Hungering Cold

So...Deathknights nowadays...

2011-09-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

First I should just touch up a bit on my previous post title. This time around I went Horde thus the "Back in Red". I figured that my entire WoW career I had been Alliance and it was time to shake things up a bit and see what it was like on the other side of the fence.

Now, onward to my assessment of Deathknights!

Disclaimer: I really don't mean to be negative, I really don't.

I want my old Deathknight back. The DK was an unique class, each tree was raid viable DPS, some trees you had more then one build that was raid viable DPS. In my prime of raiding the 25 man I ran with had 3 DKs - Blood (me), Frost (he was DW, but 2H Frost was also viable) and Unholy. Blood had two DPS builds (you could go far enough into Unholy for a Pet or you could not - I preferred no pet), Frost had two DPS builds (DW and 2H), Unholy only had one but for a class we had 5 different DPS builds that were raid viable. For tanking as long as you took 5/5/5 you could be raid viable - heck you could even DW tank (I was a DW tank offspec). So we had 5 raid viable DPS builds and 4 raid viable tank builds. I loved this. No other class had this.

What happened???

Deathknights were taken and then forced into the square peg so they looked and felt just like any other class in the game. We now have 1 tanking tree (Blood - I am major QQ'ing about this as I loved Blood DPS) and 1 PvP/DPS tree (Frost) and then there's Unholy. Now some can make due as Unholy in raiding but 2H Frost > Unholy and DW Frost > 2H Frost > Unholy.

I'm really not even going to go over the butchery to the class trees as I'm still sighing over this. I really really really dislike that they were shortened like this. Yes there was some fluff and abilities that weren't used as much. But nowadays people can just put all their points in one tree and grab anything without ANY thought and still be able to perform - what's with that?? Why even have trees then? Just should have the summary page where you pick Blood (Tanking), Frost (DPS/PvP) or Unholy (Redheaded Stepchild) and you get the abilities that were in that tree. I shouldn't type things like this...they might come true.

Back in Red!

2011-09-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

I decided to fire up the ole computer and reinstall WoW and give the new expansion a new go. This time I'm going to take a more relaxed approach (if I can /twitch) to the game and class.

I did level up to 85 and was forced out of my beloved Blood DPS spec, but more on that to come with the next post. Right now I'm working on setting up my game pad to work my rotation and work it good.

WTB: ArP & STR | WTS: Haste & STA

2009-05-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

A gear guide for attainable heroic non-hard mode Blood spec'd Deathknights.

Head

Conqueror's Darkruned Helmet | Thorim, Emblem Vendor | Link

Neck

Frigid Strength of Hodir | Hodir - Hard | Link

Favor of the Dragon Queen | Malygos | Link

Shoulder

Conqueror's Darkruned Shoulderplates | Yogg-Saron | Link

Shoulderplates of the Eternal | Auriaya | Link
Back

Drape of the Faceless General | General Vezax - Hard | Link
Drape of the Drakerider | Razorscale | Link
Chest

Conqueror's Darkruned Battleplate | Hodir, Emblem Vendor | Link
Steelbreaker's Embrace | Iron Council | Link
Wrist

Bitter Cold Armguards | Hodir - Hard | Link
Decimator's Armguards | Kologarn | Link
Hands

Conqueror's Darkruned Gauntlets | Mimiron | Link
Waist

Clockwork Legplates | XT-002 Deconstructor | Link
Feet

Melancholy Sabatons | Malygos | Link
Finger

Mjolnir Runestone | Thorim | Link
Weapon

Rune Edge | Iron Council | Link
Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned | General Vezax | Link
Sigil

Sigil of the Vengeful Heart | XT-002 Deconstructor | Link

The items in red are the items that I am currently wearing.

This is my personal gear list, when I raid I don't bid on anything that's not on this list. I included a few hard more drops so I can gauge where the next upgrade comes from. This is not a Blood BIS gear list, as the majority of those items come from hard mode, and as my guild isn't clearing everything on hard mode having that BIS list doesn't do me a lot of good.

Incidental Damage and You - Or, Why nerfing Unholy Blight won't do a damn thing

2009-05-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

We think Unholy dps is probably too high on fights with adds, which ends up being a lot of Ulduar bosses. From looking at the numbers, the main culprit seems to be using Death and Decay, Unholy Blight, Pestilence and Blood Boil all together. None of those are a problem alone, but they work really well together. Unholy Blight is the spell we would most likely change. It has never really found a niche.

Ghostcrawler
Lead Systems Designer

So there you have it, Unholy Blight is getting tuned down. But will that really help with Unholy's high damage output? I highly doubt it. The problem is that topping the meters is what it's all about as a DPS class - well topping the meters without pulling aggro or dying. So at the end of the night if you look at WWS or Wow Web Meter you'll see something like this for total outgoing damage...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------> Unholy DK

--------------------------------------------------------------> Frost DK

-----------------------------------------------> Blood DK

First glance some might think "Lawlz, those two other DKs are slacks!" but in reality it's from the incidental damage that Unholy does in it's single target rotation.

Lets break down the abilities for a single target rotation for each spec (single target rotations here, no DnD, no Pest).

Unholy

Ebon Plaguebringer: Your Crypt Fever morphs into Ebon Plague, which increases magic damage taken by 13% in addition to increasing disease damage taken. Improves your critical strike chance with weapons and spells by 3% at all times.

Wandering Plague: When your diseases damage an enemy, there is a chance equal to your melee critical strike chance that they will cause 100% additional damage to the target and all enemies within 8 yards. Ignores any target under the effect of a spell that is cancelled by taking damage.

Desecration: Your Plague Strikes and Scourge Strikes cause the Desecrated Ground effect. Targets in the area are slowed by 50% by the grasping arms of the dead while you cause 5% additional damage while standing on the unholy ground. Lasts 12 sec.

Unholy Blight: A vile swarm of unholy insects surrounds the Death Knight for a 10 yard radius. Enemies caught in the area take 48 Shadow damage per sec. Lasts 20 sec.

Rage of Rivendale: Your spells and abilities deal 10% more damage to targets infected with Blood Plague. Also increases your expertise by 5.

So as an Unholy DK you start your rotation with PS - IT, now you have Frost Fever, Blood Plague and now Ebon Plague on your target and are doing 10% addtional damage right off the bat because of RoR. Wandering Plague now spreads these 3 diseases to all enemies within 8 yards. The Unholy DK is now standing on Unholy Ground and doing an additional 5% damage and then uses Unholy Blight (which is shadow damage).

Frost

Howling Blast: Blast the target with a frigid wind dealing 518 to 562 Frost damage to all enemies within 10 yards. *Glyph of Howling Blast: Use: Your Howling Blast ability now infects your targets with Frost Fever.

Glacier Rot: Diseased enemies take 20% more damage from your Icy Touch, Howling Blast and Frost Strike.

GR will only take effect from the Frost DK's 2nd HB as the intial HB will apply FF (when glyphed - and it should be glyphed).

Blood

Heart Strike: Instantly strike the target and his nearest ally, causing 50% weapon damage plus 368, total damage increased by 10% for each of your diseases on the target.

So in order for the cleave to hit a 2nd target both need to be in front of the DK...woo?

Basically, the nerf to UB won't do a dent to Unholy's incidental damage because of how the encounters were made in Ulduar and Unholy has too many AoE tools. UB was the icing on the cake and Blizz is just making the icing less sweet - nothing else.

The problem is that there will still be a vast amount of QQ'ing from the masses as they don't look behind the numbers to see why Unholy is inflated. Maybe Blizz should come up with their own parsing meter to offset this so they can make a column like "Total Damage done to the Boss" and with that they should make it so that shields and other disc abilities show up.

1 kg Bloodworms for $20!

2009-05-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Great deal eh? I picked these up this past weekend at my local spring fish auction along with a rather nice light for a planted tank I have going. The only bad part was that the cooler I brought wasn't big enough as these guys were frozen flat and my cooler was more cubed. Which meant that when I took a detour to the race track to bet on the Ponies racing in the Kentucky Derby they started to thaw. Not so bad, if you don't mind your kitchen smelling like a bait shop on a hot summer day.

So, Bloodworms, good, bad or indifferent?

Bloodworms

Before 3.1 they were considered a leveling talent as they soaked in healing and would sometimes run off to go attack another encounter of baddies down the hall. The psycho temperament has been fixed, but they still will soak in healing. However, with how AOE heavy encounters are in Ulduar I really don't see that being an issue because they'll die before they're able to lap up some heals.

So what would you give up in order to get Bloodworms? - Mark of Blood and Vampiric Blood - Both of which consume a Blood Rune and a GCD.

How much DPS do your worms do? Not much, reports coming in as little as 30 DPS to as high as 90 DPS. So lets put this all together...

30-90 DPS Increase > No DPS Increase + Consumes Blood Rune + GCD

I use Vampiric Blood as my "Oh shit!" ability, but usually at that time it's a wipe or going to be, so I don't get much use out of it. My role in a raid is DPS, so if I have 2 floater points I'm going to put them into something that can actually increase my DPS.

TLDR: Bloodworms r gud mmkay?

