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Affliction Talent Guide

Welcome to our Affliction Talent Guide. This talent tree is the one that's been getting the most attention by Warlock players recently, regardless of their interest in PvE or PvP, as the duality of many talents allows for a very competitive character type in both scenarios. In this guide, we will cover all the Affliction Talents, and which would be better in which situation, including the odd one you may not want at all.

As an Affliction Warlock, it is important to remember that your goal is to upkeep as many of your DoTs ticking at all times, as your talents specialize in improving your damage with them and the effects you get by doing so. As always, if you have any questions or comments, you should visit our Warlock Forums, and ask away!

Return to the Warlock Talent Guide. The Warlock Talent guide contains the links to the Demonology and Destruction Talent guides along with resources to better help you understand talents and the best ways to go about spending your talent points.

Tier 1

Tier 1 is available at level ten, when your first talents open up.

  • Improved Curse of Agony

    Increases your Curse of Agony's damage

    • Good talent for PvE DPS, as Agony should be up if Shadows or Elements isn't.
    • Soso for a PvP'er, since you will be wanting other curses more.
    • Recommended for players who like both PvE and PvP
  • Suppression

    Increases your chance to hit with Affliction spells, and reduces their mana cost.

    • Musthave talent for PvE, chance to hit is incredibly useful against bosses, and mana reduction to your spells is icing on the cake.
    • Decent for PvP as well, since you want to conserve all the mana you can before resorting to Life Tap
    • Must Have for both types of player
  • Improved Corruption

    More damage from your Corruption spell, and critical chance increase for your Seed of Corruption

    • Great PvE spell, makes you deadlier on both single target and AoE fights
    • High talent cost may put some people off
    • Recommended for PvE DPS

Tier 2

Tier 2 talents are available as soon as you have 5 points in that talent tree.

  • Frailty

    Improves your Curse of Weakness and Curse of Recklessness rates so enemies hit softer and receive less of an attack damage bonus

    • Good placeholder for points if your raid is fond of using Recklessness or Weakness on enemies
    • Not as solid as it could be, won't help you much in a PvP setting
    • Situational
  • Improved Drain Soul

    Returns a percentage of your mana when you finish off a monster with Drain Soul, and reduces the threat you generate overall. Keep in mind you must have the finishing blow with Drain Soul to create the first effect.

    • Very useful for PvE with the builtin threat reduction
    • Must get for PvE; Situational PvP

  • Improved Life Tap

    More mana per Life Tap use.

    • Great for both PvP and PvE, who doesn't want more Mana?
    • Get this.
    • Now!
    • Must Have
  • Soul Siphon

    When you have more DoTs and Affliction effects up on your target, you receive more health based on the amount.

    • Great for PvE when you need health fast, will give you back lots and will let you proc Nightfalls fast.
    • Not that great at PvP unless in tight situations
    • Recommended for PvE, Situational for PvP

Tier 3

Tier 3 talents are available as soon as you have 10 points in that talent tree.

  • Improved Fear

    When your Fear ends, your target gets snared, moving slower for a few seconds afterwards

    • Musthave talent for PvP, a snare ontop of a fear effect is priceless, especially for 2 points.
    • Not that great for PvE, completely skippable
    • Recommended for PvP nuts
  • Fel Concentration

    The amount of times spell pushback affects you is lessened, less interruptions while channeling spells.

    • Perfect for PvP'ers, avoiding interruptions by channeling spells such as Drain Mana and casting Haunt is a great thing it could also be useful for leveling.
    • Situational for PvE; who needs to avoid these? You won't be getting hit much.
    • Must Have for PvP, Situational for PvE

  • Amplify Curse

    Less global cooldown for your curses.

    • Great Talent for both PvP and PvE; Global cooldown lessened means more curses on your enemies, faster!
    • No complaints from either playstyle
    • Must Have

Tier 4

Tier 4 talents are available as soon as you have 15 points in that talent tree.

  • Grim Reach

    Lets your DoTs and Curses have better range

    • Great Talent, better reach means you are further away from everything harmful, be it players or bosses
    • Has both PvE and PvP uses
    • Must Have

  • Nightfall

    When you have Corruption or Drain Life ticking on your enemy, yuo have a chance to gain a free Shadow Bolt cast with no casting time.

    • Great Talent, you will be proccing this often, especially with Corruption playing a good role in your damage why not have a free Shadow Bolt cast as well?
    • Perfect PvP and PvE utility, always results in more damage.
    • Must Have
  • Empowered Corruption

    Gives your corruption additional damage based on your spell power.

    • More damage that scales with your upgrades. Verdict? awesome! Corruption is the bread&butter of any build, even if not Affliction. You will almost always cast this, so this talent is a nobrainer.
    • Must Have for both PvP and PvE

Tier 5

Tier 5 talents are available as soon as you have 20 points in that talent tree.

  • Shadow Embrace

    Adds an additional debuff when your enemy is hit by Haunt or Shadow Bolt, reducing periodic healing it obtains and increasing damage taken from your DoTs

    • This is a great PvP talent, as periodic healing is big here with Druids and Priests running amok this will delay their healing some!
    • Also a good PvE skill for the first component, 5% more damage from your DoTs is welcome good allaround talent to max
    • Recommended
  • Siphon Life

    A DoT that gives you HP back as it deals damage. As expected, instant cast.

