Uvula is currently mostly a demonology spec, but now that she's pretty much done with solo questing, I want to switch to a better build for instances/raids. I'm leaning heavily to an affliction build, and was curious what the other locks thought of THIS BUILD

I'm not a warlock, but a general rule as a caster is that anything that can give you additional chance for your target not to resist spells is worth investing all the points you can in. (Look at the wiki article on hit rating caps for more info.) You only have 2 of 5 possible points in Suppression - you might want to look for ways to up that to 5. You seem to have put just a token point in Shadow Embrace - that might be one to move there.

Good ideas!

Viraj should be checking this a little later and I'm sure she will have suggestions. Basically, you are absolutely correct in that while Demonology is great for solo'ing, it's easily the weakest spec for raids/instances. Affliction is generally considered the best for raids because the encounters can go on for some time allowing all of your DOT's to do their work; if you want to look up Valneron on the Armory, his warlock is Affliction spec and VERY high on Raid DPS in Karazhan. Destruction is also very viable, particularly for a mix of 5 mans and raids. Viraj is a PVE Destruction lork build if you want to look up that char on the Armory.

I had a point in Shadowburn a long time ago. I hated it. I found it had very little use compared to other skills available. Of course one reason i hated it is because I never seemed to use it at the right time and it always just cost me shards. You can look up Gyb in the armory too, if you want. I am also a destruction lork. I have also considered going affliction, but right now I enjoy being an aggro whore :)

I'm still Demonology spec'd for solo'ing. I'll change eventually, but I'm currently not doing anything bigger than the 5-man instances, so not as important yet. I was Destruction before the pre-BC talent changes and had lots of fun with that. I may switch to Affliction just because I haven't done that before.

p.s. Shadowburn was designed with PVP in mind. If you're not doing PVP you can most likely live without it.

p.p.s. Expect lots of SQEEEEES once Viraj responds

Yea I agree Supression would be good to improve. I am full afflication, with a bit of Demon. Shadowburn is nice but I did not want to blow 11 points to get it.

My build is PVP with a couple of points to help in PVE void walkers etc.. check it out on the armoury. I find it works well for both.

I did not put points in drain soul or tap either.

Well, it depends on what you want to do, honestly.

If you're looking to drain-tank, I would suggest putting more points into Shadow Embrace, since that will give you an additional effect for Soul Siphon, and it may help in raids - that five percent less physical damage might make a difference to your tank. If you want to fear-kite when you're soloing, I'd take the points out of Shadow Embrace and put them into Suppression.

Affliction is all sorts of goodies as far as dps goes - Valneron can reliably take me to the cleaners on the dps charts in Karazhan, frex, and once we get into Gruul, SSC, or the other twenty-five mans, you're going to want the terrific mana-efficiency that Affliction can give you. Affliction isn't flashy, but it gets the job done, and you're going to be the last clothie left standing if things go south.

It looks to me as if you are gearing yourself for a PvP build, though - I wouldn't waste five points in Demonic Embrace or two in Improved Howl of Terror if I were going for PvE. Raid-spec would dictate that if you were going to put points into Demonology at all, you'd put some points into Improved Healthstone or Improved Imp, for the stamina boost to your party or upping the healthstone hp return. I like Shadowburn for your build, because you've got the extra oomph for your shadow damage, and you're going to be building up soul shards constantly with your finishing move Drain Soul for a quick return of mana; Shadowburn will get rid of those extra shards for you.

I don't know how useful Curse of Exhaustion is; I never used it much when I was Affliction, and finally ditched that point for .. um... I forget. Suppression, I think. It's useful for kiting, and I know that Valneron's gotten good at it, so YMMV.

Ummm to me, the points at which I'd reconsider are Nightfall (strictly a PvP talent, but if you've got the points in Improved Shadowbolt, you may as well) and the full five points in Fel Concentration; in a raid, you're not going to be drain-tanking that much, so it shouldn't matter whether or not something is hitting you to disrupt your channels. Look at each of your talent choices and ask yourself when that talent would pop up, how it would be useful.

I myself am currently Destro with a side order of insta-cast Corruption, but man, now I'm missing Affliction. Hee.

Thanks for all the help. I am indeed looking for a PvE, not PvP, build; that suggested one was something I found online that looked enticing. I went with some adjustments, based on all your advice. I'm not sure it's entirely "right", but I figured I needed something to play around with, and I've gotta get back in the afflication state of mind after being demonology for so long!