Pet Management and why we're not Hunters

2009-05-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

So last night I tried out the 44/0/27 spec as I have been reading some good things about it. Basically you give up Dancing Rune Weapon and Blood Gorged for Unholy Blight and the Perma-Pet. Since the drastic nerfings of DRW so that Arena Blood DK's can't smoke their opponents, it made the 51 point talent rather lack luster for us PVE guys and has been put on the same table as Unholy Blight - which is a 21 point talent. So the real question came down to this for me...

DRW + Blood Gorged < Unholy Blight + Perma Pet

It's great to read other's thoughts and experiences on different builds but I'm more of a practical guy, I like to see things in practice before deciding. So that's what I did last night, put my new 44/0/27 build into 25 man Ulduar Practice.

First rule when raiding with a pet = Put your pet on passive

First Boss: Iron Council

Rotation is the same, just need to keep UB going at all times - Crap, overload! Put the pet on defensive then back to passive to peel him. Awesome, I spent more time then I would have liked making sure my pet was doing the right thing that I took a bit too long getting back into melee range after Overload.

Second Boss: Freya

Lots of things going on in this fight, sucked to have to micro-manage my pet. The fight went something like this for me...

RL: "Everyone on the Stormlasher"
Me: Hit Pet Attack and start my rotation on Stormlasher
RL: "Switch to the Water Elemental"
Me: Stop Attacking; Target Water Elemental; Pet Attack
RL: Tree up!
Me: Stop Attacking; Target Tree; Pet Attack; I start to attack
RL: Get the Snaplasher to 30%
Me: Stop Attacking; Target Snaplasher; Pet Attack; I Start to attack
RL: Finish up the Stormlasher!
RL: Tree Up!
Me: Stop Attacking; Target Tree; Put Pet on Defensive, Put Pet on Passive; Go to attack Tree - Tree is down, go back to Lasher; Pet Attack
RL: Who's ghoul is still on the Snaplasher!?
Me: Mine wasn't

TLDR: Correctly micro-managing your pet as melee sucks. In Naxx it wasn't an issue because it was Face-rollable easy, Ulduar there seems to be a bit more components for the fight. As Melee if there is a rune on the ground on the melee I have to move out of the way and then I have to micromanage my pet to do the same, which takes up time. As my Hunter I just keep standing where I am and can easily control my pet as I am not having to move myself first. I'm going back to my 51/2/18 spec, not because I don't think that the 44/0/27 sucks, but rather it's really good on paper but has some drawbacks in practice. Unholy DK's do get the perma pet but I have not seen many correctly manage their pet, I mean it is a whole other kettle of fish. And as a Blood DK I need to spend my time setting up my HS spam, not making sure my pet stays out of fires/voidzones/water walls/etc.

Why WoW = Boring

2009-04-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks or so I have found myself un-eager to just log into the game. I have not raided the past week and I haven't logged in for 3 or 4 days. WoW to me has become very boring as it's mind numbing easy. Pre-3.1 I would hit 2 buttons and be #1 DPS, now I hit 3 buttons and I'm in the top 3 for DPS. Yay?

In EQ2 I was "The Ranger", EQ2 didn't have any mods to time your auto shot or to help you improve your DPS, either you knew how to play and could time your shots and sky rocket to #1 DPS or you didn't and you'd be #15 DPS. There was no easy mode, either you were good or you sucked. I raided with another Range for while, we had pretty comparable gear yet she couldn't get in the top 8 DPS to save her life while I was leading the charts by a fair margin. There was no face rolling, there was no easy mode to success, you had to work, and if you worked successfully you were rewarded.

I then went to WoW and picked up a Hunter to play in Burning Crusade. I did the "ctrl v" and "ctrl c" to a macro, I put that macro on my mouse wheel. All I had to do to get #1 DPS was roll my mouse wheel. "Oh look, I'm standing on fire!" side step left and continue twirling that mouse wheel - How fucking dull. So when Deathknights were announced I was excited to get out of my mouse wheeling class. Well guess what...DK's are easy, all classes are easy, raiding is easy, this game is easy, I get bored with easy.

Bring the Player not the Class...

That was the quote of the X-Pac, and I believe it to be the major downfall of it. Now every single class has the same buffs as every other. There is no uniqueness, there is no difference, everyone is the same - yay?

I told people I'd raid tonight because they need my DPS, but honestly I'd rather go to Petco and buy some black sand substrate and change out the sand on Bob's tank (Bob is my betta). And hopefully they'll have some shrimp as I need a cleanup crew in his small lil tank. I could then maybe do dishes that I haven't done in...two weeks maybe? Yes I'd rather be cleaning crusty dishes then raiding as it would be more exciting to me.

Seriously, I can remember when I couldn't wait to log in to game and that going any longer then a day sucked. Now it's just meh.

First Impressions

2009-04-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Talent Spec & Glyphs: 51/2/18

Glyph Choices: Will be replacing the Plague Strike and Icy Touch glyph with DRW and Dark Disease. Servers went online late and I was using Glyph of Rune Tap, Blood Strike and Obliterate - None of which would effect me in the slightest with my new 3.1 build so I just picked up two glyphs that would at least be used.

Below is a breakdown of my performance for our Ignis attempts.

Attempt # | DPS | *Effective Self Healing | Length of Fight

#1 | 3,199 | 26,562 | 1:28
#2 | 4,576 | 38,900 | 1:51
#3 | 4,790 | 34,392 | 1:53
#4 | 4,440 | 16,169 | 1:31
#5 | 3,446 | 20,665 | 1:28
#6 | 3,454 | 23,907 | 1:47
#7 | 3,884 | 23,095 | 1:48

*Effective Self Healing: This is the healing done to myself that was not over healing. For example in each encounter I would heal myself for 80k-85k but a lot of that is over healing done to me so I didn't count that. Only counted the healing done by myself to myself that actually healed me.

I did not use Hysteria or DRW in any attempt.

Rotation was more of a priority system of keeping diseases applied and making turning F/U Runes into D Runes. Basic rotation I followed was...

PS - IT - DS - HS - HS - DS - HS - HS - HS - HS

First impressions: DPS'ing is ezmode now, seriously easy to DPS. I was amazed at just how easy it was to DPS with this spec as my previous Diseaseless build required setup to burst down targets.

I'm still not comfortable with AoE type fights as I've been in a spec where AoE was laughable - the potential is there but we'll see what it's like once I can fight a pack of mobs.

I feel that this spec can compete with the heavily favored Unholy spec and can shine on fights like Ignis where the sole component is to actually survive. In pretty much every attempt I was one of the last to actually die as I can actually heal myself rather well when taking periodic damage.

Also I'm toying with the idea of doing a double DPS setup for my dual spec instead of a DPS/Tank setup. Raiding tonight will give me a better idea on how much AoE will be necessary on Boss fights as well as more information on Blood AoE.

And we're off!

2009-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Spring is here, and there are many great things that come with it. Flowers budding, trees turning green, birds chirping and other Nancy crap. The thing that I enjoy about spring is the Horse Track will be opening again here shortly. It's a great place to bet on some ponies and play some cards and breath in the fresh air that's filled with the scent of horse manure and cigar smoke. Honestly I just go for the $1 beer and hot dogs and then cringe at the price of mini donuts. But this year spring has another flavor - The reconstruction of my entire class 5 months after it was created.

Yay?

So I spent the last 5 months learning and playing with abilities that some were fundamentally changed - go go Blizz! Some may say that Deathknights needed toning down in PvP thus why some PvE abilities got the axe - that's awesome, I don't PvP. I am purely a PvE DK - why some might ask, because I arena'd in BC as a Hunter with a Resto Druid...45 minute matches killed PvP for me.

Before I get in on this latest and greatest Blog post, I want to add that they did change Hungering Cold and glyph'd it's just about where I said it should be to make it useful - damn I'm good.

Hi, my name is Kaleyen, I'm a Blood Deathknight of the guild Delirium and I want to Dual Wield...waitwut? Yeah I still think they should have added some DW talents to the Blood tree as the reason why DW was so strong prior to 3.1 is that all the talents were condensed into the lower talents of 2 trees instead of using all 3 trees to balance.

Anyways, the big debate with Blood is if DRW is worth the setup over a much easier to use Unholy Blight. A lot of people prefer UB as it's extremely easy to manage - just hit a button and you have AoE damage swarming around you. I do like the fact that Blood can get some better AoE damage but at what cost? Oh yeah, it's burst...wait, don't I like this spec for bursty damage? Damn...

I do plan on going with a 51/2/18 spec as it requires setup, some thought process, some micro-managing of your RP to get the most out of your DRW and DS. I don't like hitting 1 button and getting DPS numbers (I played a Hunter back in BC and played BM a bit - yay clicking on one button for hours on end?). As to my DW brethern - EP is stackable now?

And the Award goes to...

2009-03-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

ME!

So there's some talk out on the blogger street that I am "teh awesome". And truth be told, who am I to say differently eh? Dueg from Holy Dueg is the man who showed me just how great I am, without such I would be just any other Deathknight. But it's true, the picture below is worth a million words - yes it's too good for just a measly thousand.

When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.

List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself.

