Affliction Warlock 8.3

[Furty 51]

On 9/2/2018 at 11:54 PM, Guest azerite traits said:

I'm recently new to using Icy Veins, so I apologize if this has been answered somewhere else. On the Azerite Traits and Armor section for Affliction Warlocks the single target list starts with Thunderous_Blast_3. Farther down that list there is a Thunderous_Blast_2. Does that mean having three pieces of azerite armor with Thunderous Blast selected in each versus two pieces? I notice under Destruction spec the names end in "340" so I'm guessing that's not the case and maybe it's just a name for the ability on two different ilvl pieces of armor. Thanks for any info provided. 

Yep, your first assumption is correct. Initially I wanted to see if there were clever combinations that could influence how Azerite would work (for example, certain Artifact relics were much better if you had 3 relics vs. 1). Ultimately the results were pretty analog and there wasn't a lot of nonlinear scaling, so I simplified the other sims. 

[Guest Poliel]

On 8/30/2018 at 2:38 PM, Furty said:

In dungeons we use Grimoire of Sacrifice.

I'm not really sure why though.  In the M+ section is says this is a great talent because of the cleave damage, and yet testing against target dummies shows zero additional damage regardless of how many dummies you run dot's on.  The damage you get from sacrifice on a single target is roughly the same as what you get on 2, 3 or 4 targets.  It's fractionally higher with more targets (5-10%) which appears to be that it's simply hitting an ICD sooner than with only one target.

The damage you get from Sac then looks likes it's less than the combined pet damage + Haunt 10%.  What am I missing?

[Guest Aidenar]

In regards to the Azerite traits section:

In the example below, does the "3" at the end assume you are running 3 pieces with that particular trait? Or does that "3" mean anything?

2.1. Single Target

2.1.1. Outer Ring

Thunderous_Blast_312326+13.74%

[Guest Aidenar]

On 9/6/2018 at 7:25 PM, Furty said:

Yep, your first assumption is correct. Initially I wanted to see if there were clever combinations that could influence how Azerite would work (for example, certain Artifact relics were much better if you had 3 relics vs. 1). Ultimately the results were pretty analog and there wasn't a lot of nonlinear scaling, so I simplified the other sims. 

I apologize for my previous post, as I didn't see this one. This answers my question. Thank you!

[Guest rince]

On ‎9‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 6:08 AM, Guest Poliel said:

I'm not really sure why though.  In the M+ section is says this is a great talent because of the cleave damage, and yet testing against target dummies shows zero additional damage regardless of how many dummies you run dot's on.  The damage you get from sacrifice on a single target is roughly the same as what you get on 2, 3 or 4 targets.  It's fractionally higher with more targets (5-10%) which appears to be that it's simply hitting an ICD sooner than with only one target.

The damage you get from Sac then looks likes it's less than the combined pet damage + Haunt 10%.  What am I missing?

Not sure about this either.  I´ve simmed it alot on different settings and number of targets and only once i´ve got an 2% dmg increase with sac in cleave scenarios, but most if the times it even fall behind. Mabye it´s targeted at higher ilvls and keys than my 355 but at the current stage, i´m sticking with the pet out.

I do agree however on the part that it´s a better utility this way as the pet might be out of sight or range or whatever and thus not being able to use the silence of the felhunter for example, so that is a Point to take into consideration, but pure dmg wise at least my sims does´nt show an increased dmg.

[Guest Tidy Plates dead]

For the most part, Tidy Plates is dead.  Coming back to wow after 18 months this sucked.  Turns out someone did Threat Plates based off Tidy Plates and it is actually more configurable. 

[Guest Cubetta]

Hello Furty,

Thank you very much for the effort put in writing this guide,really appreciated, I am a newbie with the Lock and your guide is being extremely helpful.

Just out of curiosity: I noticed that in the weakness list for Affliction you put:

"Burst damage requires a setup period"

In your opinion,in the actual content, (Uldir Raid), is there any other class that provide more burst than Affli?

