The War Within Soul Harvester Warlock Talents

Soul Harvester is a new Hero talent tree for Affliction-Demonology in The War Within. At first glance, it might seem passive, but it has several deep interactions that could change how Affliction plays in the new expansion. The tree focuses on Demonic Soul, which boosts your Malefic Rapture by summoning a Demonic Soul whenever you trigger a Succulent Soul-based Soul Shard. Additionally, this effect lasts for 15 seconds every time you cast Soul Rot, now on a fixed 1-minute cooldown after removing Soul-Eater's Gluttony. Effects like Shared Fate and Quietus can quickly become very powerful, providing significant burst and priority funnel abilities.

Core Ability: Demonic Soul

The main feature of the Soul Harvester's abilities is the Demonic Soul. This power allows a Demonic Entity to merge with your soul, occasionally turning regular Soul Shards into stronger Succulent Shards. When these Succulent Shards are "used" with Malefic Rapture, they make the Rapture more powerful: it costs one less shard (making it free), increases its damage by 20%, and also summons a Demonic Soul that damages all enemies with DOT (damage-over-time) effects.

Soul Harvester: Damage pattern

Other abilities like Demoniac's Fervor, Soul Anathema, Sataiel's Ambition, and Quietus also rely on your Demonic Soul. These abilities boost its power by increasing damage directly or adding more DOT effects. Shadow of Death ties all these abilities together. It's active every minute and can be paired with other major damage boosts, creating a powerful and consistent cycle of damage.

Key Talents in the Soul Harvester Tree

Necrolyte Teachings

Although Necrolyte teachings might seem less exciting compared to other hero talents, it's important to note that there are several key talents like Improved Shadow Bolt and Nightfall that significantly enhance your Drain Soul or Shadow Bolt damage. Additionally, you are guaranteed to trigger a Nightfall effect each time you cast Haunt, thanks to the Mantle of the Harvester hero talent, which we'll discuss shortly. This particular talent is much stronger than it appears due to recent talent updates and Nightfall interactions.

Soul Anathema

Soul Anathema is a potent ability for both AOE (area of effect) and single-target scenarios. When you unleash your Demonic Soul by consuming a Succulent Shard with Malefic Rapture, it applies a damage-over-time (DOT) effect to every enemy hit by Malefic Rapture. With the removal of Sow the Seeds in The War Within, Rapture becomes our primary ability for spending shards in both single-target and AOE situations.

Additionally, Seed of Corruption can now apply Corruption to an unlimited number of targets, ensuring that Soul Anathema's effects spread to nearly every enemy you hit in AOE situations, provided you set it up correctly. As long as the enemies live long enough to experience the full 10-second DOT, Soul Anathema will be a significant source of damage.

Demoniac's Fervor

Demoniac's Fervor is a fascinating talent, similar to the old Contagion, which increased damage taken by targets of Unstable Affliction. Although this talent only boosts damage from your Demonic Soul, the soul itself deals substantial damage in both single-target and AOE scenarios. This ability to focus extra damage on a specific target is a valuable addition, enhancing the overall damage potential of Soul Harvesters.

Sataiel's Ambition

Sataiel's Ambition might seem like a simple talent, but it has hidden depth. This talent boosts the damage dealt by your Demonic Soul by 10%, enhancing other abilities. Additionally, it causes Nightfall effects to trigger your Demonic Soul, dealing damage to your enemies. Remember that Mantle of the Harvester makes Haunt always grant Nightfall when cast, so this effect occurs more frequently than it seems. This results in additional focused and AOE damage in the appropriate situations.

Choice node: Shared Fate VS Feast of Souls

When comparing Shared Fate and Feast of Souls, the choice will likely depend on developer's tuning decisions and whether they cap Shared Fate. Feast of Souls, which guarantees a Succulent Soul Shard, is very powerful in most scenarios. On the other hand, Shared Fate acts like a massively amplified DOT-based Soul Flame. This effect is particularly strong in AOE situations where enemies die quickly, channeling damage to tougher targets (or bosses) and providing extremely strong AOE cleave. It is expected that this talent row will undergo significant tuning and changes before Soul Harvester is finalized, but both abilities currently show immense potential.

