State of Affliction Warlock in Shadowlands Beta - Legendaries, Covenant Abilities, New Toolkit

Shadowlands Geposted 31.07.2020 um 15:58 von Squishei

Hi there! My name is Kalamazi and I have been playing Warlock since the start of Burning Crusade. I had always been interested in become more involved within the Warlock theorycrafting community and decided to take the plunge at the start of Battle for Azeroth.

You can find me on YouTube, Twitter and Twitch where I stream 5-6 days a week. Feel free to stop by with any questions you might have!

IntroductionWhat has changedClass and Spec Changes

Long gone are the days of casting multiple stack of Instabiles Gebrechen on numerous targets as is it now limited to 1 at all times. In addition to that change the 10% bonus damage effect that it currently brings in BFA has been removed as well as the Seelensplitter cost, however the shard generation effect it has if a target dies while Instabiles Gebrechen is active is still present. This means that Instabiles Gebrechen can be leveraged as a shard generation tool in certain setting where you are able to move the effect to different mobs once the previous one dies. It has also had its duration increased to a whopping 16 seconds baseline, which is increased to 21 seconds at level 56.

Unheilvolle Euphorie is our new Seelensplitter spender now that Instabiles Gebrechen has had its cost removed and I feel it is a large step in the right direction for Affliction’s toolkit. This effect costs 1 Seelensplitter and deals damage to every target that has at least 1 active DOT on them which increases in value for each additional DOT active on the target. This is a very powerful effect in AOE based scenarios after you apply your initial DOTs and really helps make up for the lack of on demand burst damage that Affliction has. It is also a very effective single target shard spender, dealing a large portion of our overall damage in those settings.

Schattenumschlingung has become a passive effect (which is learned at level 52) that is applied by Schattenblitz and Heimsuchung, offering a similar effect to the 10% bonus damage that Instabiles Gebrechen has lost. Seelendieb also applies Schattenumschlingung if chosen as a talent.

Verderbnis now deals a small amount of damage upon application once rank 3 is learned at level 54. It is important to note that the initial application damage is only from the player casting Verderbnis, not Saat der Verderbnis exploding.

Talents

Einbruch der Nacht now has an increased proc rate based off how many different instances of Verderbnis are active. This is a welcome change as in its current form (BFA) you have the same proc rate with 1 Verderbnis active as you do 50.

Todesblitz is now a PVP talent and has been replaced with the BFA Azerite effect Unausweichliches Ableben. This trait is exceptionally powerful due to the large amount of burst damage and self-healing it can bring at max stacks (50) and gains a tremendous amount of value in multi-target settings.

Höllenqual has had it max stack count increased to 18 (was 15) and now also starts at 4 stacks in an attempt to assist the player in reaching its full potential faster. This effect is reminiscent of the “Plötzlicher Ausbruch” Azerite trait in BFA.

Aussaat has been reverted to the way it functioned in Legion, causing Saat der Verderbnis to embed two additional seeds on cast, for a total of three.

Schreckensgeheul has made its triumphant return as a talent in place of Dämonischer Zirkel, which has become a baseline ability for Warlocks in Shadowlands.

Dunkelblick beschwören is a new talent that has taken the place of Schattenumschlingung (baseline) which reduces the cooldown of our Dunkelblick beschwören ability by one minute. This ability is deceptively powerful as it syncs our Finstere Seele: Elend talent (if chosen) with our Dunkelblick beschwören.

The PVP talent Seele brechen has been altered to now remove all active Verderbniss on your nearest 5 enemies and deal 10% of their maximum health as Shadow damage. It also grants one Seelensplitter per enemy hit.

Covenant Abilities

Kyrian

Geißelnder Obolus: It is important to note that this effect currently DOES count as a DOT towards Unheilvolle Euphorie and is also extended by our Dunkelblick beschwören ability. While those two interactions are undeniably powerful, the shard generation that it brings I feel is not. With Instabiles Gebrechen generating a Seelensplitter upon death and not having an actual casting cost, it makes shard generation better in Mythic + or similar settings. If you also select the Seelendieb talent you have multiple ways to transition from one pack to another in the 4-5 Seelensplitter range with ease.

Provost beschwören: While the healing effect this ability brings is nice, it is grossly overshadowed by other covenants abilities and their usefulness.

Venthyr

Drohende Katastrophe: This ability is very unique as it both applies a DOT as well as either Fluch der Sprachen or Fluch der Schwäche. The unfortunate part though is that it does not “smart curse” meaning it will often apply Tongues to a melee based mob and Weakness to casters. The DOT that is applied however is AOE based and does indeed count towards Unheilvolle Euphorie’s DOT count. Although, this effect (unlike Geißelnder Obolus) is currently NOT extended by our Dunkelblick beschwören ability.

Schattentor: This is one of the most exciting universal covenant abilities out there, allowing you to skip certain packs or obstacles in Mythic + as well as potentially entire boss abilities, like Uu'nat beams.

Night Fae

Seelenfäule: This effect is certainly more powerful for Affliction than it is Demonology or Destruction as the AOE Blutsauger it casts is indeed affected by our new talent Unausweichliches Ableben. This can lead to a very large AOE burst window every minute or so with a high stack count and multiple targets being present. This effect also counts towards Unheilvolle Euphorie’s DOT count and is also currently being extended by Dunkelblick beschwören.

Seelengestalt: This effect is similar to the Venthyr Schattentor effect, but also very different. Schattentor has a 35 yard range while Seelengestalt is limited to 10. You also are not able to select the area you wish to “blink” to, it is simply 10 yards in front of where you currently are standing. The speed boost is nice but also shares a similar effect to Brennender Ansturm.

