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

envoyé 31/07/2020 à 15:58 par 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 ChangesLong gone are the days of casting multiple stack of Affliction instable 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 Éclats d’âme cost, however the shard generation effect it has if a target dies while Affliction instable is active is still present. This means that Affliction instable 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.

Extase maléfique is our new Éclats d’âme spender now that Affliction instable 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 Éclats d’âme 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.

Étreinte de l’ombre has become a passive effect (which is learned at level 52) that is applied by Trait de l'ombre and Hanter, offering a similar effect to the 10% bonus damage that Affliction instable has lost. Drain d’âme also applies Étreinte de l’ombre if chosen as a talent.

Corruption 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 Corruption, not Graine de Corruption exploding.

Talents

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

Trait de mort is now a PVP talent and has been replaced with the BFA Azerite effect Trépas inévitable. 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.

Affres de l’agonie 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 “Soubresaut fébrile” Azerite trait in BFA.

Dissémination has been reverted to the way it functioned in Legion, causing Graine de Corruption to embed two additional seeds on cast, for a total of three.

Hurlement de terreur has made its triumphant return as a talent in place of Cercle démoniaque, which has become a baseline ability for Warlocks in Shadowlands.

Appel noir is a new talent that has taken the place of Étreinte de l’ombre (baseline) which reduces the cooldown of our Invocation de Regard-noir ability by one minute. This ability is deceptively powerful as it syncs our Âme sombre : Misère talent (if chosen) with our Invocation de Regard-noir.

The PVP talent Brise-âme has been altered to now remove all active Corruptions on your nearest 5 enemies and deal 10% of their maximum health as Shadow damage. It also grants one Éclats d’âme per enemy hit. Covenant Abilities

Kyrian

Dîme spoliatrice: It is important to note that this effect currently DOES count as a DOT towards Extase maléfique and is also extended by our Invocation de Regard-noir ability. While those two interactions are undeniably powerful, the shard generation that it brings I feel is not. With Affliction instable generating a Éclats d’âme upon death and not having an actual casting cost, it makes shard generation better in Mythic + or similar settings. If you also select the Drain d’âme talent you have multiple ways to transition from one pack to another in the 4-5 Éclats d’âme range with ease.

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

Venthyr

Catastrophe imminente: This ability is very unique as it both applies a DOT as well as either Malédiction des langages or Malédiction de faiblesse. 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 Extase maléfique’s DOT count. Although, this effect (unlike Dîme spoliatrice) is currently NOT extended by our Invocation de Regard-noir ability.

Porte des ombres: 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

Pourriture d’âme: This effect is certainly more powerful for Affliction than it is Demonology or Destruction as the AOE Drain de vie it casts is indeed affected by our new talent Trépas inévitable. 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 Extase maléfique’s DOT count and is also currently being extended by Invocation de Regard-noir.

Forme d’âme: This effect is similar to the Venthyr Porte des ombres effect, but also very different. Porte des ombres has a 35 yard range while Forme d’âme 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 Ruée ardente.

Necrolord

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

Chair recomposée: Not as useful as Porte des ombres 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 ConclusionCatastrophe imminenteExtase maléfiqueTrait de décimationDrain d’âmeLegendariesSceau d’invocation supérieure de Wilfred – A legion favorite has returned to us in Shadowlands! This effect brings with it a 1 second reduction to your Invocation de Regard-noir for each Éclats d’âme you spend. While this effect is powerful, we already have the new Appel noir trait which syncs our Âme sombre : Misère ability to our Invocation de Regard-noir. Taking into consideration that we are going to cast somewhere around 20-25 Extase maléfique every two minutes; this effect sadly does not seem extremely powerful.

Slot: Wrist, Finger

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

Slot: Waist, Feet

Relique de synergie démoniaque – This legendary grants Extase maléfique a 10% chance to refund all Éclats d’âme spent, which will always be 1. It is basically a weaker version of Conducteur d’âme 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

Piliers de la Porte des ténèbres aka “Portal Pants” – Making your Porte des démons 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

Agonie perpétuelle d’Azj’Aqir – Giving Agonie a 20% increased chance to generate a Éclats d’âme 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

Courroux maléfique – This effect causes your Extase maléfique to increase the damage of your Trait de l'ombre and Drain d’âme spells by 25%, stacking up to three times. If you pair this effect with Trait de décimation and the Drain d’âme talent, it truly becomes a powerhouse. Initial testing has shown Drain d’âme 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 Drain d’âme (if selected) burst windows; which revolve around casting Trait de décimation and maintaining a 3 stack of Courroux maléfique.

Slot: Shoulder, Hands

Frappe noire de Sacrocingle – Another returning effect from Legion, Frappe noire de Sacrocingle was one of the reasons Warlock was so strong in Mythic +. It has the same Corruption 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

Courroux de consomption – 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 Courroux de consomption in certain settings.

Slot: Feet, Back

Feedback and Potential ChangesAffliction instableAffliction instableÉclats d’âmeDrain d’âmeExtase maléfiqueAffliction instableÉclats d’âmeDrain d’âmeCrépusculeTrépas inévitableDrain d’âmeCrépusculeTrépas inévitableDrain d’âmeDrain d’âmeÉtreinte de l’ombreTrait de l'ombreTrépas inévitableCrépusculeTrépas inévitableCrépusculeTrépas inévitableDrain d’âmeTrépas inévitableDrain d’âmeÉtreinte maléfiqueCrépusculeDrain d’âmeTrait de l'ombreDisséminationExtase maléfiqueÉclats d’âmeDisséminationSouillure infâmeExtase maléfiqueDisséminationAgonieCorruptionExtase maléfiqueSouillure infâmeExtase maléfiqueAgonieConclusionExtase maléfiqueInvocation de Regard-noirÂme sombre : MisèreAppel effroyableAppel noir

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