Affliction Warlock Pre-Raid Gear Guide

Affliction Warlock Pre-Raid Gear Guide

Hello and welcome to Rotciv’s Affliction Warlock Pre-Raid Gear Guide! My name is Rotciv and in this guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know to gear your new level 80 affliction warlock.

This gear guide is up to date as of patch 4.0.3a, and some information may become irrelevant or even false in the future.

In this guide, I will list gear that you can acquire from Emblems, Heroic Dungeon, and Crafted gear. In addition, I will list some dungeon quest gear.

Please note that I am not listing you the BiS pre-raid gear guide. I am only listing you the gear that you need to get into raids. This guide is a mere resource for you to use not a guide that tells you “get that gear! It’s BiS!”. Play around with tools such as Rawr to give you the best DPS with these gears.

Finally, I suggest that you use the Dungeon Finder tool to run dungeons as most of the best pre-raid gear are from dungeons and emblems.

June 24, 2010 – I have updated the loot list. Lord Ahune, the holiday boss, drops new iLVL 232 cloaks that are beneficial to new warlocks. Also, I have removed the Emblems of Frost gear. All the gear from this list can be acquired without any raid whatsoever. Thank youTalton.
January 6, 2010 – Cataclysm has been out for quite some time now, and most of the people are already level 85 and ready to hit the raid. The list is now updated for the Cataclysm expansion.

Stat Priority

When looking for you gear, you will look for a certain stats. Affliction warlock will now be looking for special stats. These are: intellect, hit rating, haste, critical strike rating, and the new mastery rating.

Intellect is now the main stat for any caster and healers. Intellect provides an increase of your mana; the more intellect you have, the more mana you will have (according to Elitist Jerks, 1 intellect provies 17.53 mana). Intellect also provides spellpower, which is now removed from equipment; more intellect, more spellpower (1 intellect = 1 spellpower).

You still need 17% hit rating to be hit capped. As of Cataclysm, 17% hit rating equals to 1742 hit rating. Of course, this number can be reduced by certain things such as talents, spells, racials. For example, Misery/Faerie Fire gives 3% hit rating

Haste decreases your global cooldown (meaning more spell casts and DPS) as well as reducing your cast time. With the Cataclysm expansion, haste now reduces the time between each of our DoT’s ticks, only reducing the DoTs duration until an extra tick is received. This is important for us Affliction warlock since most of our damage comes from DoTs. Also, if you are interested in the “haste treshholds” that affliction warlock now has, please check out this link.

Critical strike rating is still the same. Although, all our DoTs can now crit.

Mastery rating is the new stat available in Cataclysm. Mastery rating essentially makes what we do best, better! Affliction warlock mastery is called Potent Afflictions. This will allows us to increase our periodic damage to increase thus more dps! However, 1% mastery does not equal extra damage. 178.28 mastery rating is the magic number. Each 178.28 mastery rating we have equals 1 mastery point. 1 mastery point equals extra damage.

In conclusion, when looking for gear, use this chart to prioritize which gear gives the best upgrade:

Int > Hit (to cap) > Haste > Crit > Mastery

Gear

The gear listed are the best gear you can get without ever stepping foot in a raid. Please use the chart above to see which gear is best for you.

The first set three gears are gear without hit rating. The second set of three gears are gears with hit rating, if you need it.

Head Slot:

1. Crown of Enfeebled Bodies – Erudax, Heroic Grim Batol
2. Je’Tze’s Sparkling Tiara – World Drop, Auction House*
3. Blinders of the Follower – Lord Walden, Heroic Shadowfang Keep

1. Helm of the Typhonic Beast – Setesh, Heroic Halls of Origination
2. Helm of Temperance – Provisioner Arok, Shimmering Expanse
3. Helm of the Typhonic Beast – Setesh, Halls of Origination

* – Je’Tze’s Sparkling Tiara is a world drop. You can pick this up in the auction house, but it would probably be expensive. The fourth best helm will be the non-heroic version of Crown of Enfeebled Bodies.

