Corruption

Corruption
	Corruption; Level 2 warlock ability; 40 yd range; 1% of base mana; 2 seconds cast; Corrupts the target, causing (91% of spell power) Shadow damage over 14 sec.;
Properties
Class	Warlock
School	Shadow
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Level learned	2
Improvements	[Absolute Corruption], [Creeping Death], [Nightfall], [Pandemic Invocation], [Sacrolash's Dark Strike], [Tormented Crescendo], [Wrath of Consumption], [Xavian Teachings]
Related debuff
	Magic ; Corruption ; Suffering (13% of Spell power) Shadow damage every 2 sec. ; Duration: 14 seconds ;

For other uses, see Corruption (disambiguation).

The overwhelming desire for power can corrupt even those who claim to be pure.^[1]

Corruption is a warlock ability that damages over time. It is replaced by [Immolate] for Destruction warlocks.

Tips and tactics

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.

Trivia

Corruption is a basic Warlock spell in Hearthstone. The flavor text reads: "It starts with stealing a pen from work, and before you know it, BOOM! Corrupted!"
Corruption is one of Gul'dan's Basic Abilities in Heroes of the Storm.

Patch changes

Hotfix (2023-08-21): Now deals 25% increased damage in PvP combat (was 10%).
Hotfix (2023-04-06): Resolved an issue causing Corruption with [Absolute Corruption] to not be properly reflected back to the Warlock when using [Soul Swap] Exhale into a spell reflection effect.
Hotfix (2023-03-23): Fixed an issue where Corruption was dealing an extra damage tick on application.
Patch 10.0.7 (2023-03-21): Damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
Hotfix (2023-01-09): Damage increased by 5%.
Patch 10.0.2 (2022-11-15): No longer increased by 45% in PvP combat.
Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Ranks 2 and 3 converted into the [Xavian Teachings] talent.
Patch 9.2.5a (2022-08-02): Damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
Hotfix (2021-08-09): PvP damage increased by 15% in PvP situations.
Patch 9.1.0 (2021-06-29):
- Damage increased by 15%.
- Fixed an issue that prevented Corruption from also striking the Warlock's [Havoc] target.
Patch 9.0.2 (2020-11-17): Rank 3 added for Affliction at level 54: Corruption now instantly deals (13.8% of Spell power) damage.
Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13):
- Now available to all warlocks at level 2 (was Affliction only at level 3).
- Rank 2 added for Affliction at level 14: Corruption is now instant.
Hotfix (2017-12-05): Damage reduced 6%.
Hotfix (2017-06-29): Damage reduced by 15% in PvP situations.
Hotfix (2017-06-27): Damage reduced by 5%.
Patch 7.1.0 (2016-10-25): Damage increased by 10%.
Hotfix (2016-09-23): Corruption damage increased by 10%.
Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Now only available to Affliction. Damage per tick reduced by 11%, but lasts now for 14 seconds (down from 18 seconds), effectively increasing damage by 14.47%. Base tick rate is now 2 seconds, down from 3 seconds.
Patch 6.2.2 (2015-09-01): Now deals 10% less damage in PvP combat.
Patch 6.2.0 (2015-06-23): Now deals 12% more damage.
Hotfix (2014-10-17): Corruption's damage has been reduced by 10%.
Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Now learned at level 3 (was 4).
Patch 5.4.0 (2013-09-10): Damage has been increased by 10%.
Hotfix (2013-03-12): Corruption now deals 25% less damage.
Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Now replaced by [Immolate] at level 12 for Destruction warlocks.
Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.
Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Now costs 6% of base mana, down from 9%. Range now 40 yards, up from 30. Now deals damage over 18 sec, up from 12.
Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20): Will now gain the correct damage modifiers for the creature type of the target.
Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Now instant-cast.
Patch 2.0.3 (2007-01-09): Damage reduced by 10%.
Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-10): Duration reduced and damage per tick increased. Total damage over duration approximately identical.
Patch 1.1.0 (2004-11-07): Removed facing requirement.
Patch 0.11 (2004-09-29): Duration, damage, and mana cost reduced. Deals damage much faster.
Patch 0.7 (2004-06-15): Mana cost reduced. Deals damage more frequently.
Patch 0.6 (2004-04-13): Corruption will now stack with [Shadow Word: Pain].