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Affliction is the Ranged DPS specialization of the Warlock in WoW: Forever. This page summarizes its talent tree as it appears in the game client (build 1.60.1.70753); the role is the one stated by the Icy Veins guide for the specialization.
In our level-60 simulation (180 seconds on a stationary boss, raid buffs, best known gear), Affliction Warlock ranks #1 of 20 DPS specs with 907 DPS. #1 is Affliction Warlock (907 DPS). A stationary boss does not tell everything: group utility and moving fights matter too.
Our simulator's build uses 51 points, split Affliction 32 / Destruction 19. The talents that weigh the most in the simulation: Wrack, Shadow Mastery, Bane. Open this build in the talent calculator →
Without raid items, the best set the simulator finds gives 850 DPS, −6.3% against the set that includes raid items. Stat priority: Spell Power > Hit Chance > Critical Strike. Full gear and enchantments →
Opening: Keep Bane of Agony (the damage-over-time curse), Corruption and Siphon Life up, and Immolate as well ; Wrack on cooldown ; Shadow Bolt as the filler (instant with Nightfall). Full rotation →
The top race in our simulation: Orc. All races of the class →
The first talent point comes at level 10, then one per level up to 51 at level 60. The guide gives the talent order step by step (derived from the level-60 build, not tested while leveling), the dungeons of each level band and the spec's best item in each. See the leveling →
Our dungeon finder shows, for every dungeon, the best item for this spec according to the simulator's stat weights. Best dungeon items →
Our level-60 simulator build (51 points), the one used for the ranking: talents, gear and rotation are on the ranking page.
Gear, rotation and damage by ability for this level-60 build: Warlock Affliction →
The class's three trees, with the talents of the level-60 build (51 points) in colour and all the others in grey. The small number on the left of each row is the points you must have spent in the tree to reach it, and each talent's badge shows the points invested. This section is fixed: it does not move and does not depend on the calculator.
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Rank 1/2: Increases the amount of Mana awarded by your Life Tap spell by 10%.
Rank 5/5: Improves your chance to hit by 5% and reduces all threat you generate by 20%.
Rank 5/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 2 sec and increases the damage it deals by 10%.
Rank 2/2: Increases the range of your Affliction spells by 20%.
Rank 2/2: Increases the damage done by your Bane of Agony by 10%.
Rank 3/3: Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Corruption, Bane of Agony, Bane of Doom, Drain Soul, Drain Life, Siphon Life, and Wrack spells by 100%.
Rank 5/5: Increases the critical effect chance of your Shadow spells by 5%.
Rank 2/2: Gives your Corruption, Drain Soul, Drain Life, and Wrack spells a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Shadow Trance after damaging the opponent. The Shadow Trance reduces the casting time of your next Shadow Bolt spell by 100%.
Rank 1/1: Transfers 11 health from the target to the caster every 3 sec. Lasts 30 sec.
Rank 5/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your Shadow spells by 10%.
Rank 1/1: Tears the target apart from within, inflicting 36 Shadow damage every 1 sec and increasing the damage they take from your other Shadow damage over time effects by 10% for 6 sec.
Rank 5/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage taken by the target from your attacks by 20% for 12 sec.
Rank 5/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt, Immolate, and Incinerate spells by 0.5 sec and your Soul Fire spell by 2 sec.
Rank 3/3: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 10%.
Rank 5/5: Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Destruction spells by 100%.
Rank 1/1: Instantly blasts the target for 66 Shadow damage. If a non-trivial target dies within 8 sec of being hit with Shadowburn, the caster gains a Soul Shard.
The first talent point comes at level 10, then one per level: 1 point at level 10, 11 at level 20, 21 at level 30, 31 at level 40, 41 at level 50 and 51 at level 60. A row of a tree opens for every 5 points spent in that tree.
Derived order: we computed it from our simulator's level-60 build, following the tree rules (rows, prerequisites) and taking at each point the talent the simulation values most. It was not tested while leveling a character: it is a starting point, not a proven leveling build, to be revisited with the released game's data.
Levels 1 to 9: no talent point yet, the first one comes at level 10.
