TBC Classic Guide
Warlock class icon

Affliction Warlock

Ranged DPS medium demand

A damage-over-time specialist that ramps up slowly but provides strong sustained damage and Malediction for the raid.

How It Feels to Play

Affliction is the DoT spec. You load up your target with Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Unstable Affliction, then watch their health slowly melt away. It's death by a thousand cuts. There's something deeply satisfying about seeing four or five DoTs ticking simultaneously while you Life Tap and start applying them to the next target.

The spec's raid value goes beyond personal DPS. Malediction (from the Affliction tree) increases spell damage taken by the target by 3%, which benefits every caster in the raid. Combined with Curse of Elements, you're a significant damage multiplier for your entire caster contingent.

The challenge with Affliction is that DoTs take time to deal their full damage, so on short fights or targets that die quickly, you're at a disadvantage compared to direct-damage specs. You also have a lot of debuff slots to manage. TBC has a debuff limit on bosses, and sometimes your DoTs get pushed off. But on long boss fights where your DoTs tick for their full duration, Affliction's damage is excellent.

Complexity

Strengths

  • Strong sustained damage through multiple DoTs
  • Malediction increases spell damage taken by the target
  • Excellent mana efficiency with Life Tap and Drain Life

Pain Points

  • Slow ramp-up time; weak on short fights
  • Multiple DoTs competing for debuff slots
  • Less burst damage than Destruction

Demand & Supply

medium demand

Malediction is a useful raid debuff, and DoT damage is strong on long fights. Most raids bring 1 Affliction Warlock. Seed of Corruption makes every Warlock spec good on trash.

Talent Build

Standard Affliction DPS

42/0/19
Unstable Affliction
A powerful DoT that deals Shadow damage over 18 seconds and silences anyone who dispels it
Malediction
Increases spell damage taken by targets affected by your Curse of Elements or Curse of Shadows by 3%
Shadow Mastery
Increases the damage of your Shadow spells by 10%
Siphon Life
Transfers health from the target to you every 3 seconds for 30 seconds, providing passive healing while you DPS

42 into Affliction for Unstable Affliction and Malediction, 19 into Destruction for Ruin (100% crit bonus damage on Shadow Bolt). Your rotation: apply Corruption, Curse of Agony (or Elements if assigned), Siphon Life, Unstable Affliction, then Shadow Bolt as filler. Malediction is your key raid utility: 3% more spell damage on the boss.

Stat Priority

Spell Hit Rating (16% cap / 202 rating)
100
Spell Damage
90
Spell Haste Rating
75
Spell Critical Strike Rating
60
Intellect
50
Stamina
35

Spell hit cap is 16%. Suppression gives 10% for Affliction spells, so you need only 76 rating (6%) for DoTs. Spell Damage increases all your DoT ticks. Haste is valuable because it speeds up Shadow Bolt filler. Crit is less important since DoTs don't crit in TBC.

Pre-Raid Best in Slot

Slot Item Source
head Spellstrike Hood Spellstrike Hood Crafted - Tailoring Crafted - Tailoring
neck Brooch of Heightened Potential Brooch of Heightened Potential Harbinger Skyriss - The Arcatraz Harbinger Skyriss - The Arcatraz
shoulders Mana-Etched Spaulders Mana-Etched Spaulders Nethermancer Sepethrea - The Mechanar Nethermancer Sepethrea - The Mechanar
back Sethekk Oracle Cloak Sethekk Oracle Cloak Darkweaver Syth - Sethekk Halls Darkweaver Syth - Sethekk Halls
chest Frozen Shadoweave Robe Frozen Shadoweave Robe Crafted - Tailoring Crafted - Tailoring
wrists Bracers of Havok Bracers of Havok Crafted - Tailoring Crafted - Tailoring
hands Gloves of the Deadwatcher Gloves of the Deadwatcher Exarch Maladaar - Auchenai Crypts (Heroic) Exarch Maladaar - Auchenai Crypts (Heroic)
waist Belt of Depravity Belt of Depravity Keli'dan the Breaker - The Blood Furnace (Heroic) Keli'dan the Breaker - The Blood Furnace (Heroic)
legs Spellstrike Pants Spellstrike Pants Crafted - Tailoring Crafted - Tailoring
feet Frozen Shadoweave Boots Frozen Shadoweave Boots Crafted - Tailoring Crafted - Tailoring
ring Cobalt Band of Tyrigosa Cobalt Band of Tyrigosa Aeonus - The Black Morass (Heroic) Aeonus - The Black Morass (Heroic)
ring Ashyen's Gift Ashyen's Gift Exalted - Cenarion Expedition Exalted - Cenarion Expedition
trinket Icon of the Silver Crescent Icon of the Silver Crescent 41 Badges - G'eras (Shattrath) 41 Badges - G'eras (Shattrath)
trinket Quagmirran's Eye Quagmirran's Eye Quagmirran - The Slave Pens Quagmirran - The Slave Pens
main hand Shockwave Truncheon Shockwave Truncheon Murmur - Shadow Labyrinth (Heroic) Murmur - Shadow Labyrinth (Heroic)
off hand Khadgar's Knapsack Khadgar's Knapsack The Mechanar (Heroic) The Mechanar (Heroic)
ranged Wand of the Netherwing Wand of the Netherwing Quest - Zuluhed the Whacked (Shadowmoon Valley) Quest - Zuluhed the Whacked (Shadowmoon Valley)

Rotation & Priority

42 into Affliction for Unstable Affliction and Malediction, 19 into Destruction for Ruin (100% crit bonus damage on Shadow Bolt). Your rotation: apply Corruption, Curse of Agony (or Elements if assigned), Siphon Life, Unstable Affliction, then Shadow Bolt as filler. Malediction is your key raid utility: 3% more spell damage on the boss.

Progression Path

1
Level to 70

Quest through Outland, run dungeons for gear along the way.

2
Normal Dungeons

Farm reputation to Revered for Heroic keys. Replace leveling greens.

3
Heroic Dungeons

Collect your Pre-Raid BiS gear and Badge of Justice items.

4
Karazhan & T4

Enter your first raid. Collect Tier 4 tokens and epic drops.

5
T5 & Beyond

Progress into SSC, Tempest Keep, Black Temple, and Sunwell.

View the full dungeon progression guide →

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