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.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 Back in Red!
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.
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.
Thursday, May 21, 2009 WTB: ArP & STR | WTS: Haste & STA
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
Drape of the Faceless General | General Vezax - Hard | Link
Drape of the Drakerider | Razorscale | Link
Chest
Drape of the Drakerider | Razorscale | Link
Chest
Conqueror's Darkruned Battleplate | Hodir, Emblem Vendor | Link
Steelbreaker's Embrace | Iron Council | Link
Wrist
Steelbreaker's Embrace | Iron Council | Link
Wrist
Belt of Colossal Rage | Iron Council | Link
Girdle of Embers | Ignis the Furnace Master | Link
Belt of the Titans | Crafted | Link
Legs
Girdle of Embers | Ignis the Furnace Master | Link
Belt of the Titans | Crafted | Link
Legs
Strength of the Automaton | Flame Leviathan | Link
Sif's Promise | Thorim | Link
Cindershard Ring | Ignis the Furnace Master | Link
Darkstone Ring | General Vezax | Link
Trinket
Sif's Promise | Thorim | Link
Cindershard Ring | Ignis the Furnace Master | Link
Darkstone Ring | General Vezax | Link
Trinket
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.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Incidental Damage and You - Or, Why nerfing Unholy Blight won't do a damn thing
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...
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.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 1 kg Bloodworms for $20!
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?
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?
Friday, May 1, 2009 Pet Management and why we're not Hunters
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 Why WoW = Boring
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.
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.
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