AWOL

I'm still struggling to post regularly, in case you haven't noticed, lots of RL stuff going on which is making it increasingly difficult to keep the blog functioning as I would wish. I'm hoping that in the next few weeks things will settle down (at least for a while) and I'll be back to posting more regularly. In the meantime I'd love to here from anyone who wants to offer a guest post of a death knightly nature. Contact details on the right.

So until next time,

Suffer Well!

DK Tanking Basic Guide

I've been promising a DK tank guide for a while. Having had a bit more experience now, I thought I'd start with a look at the basics, I'm going to cover tanking in ICC in another post.

You can tank in any of three talent trees currently, there are changes planned for Cataclysm, which you can see here should you choose to. Please come back though because I'd hate for you to miss a gem of wisdom I might impart.

Here's a quick look at the differences in the trees;


Frost - early Wrath favourite and still a steady choice and my tanking tree of choice
Blood - better AoE tanking and high physical damage
Unholy - flashy, unnerving for some people to watch, but just as respectable (and fun :P) as the other two specs.

To have a look at specs, head over to www.deathknightbuilds.com and you can see them all laid out for you like a talent build buffet with glyphs on the side.

First things first.
My best advice, before you get into that dungeon or raid is to SWITCH TO FROST PRESENCE!! As a DK tanking noob, I frequently forget to do this simple and frankly, mandatory task. I've now got a mantra before raiding, Flasks, Fish, Frost presence.



If you're a new level 80 DK and thinking about tanking for the first time, my advice is to use those Emblems of Triumph to buy up T9 gear. At least a two piece kit will see you in good stead. You can use emblems to grab some i245 pieces too. Of course, in the interim, anything that drops from an Northrend HC and has tanking stats will be a good addition.

Unless you want to wait to grab an ICC 5 man weapon (or even Edge of Ruin* for ToC 5), I'd recommend getting a Titansteel Destroyer crafted. It's only i200 true, but it's a solid mace and is perfectly acceptable for running heroics and older Wrath raids, plus as it's crafted you don't have to grind for it, any BS should be able to whip one up for you. And the cost will be a lot cheaper than you might think. One note here. DKs are better equipped with a DPS weapon, don't ask me why. I've told you before I don't do the maths. It's what I've read across a few sites so that's what I've gone with.




Hmm let's think ... specs, gear ... what's next ... stats!

Def, def, def. Defense is your best friend. People talk about hitting a "def rating" and unlike things like hit rating, there is no real cap on your defense rating, but you do need a minimum level. 535 def rating will cover you for heroics, probably barring the ICC Heroics, 540 is the minimum for tanking in Naxxramus so is probably going to be your target for ICC Heroics. You can never have enough defense. As a DK, you can stick a the rune enchant of Stoneskin Gargoyle on your weapon which helps with defense, but you shouldn't use this rune to reach the def minimum. If you are struggling to hit the minimum def rating, pick up some Thick King's Amber to up it.

Following def rating, you're probably going to want to look at giving your green bar some oompf. Gems, specifically the meaty +30 stamina you get from Solid Majectic Zircon are now your best friend.

After defense and stamina, it's time to look at dodge and parry. For some reason I 've got 18% dodge and 22& parry as the figures to aim for stuck in my head but I can't find anywhere to back it up. I blame the hang over.

You'll not want to forget entirely about hit. Hit generates threat. That's why those pesky DPS can pull threat every now and then. So in between all the aggro your chucking at the mobs/boss, and all the crotch watching you're doing, between all the ducking and diving from the swinging axe, you've still got to land a punch every now and then. A little bit of haste and agility won't hurt so don't worry too much if you pick a smattering of those up. But please. For the love of the pixel gods, DO NOT EVER pick up anything that says "intellect" "spell power" "mana per second". You are not a healer. You are not a caster. You are a bad-ass-plate-wearing-hard-hitting-crotch-watching MoFo. In the words of Achmed, I KILL YOU.

So you want to prioritise

Def rating > Stamina > Dodge > Parry

Ok so I guess you're gonna want to know some kind of enchants to get now too aren't you? Not that you're greedy or anything. I've tried to include a bit of a selection where possible so you can tweak things as needed.

Head Slot -
Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector – Revered with Argent Crusade – 37 Stam and 20 defense rating

Shoulders -
Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle – Exalted with Sons of Hodir – 20 dodge and 15 defense
Or
if you're an inscriptor - Master’s Inscription of the Pinnacle – 52 dodge and 15 defense

Chest -
If you are still lacking on def rating grab – Greater Defense – 22 defense rating

otherwise it's the old faithful – Powerful Stats

Legs -
Frosthide Leg Armor – 55 Stam & 22 Agi
Jormungar Leg Armor – 45 Stam & 15 Agi


Boots
Tuskarr’s Vitality – 15 Stam & Minor Run Speed improvement
Greater Fortitude – 22 Stam

Bracers
Expertise – 15 expertise rating
Major Stamina – +40 Stamina
Fur Lining – 102 Stamina - Leatherworkers only

Gloves
Armsman – 2% threat and 10 parry rating

Expertise – 15 expertise rating

Precision – 20 hit rating
Crusher – 44 attack power

Cloak
Titanweave – 16 defense rating
Major Agility – 22 Agility
Superior Agility – 16 Agility

So I guess that's about it. If you think I've missed something please let me know and I'll stick another post together! Until then brothers and sisters, suffer well!