Take: Bane. See the tree at this step →
Take: Bane ×4, Improved Shadow Bolt ×5, Suppression. See the tree at this step →
Take: Suppression ×4, Improved Corruption ×5, Pandemic. See the tree at this step →
Take: Pandemic ×2, Improved Life Tap, Improved Bane of Agony ×2, Malevolence ×5. See the tree at this step →
Take: Nightfall ×2, Ruin ×5, Cataclysm ×3. See the tree at this step →
Take: Grim Reach ×2, Shadow Mastery ×5, Shadowburn, Siphon Life, Wrack. See the tree at this step →
51 points: Affliction 32 / Destruction 19
The talents that weigh the most in the simulation: Wrack, Shadow Mastery, Bane.
See the full tree →The best set the simulator finds among the known dungeon and profession items, raid excluded: 850 DPS, −6.3% against the set that includes raid items (907 DPS).
Full gear, enchantments included →
Figures come from our simulator, not from players: they move with patches.
| Stat | DPS gained | Relative value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spell power per point | 0.862 | 1.0 | |
| Hit per rating point | 0.698 | 0.81 | |
| Crit per rating point | 0.577 | 0.67 | |
| Intellect per point | 0.219 | 0.25 | |
| Spirit per point | 0.124 | 0.14 | |
| Strength per point | 0.0 | no effect | |
| Agility per point | 0.0 | no effect | |
| Haste per rating point | -1.148 | -1.33 |
Measured by the simulator on the character above: the DPS gained by one more point of each stat, with the same random draws on both sides. The relative value compares each stat with one point of spell power. Crit, hit and haste are counted per rating point, like Strength or Agility, so they compare directly; they respect the caps: hit at the cap adds nothing. A value near zero or negative is within the margin of error or tied to a limit (mana, cap).
DPS gained when points of each stat are added on top of the simulated gear. Click a stat (or its row in the table) to bring its curve forward; the ring marks the estimated cap, past which every point is worth less than 20% of what it gave at the start.
Our simulator's priority at level 60, set against what Icy Veins recommends. Their guides are written before launch, for level 30 and for leveling: we keep what everyone agrees on, adopt what the simulation confirmed at level 60 and say where the two differ.
Agreed, and adopted after measuring: Bane of Agony instead of Bane of Doom (+16 DPS over a 3-minute fight) and Immolate in the rotation (+3 DPS). Wrack is Forever-specific. Raid curses (Elements, Recklessness) are counted as debuffs.
Tailoring guide 
Enchanting guide 
First Aid guide 
Cooking guide The gear our optimizer picks for this specialization among the items known so far (dungeons, the few raid items already known and crafted gear, which can be bought or made for you: prices and materials are not taken into account), with item effects simulated. Nothing is hand-picked: it is the result of the ranking's computation, and it will change as new items are discovered.
Enchantments up to skill 300, valued by the simulator when they give flat stats or flat weapon damage. The character does not need the profession: they can be bought or applied by an enchanter; Leatherworking armor kits (chest, legs, feet, hands) and Engineering scopes are counted too. A kit and an enchantment share the same permanent slot: a piece carries one or the other, and the legs, which have no enchantment, get the kit; spell-proc enchants (Crusader, Fiery Weapon...) and school damage are not simulated. The client data has no ring enchantment up to skill 300.
Icy Veins guide dated 2026-11-03, read on September 21, 2026.
The three best of each category, measured by the simulator on the character above. Only one scroll and one elixir or flask can be worn at a time: each gain is the DPS this consumable brings alone, compared with an empty slot, the rest of the set unchanged. Gains in the same category therefore do not add up. The row marked with a dot is the one in the simulated set.
These are the deepest talents in the tree: they require 30 points already spent in the specialization. Official game text, at maximum rank.
Tears the target apart from within, inflicting 36 Shadow damage every 1 sec and increasing the damage they take from your other Shadow damage over time effects by 10% for 6 sec.
Open Warlock in the talent calculator
Spend your 51 points, compare the three specializations and share your build by link.
Talent data comes from the game client. The level-60 build, gear, stats and rotation come from our simulator and are validated by DPS measurements; the rotation is compared with the Icy Veins guides, written before launch for level 30. Healing is not simulated. This data will change with future patches.
