PSA on Affliction (7.1 patch)

[Lockybalboa 618]

After 4 whispers, 2 PMs, and a lot of chatter here is a quick rundown.

Yes, aff was buffed.

Yes, a lot of aff was buffed.

No, aff is still not competitive with...anything.  UPDATE 11/8/16: Aff if you gear for and AP for (25+ points) and are highly adept with aff it is competitive on most EN fights. However, keep in mind that that is a high trait count and semi-high gear count to obtain and the stats for Aff gearing are quite bad for Destro/demo.

Yes, you can play aff in raids - but you will basically be about as useful as you were before 7.1.

The problem with Aff right now is that it does shockingly horrid damage on single target and only passable damage on low count cleave and has zero burst.

The buffs basically did nothing to change this problem, only about a 6-8% net gain on ST.

UPDATE 11/8/16: Aff is very tricky, but if you gear for and are skilled with it Aff is in a not totally bad place right now. The problem is that it is a much higher skill cap and has radically different gear requirements than the other two specs, this makes it a fairly poor choice for progression raiding unless you are A) Very good with Aff or B) Very bad with destro/demo.

Aff still suffers from very bad ST, not remotely competitive with Demo, but with movement it is competitive with Destro ST.

I still would not recommend Aff to any Mythic progression raider unless they are very good at Aff and have the time/gear to actually make it work...this will still make you a bit of a one trick pony though.

[Swagsurfer 1]

How about if these patchnotes go live? 

Destro appears to get fucked, and MG coming back to maybe buff affli?

[Lockybalboa 618]

I haven't run or seen numbers for the destro changes, but tbh I like them. Reverse Entropy is good more so because it makes it so that you don't have to care about mana than the .5 sec off CB - that isn't to say that the cast time decreased isn't awesome, but its more about the QOL for mana then anything. Cata being moved is nice, makes your options Cata, Fire and Brimstone, or Soul Harvest 3 talents that are almost never taken atm. 

Napkin math, it is a nerf but not a debilitating one. Destro is mostly taken for cleave and I don't see that changing over the other specs with these changes. Demo still has ST and ramp up, Aff still has multi-dot and ramp up, Destro will still have Havoc and no ramp up.

As for the aff changes I REALLY like them. Giving Aff DrainSoul base line and adding the MG to improve ST damage would be great IF it works with Soul Effigy. MG NOT buffing the damage taken from SE as well as the DoTs that are on the target naturally won't be enough *I think*.

Soul Harvest Changes are awesome all around, longer base line, higher cap, makes it much more interesting. Not sure if it will beat out other talents in tier but it will be nice to have it as a possible option instead of the ignored talent it is. Same with Impending Doom.