WoW TBC Arena
PvE · Raid · Ranged DPS

Affliction Warlock PvE Guide

Affliction is a top raid DPS spec in TBC. A rolling DoT rotation — Corruption, Unstable Affliction, Siphon Life, Curse of Agony — plus Shadow Bolt filler produces high sustained damage, and your Curse of the Elements/Shadows or Malediction adds a raid-wide spell-damage debuff. Affliction Warlocks are a fixture of the caster camp for both DPS and that debuff.

Overview

The spec is a discipline game: keep four-plus DoTs ticking without clipping, weave Shadow Bolt, and never let uptime slip.

Strengths

  • +High sustained DoT DPS
  • +Malediction/Curse of the Elements = raid spell-damage debuff
  • +Life Tap + Dark Pact self-sufficiency for mana

Weaknesses

  • Punished hard by movement (dropped DoTs)
  • DoT juggling is unforgiving at high uptime

Stat priority & caps (raid)

Stat caps (raid)

StatCap
Spell Hit202 rating
  • Spell Hit: 16% cap for a raid boss (+3 levels). Draenei Heroic Presence, Shadow Priest's Misery, and hit talents lower how much you need on gear.

Full gear with usage %, gems and enchants is on the Affliction Warlock PvE BiS list.

Recommended talent build

40/0/21 · Raid

The 40/0/21 Affliction standard: Unstable Affliction and Malediction over full dot mastery, Destruction filled to Ruin for Shadow Bolt filler crits. The early-TBC warlock benchmark — it out-parses destruction until gear catches up.

Affliction

40

Demonology

0

Destruction

21

Points are filled on each tree above — hover a talent for its tooltip; highlighted talents are the build's key picks.

DoT priority

  1. 1Apply your Curse (Elements/Malediction as assigned) and keep it up.
  2. 2Unstable Affliction, Corruption, Siphon Life, Curse of Agony rolling without clipping.
  3. 3Shadow Bolt as filler; refresh DoTs on time as they expire.
  4. 4Reach the spell hit cap (accounting for talents/Draenei/Misery/shadow debuffs).
  5. 5Life Tap/Dark Pact for mana; align trinkets and cooldowns with Bloodlust.

Affliction is a plate-spinning rotation: five things ticking at once, none clipped. Keep your assigned Curse up (Malediction is a big raid buff), refresh DoTs a hair before they fall, and fill with Shadow Bolt. Pre-refresh before movement so your uptime — and DPS — survives. Life Tap to stay full on mana.

Warlock macros

Focus macros

Focus Fear

Fear your focus to peel or control without swapping your DoT target.

#showtooltip Fear
/cast [target=focus] Fear

Focus Spell Lock (Felhunter)

Interrupt/silence a focus caster with your Felhunter's Spell Lock.

#showtooltip Spell Lock
/cast [target=focus] Spell Lock

Defensive

Focus Death Coil

Fear-horror + heal off a focus melee that's training you — your panic-reset button.

#showtooltip Death Coil
/cast [target=focus] Death Coil

PvE addons

Deadly Boss Mods (DBM)CurseForge →Raid boss timers, warnings and pull counters. Non-negotiable for raiding — it calls out every mechanic before it happens.
WeakAuras 2CurseForge →The most powerful custom-alert framework in WoW. Track buffs, procs, cooldowns and combo points with visual auras — import strings do the setup for you.
BagnonCurseForge →Merges every bag (and your bank) into one searchable window. A quality-of-life staple on every character.
Details! Damage MeterCurseForge →Detailed damage, healing and threat meters with deep breakdowns. Lighter and more informative than the classic Recount.
Bartender4CurseForge →Full action-bar replacement — reposition, resize and hide bars, and set up the layout you actually want for your rotation.
OmniCCCurseForge →Cooldown-count text on every ability and item. Essential for tracking your rotation and defensive timings at a glance.

Full list on the Warlock addons page.

Best race (PvE)

Orchorde

Blood Fury (spell power) and Command (+pet damage) give Orc the top Horde PvE warlock output.

Gnomealliance

Expansive Mind (+5% mana) and the Engineering synergy make Gnome the best Alliance PvE warlock.

More on the best race for Warlock page.

Best professions (PvE)

Common mistakes

  • Clipping DoTs by refreshing too early, or letting them fall off entirely.
  • Forgetting the assigned Curse (a raid-wide debuff you owe the casters).
  • Under the spell hit cap, missing DoT applications.

FAQ

Is Affliction good for raiding?

Yes — high sustained DoT DPS plus the Malediction/Curse of the Elements raid debuff. It's a staple caster-camp spec.

What's the hardest part of the rotation?

Maintaining 4–5 DoTs at high uptime without clipping, especially on movement fights. A DoT-tracker addon is essential.