Thanks again!

[Furty 51]

On 9/19/2018 at 4:45 PM, Guest Cubetta said:

Hello Furty,

Thank you very much for the effort put in writing this guide,really appreciated, I am a newbie with the Lock and your guide is being extremely helpful.

Just out of curiosity: I noticed that in the weakness list for Affliction you put:

"Burst damage requires a setup period"

In your opinion,in the actual content, (Uldir Raid), is there any other class that provide more burst than Affli?

Thanks again!

It depends on the boss, as well as whether it's purely single target or not. Affliction definitely delivers some top tier sustained burst (contrary as that sounds ...) but there are a few other specs that can hang with them on single target.

[Guest Guest]

What does the Archive of the Titans +10/+5 mean?

[Guest Ajantos]

On 7/18/2018 at 11:25 PM, Guest Coldshatter said:

So, is the S tier the better choices and it goes down in rank to the D-tier?  Just making sure I understand your rankings.  Thanks!

Thanks a lot for the guide.

what could be added and would be awesome is a detailled guide for M+, e.g which mob can we banish...most efficient way of using Cds... I know it is a huge work but would be awesome

[Valks 2,375]

On 9/26/2018 at 2:46 AM, Guest Guest said:

What does the Archive of the Titans +10/+5 mean?

It's the stacking weekly bonus you can get for killing 3 bosses in Uldir.

[Guest Psykopat]

I dont understand one thing. 

You write "Dungeon Trinkets are variable in effectiveness right now, and several of them are erroneously ranked in SimCraft. The best option available from dungeons is  Ignition Mage's Fuse.

But, in the sims Balefire Branch is higer than Ignition Mage's Fuse, and Balefire Branch is from a dungeon. Am I missing something or?

[Guest Busylock]

hi, and thanks for the guide is helping me a lot. I have a doubt, i have 2 pieces at same level ítem,1 of them with sudden onset and other with archive of titans, im already wearing another piece with archive and this is the problem I dont know what is better 2 archives or 1 archive and onset. Thanks!!  ?

 

[Guest Morfraen]

Is it still generally true that mastery > int for affliction? Or does the guide need updating from it's pre-raid gear status? My stat weights are currently:

Stat Weights
Haste 2.41
Intellect 2.06
Mastery 1.94
Versatility 1.67
Critical Strike 1.15

 

I'm also wondering about the sacrifice suggestion for mythic+, since it doesn't add aoe damage anymore, is it really a boost like it was in legion?

[Guest Locky McLockface]

The Boss by Boss strategies all seem to recommend Grimore of Sacrifice over Haunt, but from warcraftlogs and other guides it seems Haunt is superior - any reason for this?

[Motoko 8]

On 11/15/2018 at 1:59 AM, Guest Locky McLockface said:

The Boss by Boss strategies all seem to recommend Grimore of Sacrifice over Haunt, but from warcraftlogs and other guides it seems Haunt is superior - any reason for this?

My mistake in the code, thanks for the head-up.

Updating it as we speak for the 8.1 patch

[Guest XCVIII]

UA only refunds 1 soul shard when the target afflicted with it dies, even if the target has 5 stacks of it but the guide says it refunds 1 soul shard per stack

[Guest Sklttles-Dalaran]

   This is the worst affliction warlock guide ever im here to point out your mistakes 

Lets start with the talent tree

[15]  you did a great job on this lair

[30] (Writhe in Agony) you never want to use (Absolute Corruption) is your go to spell for any PvE  (Siphon Life) is only for PvP

[45] (Demon Skin) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Burning Rush) you never want to use (Dark Pact) is your go to spell for RPvP and Arenas

[60] (Sow the Seeds) you never want to use (Phantom Singularity) is you go to spell for PvE and PvP (Vile Taint) you never want to use

[75] (Darkfury) you never want to use (Mortal Coil) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Demonic Circle) you never want to use

[90] (Shadow Embrace) you never want to use (Haunt) you never want to use (Grimoire of Sacrifice) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP

*if you dont use Grimoire of sacrifice you will loos a bunch of dps a bunch!*

[100] (Soul Conduit) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Creeping Death) you never want to use this spell (Dark Soul Misery) you never want to use

 

This is all i have room for best of luck new affy locks!