1. I have always liked my fruits and vegetables even as a kid. One of my favorites (and still is today) is steamed cabbage.
2. I am an extremely stubborn individual - Which the term "extremely" doesn't even begin to cover it.
3. I have a passion for animals, I always try to take them in if I can. Which is how I ended up with 2 additional dogs and a cat.
4. I'm into fish! No - not eating them (I actually hate fish when it comes to eating them). But I'm into fish keeping, I get all giddy and excited like a kid waiting for Christmas when planning out a new tank.
5. I make some weird noises when I sleep - not just talking about snoring here!
6. I "should" actually wear glasses, but I don't, ever.
7. I lost my wallet over the weekend, found it several days later in the freezer.
8. I use lip balm from time to time over the winter cause it gets -60 Windchill up here.
9. I live in the midst of corn fields where as I'd love to live in the mountains - Alaska would be nice! (Even colder, woot!).
10. I don't ever go out on the lakes here in the winter even when there's 4 feet of ice on em.

3.1 DK Changes, Guild Changes, Me Changes?

2009-03-16T11:58:00.001-07:00

So I haven't really written anything on my thoughts on all the upcoming changes Blizz making to Deathknights. If you haven't seen them all yet (and there are a lot) I'd head on over to MMO Champion and read over them, and while you're there look at the Tier 8 armor because it looks hot. My first thought about all of this is simply - So, obviously they didn't get DK's right the first swing. What I mean by that is that we aren't really seeing some minor tweaking to the class, we're getting a complete overhall. DPS, Tanking, PvP it's all changing and there is still more to come, so it just raises the question "Are Deathknight's almost finished?", of which nobody has the answer to.

From a PvE DPS standpoint I'm really not minding the changes too much, obvious some nerfs but I view it as a culling of the weak. As Blood I really like the new direction of our base FU ability - which is now starting to favor Death Strike over Obliterate. I will admit I did create and participate in threads over on the live forums pushing for this change. One more change I would like to see on it is DS (Death Strike) added to the Sigil of Awareness with the other two FU abilities as well as to the Tier 7 gear. I understand that we'll be getting new gear in Uldaur with new set bonuses, but we're going to be stepping into new content not in this new gear, but with our old Tier 7 gear, so I do see it as something that would greatly benefit Blood as Blood is the only 2H build that come 3.1 won't get any benefit from them. I am confused as to why they are nerfing some Blood and Frost abilities while making the Unholy tree more attractive when the goal was to have more DK's stray away from Unholy. I do get that Blood has too much burst for PvP right now so they're taking all that way...but hey, the reason why I like Blood for PvE DPS is the burst, and I don't PvP. The way I DPS is all through throttling my burst, I build up my RP and get my runes ready then pop Hysteria, DRW and go through a basic OB x2, HS x2 Rotation and then hit ERW (Empowered Rune Weapon) and do it again and see 10k DPS spike! Then 15 seconds later I will start to throttle down, down, down then once my CDs are back up I'll do it again. For me, it's a fun play style that I enjoy, I really don't care if the above can /faceroll their way to high Arena ratings (besides, isn't that what rogues have been doing for 4 seasons now?). But who knows what future changes will take place to make what I wrote above useless information. Things seem to change every week so I'm sure if there are any new patch notes today or tomorrow we'll see some more DK DPS nerfs.

As for guild changes, Khaeli and I left our previous guild after I was called Hitler and she was called a Nazi because we supported when our Guild Leader wanted to post WWS reports. We're now apart of a more dedicated raid guild and I really hope it works out as the people seem both nice and informed (I actually had good DK conversations about the future of the class and current PTR changes, this is vastely different from my previous guild where there wasn't any mutual sharing of information, I was just called upon to answer questions and go through gear/gems/enchants/specs/etc. and find where people could use some help). It's been awhile since I was apart of a raiding group that could actually perform, have it's members live up to standards while still having drunken Vent nights (I'm not sure how this guild would handle a drunken Kaleyen IRL - I think I'll wait to test them with that if I make it past recruit). I really hope that Khaeli and I can surpass their standards as they test us with Heroics. I know that Khaeli gets a tad upset because her class/spec (Disc Priest) really has a difficult time healing a group as it's more about single target damage absorption and she gets really hard on herself when someone dies. She has mentioned that when she goes to play on her Resto Druid just how extremely easy it is to keep a group up compared to her Priest.

As for my self changes...in my interview for my new guild they were very interested in me and tanking as I mentioned in my application that I don't mind changing specs to suit the guild's needs and that I do know how to tank as a DK. Now, this does have me nervous as I really haven't tanked anything in 25 man content nor do I have a decent tank set or even a spec in mind. When I joined my previous guild as a tank and was asked to go DPS, I pretty much stopped reading all my DK tank forums as I had to be a quick learner on DK DPS. So now I might find myself in the opposite position and need to freshen up on Tank specs and gemming. As a DPS DK I am confident in my ability to DPS as I have done so in the 25 man raid environment and it's just what I do. But as for Tanking, I'm slightly nervous as I don't want to be judged so much on an aspect of game play I have set aside for the better half of three months to focus on DPS. I know I can be a great tank as it's all about awareness, of which I do have, it's the whole "Join a raiding guild and be judged on role that I haven't previously done in a raid environment" bit that has me nervous. We'll see...

DK & Priest LF a Home!

2009-03-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

No, we're not guildless...but we're getting close. 2 people left the guild last night, 2 others I know are transferring servers and two others are on the verge of leaving, which doesn't include Khaeli and myself. The thing is, the 6 people above are frustrated for exactly the same reasons we are yet the officers don't care because their alts are getting purples. I don't want to leave LT, I want people to want to give a damn and actually try to play their class correctly.

So, I have decided to make a post describing the perfect guild for Khaeli and I.

Raiding Guild: Raids 3-5 times a week starting at 7 or 8 PM CST.

The guild member's and officers have the same agenda - to kill shit. Not to gear up alts or make sure that there are enough people to run a second 25 man raid for their alts. We want to be around people like ourselves - people who are never satisfied with their raiding performance and are always striving to do better the next raid yet have to get up at 6am to get to work the next morning. We don't need a guild that is top on a server clearing everything in one attempt, we do need a guild that it's members know how to play their class (aka no healers casting lesser heal please!). We want to be apart of a core group of people like this that we can help the guild progress through content, we want to be around compentant people...

Is this too much to ask?

Apparently it is...I made a post on our guild forums asking what direction is LT going to be taking in the new expansion because our core raiders are tired of spending 4+ hours clearing Construct and Spider wing in Naxx25 because half the raid is alts who don't know how to play their main class, let alone an alt class. Two officers responded (1) We're going to continue to gear out alts (2) Leave the guild then if you're frustrated.

The first officer (1) who responded dinged his level 80 Shaman this past weekend and brought him into a Naxx 25 wearing greens and did 1k DPS but changed the looting rules after the raid started so he could get gear on his alt for less DKP.

The second officer (2) who said that those feeling frustrated should leave has been bringing his mage alt to all the raids the past 3 weeks and has gotten a nice little collection of tier gear and still can't break 2k DPS and can't see where there's a problem.

Meanwhile the core raiders who carry these people through are getting more and more frustrated and are starting to leave. Khaeli and I don't want to leave the guild...we the officers to realize how selfish they are, we want the members to realize that doing 1.5k DPS in full 25 man gear is unexceptable, we want members who are on raid heals who are healing the MT/OT and themselves that they are not doing their jobs properly and need to fix it.

But I guess we want too much for this guild...

Weekend Observations & Thoughts

2009-03-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of thoughts about the 3.1 patch notes in general and even more about the proposed changes to the class. Most of which is me looking at the changes as a whole and worrying that spec diversity will soon be a thing of the past. But what this post is going to be about is this past weekend's happenings.

Khaeli and I were awarded the status of "Raider" in the guild, it was a long over due promotion as we were told 2 weeks earlier by the guild leader "LOL! You two still aren't promoted yet? That's an oversight by your Class Leaders, I'll get it sorted out". And there are people with the Veteran Raider tag that only raid Vanilla WoW raid zones at 80.

So I'm going to start off with the idea of Class Leaders. I actually like the idea and it would be a great way to pass off some administrative duties of the guild leader and officers. However, the Deathknight Class Leader is a Paladin (His BC main was a Paladin, went DK for the WoTLK expansion but when he finally started to raid in LK he went on a 25 man Naxx run on his Paladin and used his BC DKP on the Betrayer of Humanity and decided that now his main is going to be the Paladin yet he still is the DK CL) who logs in about twice a week and raids once every other week. His knowledge of the class is lacking but overall he's a nice guy, certainly not what I would consider worthy of the CL position. He actually told me that he's going to pass me the DK CL so he can be the Paladin CL - Well there's only 1 raiding DK in my guild and it's me, so it's not that hard of a job. However 3 seperate incidences popped up that have left me just dumb founded and have shown me that I am really not appreciated as a person who knows their class.

~Brief Backgound~
I was a tank until level 80, tanked all heroics in all 3 specs and did some MT/OT work in Naxx and OS 10. Upon joining the guild I was asked to go DPS and since doing so I am a top 2 DPS, the one other person we go back and forth per encounter on who's #1. While him and I are doing 4500 DPS on a boss encounter the #3 guy is usually around 3k...meaning there is a large gap between us and the rest of the raid. Also I have a tank set as I am asked in 25 mans to help with tanking when needed.

Incident #1: We have a new Warrior tank and we're running through Naxx 25, the new guy is asked to tank Khel while the other tanks grab the adds. The convo went something like this in raid chat...