Quietus

Quietus enhances your choice between Shared Fate or Feast of Souls by making your Nightfall-based abilities trigger their effects. It also boosts the damage and tick rate of Soul Anathema by 25% and 20%, respectively. While it may not be the most exciting talent, Quietus helps other talents work together more smoothly in the Soul Harvester tree. Additionally, having Drain Soul casts (empowered by Nightfall) trigger Shared Fate adds some AOE potential, making the ability more versatile in various situations.

Mantle of the Harvester

Mantle of the Harvester is the “key” that brings the Soul Harvester talents together. While the 25% faster damage from Corruption is beneficial, it's the Haunt granting Nightfall that makes this talent shine. Abilities like Quietus and Sataiel's Ambition work directly with Nightfall, triggering effects such as Soul Anathema and creating a cycle of synergy within the Soul Harvester tree. This interconnectedness makes Soul Harvester much deeper than it first appears. The capstone ability, Shadow of Death, rounds out the tree, making Soul Harvester a comprehensive and well-rounded hero talent tree.

Shadow of Death

Shadow of Death is the powerful capstone of the Soul Harvester talent tree. This ability causes Soul Rot to grant you Shadow of Death for 15 seconds. While active, casting Malefic Rapture will always summon your Demonic Soul and increase its damage by 10%. During this 15-second window, abilities like Soul Anathema, Demoniac's Fervor, and the damage from your Demonic Soul will always activate when Rapture is cast.

However, it's important to note that Soul-Eater's Gluttony was recently removed from the Affliction tree, meaning Soul Rot will have a 1-minute cooldown instead of 30 seconds. Despite this, Shadow of Death has been very enjoyable to use and shows great promise for Mythic+ and future raid testing.

Defensive and Utility Talents

Choice node: Gorebound Fortitude VS Friends In Dark Places

While always having the Soulburn effect on your Healthstone via Gorebound Fortitude is convenient, you can also spend a shard to cast Soulburn before using it to get the same effect. Although this costs a shard, which impacts your DPS, the empowered effect isn't always necessary.

However, for Friends In Dark Places, this effect can't be replicated with any "Soulburn-like" ability. It can only be obtained by selecting Friends In Dark Places, which will be the better choice for PVE settings. Dark Pact already provides a substantial damage mitigation shield, and enhancing it is even more beneficial. Only concern is how it will interact with Ichor of Devils, but since the ability is currently bugged on Alpha, we'll have to wait and see.

Choice node: Eternal Servitude VS Spirited Away

When looking at ability options, the best option is likely to be Eternal Servitude. This is because pairing it with Fel Domination and Fel Pact allows for near-instant pet summons, with Fel Domination having only a 30-second cooldown! The days of 6-second pet summons are over if you choose Soul Harvester as your Hero Talent tree.

However, the downside of Spirited Away placing a 60-second cooldown on Burning Rush is quite unfortunate and likely too restrictive compared to its original form in most situations. If the ability provided two stacks of Burning Rush or allowed casting while moving, it might be different. In its current form, though, it's unlikely to be chosen often due to the long cooldown.

Overall Conclusion

In conclusion, Soul Harvester is a great addition for Affliction Warlocks. While some parts of the tree might seem more "passive" compared to the Hellcaller counterpart, the overall empowerment it provides to Affliction is undeniably strong. Shared Fate may eventually have a target cap similar to Soul Flame, but it will remain a highly effective ability. The Demonic Soul abilities also show significant potential in various scenarios.

The initial version of both Soul Harvester and the Affliction overhaul has been impressive, and we can hope for more adjustments and fine-tuning based on feedback and testing. If you're unsure about Soul Harvester, just remember it offers infinite, instant cast pet summons, making it an even more appealing choice for Warlocks.

Final Thoughts

The Soul Harvester Warlock brings a fresh and dynamic approach to the Warlock class, promising an engaging and powerful playstyle in "The War Within" As the game evolves and additional talent trees are unveiled, Warlocks can look forward to an exciting future with diverse and potent abilities at their disposal.

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