*Edge of Ruin is also known as that bastard axe. Because for months it didn't drop for me. Then I gets me grubby little mitts on it and two weeks later ICC arrives and this ugly bugger drops for me. Suckering suckertash.

Something Silly

Sod's Law. I do an "away from blog" post, and then I find myself with a few hours to spare.

I've decided to give you something different though. Have a look at this and then go make your own and stick it in the comments :)

Rain Stops Play

Well, that's not quite accurate. More like, Real Life + Raiding + Work stress = no blogging :(

This makes me sad. I've got a few posts bubbling away but as yet haven't had time to actually finish any of them. So, rather than keep you all waiting around for more death knightedness, here's some links to other DK blogs.

I'll be back soon.


Moody DK

Grimtorn

Skeleton Jack

Stoppable Force

Vashj'ir And Underwater Stuff

We're gunna get to ride in submarines?!!

Well hell! StoppableForce says it all.

Do I need to say more?

Blogging and Comments - Blog Azeroth Shared Topic.

Eeeek! Too many ideas in my head so need to get them down fast. Just had a quick glance over at Psynister's Notebook but didn't want to read the full blog until I'd posted my own thoughts on the latest Blog Azeroth Shared Topic - Would having no comments make you a better blogger? - because I want to give my own opinion without any outside influence.

I L O V E getting comments. First of all, it let's me know someone has actually read the damn thing, and more often than not I get the chance to delve a little deeper than I might have had room for in the blog or they present an angle I had not thought of which sheds new light on a topic.

Most of all, I just like talking about something I love, which is why I started a blog, I'm a spurious CPS Queen and hope that through all the rambling and shite I spew out some one somewhere finds it funny and/or helpful. Comments are a great way to let me know that.


Would having no comments make me a better blogger? Personally, for me, I doubt it. I've learnt most from reading other blogs and seeing how they set themselves up, from reading the opening gambits on Blog Azeroth (THANK YOU!) and the rest is just luck and moxi. I know through Google Analytics that my blog is read so even though people don't leave comments, I know there's a few people actually reading who aren't the google bots.

I believe I've grown as a blogger and whilst I try to cover the topics that I think are relevant, I write what I want to write and I write for me. I love comments, but I'm not (thank god) dependant upon them, if someone else happens to like what I've tippitty tapped onto a screen, it's a Brucey Bonus. If more than one person likes it, hell I'm like a pig in poo.

Opening Thoughts on Death Knight Changes in Cataclysm

Jumping on the Class Changes bandwagon I thought I'd kick about my thoughts on the class change for those of us of a Death Knight persuasion. This isn't too in depth, just because I've not thought about it that way yet. Skip to the end for links to a couple more in depth thinkers.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will bring with it several changes to class talents and abilities. In this preview, you'll get a glimpse at some of the new abilities, spells, and talents in store for the death knight class, along with an early look at some improvements we plan to make to the rune resource system.

New Death Knight Abilities

Outbreak (level 81): Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows death knights to apply diseases quickly when they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.

Unholy DPS rotation relies on diseases and it sounds like come the expac that's only going to be more so, giving us a quicker way to whack them on those mobs looks like a great plan. With the changes to the way runes work I'm pondering how many other attacks will drop the rune cost.


Necrotic Strike (level 83): Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For context, imagine that the death knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming heals with Necrotic Strike -- the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing would be required to bring the target back to full health.

This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when death knights could dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.

Sweet PvP trick. I'd also like to see that 8000 outright damage stomping over mobs too, if this isn't restricted to a PvP build it could be handy in a PvE environment.

Dark Simulacrum (level 85): The death knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that allows the death knight to copy the opponent's next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike Spell Reflection, Dark Simulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if you can't reflect an ability, you won't be able to copy it either.

Ding Ding Ding! Hello! I really can't wait to play with this.

Rune System Changes

While we're satisfied with the way the rune system works overall, we're making a few major changes to the mechanics that will ultimately help death knight players feel less constrained. Here's the rationale behind the changes, followed by an explanation of how the new system will work.

• In the current rune system, any time a rune is sitting idle, death knights are losing out on potential damage output. By comparison, rogues spend most of their time at low energy levels, and if they're unable to use their skills for a few seconds, that energy builds up and can be spent later, minimizing the net loss from the interruption.

• A death knight's runes, on the other hand, cannot be used until they are fully active. If a death knight ever goes more than a few seconds without spending an available rune, that resource is essentially wasted. Because the death knight is pushing buttons constantly, it can be difficult to add new mechanics to the class because the player doesn't have any free global cooldowns to use them. We can't grant extra resources or reduced cost, because there is no time to spend them. Missing an attack is devastating, and it's impossible to save resources for when they're most useful.

• Additionally, each individual death knight ability has a fairly low impact on its own, making it feel like most of the death knight's attacks are weak. The death knight's rotations are also more easily affected by latency or a player's timing being just a little off. At times, it feels like death knights aren't able to take advantage of their unique resource mechanic, which can diminish the fun.

