
ChestEnchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
WristEnchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
S.A.D.
WaistS.A.D.
LegsSunset Spellthread
BootsEnchant Boots - Scout's March
Ring 1Enchant Ring - Radiant Critical Strike
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
Ring 2Enchant Ring - Radiant Critical Strike
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
WeaponEnchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Affliction Warlock Enchantments in Raid

You buy S.A.D. from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists & Waist.

Races

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

For min-maxing an Affliction Warlock in raiding, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your character. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.

  • Stoneform -- Dwarf
    • Dispels Magic and Bleed debuffs. Has been useful in the past on some bosses with Bleeds.
  • Rocket Jump -- Goblin
    • Do a small jump in the direction your character is facing.
    • While you're in the Rocket Jump animation you are placed on a global cooldown until your character lands.
  • Berserking -- Troll
    • Strong DPS racial but lines up poorly with Summon Darkglare.
    • Reduce the duration of movement-impairing effects by 20%. This was only useful once in the recent history of progression raiding but is still worth noting.
  • Blood Fury -- Orc
    • Strong racial for damage because of both Command and Blood Fury which lines up with Summon Darkglare.
    • 20% reduced stun duration on you which can be useful in some situations.
  • Ancestral Call -- Mag'har Orc
    • Strong DPS racial which lines up with Summon Darkglare.
  • Spatial Rift -- Void Elf
    • Spawn a shadow traveling into your facing direction, and activate it again to teleport to it.
    • Maximum range of 100 yards.
Affliction Warlock race sims in Raid

Recommendation

In general, it's safe to say that if you care about min-maxing your DPS, you should go with the highest DPS racial. That being said, the story is a bit different if it's about progression raiding. Some help out massively to speed up the progression on certain bosses. Notably, Dwarf with their Stoneform helped out on Tindral Sageswift and Fyrakk the Blazing in the latest Race to World First by having easy access to dispelling yourself at crucial points of the fights mentioned.

Macros

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Discover recommended macros for Affliction Warlocks during Raid encounters and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.

Macro Import Guide Video

Phantom Singularity and Vile Taint -- Casts Phantom Singularity on your target or Vile Taint on your cursor without confirmation, depending on what spell is picked in your talent tree.

#showtooltip
/cast [known:Phantom Singularity,harm,nodead]Phantom Singularity; [known:Vile Taint,@cursor] Vile Taint

Shadowfury -- Casts Shadowfury on your cursor without confirmation.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Shadowfury

Addons

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Affliction Warlock, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Raids to make your life easier.

Affliction Warlock User Interface in Raid
Affliction Warlock Interface in Raids

Changes this Patch

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

FAQ

Patch 11.1 - Undermine(d)
Affliction Warlock

Credits

Written By: Wexi

Reviewed By: Wolfdisco

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