Corruption

For Corruption, see Corruption (disambiguation).

Corruption
Corruption (10 ranks) Warlock ability 30 s. yd range 9%-14% of base mana Instant cast Corrupts the target, causing X Shadow damage over Y sec.
Properties
Class	Warlock
School	Shadow
Cooldown	None
Improvements	[Suppression], [Improved Corruption], [Improved Drain Soul], [Grim Reach], Nightfall, [Empowered Corruption], [Shadow Embrace], [Shadow Mastery], [Contagion], [Demonic Knowledge], [Pandemic], [Everlasting Affliction]
Related buff
Magic Corruption X Shadow damage every 3 seconds. Duration: Y seconds

[[Category:warlock abilities]][[Category:warlock abilities]]

Corruption is a Shadow-based warlock spell in the Affliction school that damages over time. This spell receives 120% of your spell power bonus from gear and buffs.

Rank table

Rank	Mana Cost	Damage over time	Duration	Level	Cost
1	9%	40	12	4	1
2	12%	90	15	14	9
3	14%	222	18	24	30
4	14%	324	18	34	80
5	14%	486	18	44	1 20
6	14%	666	18	54	2
7	14%	822	18	60	2 60
8	14%	900	18	65	4 60
9	14%	984	18	71	16
10	14%	1080	18	77	16

Notes

This spell is nothing more than a typical damage over time effect with nothing too exciting going for it outside of its pure damage, which can be majorly buffed with talents (see below) and gear. The spell lasts from 12 to 18 seconds, depending on which rank of the spell is being used (see above). As with most DoTs, once cast it inflicts damage upon its victim every three seconds, and continues until either the effect wears off, or the spell's victim has met its end. This spell cannot normally generate critical hits (without talent improvement).

It has a standard spell power coefficient of 120%, as predicted by the 18 second duration of the effect. This can further boosted with the [Empowered Corruption] talent, the effects of which are explained in detail in the next section.

Improvements

[Improved Corruption] provides Corruption with a potentially significant bonus to damage - up to 10% at Rank 5. Note: Prior to Patch 3.0.2, this talent reduced the cast time of Corruption. The spell is now instant cast by default, even with no talent points invested.

The Nightfall talent depends on Corruption or Drain Life, giving the potential for an instant Shadowbolt. The  [Glyph of Corruption] has the same effect, except it solely relies on Corruption.

[Shadow Mastery] will increase damage dealt by Corruption by 15% at max rank, [Contagion] by 5%, and [Demonic Knowledge] will increase damage depending on the pet you currently have out. [Empowered Corruption] increases the bonus damage coefficient from your spell damage bonus by 12% per point, and [Everlasting Affliction] adds an additional 1% of your spell damage bonus per point. Maxing out these two talents will increase the overall spell power coefficient to 120% base + 36% Empowered Corruption + 6% Everlasting Affliction = 162% total.

[Pandemic] allows the periodic damage to critically hit. [Malediction] increases the chance of these critical hits.

Corruption is an Affliction spell, and thus gains the benefits of [Suppression], [Improved Drain Soul], and [Grim Reach] talents.

[Siphon Life] adds a self-healing effect to Corruption, and also increases the damage. (Prior to Patch 3.1.0, this talent created its own DoT/HoT ability.)

 [Glyph of Quick Decay] is a Major Glyph that was added to the game in Patch 3.3.0. It decreases the time between the damage ticks of Corruption by an amount equal to your haste. With this Glyph active the warlock talent [Eradication] also decreases the time between Corruption damage ticks, even though [Eradication] does not specifically say it increases haste. This Glyph does not increase the number of DoT ticks, but rather decreases the amount of time Corruption takes to deal its full duration of damage. In this way the time between Corruption ticks is reduced as stated by the Glyph.

Tips and tactics

Corruption is considered a bread and butter 'staple' ability of warlocks. When supported with talents, it is quite mana efficient; it provides 2.00 dmg per mana in its level 77 incarnation, or up to 2.20 dmg per mana with the damage bonus from Improved Corruption factored in.

Corruption is usually preferable to [Curse of Agony] in short fights. This is because Corruption's damage is spread evenly over its duration, and its duration is only 75% that of Curse of Agony (18 seconds vs. 24 seconds). While CoA is more mana efficient (4.52 dmg per mana at max level), that efficiency is lost if the target dies before CoA completes its cycle (especially since CoA deals 50% of its damage in the last one-third of its cycle).

Corruption can be cast with your target behind you, and since it is instant cast it can also be cast while running. As such, this ability is excellent for kiting enemies. Since walking backward is much slower than running forward or strafe-running, it is always best to do one of the latter two things while attempting to kite something.

Past changes

Patch 3.0.2 (10/14/08): This ability was modified in 3.0.2 such that it is instant cast by default. Previously, one would have had to train the [Improved Corruption] talent to Rank 5 to achieve this effect. The bonuses given by Improved Corruption have been revamped in accordance with this change. It was later hotfixed to have a 120% coefficient, replacing its old 93.6% one.

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB