Unstable Affliction

Unstable Affliction, a Warlock Bracers rune, was changed in WoW Forever: required level increased from 1 to 40, cost changed from 15% of base mana to 200 Mana, Shadow damage 242 in Classic Era, 86 in Forever, tooltip now says "Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing 516 damage over 18 sec." and "In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause 172 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec.", rank text none to Rank 1, updated description variables. Now 200 Mana, 30 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, requires level 40. Full tooltip comparison with Classic Era below.

Applied by Engrave Bracers - Unstable Affliction and taught by Rune of Affliction. Runes and engraving in WoW Forever →

Unstable Affliction tooltip: Classic Era vs WoW Forever

The same tooltip players see in-game, side by side, with each changed line marked.

Classic Era Oct 27, 2026

Unstable Affliction

Shadow school

15% of base mana · 30 yd range · 1.5 sec cast

Requires level 1

Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing level-scaled damage over 18 sec. In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause level-scaled damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec. Only one Unstable Affliction or Immolate per Warlock can be active on any one target.

242 Shadow damage every 3 sec. If dispelled, will cause 549 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec.

Forever Oct 22, 2026

Unstable Affliction

Rank 1 · Shadow school

200 Mana · 30 yd range · 1.5 sec cast

Requires level 40

Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing 516 damage over 18 sec. In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause 172 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec. Only one Unstable Affliction or Immolate per Warlock can be active on any one target.

86 Shadow damage every 3 sec. If dispelled, will cause 172 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec.

changed value added in Forever removed in Forever

Also changed behind the tooltip: spellLevel (not shown in a tooltip line). See the full field diff below for both values side by side.

Raw field diff every changed column

Field	Classic Era	Forever
baseLevel	1	40
description	Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing ${$m16$<power>/100} damage over $d. In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause ${$m1$m3/100$<power>/100} damage to the dispeller and silence them for $427719d. Only one Unstable Affliction or Immolate per Warlock can be active on any one target.	Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing $o1 damage over $d. In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause ${$m1*$m3/100} damage to the dispeller and silence them for $427719d. Only one Unstable Affliction or Immolate per Warlock can be active on any one target.
effects	[ { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 3, "auraPeriod": 3000, "basePoints": 242, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "dieSides": 0, "effect": 6, "index": 0, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 }, { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 0, "auraPeriod": 0, "basePoints": 60, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "dieSides": 0, "effect": 77, "index": 1, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 }, { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 0, "auraPeriod": 0, "basePoints": 227, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "dieSides": 0, "effect": 3, "index": 2, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 } ]	[ { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 3, "auraPeriod": 3000, "basePoints": 86, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "effect": 6, "index": 0, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 }, { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 0, "auraPeriod": 0, "basePoints": 60, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "effect": 77, "index": 1, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 }, { "amplitude": 0, "aura": 0, "auraPeriod": 0, "basePoints": 200, "chainAmplitude": 1, "chainTargets": 0, "effect": 3, "index": 2, "miscValue": [ 0, 0 ], "pointsPerResource": 0, "realPointsPerLevel": 0, "triggerSpell": 0, "variance": 0 } ]
powerCost	0	200
powerCostPct	15	0
spellLevel	1	40
subtext	none	Rank 1
descriptionVariables	$power=${6.568597+0.672028$PL+0.031721$PL*$PL}	none

Unstable Affliction changes between Forever builds

Differs from Classic Era in every Forever build since Sep 16, 2026

Other client rows named Unstable Affliction

The game client ships one more row named Unstable Affliction (a creature's copy or an internal duplicate, not something a player casts). This page is the player ability; the other keeps its own page.

See every changed record in the Oct 22, 2026 build →

Questions about Unstable Affliction

Was Unstable Affliction nerfed in WoW Forever?

Unstable Affliction is listed as changed, not nerfed or buffed: none of its changes is graded as a buff or a nerf in WoW Forever compared with Classic Era. What changed: required level increased from 1 to 40, cost changed from 15% of base mana to 200 Mana, Shadow damage 242 in Classic Era, 86 in Forever, tooltip now says "Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing 516 damage over 18 sec." and "In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause 172 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec.", rank text none to Rank 1, updated description variables.

What changed for Unstable Affliction in WoW Forever?

Required level increased from 1 to 40, cost changed from 15% of base mana to 200 Mana, Shadow damage 242 in Classic Era, 86 in Forever, tooltip now says "Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing 516 damage over 18 sec." and "In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will cause 172 damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 sec.", rank text none to Rank 1, updated description variables. The Classic Era and WoW Forever tooltips are shown side by side on this page.

Which class gets Unstable Affliction in WoW Forever?

Unstable Affliction is a Warlock rune for the Bracers slot in the WoW Forever client.

Read from the Oct 22, 2026 build (1.60.1.70532), compared against Classic Era Oct 27, 2026 (1.15.9.70576) ·synced Oct 27, 2026 · how we read this → · report a wrong value