New Tank "Who's on the Frost Bolt interupts?"
Raid Leader "Nobody is, we don't do that and we down him just fine"
Me "I interupt Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "It's not really an issue, we can heal through them np"
Me "I have always interupted the Frost Bolts from Khel"
Raid Leader "Just tank him at the thone, Khaeli will keep you healed"
Me "<--------------------interupts Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "Oh, good work Kale"

At the time it was nothing, shrugged it off because it was just whatever. Didn't really get to me that even the raid leader didn't know what I was doing to help the raid but that's ok, not everyone goes through the WWS like Khaeli and I do.

Incident #2: Doing a quick and easy OS 25 with all drakes down, had some people get on their DK alts for the achievement because it's loleasymode. The convo went like this in raid chat...

DK Alt "Is there a point to having more then 540 defense?"
Mage "Nope, it's useless"
Me "Yes there is, IBF for example scales with defense"
Mage "Getting anything over won't help with anything"
DK Alt "Cool, I'm almost to cap then"

What do I know right? The mage had a DK alt who's in their mid 70s and who is Frost because Frost is the tank spec, amirite?

Incident #3: I'm getting my Priest PL'd in SM while this conversation took place. The convo went something like this in guild chat...

Non-Raider DK "Is the class lead on by chance?"
Me "Nope, but if you have a DK question ask away"
DK Alt "Yup, we have some very good DK's in the guild - like me" (yes he was being serious)
Non-Raider DK "Well, I'm new to 80 and I wanted to try to tank and wanted to know what would be a good tank spec to try"
Me "Well, all three specs have the ability to tank as long as you take 5/5/5 in each tree, from there I would suggest Frost because you can rotate 3 of your tanking CD's to have one up all the time and you get a nice increase in your IBF, this is not to say Unholy isn't a great tank spec even after the nerf to BS as you can glyph for two extra bones and has superior passive mitigation then the other two specs, I wouldn't suggest Blood at your gear level and compared to Frost and Unholy it lacks the abilities to really smooth out the incoming damage"
DK Alt "LOL! Vampiric Blood is better then anything in Frost and Unholy"
Warlock Alt "Yeah, I was in Heroic HoL and a Blood DK tank solo'd Loken because the self heals are amazing" (The Blood DK had a healer with him - it was Khaeli - and this DK is geared in 25 man gear)
DK Alt "Ya, you'll be just fine as Blood"
Warlock Alt "It really doesn't matter how you spec to tank as a DK"
Me "Guys, I never said that Blood couldn't tank - I tank as Blood DPS when needed because I have the gear. He's not in raid gear and will have an easier time rotating his CDs with Frost or Bone Shield with Unholy. It's not about what's the best tank spec but what's the best tank spec for him at his gear level."
DK Alt "Whatever dude, Blood is insane for tanking because of the self heals"
Warlock Alt "Yup, the self heals really smooth out the damage for the healers"

The DK Alt thinks he's the best DK in the guild, he will argue his point just to get the last word in, he's 15 and thinks he knows it all. I am not going to argue with a 15 year old as there is no point, especially with this kid who thinks he's so clever because he picked his name out of a Latin dictionary. The Warlock Alt was the guild's former MT and is an officer of the guild.

So have the 3 above combined together and I just feel that I am not appreciated for what I do at all. I don't need countless praise or a fancy guild title or anything like that, what I do expect is that when there's a question regarding DK's and I respond that others might actually take what I have to say with some consideration. The fact is I could start to do 2k DPS and I would still be brought to every single raid, instead I'm busting my ass to be the best DPS DK that I can be and there is really no point in doing so.

The guild still has other issues but hey, whatever right? We are still killing Patchwork in 6+ minutes with all of our DPS being decked out in 25 man gear. We have 10+ DPS that can't break 3k that we bring to every raid. The raid healers don't heal the raid, they heal the MT/OT and themselves which causes serious issues when we try 2D OS. But it doesn't matter, casual guild is casual.

Just going to keep my mouth shut and pay my repair builds from now on.

A Boy Named Nancy

2009-02-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Nancy."

Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Nancy."

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Nancy."

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Nancy!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Nancy.'"

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Nancy! I still hate that name!

Yes - Again I'm unsure of my DPS spec, and like before, I'm confused as ever as I like certain things from each tree but dislike other things from each tree as well.

Diseaseless Blood & Armor Penetration

2009-02-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

The DPS spec that I have decided upon is the 51/0/20 2H build that focuses on a diseaseless rotation. The reasoning? - I like that it scales with gear as my guild is clearing all content and because I didn't pick up Annihilation + Epidemic so reapplying diseases became a tedious chore. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Deathknights should use their diseases to do their damage and when/if that gets changed in 3.1 I will change my rotation/spec to reflect that.

A few things about my spec choices:
I. I picked up Improved Rune Tap and Glyphed for it. Reasoning - I'm finding that healing DPS is a last priority even for the healers who's duty it is to heal the raid. And that they don't start healing DPS until they drop below 50% and as a spec that does an additional damage based on health I then need to make sure I stay above 75%. Also, after going through wws reports the mage that raids 98% of the time doesn't use Frostfire Bolt so glyphing for Blood Strike would be a waste of a major.
II. I don't have Death Rune Mastery as my rotation is the standard OBx2, HSx2
III. I picked up Vampiric Blood for the reasons stated in I.
IV. I do like the concept of Blood Worms - The passive heal that does damage (abit they do minimal damage it's still damage) and they don't waste a Blood Rune that I could have used on a HS nor do they consume a GCD. The problem I have with them is that they can soak up AoE Heals (when they are finally cast) and I've heard reports on Thaddius that they can consume a charge and wipe a raid.

So, where does Armor Penetration come in?

There was a glimpse of 3.1 changes posted in the general section of the WoW live forums. Blood Gorged is getting its expertise changed with ArP (Note ArP = Armor Penetration and AP = Attack Power). There were no details on if it was going to be a base number with each rank or a percentage gained that would scale with gear. I would hope for the latter as Blood itself seems like the build that scales the best with higher end gear.

At the moment there are no solid numbers for soft or hard caps for ArP, however there is a lot of interest in finding it. My concern is that there is a limited amount of gear in the current raid content that has ArP on it, this of course can change with 3.1. On a non-raid night I really want to test out gemming and gearing for straight ArP and spending a few hours in front of the raid dummy in Ironforge.

Some early thoughts on ArP on WoW gaming forums is that it doubles in value as you gain it. So with 1% ArP it is on the same value table with haste for 2H builds. But unlike haste once you're at 2% it will be of a larger DPS increase, and the value keeps doubling until it reaches the point of DR. Now - at what is the target percentage that is the "sweet spot" to reach is unknown - what the point of DR on ArP is unknown. Basically, a lot of unknowns but it's exciting to have a once thought useless stat become rather attractive with a Blood build.

On another note, I got Khaeli and I the Belkin N52TE Gaming Keypad. We're both keyboard turning clickers and have been for years. We're looking for something that can really help maximize our game play and simplify things and once we get use to this thing, it looks like the way to go...we'll see though.

Just /sigh

2009-02-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

So tonight we stepped foot into a fresh Naxx 25. We were low on tanks so I was asked to grab my tanking gear for encounters that required more then two tanks. Not a problem, I really don't care what role I play as long as we clear through a zone. We're doing really well, one shotting every boss and getting some good loot. My class lead is on his Paladin alt for the night and is getting some nice gear, was up to 2-3 pieces before reaching the final boss. And finally! The axe drops! I'm sitting over here jumping for joy cause we've never had it drop! I'm nearly doing back flips in my chair until I hear that the Paladin alt has more DKP and gets the axe.

Whaa???

Normally I could care less about loot, but this pisses me off on several fronts.

1. Khaeli and I joined the guild over a month ago, in that time we have never missed a raid and within that time my Class lead has only raided once - once.
2. My class lead has old DKP from BC, since he hasn't raided WOTLK at all.
3. I had not bid on several items to build up DKP and had the most DKP of any MAIN that could have used the axe.
4. His alt had already gotten several drops that night.
5. IT'S AN ALT!

I know I know, I have to suck it up and just carry on...but damn it...what the hell is that BS? I don't think of myself as a loot whore, I've passed on upgrades for myself to others which it was a larger upgrade for. I do like to have nice gear - I mean I spend the time to get it, and I'm not the type who will stir any guild drama crap over this, it just pisses me off and I need to vent. But the thing is, if I would have lost this to one of the Warriors who go Fury/Prot depending on what is needed, or hell even one of the Holy Paladins who's going to go Ret now, it wouldn't really bother me. I mean they put in the time like I do week after week and they can decide how to spend their DKP, that wouldn't have bothered me.

/rant off

Our first clear of Naxx 25 in a single night, and I got to tank some - woohoo!

Guild: How to level Jewelcrafting from 1-390 in 1 Day

2009-02-04T13:59:00.001-08:00

So because I am a non-elitist elitist, I had to change my professions to match my new DPS role. So I dropped Mining and took up Jewelcrafting because of the many perks of it over a flat 50 Stamina boost. I managed to level from 1 to 390 in one day so I have decided to share my secret because it was really easy. First, find a chick with a lot of money and a mining alt who thinks that you look pretty hot in the Kirin Tor tabard (Cause sporting "Prince" colors is hot, amirite?) and let her feed you gold and ore until you physically dry up the Auction House and are 390 - BAM! It's THAT easy!

So Ding - 390 JC and yay me for having to run every last heroic again for patterns (I'm so going to get plastered running Occulus, just sayin!).

