Can we get back to the core of this spec that is dots + strong execute phase like it always was. Right now in PvE you have 9 buttons builder and 1 spender in form of Malefic that isn’t particularly fun and in PvP it’s even worse. Dots don’t do enough pressure by itself and if you freecast for a moment you make whole team go down. Can we have something like Affli between Wrath and WoD. Everything post WoD makes the spec feel like it’s not Affli. Legion UA stacking was kinda acceptable but right now it doesn’t feel like Affliction anymore.
With dark soul being gone in DF… It seems considerably harder to dump ressources within a short casting window, which is what aff locks do today because of malefic rapture. so … spending your shards this way will be much less efficient and even less fun then.
But I think you hit the right nail on the head : affliction ressource management and gameplay with malefic rapture is deplorable → we basically mash one button…
In my opinion, it is one of the only concerns I have going into DF with my lock.
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I don’t really play PvE and especially not as Affliction. I base it on talks with with Affliction Warlocks. I have few of them on my list since I main Ele and L.S.D. (Affli/Ele/R Druid) is an iconic 3v3 comp in arena. Actually it’s the most successful one since it won the biggest amount of Blizzcons. It’s sad to see Affliction brothers in this state. Since Legion rework and especially BFA/SL rework Affliction is a shadow of it’s previous glory. It was always the best and go to spec for Warlocks in PvP with Destruction sometimes challenging it.
The thing that really bothers me is that Blizzard tries to push this builder and spender gameplay on everyone. Not going to lie it works on some specs but on some it feels forced. We had the same problem in Legion and BFA where they tried to force such playstyle on us so it ended with Earth Shock not being that strong and builders being main part of our damage. On the other hand I don’t want Affliction to be like that. The reason why this spec was challenging in the past was snapshotting the dots. You had to focus on every target and refresh dots in the right moment to maintain the pressure otherwise you reapplied the weaker version of them. Maybe bringing back this mechanic would make Affli more interesting instead of 9 buttons builder and then dumping all resources on spender.
Other spec that kinda suffer because of this bad builder spender mechanic is SP. You generate Insanity that you only spend on Devouring Plague. There should be another spender imo.
I really don’t understand why they are not giving some good spells back those afflock players liked. And why do they hate afflocks ? Aff is the only spec that is not got any good spells or talents back in terms of Warlocks.
- Lots of Demolocks wanted Metamorph back. But, some new stuff about demons look okay on the tree. Also this Demo gameplay is not bad at all. Metamorph gameplay was better, but this is not bad. So Demo is again acceptable.
- Destrolocks got lots of cool things back. At least Destro seems really fun. Ofc we can’t know how the damage tuning will be but Destro rotation and gameplay look fun.
- Almost %75 of Afflocks wanted UA Spender - acceptable DoT Damage - Drain Soul based gameplay. They even didn’t listen to.
Personally, I don’t want an OP spec, I don’t want to be a super powered spec like in Legion. But this “UGLY,BAD,UNFUN” Malefic Rapture should’ve been deleted from the game. Affliction is not fun. That is the problem and they are ignoring it.
Just a couple of changes that improves the gameplay was ok…
Afflock is the least fun spec again. After Legion, they decided to bury afflicton in the ground…
Maybe I change my class or completely unsub. Cuz like for 3 expansions(including DF) afflocks like me that like the Legion version of it, are waiting them to fix this spec… Got tired of waiting…
2 Likes
The UA Spender style was a bad idea in terms of “why UA got introduced”. Gameplay and fantasy was perfect. So instead of removing MR and change UA again, the easiest solution is MR is the stacking UA. So we keep the dot protection and we can ST burst our target.
In my opinion and many old locks would agree, the best aff lock gameplay ever was dot snapshotting back in Cata/Mop.
Today, nothing comes even close to what it was in terms of depth and interactivity.
However nowadays, that can’t be done in the same way… as a result we have to use other mechanisms :
- increase dot duration
- increase dot damage by maintaining a buff/debuff
- alter dot tick frequency with spells/passives
- Nuke people with dot based spell damage
All of it is merely a replacement of dot snapshotting… and it is not necessarily bad. But the old dot snapshotting used to be a reactive playstyle with dynamique and opportune damage… the modern gameplay is all about pro-active ramp-up and back-loaded/direct damage : which is very unique when you compare to other dot classes in wow.
