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Affliction Warlock

Damage specialisation · Tier C in Mythic+, 2.4% of the sample

PvE GuideRaid logs, Mythic+ players and PvE buildsACTIVEPvP GuideRated ladder talents, gear stats and builds

Opener

The order abilities first landed across 4 top-parsing pulls, with the median time into the fight. The percentage is how many of those parses used the ability at all — a step at 100% is the opener, one at 60% is a choice some players make.

  1. 1Haunt+0.2s75%
  2. 2Corruption+1.3s100%
  3. 3Unstable Affliction+2.1s100%
  4. 4
Agony
+2.3s
100%
  • 5Liquid Luster+3.3s50%
  • 6Dark Harvest+4.9s50%
  • 7Summon Darkglare+5.8s100%
  • 8Light's Potential+6.6s50%
  • What follows what

    What was pressed next, counted over every observed pair. This is the closest a log gets to a priority list — but it describes behaviour, not a rule: a player casting Execute because it lit up looks the same here as one following a plan.

    • Unstable Affliction117 casts→Unstable Affliction72%Malefic Grasp10%Haunt6%
    • Shadow Bolt27 casts→Shadow Bolt77%Unstable Affliction15%Haunt8%
    • Malefic Grasp25 casts→Unstable Affliction40%Malefic Grasp32%Agony16%
    • Haunt22 casts→Haunt43%Agony14%Unstable Affliction14%
    • Agony19 casts→Unstable Affliction56%Corruption11%Agony11%
    • Drain Soul8 casts→Agony38%Drain Soul38%Unstable Affliction13%

    Ability usage

    Casts per minute across 12 top-parsing kills in The Venomous Abyss. Per minute rather than totals, so a long fight does not read as a heavily used ability.

    Single target

    5 fights where almost all damage went to the boss

    1. 1Unstable Affliction17.0per min
    2. 2Agony9.7per min
    3. 3Shadow Bolt5.5per min
    4. 4Drain Soul3.1per min
    5. 5Haunt2.9per min
    6. 6Malefic Grasp2.5per min

    Multi-target

    5 fights with substantial add damage

    1. 1Unstable Affliction15.5per min
    2. 2Agony10.0per min
    3. 3Shadow Bolt6.9per min
    4. 4Haunt

    Fights are sorted by how much damage landed on boss units rather than by a hand-kept list of which encounter is the AoE one, so the split stays right after a retune. Fights in between are left out of both columns.

    Updated 31/08/2026. These are observed casts, not a recommended priority — the order reflects how often an ability came up, which is not the same as when to press it.

    Secondary stats

    Secondary stat split across the 100 best-geared synced characters. Averaged per player, so one heavily geared character cannot define the answer for everyone.

    • Versatility52.0%1,127 avg
    • Haste43.3%945 avg
    • Mastery2.7%62 avg
    • Critical Strike2.0%48 avg

    What PvE players are playing

    Talent choices across 226 synced characters playing this specialisation. These are observed picks, not recommendations — they say what the ladder is doing, not what you should do.

    Where builds differ

    Taken by between 15% and 90% of players. This is where the real decisions are.

    • Death's Embrace89%

      190 players · Specialization

    • Sacrolash's Dark Strike89%

      190 players · Specialization

    • Shard Instability89%

      189 players · Specialization

    • Xavius' Gambit88%

      188 players · Specialization

    • Fortified Soul86%

      184 players · Class

    • Cascading Calamity86%

      183 players · Specialization

    • Impetuous Wrath86%

      183 players · Specialization

    • Cull the Weak85%

      181 players · Specialization

    • Potent Soul Shards85%

      181 players · Specialization

    • Withering Bolt85%

      180 players · Specialization

    • Demoniac's Fervor83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Demonic Soul83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Eternal Hunger83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Eternal Servitude83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Feast of Souls83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Friends In Dark Places83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Manifested Avarice83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Necrolyte Teachings83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Quietus83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Sataiel's Volition83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Shadow of Death83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Shared Vessel83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Soul Anathema83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Wicked Reaping83%

      176 players · Hero

    • Empowered Healthstone79%

      168 players · Class

    • Curse of Tongues77%

      163 players · Class

    • Teachings of the Black Harvest74%

      158 players · Class

    • Infernal Beneficiary70%

      149 players · Class

    • Fatal Echoes61%

      130 players · Specialization

    • Fel Synergy44%

      93 players · Class

    • Gorefiend's Avarice26%

      55 players · Class

    • Cunning Cruelty17%

      37 players · Specialization

    • Malediction17%

      36 players · Specialization

    • Burning Rush16%

      35 players · Class

    • Pact of the Nathrezim16%

      34 players · Class

    • Alzzin's Iniquity15%

      33 players · Hero

    Near-universal picks (45)taken by 90%+ — effectively baseline
    • Dark Accord100%

      213 players · Class

    • Dark Pact100%

      213 players · Class

    • Demon Skin100%

      213 players · Class

    Rarely taken (96)under 15% — situational or out of favour
    • Fiendish Stride15%

      31 players · Class

    • Fel Pact13%

      27 players · Class

    • Contagion12%

      26 players · Specialization

    Import a real build

    Loadouts from the highest-rated synced players of this specialisation. Paste straight into the game.

    • Langgy

      ravencrest · EU2,755

    • Paqmayn

      ravencrest · EU2,743

    • Bigmancam

      illidan · US2,640

    • Aezevera

      antonidas · EU2,594

    • Langneur

      archimonde · EU2,517

    Learn the spec

    This page measures what players do. For rotation, stat priority and matchup play, these are the references.

    • WowheadpveRotation, stat priority, gear and consumables. The most complete free PvE reference.
    • Icy VeinspveRotation walkthroughs and talent reasoning, written for players learning a spec.
    • Raider.IOpveMythic+ routes, affix planning and dungeon-by-dungeon breakdowns.

    Other Warlock specs

    • Demonology
    • Destruction
    3.3per min
  • 5Drain Soul2.9per min
  • 6Malefic Grasp2.4per min
  • Demonic Circle100%

    213 players · Class

  • Demonic Embrace100%

    213 players · Class

  • Demonic Fortitude100%

    213 players · Class

  • Demonic Gateway100%

    213 players · Class

  • Fel Armor100%

    213 players · Class

  • Howl of Terror100%

    213 players · Class

  • Mortal Coil100%

    213 players · Class

  • Pact of the Annihilan100%

    213 players · Class

  • Pact of the Eredar100%

    213 players · Class

  • Pact of the Satyr100%

    213 players · Class

  • Soul Leech100%

    213 players · Class

  • Soulburn100%

    213 players · Class

  • Frequent Donor100%

    212 players · Class

  • Malefic Grasp9.4%

    20 players · Specialization

  • Empowered Drain Life5.6%

    12 players · Class

  • Call Dreadstalkers5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Demoniac5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Demonic Calling5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Fel Intellect5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Flametouched5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Hand of Gul'dan5.2%

    11 players · Specialization

  • Hellbent Commander5.2%

    11 players · Specialization