As for other stuff, I feel like a sexually confused 15 year old boy named Nancy when it comes to what DPS spec I want to stick with...what else is new. And last night I laughed so hard I nearly choked at how many times some people could die in one encounter (trash encounter).

Pure DPS or Utility?

2009-01-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Deathknights are classified as a hybrid class so I've been going back and forth which way to spec - 2H Blood for raid utility or DW for pure DPS.

I did try Blood...LOVED the rotation as it was just so smooth. I however don't have a good 2H weapon so saw sub-par DPS. Granted I was in the top 7 for DPS on boss encounters and we one shotted all the bosses we attempted in Naxx 25 including Saph and Khel. That's what really matters right?

I went back to my DW spec last night and rocked the meters. I can get to top 3 as DW with my current weapons and when I actually get upgrades who knows. However I just learned that my guild's DK Class leader is going to start raiding and he is going to be The Unholy Deathknight in the raid. So where does that leave me?

I suppose I can just spec out of Crypt Fever and Unholy Aura and spend those 3 points elsewhere, or I can go back to 2H DPS (I did pick up the 2H Axe from Heroic HoL last night) or I can play around with a tri-spec for DW.

Short Answer: I have no idea what I'm going to do.

I love perma ghoul
I dislike having to micro-manage HB
I love the feel of the Blood Rotation
I love the feel of dual wield

I guess I'd feel a lot better about going back to Blood if my guild recognized support classes...it's all about the meters and who's topping them.

Land of Confusion

2009-01-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

So today has been a wild ride and it's only 3:15pm. Of course there's RL things going on (Birthday and an US Airways plane crashed into the Hudson River) but also some interesting PTR changes that effect DW DPS and Frost Tanking.

These changes are that Killing Machine only procs off your main hand and Howling Blast is back on a cooldown, abit a 5 second CD compared to it's live state at 6 second one.

All forums are in an uproar and I myself and feeling like a yoyo. So this yoyo has no idea how to take this news, how to spend his DKP (wtf do I spend it on a slow 1H or what happens if a 2H drops?!).

Or...maybe this yoyo will be given a tank role...or does this yoyo even want that? I'm so damn confused now...

A time for changing

2009-01-12T13:05:00.001-08:00

With 2009 came a lot of new things, new server, new people, new guild new beginnings and a new world.

In December back on Maelstrom Khaeli and I started to feel the pinch again - It was EQ2 Anomaly all over again! Meaning...there was a guild of people that waited for me to log in to do anything. I was running this group of people through a heroic, was getting requested to go tank for a group quest while the mid 70s wanted me to PL them through the regular dungeons.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Basically, the above is how I got burnt out in EQ2. It was getting bad on Maelstrom...had some guildies that were 80 two plus weeks before Khaeli and I dinged and they waited to do their first heroic with us. But I held on through it, decided to tough it out and it would get better after time. Well, it didn't get better - it got worse. As the DPS around us geared up (Khaeli being the Healer, me the tank) they were gearing up for the wrong stats. Had a rogue with less then 150 hit but 3k AP and was stacking Armor Pen. Oye - Then had a Moonkin who had no idea how to spec himself and was doing less then 1k DPS on some encounters (how is that EVEN possible at 80?).

So what was the straw that broke the camels back?

One weekend Khaeli and I were out running quests and dungeon runs when we were ganked 21 times in a 3 hour peroid by 5+ Horde. I remember at one stone there were 18 Horde...no they weren't doing a dungeon, they were just gathering around a stone to kill any Alliance who were trying to get into a Dungeon...good times eh?

So, welcome 2009 and welcome new PVE server! A lot more changes have happened as well, but that was the major one. I am really excited to carve a place for myself in the new server as a DPS DW DK. And I'm really excited that I'm no longer a tank and have to shoulder the burden of doing everything for everyone else.

You're DPS now Son!

2009-01-06T18:40:00.000-08:00

So many changes since the first of the year that I will be writing on. One of which being that Khaeli and I joined a 25 man raiding guild, sadly they recruited a tank a day before I put in my app so I am now a DPS DK.

Do I mind? Not really, I can Dual Wield swords and be a badass. I'll write more on some happenings later, right now I'm reading up on rotations.

I'm now Unholy?

2008-12-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

I've been Frost since Beta - I wasn't in beta mind you, but I had already decided on my tank spec. I liked Frost because it seemed to be all about control...that and it wasn't a popular spec, of which I like being the underdog (underdog spec) and making it shine. So before patch 3.0.8 goes live (hurry up and go live!) I wanted to try out the Boneshield/Unholy tanking first hand.

I had a few specs in mind, but I decided on a 5/11/53 to test out instead of the more common 9/11/51 that a lot of Unholy DK's are using. Some of the key changes that I like in my build is the 3% increase of Strength from Ravenous Dead and the 2/2 in Unholy Command (which I use for my 2nd taunt).

So far I have noticed two things with respecing into Unholy 1. My DPS has increased and 2. My survivability has increased. I did some of my own testing using WWS in regards to Frost vs Unholy pre-Boneshield nerf and as expected, I mitigate a lot more damage as Unholy but as Frost I avoided more incoming attacks but took more damage - and took a lot more spell damage. Now, this is the same conclusion that is pretty common knowledge for Deathknights who read more then the WoW live forums - seriously, why do people in the LFG channel think that Frost is the "tank" spec? -. Now my only question is how will 3.0.8 impact me and my spec? Keep in mind that I roll with a Disicpline Priest all the time so my Boneshield uptimes are much higher then the average DK.

With the new Runeforge, new tanking Sword and the changes to the Tempered Titansteel Helm (getting a blue and a meta gem socket) I think Unholy will still be a better spec for me (hrmm, do I need to change my blog template to a more greenish theme because I'm Unholy now?). The only thing that I am thinking about is do I keep 11 points deep into Frost? Lichborn is nice, there's no denying it but seeing that a lot of Unholy and now Blood tanks that are in the 25 man raids are stating that it's not that needed...that those points can be better spent else where. And truth be told I can see where they're coming from, I rarely use it between IBF and Boneshield and Lichborne is a 25% Miss Rate on MELEE attacks, so it doesn't do much for spell damage. If I did drop it I would probably go with a 13/5/53 build which would help my TPS on single targets and also give me a self heal to take the place of Lichborne.

I actually find it amazing (in a good way) that a few points here and there really determine a build. I really like it in the fact that it allows you to customize your build to your play style. Take for example myself, I am with a Disc Priest all the time and when I run groups I am more then likely always with an Enhancement Shaman - Thus if I was still Frost my Icy Talons wouldn't stack.

Upcoming Deathknight Changes

2008-12-11T13:17:00.001-08:00

If you haven't seen them yet, here they are!

From Ghostcrawler: We have talked about making some of these changes and wanted to provide more details. You should be able to try these out yourselves on the PTR before they go live.

Our reason for most of these changes should be obvious, but some common themes are:
-- Making tanking still rely on cooldowns, but rely on them a little less.
-- Make Blood a more attractive spec, and particularly for tanking.
-- Chill out some of the defensive capabilities all DKs have in PvP.
-- Avoid having to use Death and Decay as an out-of-combat runic power generator.

1) Rune Strike -- damage decreased from 200% to 150% but threat increased to 150% from 100%.

This was changed because RS was the "Rogue Killer", and far be it for a class to kill a Rogue so it's damage was modified. This change is indifferent to me as a Tank I feel that the threat increase is rather nice.

2) All multi-rune abilities generate 15 runic power.

Eh

3) Anti-Magic Shell -- cooldown lowered to 45 sec from 60 sec.

This is hot, completely hot. DK's were suppose to be the spell tank and this ability not only helps that, but really will help out in PvP. I really like this change.

4) The healing of Blood Aura, Blood Presence and Death Pact has been doubled.

I'm not a Blood DK and I'm not in Blood Presence much, but for when I group with Lorren this will be hot...beyond hot, sexy hot.

I like the fact that Blizz is trying to make the Blood tree more appealing and make all three trees have their special niche.

5) Bone Shield -- mitigation reduced from 40% to 20%.

BS was shown to scale extremely well as your avoidance went up -- too well. I knew, along with many others, that a nerf to BS was coming. However, down to 20% was a bit too drastic, I was looking at 30% personally. There are some early numbers also showing that with BS nerf along with IBF nerf that Unholy falls behind Frost in tanking. Looking forward to seeing this in action to get more solid numbers out of it.

6) Icebound Fortitude – now reduces damage by 20% instead of 50%. The amount of damage reduced increases with bonus Defense (to about 35% for 540 Defense, but it can go higher). The stun immunity is intended to be its primary role in PvP.

This one I'm trying to take in stride - yet another PvE nerf because of PvP. I think Blizz needs to decide what type of game they want, PvE or PvP then attempt to balance for that type and whatever happens to the other aspect of the game happens.

Now, as a tank I'll always have 540 Defense, however when I do choose to PvP, and I'm in PvP gear, my Defense will be significantly lower as PvP gear has resilience instead of Defense...not so hot.

7) Frost Presence -- bonus armor increased from 60 to 80% and magic damage reduction increased from 5 to 15%. We wanted to reduce the effectiveness of cooldowns but bring up base mitigation to reduce damage spikiness.