Let it be known tho :
- UA spender gameplay was trash
- Haunt spender gameplay was clunky but functional
- Malefic rapture spender gameplay is much too dumb
2 Likes
I don’t mind MR to be honest. We’ve had a class overhaul every recent expansion and every time the big changes haven’t worked and need further iteration or they just get nerfed to oblivion.
I’d rather they focus on getting MR to work than have another half baked rework and start at square one again. And a big no to the UA stacking play from me (BFA Aff was terrible).
This boggles my mind, how can ppl say mr is unfun but at the same time like malefic grasp, which is so close, and arguably worse. MR is instant while MG isnt, but both require dots on target. I wonder, if the wording in MR was different or if the dmg it did because of every dot shows as the dots dmg, people would like it. smh
MG is a filler not a spender by the way
MR has a 1,5 sec cast time baseline to be honest…
In fact MR feels like a reversed shadowpriest gameplay and it takes a lot of damage away from the main dots.
Buff Pact of the Eredar and I will like it 
Me2 but the dmg es good, just use MR as a dot like UA in BfA.
Affli need a malefic grasp from Cata or Pandaria
Malefic Grasp
1.5% of base mana, plus 1.5% per sec 40 yd range
Channeled
Binds the target in twilight, causing 4 Shadow damage over 4 sec.
Every 1 sec, when Malefic Grasp deals damage, it causes all of your other periodic Affliction damage effects to instantly deal 30% of their normal periodic damage.
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How can you not see the similarity between MR and MG, both do dmg to a target that has your dots on it, with that dmg increasing the more dots are on that target. But MR is also instant dmg and aoe. Come on ppl.
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MR is theoretically better than MG. Because of the range.
But if they want that stacking style let there be a choice.
Who the hell wants stacking UA back wtf xD. Give us Malific grasp for ST (MoP version) & make MR a multi target choice in the tree so if you really like it you can just grab it. Make haunt a spender, boost its damage and remove the cd. With death bolt, haunt, rapid contagion and soul burn we would have enough spenders in both pve and pvp.
I love affliction, it’s my favourite spec. I love what rapture has brought to the spec. It has really modernized affliction and gave it a very important tool to be able to do well in most form of content, it gave us burst and amazing cleave, which is essential to do well in this day and age of wow. We have the ability now to pull ressources and use them when we need them. The spec is quite flexible with 1min damage windows.
You need to be able to burst in raid, in M+. I know some dislike it, they don’t like that a lot of our damage comes from rapture and not from dots. Even though pure DoT damage is still in Shadowlands around 50% of our total dps, which is a lot.
I don’t think a DoT spec means all the damages must come from DoT damages. I think it means a spec that revolves around playing with and managing dots, which is exactly what the spec does at the moment.
We have never had to play with and manage so many dots as an affliction warlock than we do now. And rapture is a wonderful spell that allows you to reap the rewards from dotting well.
I also think that people who dislike rapture wouldn’t dislike it so much if it displayed its damages divided among the various DoTs that make its damages instead of appearing as a single spell on damage meters.
I’d also argue that Rapture is basically DoT damages, it’s front-loaded, burst, DoT damages. It does as much damages as you have DoTs out. I think it’s a very rewarding ability. It even says so in the tooltip, we make our dots “flare up”, we’re making our dots do extra ticks on demand.
Setting up dots on many targets, hitting Darkglare, and getting those raptures out feel very satisfying and fun to play for me.
I however deeply dislike Malefic Wrath, it’s too short, too expensive in shards, requires to be near immobile to benefit from it, and the spec ST damage being tuned around it since 9.1 is just plain bad. I hope they tweak it in DF, make its duration much longer or get rid of it in favor of Death’s Embrace, the old Legion talent which gave our Dots baked-in execute.
It killed the spec identity just because of the reasons you mentioned. 50% damage comes from MR.
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I barley cast MR in pvp, most of the time i his behind the pillar and let the dots do their dmg with Rapid Contagion.
Maybe this counts for PvE but in PvP you rarely spam MR.
It’s never 50%, it’s between 30 and 40% of our overall damage, depending on the fight.
Again I think if MR showed up in damage meters divided between the various dots instead of showing up as a single spell, this debate would not existe.
Rapture is basically aoe malefic grasp, it gives us something to do once our dots are out, just like MG did before.
Except this spell is much more flexible, and powerful
now a play’d only demo and destro and avoid aff just becous how it is play’d atm it should be dot’s and drains, drain life as a filler and drain soul as a execute.
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Still too much for a spec considered being the most dot based.