Method Affliction Warlock Guide - BFA 8.3

Recommended Talents

Recommended Raiding Build

Single Target:

Cleave (Multi DoT):

Deathbolt
Absolute Corruption (Writhe in Agony with “Sudden Onset” pieces)
Demon Skin / Burning Rush / Dark Pact
Phantom Singularity
Haunt
Dark Soul: Misery

Recommended Mythic+ Build

Deathbolt
Absolute Corruption (Writhe in Agony with “Sudden Onset” pieces)
Demon Skin / Burning Rush / Dark Pact
Phantom Singularity
Demonic Circle
Haunt
Dark Soul: Misery

Boss specific recommendations and strategy:

Raid Bosses

Talents Discussion

Tier 1 (15)

NightfallPassive

Drain SoulChanneled

DeathboltInstant

Nightfall: RPPM chance that Corruption makes the next Shadow Bolt instant and deal 25% increased damage.

Drain Soul: Deals 100% increased damage below 20% and gives one Soul Shard if the target dies. Replaces Shadow Bolt.

Deathbolt: An instant ability that deals damage equal to 30% of your dots remaining time.

Raiding: Deathbolt

Mythic+: Deathbolt

Tier 2 (30)

Writhe in AgonyPassive

Absolute CorruptionPassive

Siphon LifeInstant

Writhe in Agony: Increases Agony stacks cap by an additional five.

Absolute Corruption: Makes Corruption permanent (24 seconds against PvP targets) and increases its damage by 15%.

Siphon Life: Additional DoT to maintain.

Raiding: Siphon Life for Single Target encounters, Writhe in Agony for Multi DoT encounters and Absolute Corruption can be potentially better on fights with a lot of targets frequently alive.

Mythic+: Absolute Corruption unless you have at least one “Sudden Onset” trait.

Tier 3 (45)

Demon SkinPassive

Burning RushInstant

Dark PactInstant

Demon Skin: Makes Soul Leech regenerate passively and increases the cap by 15%.

Burning Rush: Increases movement speed by 50% but makes you lose 4% of your healthpoints every second it’s active. You can’t be slowed while having it active.

Dark Pact: Sacrifices 20% of your health and gives you a 250% shield of the sacrificed healthpoints.

Raiding: Demon Skin is a good passive choice while Dark Pact can be really useful on encounters with hard-hitting abilities. Burning Rush is great for bosses with a lot of movement involved.

Mythic+: For higher keys I can definitely recommend running with Dark Pact. On lower keys Burning Rush might be more useful.

Tier 4 (60)

Sow the SeedsPassive

Phantom SingularityInstant

Vile Taint1.5 sec cast

Sow the Seeds: Embeds one additional target per seed cast.

Phantom Singularity: A strong AoE DoT with a 45 seconds cooldown.

Vile Taint: An AoE DoT with a 20 seconds cooldown.

Raiding: Phantom Singularity will be always the best choice.

Mythic+: Vile Taint is a little bit stronger than Phantom Singularity on AoE but considerably weaker on bosses. So Phantom Singularity wins overall in dungeons.

Tier 5 (75)

DarkfuryPassive

Mortal CoilInstant

Demonic Circle0.5 sec cast

Darkfury: Reduces the cooldown of Shadowfury by 15 seconds.

Mortal Coil: Fears the target for 3 seconds and heals you for 20% of your maximum healthpoints.

Demonic Circle: You can place a circle on the ground for up to 15 minutes to teleport at a later point to that location.

Raiding: Demonic Circle is usually the best choice. It’s great to minimize movement. Mortal Coil can be useful for bosses with heavy incoming damage.

Mythic+: Both Darkfury and Mortal Coil are really good. Demonic Circle will be only for really specific dungeons/bosses useful.

Tier 6 (90)

Shadow EmbracePassive

Haunt1.5 sec cast

Grimoire of SacrificeInstant

Shadow Embrace: Shadow Bolt stacks a debuff on the target that increases your damage per stack by 3% for 10 seconds. Caps at 3stacks.

Haunt: A 15 seconds cooldown with decent damage that increases your damage against that target for 15 seconds by 10%. If the target dies the cooldown is reset.

Grimoire of Sacrifice: Sacrifices your pet for a RPPM chance to make your spells deal additional damage. You gain the ability of your sacrificed pet.

Raiding: Haunt

Mythic+: Haunt