This was the main tanking buff that GC mentioned on briefly a few weeks ago. My only fear is that I don't want to tank like a Bear - IE shit ton of armor.

8) Corpse Explosion -- damage increased substantially, added 5 sec cooldown, and changed cost to 40 runic power.

CE is now useful! Yeee!

9) Heart Strike – we overhauled this ability. It no longer has a haste debuff but will now be able to strike two targets like a cleave. It still hits for more than Blood Strike, but you can still use Blood Strike if e.g. you don’t want to break CC.

Never spec'd Blood I don't have any in depth analysis on this, however the word of mouth from my Blood buddies is that they are excited to see HS get an overhall.

10) Horn of Winter -- now has no cost and grants 10 runic power in addition to its stat buff, but has a 30 sec cooldown.

I like this one as well...hoping to see that the glyph will add duration onto it as it is only a 2 minute buff.

11) Night of the Dead -- now grants 40/70% passive area spell avoidance to your pet in addition to its current effects.

NC

12) Outbreak – this talent no longer receive bonus damage from Pestilence. The bonus from Plague Strike and Blood Boil has been increased slightly.

NC

13) Bloody Strikes – the bonus damage from Pestilence has been moved here to help Blood AE slightly.

Which in turns lowers Unholy AoE damage...slightly, but a nerf to Unholy.

14) Pestilence -- no longer has a 10 sec cooldown.

HOT!

15) Raise Dead -- now split into two spells: Raise Dead now raises a ghoul or pet ghoul (if talented). Raise Ally now raises a fallen party member (at no reagent cost).

NC

16) New runeforge rune -- Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (two-handed only) now grants 25 Defense and 2% Stamina.

Ok, granted the 4% Parry scales better then the 25 Defense - BUT! With this rune we can gem for other stats - dodge, parry, sta or go in for gear that has slightly less Defense on it because we have it covered on our weapon.

17) Shadow of Death -- duration reduced from 45 seconds to 25 seconds.

NC

18) Unholy Blight, Dancing Rune Weapon and Hungering Cold – cost reduced from 60 to 40 runic power.

HC = Still useless for PvE, has some PvP applications now.

19) Vampiric Blood -- in addition to its current effects, also adds 20% health temporarily.

More Blood buffness!

20) Will of the Necropolis -- now reduces the damage of any attack that takes the DK below 35% health by 5 /10/15% instead of boosting armor when wounded

NC

21) Many death knight glyphs have been changed. In many cases the negative consequences were removed.

This is a great addition as the Major Glyphs for DK's really sucked...really really bad. And not just a few of them, almost all of them.

22) New death knight sigils are now available, primarily from vendors, including a tanking-oriented sigil.

WOOHOO! I simply cannot wait for these! It's about time is all I can say!

Hungering Cold...

2008-12-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

Great name isn't it? I think so, which is why I made it the title of my Deathknight blog. However as an endline ability it's lacking...severly.

Purges the earth around the Death Knight of all heat. Enemies within 10 yards are trapped in ice, preventing them from performing any action for 10 sec and infecting them with Frost Fever. Enemies are considered Frozen, but any damage other than diseases will break the ice.
60 Runic Power, Instant, 1 min cooldown

This is Frost's 51 talent...looks decent on paper doesn't it? Well, in actual practice it's completely useless, not even worth the 1 point that it would take to get it because it doesn't have any situations where it would help.

Think about it...

Frost is the rune starved spec, to be able to have 60 Runic Power to use it you'd need to spec 3/3 Runic Power Mastery and 2/2 Chill of the Grave. So that's 5 points to even make it remotely possible to use. Now, take into account that it will break on any damage other then DK diseases and it becomes useless.

PvE Aspect- Heavy Runic Power cost, great way to spread Frost Fever except for the fact that Icy Touch (0 Runic Power, 1 Frost Rune) + Pestilence (0 Runic Power, 1 Blood Rune) is a must easier and faster way to spread Frost Fever. Specially as a Frost Deathknight you'll have Blood of the North so in essence it's more or less like spending 1 Blood Rune. I may not be a number cruncher like the guys over on EJ, but 1 Blood Rune > 60 Runic Power + 5 Talent Points.

PvP Aspect- Looks nice in PvP as a way to CC the opposition...oh wait...Runic Power cost again! As a Frost PvP DK you'll be spending your RP on Frost and Rune Strike...so again it fails.

My thoughts on making this end-line talent viable are...

Make Hungering Cold cost 0 RP...yeah that's right. Now this would help with PvE but could put a dimishing returns on the PvP aspect. PvP isn't balanced so why make PvE suffer because of it? As a tank I could then use it for when I need to CC group encounters if my AoE DPS of my party members is weak. Refer to the below diagram...(don't make fun of my Paint skillz!)

Ok, the red circle is the group encounter, I then pull them back to the blue X and Hungering Cold the group, CC'ing all of them. I then Icy Touch a single mob from the encounter and bring it back to green X for my group can beat it down. Rinse and repeat as needed.

This would make HC situational in the fact that it couldn't be used for raiding, and would be used mostly for pulling group encounters. Keep in mind that as a Deathknight we have huge aoe abilities, so this would only be used in situations where we could not live while 4+ NPCs are beating on us.

Here's the meat of this post - A lot of classes got "situational" end line 51 talent points in Wrath. Hungering Cold cannot even be classified as that. It's an ability that is completely useless because of the Runic Power along with the fact that it breaks on everything but diseases. I don't mind situational end-line abilities...just make sure there are situations in which they should be used for.

Deathknights, Tanking and You

2008-12-04T12:01:00.001-08:00

So, I'm only level 73 but Khaeli and I have decided to take it slow and explore and quest in both Howling Fjord and the Borean Tundra. We aren't going to race to level cap like we did in EQ2 just to be stuck running other people through questlines and instances...we're actually enjoying ourselves! What a concept!

Now, throughout the early 70s I've ran into so many Deathknights not really knowing how to use their abilities, how to spec themselves - throwing points into every which direction and in general, not knowing how to tank. So here is my tanking guide for the low 70s Deathknight, I'll probably make another for when I turn 80 if I still see the complete lack of knowledge out there.

First off, lets talk about talent specs. At this level in the game it really doesn't matter but we're looking at the bigger picture here. I favor a heavy Frost build (if you couldn't tell by the name of this blog). Here is my armory page with my current spec. As I have my hockey helmet on snuggly, I have been viewing the live forums and have come to think of myself as a broken record when I see topics like "Frost tank spec help" as people are not putting points into the basic abilities. If you are serious about Frost tanking here is my list of MUST TAKE abilities in the Frost tree...

Frigid Deathplate- This is not a 3% Dodge or Parry, this is a solid 3% miss...it's huge! However I have been seeing a lot of Frost tank builds not picking this up...their thought process "Well it's not that much, only 3%".
Unbreakable Armor- I have yet to see a tank build not take it, Unbreakable Armor is to Frost tanking as Corn is to midwest farmers.
Toughness- 5/5/5 is the standard Tank build...it's not going to change, use it, love it, embrace it.
Tundra Stalker- If you go Deep Frost and don't get Tundra Stalker you're entire spec is fail...seriously 10% increase in spells & abilities that have FF (and you should have all your targets under FF 90%+ of the time) AND 5 Expertise...no brainer right?
Icy Touch/Talons Talents- If all you are doing is raiding end game and roll with an Enhance Shammy I would say don't bother as Wind Fury totem and Icy Talons don't stack. However, for a lot of us, the Echance Shammys are few and far between, so this is a solid pickup.
Frost Aura- No it doesn't stack with the Druid's MotW buff, however it also includes some resists that motw doesn't touch. DK's are suppose to mitigate spell damage more so then the other tank types, and this is one of the abilities in the Frost tree that make is possible.
Acclimation- You'll find people bashing this talent all over the live forums, but the reality is, it stacks quickly...it's situational, but when those situations arise often you'll be happy to have it.
Guile of Gorefiend- Lets pretend that it doesn't have any DPS boost at all...it increases the duration of Icebound Fortitude, which alone is worth the 3 points into it.

Where you spend your points from there on out is personal preference, just don't put them into Killing Machine as a tank or DPS really. We are not a white damage class, so it's a waste of 5 points that could be better spent else where. As to which Frost build is better...well I'm still trying out a few myself. Crunching some numbers to see if I do a 51 Frost build while picking up Shadow of Death (2% STA & STR increase) from Unholy to boost my HP.

2 Handers vs Duel Wielding

There are a shit-ton of posts on the live forums regarding this hot topic. Lots of mis-informed people stating that DW sucks without really knowing the reason why. It's viable, but your survivability will decrease while doing so. And since as a tank your main job is to survive, DW kind of starts to fade. There are some great on-going threads regarding duel wielding as a DK tank that can be found at Deathknight.info here, but also there are some great charts made by Berthold on Elitist Jerks that can be found below or at Elitist Jerks here.

Conclusion: 2H > DW

Now, Bliz may change things as they are mixing up some of the DK tanking mechanics as GC himself mentioned that DK's are taking too much of a beating for their liking. The specifics of such are still unknown but I am eagerly awaiting to read what their plans are.

Deathtards

2008-11-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

So in a previous entry I commented on how happy I was to get away from the stereotype of the "Huntard" and one reader replied that it's not something that you can just leave behind in a class. I switched how I have my comments shown on my blog so I can't go back to quote it. I will say that they are completely right.