Necrolord

Dezimierungsblitz: This ability provides an “execute” style damage amp while being on a 45 second cooldown. It increases the damage of your next three Schattenblitz or Seelendieb casts by 200% baseline which increases based on your target’s missing health. The first interesting part of Dezimierungsblitz is that it essentially “Snapshots” the damage amplification bonus. If I cast Dezimierungsblitz on a mob at 10% health and get a 380% bonus effect to my next three Schattenblitzs and then turn to a mob at 100% health, it will still hit that mob for the full 380% bonus damage. The second interesting thing is that Dezimierungsblitz affects three full Seelendieb channels, not just 3 ticks. Seelendieb already has a 100% increased damage effect once the target is below 20% health, so stacking these two effects makes it hit extremely hard.

Fleischformung: Not as useful as Schattentor in certain settings but the shield it provides is large and can be used mostly on CD in Mythic + settings if need be. Consuming corpses of surrounding enemies also does not currently appear to “tag” them, meaning your entire group can share the same corpses for a larger effect.

Covenant ConclusionDrohende KatastropheUnheilvolle EuphorieDezimierungsblitzSeelendiebLegendaries

Wilfreds Siegel der überlegenen Beschwörung – A legion favorite has returned to us in Shadowlands! This effect brings with it a 1 second reduction to your Dunkelblick beschwören for each Seelensplitter you spend. While this effect is powerful, we already have the new Dunkelblick beschwören trait which syncs our Finstere Seele: Elend ability to our Dunkelblick beschwören. Taking into consideration that we are going to cast somewhere around 20-25 Unheilvolle Euphorie every two minutes; this effect sadly does not seem extremely powerful.

Slot: Wrist, Finger

Klaue von Endereth – This effect does not have any kind of interaction with Unausweichliches Ableben or granting you any additional ticks of Blutsauger. It simply does what it says it does, which is make your Blutsauger channel twice as fast. It can lead to some very quick burst/self-healing in PVP potentially with a high stack of Unausweichliches Ableben, but I don't see it making much of an impact in PVE.

Slot: Waist, Feet

Relikt der dämonischen Synergie – This legendary grants Unheilvolle Euphorie a 10% chance to refund all Seelensplitter spent, which will always be 1. It is basically a weaker version of Seelenverbindung and feels a bit underwhelming. If the refund rate was increased to say 20% or so it might be a bit more impactful but currently feels lackluster.

Slot: Head, Shoulder

Säulen des Dunklen Portals aka “Portal Pants” – Making your Dämonisches Tor instant cast and also giving it two charges is more impactful than it may seem. It can certainly be of use in PVP/arenas or similar settings but the real question is why play this over a damage based effect? It did see a good bit of play in Legion Mythic + when it came to traversing a large area quickly, but that was only due to gear swapping being a thing.

Slot: Neck, Chest

Ewige Agonie von Azj'Aqir – Giving Agonie a 20% increased chance to generate a Seelensplitter might seem like a powerful effect but when compared to the other legendaries that Affliction has and the RNG of an effect like this, I think we can do a bit better.

Slot: Chest, Finger

Bösartiger Zorn – This effect causes your Unheilvolle Euphorie to increase the damage of your Schattenblitz and Seelendieb spells by 25%, stacking up to three times. If you pair this effect with Dezimierungsblitz and the Seelendieb talent, it truly becomes a powerhouse. Initial testing has shown Seelendieb to be nearly 60% of our damage output in execute when paired with said effects thus making Affliction Warlock execute damage extremely potent. Even outside of execute it causes you to alter your play style around 45 second Seelendieb (if selected) burst windows; which revolve around casting Dezimierungsblitz and maintaining a 3 stack of Bösartiger Zorn.

Slot: Shoulder, Hands

Sacrolashs Dunkelstoß – Another returning effect from Legion, Sacrolashs Dunkelstoß was one of the reasons Warlock was so strong in Mythic +. It has the same Verderbnis damage increase from Legion but the slow effect has been reduced from 60% (Legion) to 15% in Shadowlands. I will say that the effect still currently applies the full 60% slow on Beta realms right now but I believe that will be changing soon. A 45% difference in the slow effect will certainly be noticeable but the question is, is just how noticeable?

Slot: Legs, Feet

Zorn der Aufzehrung – This effect is another iconic ability from Legion but with a slight difference; In Legion the effect stated that whenever you “kill a target” you received a bonus effect to your damage over time spells. In Shadowlands that target has to die with Agonie applied to it but the effect also has a much larger bonus, 5% per stack and stacking up to 5 times. Affliction's toolkit has certainly changed a bit from Legion but you simply cannot deny the power level of Zorn der Aufzehrung in certain settings.

Slot: Feet, Back

Feedback and Potential ChangesInstabiles GebrechenInstabiles GebrechenSeelensplitterSeelendiebUnheilvolle EuphorieInstabiles GebrechenSeelensplitterSeelendiebEinbruch der NachtUnausweichliches AblebenSeelendiebEinbruch der NachtUnausweichliches AblebenSeelendiebSeelendiebSchattenumschlingungSchattenblitzUnausweichliches AblebenEinbruch der NachtUnausweichliches AblebenEinbruch der NachtUnausweichliches AblebenSeelendiebUnausweichliches AblebenSeelendiebBösartiger GriffEinbruch der NachtSeelendiebSchattenblitzAussaatUnheilvolle EuphorieSeelensplitterAussaatÜbler MakelUnheilvolle EuphorieAussaatAgonieVerderbnisUnheilvolle EuphorieÜbler MakelUnheilvolle EuphorieAgonieConclusionUnheilvolle EuphorieDunkelblick beschwörenFinstere Seele: ElendSchreckliche BerufungDunkelblick beschwören

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