[Valks 2,375]

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

   This is the worst affliction warlock guide ever im here to point out your mistakes 

I think you may want to take a look at some of your information before calling this the "worst affliction warlock guide ever".

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[30] (Writhe in Agony) you never want to use (Absolute Corruption) is your go to spell for any PvE  (Siphon Life) is only for PvP

All 10 of the top Mythic Affli Lock logs for Grong, 9/10 for Opulence, 10/10 for Mekkatorque use Siphon Life. I'm not sure how it's PvP only. Writhe is currently used by multiple locks in top 10 for Conclave and Blockade, so I'm not sure why you'd say you never want to use it.

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[45] (Demon Skin) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Burning Rush) you never want to use (Dark Pact) is your go to spell for RPvP and Arenas

Huge numbers of top logs currently use Burning Rush, far more than use Demon Skin, so I'm not sure why you would never want to use it.

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[60] (Sow the Seeds) you never want to use (Phantom Singularity) is you go to spell for PvE and PvP (Vile Taint) you never want to use

What are you basing this on? I agree that PS is best for raiding currently, but I don't understand what your reasoning is behind the other claims of never wanting to use these 2. 

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[75] (Darkfury) you never want to use (Mortal Coil) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Demonic Circle) you never want to use

Again, I do not understand your claims at all. Nearly every single top Mythic log uses Demonic Circle.

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[90] (Shadow Embrace) you never want to use (Haunt) you never want to use (Grimoire of Sacrifice) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP

*if you dont use Grimoire of sacrifice you will loos a bunch of dps a bunch!*

This one is by far the oddest claim. Grimoire is in literally 0 top Mythic logs. Every single one uses Haunt. I have no idea where you are getting the idea that Grimoire is the best. Please show me some evidence of it being the best. 

1 hour ago, Guest Sklttles-Dalaran said:

[100] (Soul Conduit) is your go to spell for PvE and PvP (Creeping Death) you never want to use this spell (Dark Soul Misery) you never want to use

Once again, every single top log uses DS:M. I have no idea where you are seeing Soul Conduit as best.

I am happy to give Motoko feedback, but there is no point in passing any of this on. You have given no evidence to your claims that the guide is, as you said, the "worst affliction warlock guide ever". Comparing what you are saying to logs only shows fault in your own findings, not Motoko's. If you'd like to give more evidence, please do and I'll pass it on. Posts like this, however, are just pointless, as there is nothing that I can pass on as viable feedback.

[Guest Lily]

Could you update BIS lock hands for Dazar'alor.  Current ones are Horde only.

[Valks 2,375]

15 hours ago, Guest Lily said:

Could you update BIS lock hands for Dazar'alor.  Current ones are Horde only.

Motoko is looking into this, thanks!

[Guest Grove]

Like always, thanks for all the hard work everyone is involved in making these guides possible, icy-veins has grown so much since old days. Good job, you are a true givers.

[Guest Artrysa]

Deathbolt does 20% damage now, not 30%. Does it still hold up against Drain Soul or has this tipped the scales?

[Motoko 8]

On 6/27/2020 at 3:35 AM, Guest Artrysa said:

Deathbolt does 20% damage now, not 30%. Does it still hold up against Drain Soul or has this tipped the scales?

Nothing has changed, unfortunately. Drain Soul and Nightfall were just too behind to begin with, and while the gap has lowered at worst its tied to Drain Soul in multitarget (also accounting for shard snipes)

The 30% value instead of 20% was a typo on my end, but its now fixed! ?