Seed of Corruption

Seed of Corruption
Seed of Corruption Level 60 Affliction warlock ability 40 yd range 6% of base mana 2 sec cast Embeds a demon seed in the enemy target, causing X Shadow damage over 18 sec. When the target takes X total damage from the caster or dies, the seed will inflict Y Shadow damage to all enemies within 15 yards of the target.
Usable by
Class	Warlock
Properties
Type	Offensive
School	Shadow
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Level learned	60
Improvements	[Soulburn: Seed of Corruption]
Related buff
Magic Seed of Corruption Causes X/6 Shadow damage every 3 sec. After taking Y total damage or dying, Seed of Corruption deals Z Shadow damage to the caster's enemies within 15 yards. Duration: 18 seconds

"Remember to share this with your friends. They are sure to enjoy it, too."
—Felbender Lara

Seed of Corruption, often abbreviated SoC, is an Affliction warlock Shadow-based Damage over Time spell that does Area of Effect Direct Damage after the target receives a specific amount of damage.

Notes

Seed of Corruption is a binary spell, so it will either be completely resisted (no DoT and no explosion) or land for full damage. If the DoT lands, an explosion damaging everything around it is guaranteed.

Previously, any damage (including that from other party members) could detonate SoC. Since MoP, it can now only be triggered by damage done by the warlock though if s/he has all three dots on the target, a couple of ticks is usually sufficient for detonation. Pet damage does not contribute. Furthermore, detonation also counts as damage that triggers other SoCs, leading to a cascade of explosions that contributes to massive burst AoE. SoC detonation consumes the effect of the DoT (i.e. stops the damage over time). It damages all enemies within 15 yds of the target, and both the DoT and the direct damage from the explosion can crit.

The amount of damage required for detonation scales with spell power and thus varies slightly with procs such as  [Lightweave Embroidery].

Tips and tactics

In instances, Seed of Corruption is most effective on large groups of mobs with relatively high health. [Soulburn] the initial SoC to spread [Corruption] and increase shard generation. Then tab through applying SoC and spending shards on Soulburn: [Soul Swap]. Detonation will occur more quickly on a mob with full DoTs. If they won't live long enough for a few SoC to detonate, [Rain of Fire] or multi-dotting is a better choice.

While soloing, it is difficult to use SoC because of the amount of time required to set up a large cascade, especially when taking spell pushback. If the group of mobs is large enough to warrant the use of SoC, it is probably too large for a single warlock to handle.

Patches and hotfixes

• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): No longer limited by Corruption.
  
• Patch 4.1.0 (2011-04-26): Damage has been increased by 20%.
  
• Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Damage has been increased to be more comparable to other area-of-effect abilities.
  
• Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): Seed of Corruption detonation will now obey line of sight.
  
• Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22): This spell will now interact properly with town guards when bystanders are hit by its detonation in a duel.
  
• Patch 2.0.1 (2006-12-05): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB