Nadagast, on 20 November 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:
Unfortunately, I think Affliction is so unbelievably far from being a good spec in the current state of the game. I'd love for it to be good, and I support this, but I have almost no hope that the needed changes will happen.
Depending on how exactly the aura nerf goes through next patch, Warlocks could be in a pretty fucking terrible state overall.

Exactly.
There are 2 reasons why aff is dead;
Malefic Grasp. The while spec's damage is built around this one spell.
http://simulationcra...05/Warlock.html
Check that out. About 45% of single target damage is Malefic Grasp. This is Blizzard's excuse to effectively half the damage of dots, to avoid the "problem" of multi-dotting, something aff PvP thrived on. This is now dead, and I doubt they're going to remove MG and mess up aff PvE just for PvP.
Haunt costing a shard. Really. What is this? Nerf Haunt damage, remove shard cost. Aff PvE is too high damage anyway.
Life Tap. Remember that time when Blizzard stated they want to make Life Tap cost a % of your max hp, and everyone went ballistic? Well they ninja-patched it into MoP and I've not seen a single complaint. The total lack of self healing, combined with Life Tap, I swear sometimes I end up half-dead just from dealing damage.
Solution?
- Remove Malefic Grasp and Haunt from Grimoire of Sacrifice, replace it with UA (including UA dispel), Corruption and Agony.
- Buff Siphon Life glyph (makes corr heal you) from 20% of damage done, to 100%. 20% is horrible. 100% will probably offset the life tapping required. In addition, make it heal your pet for the same amount, making Soul Link talent less of a waste of space.
- Nerf Haunt damage and remove the shard cost. Aff PvE is too high anyway, and haunt is basically always up in PvE.
- Double or triple the damage from UA dispel. It's just not doing it's job.
I think the above, plus the new Kil'jaeden's Cunning, will make aff viable without making it overpowered.
Blood Fear should be reworked to;
"Your fear is instant when used against a unit who has inflicted physical damage on you in the past 5 sec."
Keeps the survival aspect of blood fear. Removes the ability to just spam instant CC on random healers with no counter.