Neck Slot:

1. Dorian’s Lost Necklace – World Drop, Auction House
2h. Yellow Smoke Pendant – Grot Deathblow, Twilight Highlands
2a. Lightning Flash Pendant – Craw MacGraw, Twilight Highlands
3. Tauntka’s Necklace – High Prophet Barim, Heroic Lost City of the Tol’vir

1. Charm of the Muse – World Drop, Auction House
2. Charm of the Muse – World Drop, Auction House
3. Token of Gratitude – Vengeance for Orsis

For neck pieces with hit rating, you can either blow your cash or just run a simple dungeon quest.

Shoulder Slot:

1. Mantle of Master Cho – Siamat, Heroic Lost City of the Tol’vir
2. Mantle of Master Cho – Siamat, Lost City of the Tol’vir
3. Blight-Lifter’s Mantle – The Source of Their Power

1. Mantle of the Eastern Lords – Lord Godfrey, Heroic Shadowfang Keep
2h. Hull-Shatter Shoulders – Twilight Skies
2a. Clan-Heart Shoulders – The Loyalty of Clan Mullan
3. Vir’naal Spaulders – Trespassers in the Water

Back Slot:

1. Ritssyn’s Ruminous Drape – World Drop, Auction House
2. Cloak of Ancient Wisdom – Provisioner Arok, Shimmering Expanse
3. Periwinkle Cloak – Lady Naz’jar, Heroic Throne of the Tides

1. Shadow of Perfect Bliss – Asaad, Heroic Vortex Pinnacle
2. Shadow of Perfect Bliss – Assad, Vortex Pinnacle

For the cloak piece with hit, you’re stuck with the drop from Vortex Pinnacle, unless you want to raid old WoTLK content!

Chest Slot:

1. Dizze’s Whirling Robe – World Drop, Auction House
2. Robes of Rampant Growth – Ammunae, Heroic Halls of Origination
3. Robes of Arugal – Baron Ashbury, Heroic Shadowfang Keep

1. Robes of Orsis – Blacksmith Abasi, Uldum
2. Inquisition Robes – Rom’ogg Bonecrusher, Heroic Blackrock Caverns
3. Deathsilk Robe – Crafted, Auction House

Wrist Slot:

1. Armbands of Exiled Architect – Vanessa VanCleef, Heroic Deadmines
2. Crimsonborne Bracers – Drahga Shadowburner, Heroic Grim Batol
3. Baron Ashbury’s Cuffs – Baron Ashbury, Heroic Shadowfang Keep

1. Bracers of the Dark Pool – World Drop, Auction House
2. Sand Silk Wristband – Augh, Heroic Lost City of the Tol’vir
3. True Archaeologist’s Bracers – Doing it the Hard Way

Hand Slot:

1. Grips of the Failed Immortal – World Drop, Auction House
2. Flameboom Gloves – Provisioner Arok, Shimmering Expanse
3. Woundsplicer Handwraps – World Drop, Auction House

1. Mnemiopsis Gloves – Ozumat, Heroic Throne of the Tides
2h. Bone Fever Gloves – Grot Deathblow, Twilight Highlands
2a. Gloves of Aetherial Rumors – Craw MacGraw, Twilight Highlands
3h. Diamond Clutching Gloves – Paint it Blank
3a. Corruption Resistant Gloves – Magmalord Falthazar

Belt Slot:

1. Beauty’s Silken Ribbon – Beauty, Heroic Blackrock Caverns
2. Belt of the Depths – Crafted, Auction House
3. Cord of Raven Queen – Provisioner Whitecloud

1. Dreamless Belt – Crafted, Auction House
2. Stratosphere Belt – Grand Vizier Ertan, Heroic Vortex Pinnacle
3. Stratosphere Belt – Grand Vizier Ertan, Vortex Pinnacle

Leg Slot:

1. Breeches of Mended Nightmares – Crafted, Auction House
2. Flame-Ascended Pantaloons – Crafted, Auction House
3. Legwraps of Astral Rain – Isiset, Heroic Halls of Origination

1. Leggings of the Vir’naal – Shroud of the Makers
2. Earthinating Peasant Leggings – Troggzor the Earthinator
3. Deathsilk Leggings – Crafted, Auction House

Feet Slot:

1. Golgarok’s Tenderized Treads – Golgarok, Deepholm (100% drop, so this mob will be farmed ALOT)
2. Boots of Lingering Sorrow – Baron Silverlaine, Heroic Shadowfang Keep
3. Magma-Proof Sandals – A Fiery Reunion

1. Desert Walker Sandals – Blacksmith Abasi, Uldum
2. Slippers of the Twilight Prophet – High Priestess Azil, Heroic Stonecore
3. Sandals of the Courier – Kill the Courier

Finger Slot:

1. Ring of the Boy Emperor – Crafted, Auction House
2. Rose Quartz Band – Slabhide, Heroic Stonecore
3. Abandoned Dark Iron Ring – World Drop, Auction House

1. Signet of High Arcanist Savor – World Drop, Auction House
2. Lavishly Jeweled Ring – Admiral Ripsnarl, Heroic Deadmines
3. Band of Rays – Rajh, Heroic Halls of Origination

Trinket Slot:

Note: These trinkets are not in order, just use the best of your ability to judge which trinkets are the best.

1. Witching Hourglass – Ascendant Lord Obsidius, Heroic Blackrock Caverns
2. Anhuur’s Hymnal – Temple Guardian Anhuur, Heroic Halls of Origination
3. Gale of Shadows – Erudax, Heroic Grim Batol
4. Talisman of Sinister Order – Firing Squad
5. Harmlight Token – Night Terrors

Weapon Slot:

1. Maldo’s Sword Cane – World Drop, Auction House
2. Blade of the Burning Sun – Rajh, Heroic Halls of Origination
3. Biting Wind – Grand Vizier Ertan, Heroic Vortex Pinnacle

1. Elementium Spellblade – Crafted, Auction House
2. Modgud’s Blade – General Umbriss, Heroic Grim Batol
3. Beak of Julak-Doom – Julak-Doom, Twilight Highlands (100% drop chance, so this mob will be farmed ALOT).

Off Hand Slot:

1. Heartbound Tome – World Drop, Auction House
2h. Air Raid Beacon – Krazz Works!
2a. Skylight Beacon – Doing It Like a Dunwald
3. Book of Origination – World Drop, Auction House

1. Beauty’s Favorite Bone – Beauty, Heroic Blackrock Caverns
2. Dungeoneering Guide – Crafted, Auction House
3. Shining Scorpid Eye – Venomblood Antidote

Wand Slot:

1. Wand of Dark Worship – World Drop, Auction House
2. Cookie’s Stirring Rod – “Captain” Cookie, Heroic Deadmines
3. Wand of Untainted Power – Forgemaster Throngus, Heroic Grim Batol

1. Theresa’s Booklight – World Drop, Auction House
2. Corla’s Baton – Corla, Herald of Twilight, Heroic Blackrock Caverns
3. Darklight Torch – Portal Overload

Author’s Note: With the Reforging option we get in Cataclysm, it is much easier to get to 17% hit cap. Just follow this guideline:

1. Are you hit capped?
a. Yes: Reforge any extra hit to haste where possible.
b. No: Reforge mastery/crit to hit.
2. Does it have haste on it?
a. Yes: Go to the next rule.
b. No: Reforge mastery/crit to haste, leave hit has it is.
3. Reforge mastery to crit if the above has been done.

Mix and match with these gears, gems, and enchants to get 17% hit rating as well as high dps. Use tools as Rawr to make your life easier with mix and matching. I will also like to thank Wowhead for their amazing database of items, Elitist Jerks for their amazing guide to ANY classes, as well as Jame for providing a resource for everything from leveling to raid guides.

Have fun!

-Rotciv.