    • Another DoT? Sign me up!
    • Great PvE and PvP utility, an extra DoT ticking is always welcome, and this one heals you for its damage, too!
    • Must Have
  • Curse of Exhaustion

    Reduces your enemy's movement speed by 30% remember, only one Warlock curse can be active at any given time per Warlock.

    • PvP only Curse works best here and only here.
    • Waste of a Curse slot on a PvE environment (so far)
    • Recommended for PvP'ers

Tier 6

Tier 6 talents are available as soon as you have 25 points in that talent tree.

  • Improved Fel Hunter

    Your Felhunter regains mana when it uses Shadow Bite, and improves the INT buff it provides to your party or raid.

    • This is a tough one! Both PvP and PvE players can benefit sometimes from this, as you could Dark Pact more with this talent, and give the raid a better INT buff if there's no mage, however, it depends largely on the user's taste.
    • Situational for both PvP and PvE
  • Shadow Mastery

    Shadow damage increased by 15% from DoTs and Affliction spells. Percentages are great for scaling.

    • Damage increase? sign me up!
    • No reason not to max this, 15% more damage or life drained is nothing to scoff at.
    • Must Have

Tier 7

Tier 7 talents are available as soon as you have 30 points in that talent tree.

  • Eradication

    Every tick of your Corruption has a chance of speeding your casting time up by 20%
    .

    • Great PvP talent increased casting speed is good to shoot that Haunt off fast, or use Fear faster
    • Mediocre PvE Talent, as it is a speed proc, and you will likely be refreshing DoTs a lot as well.
    • Situational for PvE, Great for PvP

  • Contagion

    Decreases chances to dispel your Afflictions, and increases damage from all your DoTs.

    • Good Talent for both PvP and PvE the increased damage benefits raiders, while lessened dispel chance aids PvPers keep their DoTs ticking
    • On the way to Unstable Affliction must be maxed
    • Must Have

  • Dark Pact

    Drain some of your pet's mana, and have it go directly to yours.

    • Some question the effectiveness of this spell, but for 1 talent point, and since we usually have an Imp out raiding, or a Felhunter out while PvPing, some extra mana at no cost other than a global cooldown is extremely nice.
    • Recommended

Tier 8

Tier 8 talents are available as soon as you have 35 points in that talent tree.

  • Improved Howl of Terror

    Makes your Howl of Terror instant cast.

    • Strictly a PvP ability, you won't be needing AoE fear in a group, will you? If you do... well, it won't be pleasant when those mobs are done running around...
    • Must Have for PvP'ers
  • Malediction

    Increases the damage bonus of your Curse of Elements and your general spellpower by up to 3% Mage approved.

    • Right on par with every Wrath of the Lich King reworked talent, you get a 3% increase in spell damage. This time, though, unless you're really hurting for damage, you should bypass it. That is, unless you're a Fire Warlock, in which case, you're going up the wrong tree to begin with!
    • Situational for both PvP and PvE

Tier 9

Tier 9 talents are available as soon as you have 40 points in that talent tree.

  • Death's Embrace

    Increases the amount of health drained when you are below 30%, and increases your Shadow damage as the enemy reaches low health as well.

    • Another double effect talent, affecting both PvP and PvE ability. Two for one is nice, better health leech and more damage when enemies are low has no drawbacks.
    • Must Get for both PvE and PvP

  • Unstable Affliction

    One more DoT, this one has a 1.5 second cast time and upon dispelling will silence the dispeller and damage him. Does a reasonable amount of damage.

    • Another DoT! Perfect for both PvE DPS and PvP to "lock" your DoTs up on enemies.
    • As it is one more debuff you can apply, there is no real drawback and no reason not to get this talent.
    • Recommended
  • Pandemic

    Has a chance to do damage twice with both your Corruption and Unstable Affliction spells affected by your critical strike chance.

    • This is what makes Affliction shine in raids and PvP the more crit you have, and of course, luck, you have chances to inflict more damage and wittle your enemies down faster!
    • Even in PvP, more damage equals faster victories.
    • Highly Recommended

Tier 10

Tier 10 talents are available as soon as you have 45 points in that talent tree.

  • Everlasting Affliction

    Your Corruption, Siphon Life, and Unstable Affliction spells gain an additional 1% of your bonus spell damage, and your Drain Life and Haunt spells have a small chance to reset the duration of your Corruption spell on the enemy.

    • On par with the Destruction Tree's counterpart for Immolate, this talent shouldn't be ignored by anyone who genuinely loves their spells ticking and maximizing their DPS. More Corruption ticks equal more damage, which could also mean Nightfall procs and of course one less spell to cast on a rotation!
    • Must Have

Tier 11

Tier 11 is the top tier talent and is available as soon as you have 50 points in that talent tree.

  • Haunt

    Your best move, you send a ghostly soul into the target, dealing 645 to 753 Shadow damage and increasing all damage done by your DoTs on the target by 20% for 12 sec. When the Haunt spell ends or is dispelled, the soul returns to you, healing you for 100% of the damage it did to the target.

    • Finally, the talent everyone loves. This is the move many can't pass up for both PvE and PvP. Let's see the benefits damage increase? check. Initial damage modified by spellpower? check. Healing? check.
    • Incredibly useful in a PvP battle when fighting off players who are damaging you, since it will heal you when it ends.
    • Great for PvE as it will increase your overall damage and heal you without you needing to use Drain Life, resulting in a direct DPS increase.
    • Must Have

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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