Deathtards is the name I will call all the stupid DK's running around. I mean, I understand it's a new class, and not everyone was in beta (I wasn't!) and so there is going to be a learning curve. But c'mon people! Read what the ability you are so frantically spamming actually does! And if you aren't entirely sure how it should be used and when...ask. There are many resources available to a new DK- I'd like to promote deathknight.info right now, and to stay away from the live forums unless you dig the ole hockey helmet out of the closet. Seriously, it's a place where all the Deathtards gather and boast who's the bigger idiot while trying to sound like they are the expert in their class.

Anyways, after running some dungeons over the past weekend I have become an alcoholic...well, a wannabe one at least. One of the first runs Khaeli and I did was a Sethekk Halls, now we have always hated this dungeons, on KnK v1.0 we only ran it once. I was 65 or 66 at the time, so there was no way that I could successfully tank it at that level but were pleased to find a level 70 Warrior in the looking for group channel. To fill out the group we snagged another DK and another Priest to heal. Khaeli and I were both amazed at the HP and Mana of this other priest, only to find out that he may have had the mana, but had no idea how to use it. The level 70 Warrior was a kid playing a female night elf (orignal I know!) and was in full greens with about as much HP as I did. This is when the Warrior suggested that since I'm Frost I tank...because Frost is the tanking spec...riiiight. The run itself wasn't too bad, few deaths here and there and only one or two wipes, not bad considering the healer, tank and the other DK who died every pull because he had to blow his entire load in 5 seconds. It wasn't until we were on the last named that things went south. The Warrior and Deathknight were talking and the DK said that he couldn't tank at all as Unholy and Boneshield wasn't a tanking talent. It was then that the Warrior said that a level 67 Frost Deathknight had more armor then he had in an earlier run and that the Frost tree was the tank tree because of the armor boost (Frost has an armor boost?!). I tried to explain a few things to them both...but there is no use trying to explain to idiots that they are in fact, an idiot. So here's your sign Mr. Unholy Deathtard!

Next we move to Slave Pens, now this is a dungeon that we have always enjoyed so we will run it a few more times yet...it's fun! Now for this run it was Khaeli, and four other Deathknights...the more common group setup thus far. This one went better then Seth Halls after I booted the Deathtard who would Death Grip my target, wouldn't let me pull encounters back (when there's fearing mobs in an encounter you really don't want to tank it next to another encounter - tip of the day!) and he managed to agro mobs we weren't even pulling, but rather passing. When the tard Death Gripped the first name I told Khaeli not to heal him and to just watch him die...we both did with a satisfied smile on our faces. After that I quickly /uninvite Deathtard and we continued on our merry way.

Basically, welcome to the age of Deathtards. May your booting them out of the group be as enjoyable time as I had.

I'm not lost and I don't need directions!

2008-11-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I went to get my dog's nails cut during lunch. A co-worker told me about this fantastic little place that was 10 minutes away that was really cheap and that I could just walk in, no appointment needed. Perfect! So I pulled up their address on Google Maps and it was on 8th Street right off of highway 12...sounds easy enough.

So here I am on 12 and I should have seen 8th Street by now but I hadn't so I keep going and see that I'm pass 7th Street. I continue on thinking maybe I saw the map wrong or something until I hit 5th Street. So I turn around and go back down on 12 and see that there is a lack of 8th Street. So here I am, circling this little area for about 20 minutes but refuse to stop into one of the many gas stations, restaurants, and other small businesses that cover the area. I did end up finding the place, but the street wasn't labeled 8th Street, instead it was labeled as "Crow River Drive" on the sign.

With the above example in mind, it's really not too surprising that I refuse to read another person's guide on how to level quickly up through the Outlands and into Northrend to hit 80 within days. I mean that is my ultimate goal...to hit 80 yet for some reason I just will not read from another person how to get there. Will it save me some time and probably a headache or two? It sure will...but so would have just running into a gas station and asking if the UFO's beamed up 8th Street.

I'll eventually get to 80, with Thottbot's help of course. Knowing me it won't take too much longer then reading an expert guide on how to level quickly, because after all it's pretty common sesne. Questing > Grinding, Yellow Quests > Green Quests and so on and so forth. So for this MMO Champion here I will grab my nuts with one hand, and let them lead me to where I need to go.

The Trek to Stormwind

2008-11-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

So this is part two of my two part series about my initial thoughts of the Deathknight quest line. Again, I stress to those that don't even have an interest in the class to at least go through the series of quests.

Khaeli however decided to take my advice and had the final quest bug out on her...you know the one...where the Lich King admits that he just used his Deathknights for fodder and we (the DK's) break free from his grasp...not like that's important or anything!

Anyways, like the first part this is also going to have its fair share of pictures as I am a visual person and honestly some of the images from the starting area is just pure /sexleg. Seriously...

The picture above is where you get transformed into a giant eyeball and have to float around the town investigating different aspects of the village...while trying not to get shot down by archers. For awhile there I was just having too much fun floating around as a big giant blue ball of energy that I kinda forgot about the little brown things in the distance that were streaming towards me. Granted I didn't die from them, but lets just say this was one of the harder quests as I get distracted easily.

This is part of the final battle where the Lich King comes down and announces that he screwed over his Deathknights. For those that didn't get to see this part, it was simply pimp. Here are a few more screenshots of the event for you poor poor souls...should think about /deleting and remaking your DK!

You can try to phase out some of the extremely noobish DK names you see in the screenshots.

Damn Lich King...

So here we are, completely lost as our Lord and Master just threw us to the wolves...so where the hell do we go now?

To STORMWIND! Yes! We'll be accepted there!

Damn Humans...But here we are, Welcome to Stormwind!

The Path of a Deathknight

2008-11-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

So here he is, our Lord and Master the Lich King. He is what all Deathknights aspire to be and he is a sight that everyone should see. After experiencing the starter quest for DK's and being in awe the entire time, I must put out a "bravo" to the blizz team. The quests...all of them were simply amazing and everyone should make a Deathknight just to run through them, run through the lore...you won't regret it.

So this blog post is a big behind because I've been so captured by playing my new class. But I did want to share some screenshots I took while I was learning how to be a DK.

To the left is a picture of the Lich King's sword, an amazing blade that I imediatly wanted. I mean look at that thing! My obession could be in part due to my unhealthy love for anything glowy....ooooh! glowy!

Anyways! I was eager to explore the Ebon Hold and see how I could get a blade that looked like the one the Lich King held.

The first quest I had as a Deathknight was to create my own blade. I was eager with anticipation that it would turn out like the Lich King's sword, but to my disappointment it wasn't. It was however very satisfying to make my first weapon of death and distruction. It was even more satisfying to Runeforge my first blade.

I only had two options for my first Runeforge, either Rune of Cinderglacier (Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to increase the damage by 20% for your next 2 attacks that deal Frost or Shadow damage. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold.) or Rune of Razorice (Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that causes 2% extra weapon damage as Frost damage and has a chance to increase Frost vulnerability. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold. ). Being a Frost DK I of course took the Rune of Razorice and I still use it today. I find that the Frost Vunerability along with my Frost Fever makes my Howling Blast and Obliterate hit like a mack truck! Granted these are non-elites but any even con mob I can take down to less then quarter health with that combo. I would imagine that there is a much better combination to be using, but right now I'm not going to min/max my rotation until I get a firm understanding of all my abilities and how to use them in a given situation.

So here I am, a hot Night Elf Deathknight with a Runeblade that is Runeforged looking for a good time! One of my next quests was to go kill one of the weaker beings that couldn't make it as a Knight of Death. There were failed Deathknight of every race to choose from to fight. But the minute I saw the Tauren I had flash backs of Tauren Druid's camping and humping my Hunter's corpse. So like Khaeli has a Paladin complex...mine is Tauren, so the damn thing HAD to die! I let him get the first swing, being the good sportsman that I am, he failed to hit me of course...my lightening reflexes taking charge here and he soon fell to my blade.

After easily defeating the failed Tauren Deathknight I was looking for other challenges, I mean...ones that were actually a challenge for me and my blade. It was obvious why the Tauren couldn't make it as a Deathknight...the damn thing couldn't wield a blade if his life depended on it - and ironically, it did.

From there I was sent on a courier service of quests and soon found myself on the battlefront. It was exciting, the sounds of battle coming from every way. Looking off into the distance I could see Knights of both sides falling, and citizens running in terror as the armies of the Lich King cut them down. However, those pictures and images are for my next posting as I hate to make things too long.

Until next time!

Death's Grip

2008-11-15T08:37:00.001-08:00

There I am, ready to enter the world and start down the path of the Deathknight. I wasn't one of those that waited in line at Midnight to be the first to log into the game. I mean, I had work in the morning so I eagerly awaited my copy of the CE to get to my doorstep on the 13th. My love for this game was rekindled as I was installing the new xpac, it was a feeling that I lost throughout the beta process and watching and reading as my class (The Hunter) just kept slipping through the cracks. Each new beta patch just confirmed that my choice to go DK was the way to go for me. So much so that in the last week and a half before the xpac went live I just couldn't log into Kinolas at all to play.