• The new rune system will change how runes regenerate, from filling simultaneously to filling sequentially. For example, if you use two Blood runes, then the first rune will fill up before the second one starts to fill up. Essentially, you have three sets of runes filling every 10 seconds instead of six individual runes filling every 10 seconds. (Haste will cause runes to fill faster.) Another way to think of this is having three runes that go up to 200% each (allowing extra "storage"), rather than six runes that go up to 100% each.

• As this is a major change to the death knight's mechanics, it will of course require us to retune many of the class's current abilities. For example, each ability needs to hit harder or otherwise be more meaningful since the death knight is getting fewer resources per unit of time. Some abilities will need to have their costs reduced as a result.

Hmmm. I suspect this is the thing most likely to be tweaked, changed and nerfed/buffed and generally fiddled with in testing. Such a big mechanic change will take some getting used to, in the big scheme of things I've got faith in the dev team to get it right, but I do have some trepidation. I'm on the fence on this one.

Talent Changes

Next we'll outline some of the death knight talent-tree changes we're planning in Cataclysm. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a sense of how we're intending each death knight spec to perform.

• One of the biggest changes we're making is converting Blood into a dedicated tanking tree. While we feel that having three tanking trees was successful overall, it's less necessary in a world with dual-specialization. In addition, the current breakdown isn't as compatible with the Mastery-based passive talent-tree bonuses we want to add (see below). We'd rather spend time tweaking and balancing one good tanking tree rather than having a tank always wondering if they picked the "correct" tree out of three possibilities.

• Blood seemed like the best fit for tanking. Unholy has always had a strong niche with diseases, magic, and command over pets. Frost now feels like a solid dual-wield tree with Frost magic damage and decent crowd control. Blood's niche was self-healing -- fitting for a tank -- as well as strong weapon swings, which could easily be migrated to Frost and Unholy.

• Our plan is to move the most interesting and fun tanking talents and abilities to Blood. For example, you will likely see Vampiric Blood and Will of the Necropolis remain, while Bone Shield will move over from Unholy.

BOooooooOOOOo!!! In my eyes, the defining class aspect to the death knights is the versatility of all 3 trees to tank/dps in. You can effectively tank or dps in any spec, yes yes I know suchandsuch a spec is best for this and suchandsuch a spec is best for that but unless you're running ICC, you can play the game in any of the specs to tank or dps. I'll have a quite moment later to mourn the loss of bone shield. I almost feel like the dev team have given up on balancing the three trees. Yes, we get a dedicated tank tree, just like the other 3 tank classes. Yes it'll make it easier to know the spec, talents and whatnot, but, we're Death Knights. We're the only hero class in the game. We're supposed to be different. Ok. QQ over.


Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Blood
Damage reduction
Vengeance
Healing Absorption

Frost
Melee damage
Melee Haste
Runic Power Generation

Unholy
Melee damage
Melee and spell critical damage
Disease Damage

Healing Absorption: When you heal yourself, you'll receive an additional effect that absorbs incoming damage.

Runic Power Generation: This will function as the name implies, and the new rune system will make generating Runic Power more appealing.

Disease Damage: Unholy death knights will be able to get more out of their diseases, which are integral to the tree's play style.

Vengeance: This new mechanic is designed to ensure that tank damage output (and therefore threat) doesn't fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear during the course of the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as their second talent tree passive bonus. Whenever a tank gets hit, Vengeance will grant a stacking Attack Power buff equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10% of the character's unbuffed health. For boss encounters, we expect that tanks will always have an Attack Power bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10% bonuses assume 51 talent points have been put into the Blood tree; these values will be smaller at lower levels.

You only get the Vengeance bonus if you have spent the most talent points in the Blood tree, so you won't see Frost or Unholy death knights running around with it. Vengeance will let us continue to design tank gear more or less the way we do today; there will be some damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats. Druids typically have more damage-dealing stats even on their tanking gear, so their Vengeance benefit may be smaller, but the goal is that all four tanks will do about the same damage when tanking.

MOAR Diseases .... Bring it! (I'm subtly ignoring the blood tanking bits for now).

So overall, I like the look of the changes and yes I like that Unholy is getting a stronger disease based flavour, despite the fact that it's at the cost of tanking in both frost and unholy. The lovely Moody comments about the warrior/rogue similarities and as someone who plays both those classes (albeit as lowbies) I can see the comparisons and sitting somewhere between those two classes in DPS terms works for me.

Stoppable Force has more detail and is a little bit more cynical than me, but he's also thought about it more so if you find my sweeping generalisations too, well general, head on over there.

And of course, I can't let this sort of thing go by without mentioning Skeleton Jack. Simply because he's got about 3 posts on the changes including one where he's just answering comments, some people have too much time. Also more skeptical, Skeleton Jack talks about Blizz rewriting the class as a whole. I can see his point, in the end though, so much of this is subject to change, I'm not going to cry about the sky-falling, well not just yet.

You can read the all the changes and further blue comments at the Blizz Cata Forums.