Likely Contained Herein, in no particular order:
a. Deathknights get a fairly bad rap, for a whole slew of (often legitimate) reasons, but their aggregate playskill tends to be the biggest tar against them, especially since they tend to do well as a class in Arena ratings overall.
If you just re-rolled from Hunter or Warlock to DK, and are all psyched to begin your awesome career as a Deathknight, stop by here and check out some pointers before you pop into the EJ forums and contribute to the never-ending stream of crap that is currently getting spouted.
b. PvP: More specifically, no thoughts on how to balance it, but instead, how to make the best of it, win a bit more often, and have fun trying. Ideally some sage anti-DK advice, but no guarentees.
c. Random stuff like comments on politics, I can`t help myself.
a. Deathknights get a fairly bad rap, for a whole slew of (often legitimate) reasons, but their aggregate playskill tends to be the biggest tar against them, especially since they tend to do well as a class in Arena ratings overall.
If you just re-rolled from Hunter or Warlock to DK, and are all psyched to begin your awesome career as a Deathknight, stop by here and check out some pointers before you pop into the EJ forums and contribute to the never-ending stream of crap that is currently getting spouted.
b. PvP: More specifically, no thoughts on how to balance it, but instead, how to make the best of it, win a bit more often, and have fun trying. Ideally some sage anti-DK advice, but no guarentees.
c. Random stuff like comments on politics, I can`t help myself.
Overpowered therefore I Am.
Posted 03/14/09 at 4:29 PM by Lanky
Dear Blizzard: What am I?
Well, it did not take me long to break my own word. I said I would not blog about Arena balance, but then I played my weekly arena games in the twos bracket as 53 Blood, 18 Frost, and witnessed (used and abused to be more precise) first-hand the fatfingered facerolling powerhouse that is Dancing Rune Weapon. Any player piloting a Deathknight who is capable of checking for a full RP bar, pressing DRW and then mashing strike attacks is probably capable of getting their arena rating to at least 2000. Mouse turning not even necessary.
That is wrong.
I am probably not supposed to be as good at killing people as more famous Death knights, and although I am glad that I have inherited a great range of powerful skills from them, I don't think that Druids I fight in Arenas, or anyone hit by DRW, really appreciates my personal enjoyment. Death knight design needs a visit from the Fairness Police.
Personally, I believe that the next wave of incoming changes to Blood (read: to DKs in general) only serves to exacerbate certain patently unfair aspects of Death knights in Arena PvP. So before I launch into my broader questioning of what, exactly, I am supposed to be able to do when PvPing as a DK, I would like to look several of the newest 3.1 Changes.
Blood:
1. Glyph of Blood Boil: This has been replaced with Glyph of Heart Strike, which adds a snare effect to Heart Strike. (50%)
Okay. Now with the changes to Desecration (instantly snaring opponents), and the loss of the Blood-Boil glyph, as well as the new (and vastly improved) undispellable Chillblains, it seems safe to assume that Blizzard is slowly working at totally phasing out Chains of Ice. In theory, that is, in fact, a fantastic idea. Death knights will get a bevy of free snares attached to various key abilities, and will no longer have the ability to utterly shut-the-fuck-down opposing warriors and certain comps. DKs will also be easier to kite as well, a further emphasis of a weakness that is supposed to be our big one for PvP. All fine in theory. In practice, having Heart Strike cleave AND apply hamstring makes the ability essentially a one button wonder, especially if the glyph of Blood Strike continues to work on Heart Strike as well. It will snare, buff its own damage for future strikes, and cleave on opponents in range, all for one Blood rune. I think that might be over the top.
2. Dancing Rune Weapon now lasts 10 sec plus 1 sec per 5 additional runic power, doing the same attacks as the Death Knight but for 50% reduced damage.
Cooldown reduced from 3 min to 1.5 min.
With 130 RP dumped into DRW, that would be a maximum duration of 36 seconds, as well as an additional ten from the new DRW glyph for a total of 46. I think that is enough time to wreck people, yep. Cooldown reduced to a minute and change. Modifier reduced to 50%. DRW will also only copy strikes and spell attacks.
So... instead of an untargettable unstoppable 70% COPY OF ME running around soloing healing classes and double proccing my trinkets for over a minute, I will instead get almost a minute of me multiplied by 0.5, and still able to snare thanks to the new Heartstrike glyph. Plus, it will be on a lower cooldown so that I can do it again much sooner! Thanks Blizzard! Also, at the low low price of ignoring Lichborne, an aspiring Blood DK can head into Unholy and grab the controllable ghoul stun too, as well as buffing her free Deathcoils, truly Heartstrike is shaping up a little too well. Playing this class sometimes feels like winning the lottery or playing a Lord of the Sith in the Old Republic games. Some shit just aint fair.
3. Chillblains: Now a 15/30/50% movement speed debuff up from 30%. Can no longer be dispelled.
Okay, wow. And I figured that I would not see all that many crazy changes slip through the cracks. Lets take Heartsrtike, make it ranged, make it generate an additional ten to fifteen runic power, and then tack an undispellable hamstring on it for three talent points. If this goes through to live then Chains of Ice absolutely needs to go or be substantially nerfed, because I will have the option of rooting you in place, and then snaring you to 50% on TWO SEPARATE DR timers. Plus Hungering Cold and Howling Blast will come with a 50% snare as well, assuming you do not trinket out of it.
So this all brings me to my main point today:
What is the Deathknight supposed to be?
