Affliction Warlock
Patch 7.2
Talents
Below are my talent recommendations for various situations along with an in depth look into each talent choice.
Recommended Build for Single Target Encounters
- Malefic Grasp
- Contagion
- Demonic Circle
- Siphon Life
- Burning Rush
- Grimoire of Supremacy/Grimoire of Service (If you need an extra burst CD)
- Soul Conduit
Recommended 2 Target Cleave
- Malefic Grasp/Writhe in Agony
- Absolute Corruption
- Demonic Circle
- Siphon Life
- Burning Rush
- Grimoire of Supremacy
- Soul Conduit/Soul Effigy (Only if you go Writhe in Agony)
Recommend 3 Target Cleave
- Writhe in Agony
- Absolute Corruption
- Demonic Circle
- Siphon Life
- Burning Rush
- Grimoire of Supremacy (Infernal)
- Soul Conduit
Recommended High level Mythic+ Build
- Malefic Grasp
- Contagion
- Demonic Circle
- Sow the Seeds
- Burning Rush
- Grimoire of Sacrifice if a lot of AoE or Grimoire of Supremacy if boss damage is needed
- Soul Conduit
Talent Discussion
Tier 1 - Level 15
Haunt is on a 30 second cooldown that increases your damage dealt to the target by 30% for 15 seconds. If the target dies with Haunt present then the cooldown is reset. This talent is never really used in raids or dungeons as it's just not as powerful as the other 2 talents in this line.
Writhe in Agony increases the maximum stacks of Agony from 10 to 20. This talent can be superior on any boss fight where 2+ mobs will be alive for a long period of time. The only downfall of this talent is that in dungeons etc most mobs won't live long enough for the stacks to ramp up. However if you can multi-dot adds which will be alive for a long time, this is a super strong talent.
Malefic Grasp causes your target to take 70% increased damage from your damage over time effects while channel Drain Soul. This is definitely your best talent for single target damage. I also play with this in Mythic+ too because like I explained earlier, Writhe in Agony generally just takes too long to ramp up.
Tier 2 - Level 30
Contagion makes you deal 18% increased damage to targets affected by your unstable affliction. This is generally the best option for single target and small cleave fights. The most important thing about contagion is making sure that you have as high uptime as possible on unstable affliction during Reap Souls for maximum damage.
Absolute Corruption makes your corruption permanent and it deals 25% increased damage. This talent is best on heavy cleave fights and also is definitely beginner friendly, if you're new to Affliction Warlock it can also be better to use on 2+ target fights until you get a better understanding of unstable affliction.
Empowered Life tap increases your damage dealt by 10% for 20 seconds. This is never used it raids as its not as potent as the other 2 talents in this row.
Tier 3 - Level 45
Demonic Circle is the best choice for 99% of the fights, its a good DPS increase if used properly as it reduces movement. Can also be used smartly is certain situations, definitely the best choice most of the time.
Mortal Coil can be used as a heal which can be useful, it does have travel time however so its not instant.
Howl of Terror fears up to 5 enemies within 10 yards for 20 seconds, not used in PvE really.
Tier 4 - Level 60
Siphon Life gives us another DoT which deals damage over 15 seconds and heals you for 100% of the damage it deals. This talent is the usual go to talent on this row in raids. This is because it is the best choice for single target and multi target situations.
Sow the Seeds makes Seed of Corruption embed into 2 additional nearby enemies. This talent is really good for 4+ target AoE and it can even be a good single target talent if lots of mobs are exploding near the boss. A good example of this could be Skorpyron.
Soul Harvest increases your damage and your pets damage by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds, increased by 2 seconds for each target afflicted by your Agony, up to a maximum of 25 seconds. This option can be great if on a specific boss you're needed to try and burst something down really quick or theres opportunities where you can DoT many mobs to get a high duration Soul Harvest.
Tier 5 - Level 75
Demon Skin is only good if there's a fight with no mobility and constant damage as its provides the most damage reduction.
Burning Rush is best 90% of the time as Warlocks have no baseline movement speed and are very slow without Burning Rush. It is also a good DPS increase as you can move faster and helps get out of lethal mechanics which will 1 shot you.
Dark Pact is very potent when there's big damage coming out every 1 minute or when you need to soak something and require a big shield.
Tier 6 - Level 90
Grimoire of Supremacy allows you to use Doomguards and Infernals as pets. This talent is usually the go to raiding talent as its the best for single target, it also offers good AoE strengths too if you summon the Infernal (3+ Targets)
Grimoire of Sacrifice allows you to sacrifice your pet to gain Demonic Power, which causes spells to sometimes deal shadow damage to nearby targets. This is never used in raids at the moment, especially with the recent nerfs however it can be good for Mythic+.
Grimoire of Service allows you to summon a second Demon which fights for you for 25 seconds and deals 100% increased damage. This is just slightly behind Grimoire of Supremacy on Single Target however can be useful if you need an extra cooldown to make a DPS check.
Tier 7 - Level 100
Soul Effigy creates a new target which is only attackable by you. 35% of all damage taken by the effigy is duplicated onto the original target. This talent is really strong when paired with Writhe in Agony as you can have an extra 20 stacked Agony ticking.
Phantom Singularity places a Phantom Singularity above the target, which consumes the life of all enemies within 25 yards dealing damage over 16 seconds and healing you for 30% of the damage done. This talent is just not as strong as the other 2 talents in this row so is just not used.
Soul Conduit causes every Soul Shard to have a 20% chance to be refunded. This is the best talent for single target and is usually the go to talent when using Malefic Grasp.
Artifact
Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester provides us with a spell Reap Souls which consumes all Tormented Souls collected by Ulthalesh, increasing your damage by 10% and doubling the effect of all of Ulthalesh's other traits for 5 second per soul consumed. As we gain Artifact Power, we can spend it on damage and traits, here is the route I recommend you take:
7.2 New Artifact tree path
At the end simply max out the damage increasing trait.
And here's the 7.1.5 version.
I took the images, with permission, from the Icy Veins guide, which I help maintain.