Why did I have such resentment for playing my Hunter all of a sudden? A week prior to me just not logging into the game at all, I made -A create a Warlock on another server with me. I really enjoyed that time (and the class- truth be told, if I could of created a DK on any server -A probably would have made a BE Warlock. But her issues with Humans are for her own blog to figure out). So here I was, playing a level 5 Warlock over my level 70 Hunter that I could use to get more money or mats for my DK, but I couldn't bring myself to hit "Enter World". I think I just got fed up with what the class was, and what it will soon be. I know that I was concerend and idiot, a moron, a "Huntard" just because of the class I played. I was looked down upon by many people just because of a class that I thought sounded fun on the character select screen. I didn't like that...specially when I feel that in any MMO and class I choose to play I have a hand in advancing that class and playing it beyond the capacity that is known for that class. Case in point- Did you know that in EQ2 as a Paladin I would top the healing charts if I was suppose to be a healer for that raid? When I left that game NO OTHER Paladin could say the same and at the same time if needed I could swap out some gear and pick up an add. I then soon became recogonized for my abilities playing that class and was a known player...but in WoW I'm just a Huntard. Forget that in mostly S2 PVP gear I can walk into a T5 raiding guild and be a top 3 DPS and on some nights a top 2, I'm still a Huntard right?

Wrong.

I'm a Deathknight now, and from here on out I shall strive to get that recognition as one that you don't want to cross blades with.

I am Kaleyen, the Deathknight.

It's all about Race!

2008-11-04T06:48:00.001-08:00

With Blizzard announcing changes to racials there are countless posts from players wondering what the racials are now, and which race will be the best for tanking on the Deathknight. Below is a complete list of racials for every race.

Draenei
Gemcutting (passive)- Jewelcrafting skill increased by 5.
Gift of the Naaru (active)- Heals the target 50 + 15/Level over 15 sec - 40 yd range - 1.5 sec cast - 3 min cooldown. The amount healed is increased based on the caster's Spell Power or Attack Power. This ability does not lose casting time from taking damage.
Heroic Presence (passive)- Increases chance to hit with all spells and attacks by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
Shadow Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.

Dwarves
Stoneform (instant | 3 min cooldown)- While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increases by 10%. Lasts 8 sec.
Gun Specialization (passive)- Your chance to critically hit with Guns is increased by 1%.
Frost Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Frost spells by 2%.
Find Treasure (instant)- Allows the dwarf to sense nearby treasure, making it appear on the minimap. Lasts until cancelled.

Gnomes
Escape Artist (instant| 1.75 min cooldown)- Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect.
Expansive Mind (passive)- Intellect increased by 5%.
Arcane Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Arcane spells by 2%.
Engineering Specialization (passive)- Engineering skill increased by 15.

Humans
Perception (passive)- Increases your Stealth detection.
The Human Spirit (passive)- Spirit increased by 3%.
Diplomacy (passive)- Reputation gains increased by 10%.
Sword Specialization (passive)- Expertise with Swords and Two-Handed Swords increased by 3.
Mace Specialization (passive)- Expertise with Maces and Two-Handed Maces increased by 3.
Every Man for Himself (instant | 2 min cooldown)- Removes all movement impairing effects and all effects which cause loss of control of your character. This effect shares a cooldown with other similar effects.

Night Elves
Shadowmeld (instant | 2 min cooldown)- Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect.
Elusiveness (passive)- Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while Shadowmelded or Stealthed.
Quickness (passive)- Reduces the chance that melee and ranged attackers will hit you by 2%.
Wisp Spirit (passive)- Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing speed by 50%.
Nature Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

Blood Elves
Arcane Affinity (passive)- Enchanting skill increased by 10.
Arcane Torrent (instant | 2 min cooldown | (Hunters/Paladins/Mages/Priests/Warlocks only)- Silence all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec and restores 5 + 1/Level% of your Mana.
Arcane Torrent (active | Rogue only)- Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec and restores 15 of your Energy.
Arcane Torrent (active | Deathknight only)- Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec and restores 15 Runic Power.
Magic Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by spells by 2%.

Orcs
Blood Fury (instant | 2 min cooldown | Death Knight/Warrior/Rogue/Hunter only)- Increases attack power by (Level*4)+2 per character level (322 at 80). Lasts 15 sec.
Blood Fury (instant | 2 min cooldown | Shaman only)- Increases melee attack power by (Level*4)+2 and your spell power by (Level*2)+3. Lasts 15 sec.
Blood Fury (instant | 2 min cooldown | Warlock only)- Increases your spell power by (Level*2)+3. Lasts 15 sec.
Hardiness (passive)- Duration of Stun effects reduced by an additional 15%.
Command (passive)- Damage dealt by Death Knight, Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 5%.
Axe Specialization (passive)- Expertise with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.

Tauren
War Stomp (instant | 0.5 sec cast | 2 min cooldown)- Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yds for 2 sec.
Endurance (passive)- Base Health increased by 5%
Cultivation (passive)- Herbalism skill increased by 15.
Nature Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

Trolls
Berserking (instant | 3 min cooldown)- Increases your attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health the speed increase is 10% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly hurt when you activate Berserking. Lasts 10 sec.
Regeneration (passive)- Health regeneration increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat.
Beast Slaying (passive)- Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%.
Throwing Specialization (passive)- Your chance to critically hit with Throwing Weapons is increased by 1%
Bow Specialization (passive)- Your chance to critically hit with Bows is increased by 1%.
Da Voodoo Shuffle (passive)- Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%. Trolls be flippin' out mon!

Undead
Will of the Forsaken (instant | 2 min cooldown)- Removes any Charm, Fear and Sleep effect.
Cannibalize (instant | 2 min cooldown)- When activated, regenerates 7% of total health every 2 sec for 10 sec. Only works on Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds. Any movement, action, or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel the effect.
Underwater Breathing (passive)- Underwater breath lasts 233% longer than normal
Shadow Resistance (passive)- Reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.

As for myself, I'm going with a Night Elf. Granted, they now have one of the best racials for an avoidance tank, but in reality they're the only alliance males that I can stand to look at. My only problem with them is that the facial hair all looks like poor Amish comb overs and if you choose not to have any facial hair then you are blessed with no eyebrows. Tough call eh?

So it begins...

2008-11-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

This is my first of many blog posts to come in the future, so introductions are in order.

This blog is dedicated to my adventures as a Deathknight in the MMO (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) World of Warcraft. As of right now I am eagerly awaiting the new expansion Wrath of the Lich King to create my Deathknight.

I am not a 'newb' when it comes to MMOs, I started playing Everquest with the first expansion Ruines of Kunark 8 years ago. During my play time with Everquest I tried my hand at many different play styles that included, but not limited to...

Hard Core Raiding- I was a member of iB (Insidious Blood) on the Luclin server
Roleplaying- I was an active member of the Firiona Vie Server
Casual Questing- On the Bristlebane server I was engaged in doing as many quests as I could, which included all of the epic quest lines.

After spending 4 years in Everquest I was looking for the next MMO, I decided to try my hand at FFXI. I didn't spend much time there as Everquest II was released and quickly returned to SOE as my fondness for EQ1 still lingered.

I really enjoyed Everquest II, I tried out the same play styles that I had in Everquest but this time around I wanted to try my hand at some PVP. I decided to roll a character on Venekor which is a PVP/RP server since I still enjoyed the RP aspect of the game. It was there that I reconnected with some old Everquest friends and started playing with them in the guild Firiona Vie's Champions.

However, wanting more PVP then Qeynos could give, I decided to go Exile and join DOM (Den of Madness). This was the best year gaming I had ever spent and I look back on it often with such fondness. Our opponents kept stating that we cheated/hax'd that's why we won so much and so often. Well let me go on the record right now stating that nobody in DOM did anything along those lines. What we had over everyone else is our ability to communicate and work together better then anyone. Our roster was small, everyone knew eachother on a first name bases and Momma Kloae sent me cookies and bread for the Holidays. What can I say, we were a tight bunch...takes more then a raid or two of bloobies to kill that.

Some of my note worthy characters in Everquest II are the following:

Liluk- Paladin of DoM
Kulil- Monk
Kuian- The Ranger
Blaye- Guardian of Bristlebane
Kieo- Ninja Monk
Keio- Necro of Venekor

Not wanting to brag too much or anything, but I became quite recognized as Liluk, the Paladin of DoM that I was confronted with writing some articles for online fan sites. You may be able to find some of my articles on sites such as Ten Ton Hammer and EQ2 Warcry. However they were written over a year ago and may be archieved by now.

I spent another 4 years in Everquest II before leaving it for World of Warcraft. It wasn't too hard of a shift since DoM broke up.

I picked up a copy of WoW in Febuary 08' and have been enjoying it ever since. From a mechanics view point WoW has much more to offer then EQ or EQ2, but graphically I prefer EQ2.

My current character in WoW is a level 70 Hunter named Kinolas (my warrior's name in Everquest on Luclin). I had imagined the Hunter to be along the same lines of the Everquest Ranger but with the ability to use a pet. I was a tad wrong in that department and didn't realize how much the mass population looks down at 'Huntards' and that as a raiding Hunter all you do is create a macro and hit that one button as fast as you possibly can...real skill eh? Which is probably why as a WoW 'newb' I was able to go from PvP purples to actual tier 5 raid gear in 4-5 months and see content that most players hadn't yet.

So with no real enthusiasm to play the Hunter class I was really excited to see that Blizzard's first Hero Class be one that speaks to me.

Hello, my name is Kaleyen and I am a Frost Deathknight.