Is it supposed to be a more resilient Warrior who deals spell damage, lacks MS, but makes up for it by generally quadrupling Warrior damage every match? What pvp niche are DKs supposed to fill? The hard to kill, high damage, nigh unstoppable plate wearing niche? I did not realize that one had a spot free. Our obviously strengths in PvP come against spells, but we also remain very strong against high armor targets, most melee, and our massive damage output will send most healers to the bottom of the mana barrel very quickly. I feel as if Death knights in PvP lack a focused role. We have been given an incredible (and enjoyable) and diverse set of tools, but the combination thereof has created some very problematic circumstances, similar to Survival Hunters really.
Mind Freeze (4) ïƒ* Strangulate (5) ïƒ* Ghoul Stun (3) ïƒ* Mind Freeze (4)
That is sixteen seconds of interrupted healing spells before mitigating talents or auras, assuming the Death knight is not kited and has the resources, which is easy to set up. ¾ of this occurs off of the GCD. Is our PvP strength supposed to be interrupts? Should I be able t do that to a healing or casting class?
If the answer is yes, where are the comparisons coming from? Rogues are probably the only other class that can interrupt that many spells in a row, and it involves using a large number of combo points and stuns, as well as some longer cooldowns like Blind if your target gets free.
I suppose it just makes me wonder what the thought process was behind DK design, and where the class is going. Hopefully, it stays as fun and interactive as it currently is, but becomes a more balanced presence in the arena metagame, will a well defined role and set of viable comps. We shall see what further changes 3.1 brings. I, for one, am optimistic, but then again, I have good cause to be.
Well, it did not take me long to break my own word. I said I would not blog about Arena balance, but then I played my weekly arena games in the twos bracket as 53 Blood, 18 Frost, and witnessed (used and abused to be more precise) first-hand the fatfingered facerolling powerhouse that is Dancing Rune Weapon. Any player piloting a Deathknight who is capable of checking for a full RP bar, pressing DRW and then mashing strike attacks is probably capable of getting their arena rating to at least 2000. Mouse turning not even necessary.
That is wrong.
I am probably not supposed to be as good at killing people as more famous Death knights, and although I am glad that I have inherited a great range of powerful skills from them, I don't think that Druids I fight in Arenas, or anyone hit by DRW, really appreciates my personal enjoyment. Death knight design needs a visit from the Fairness Police.
Personally, I believe that the next wave of incoming changes to Blood (read: to DKs in general) only serves to exacerbate certain patently unfair aspects of Death knights in Arena PvP. So before I launch into my broader questioning of what, exactly, I am supposed to be able to do when PvPing as a DK, I would like to look several of the newest 3.1 Changes.
Blood:
1. Glyph of Blood Boil: This has been replaced with Glyph of Heart Strike, which adds a snare effect to Heart Strike. (50%)
Okay. Now with the changes to Desecration (instantly snaring opponents), and the loss of the Blood-Boil glyph, as well as the new (and vastly improved) undispellable Chillblains, it seems safe to assume that Blizzard is slowly working at totally phasing out Chains of Ice. In theory, that is, in fact, a fantastic idea. Death knights will get a bevy of free snares attached to various key abilities, and will no longer have the ability to utterly shut-the-fuck-down opposing warriors and certain comps. DKs will also be easier to kite as well, a further emphasis of a weakness that is supposed to be our big one for PvP. All fine in theory. In practice, having Heart Strike cleave AND apply hamstring makes the ability essentially a one button wonder, especially if the glyph of Blood Strike continues to work on Heart Strike as well. It will snare, buff its own damage for future strikes, and cleave on opponents in range, all for one Blood rune. I think that might be over the top.
2. Dancing Rune Weapon now lasts 10 sec plus 1 sec per 5 additional runic power, doing the same attacks as the Death Knight but for 50% reduced damage.
Cooldown reduced from 3 min to 1.5 min.
With 130 RP dumped into DRW, that would be a maximum duration of 36 seconds, as well as an additional ten from the new DRW glyph for a total of 46. I think that is enough time to wreck people, yep. Cooldown reduced to a minute and change. Modifier reduced to 50%. DRW will also only copy strikes and spell attacks.
So... instead of an untargettable unstoppable 70% COPY OF ME running around soloing healing classes and double proccing my trinkets for over a minute, I will instead get almost a minute of me multiplied by 0.5, and still able to snare thanks to the new Heartstrike glyph. Plus, it will be on a lower cooldown so that I can do it again much sooner! Thanks Blizzard! Also, at the low low price of ignoring Lichborne, an aspiring Blood DK can head into Unholy and grab the controllable ghoul stun too, as well as buffing her free Deathcoils, truly Heartstrike is shaping up a little too well. Playing this class sometimes feels like winning the lottery or playing a Lord of the Sith in the Old Republic games. Some shit just aint fair.
3. Chillblains: Now a 15/30/50% movement speed debuff up from 30%. Can no longer be dispelled.
Okay, wow. And I figured that I would not see all that many crazy changes slip through the cracks. Lets take Heartsrtike, make it ranged, make it generate an additional ten to fifteen runic power, and then tack an undispellable hamstring on it for three talent points. If this goes through to live then Chains of Ice absolutely needs to go or be substantially nerfed, because I will have the option of rooting you in place, and then snaring you to 50% on TWO SEPARATE DR timers. Plus Hungering Cold and Howling Blast will come with a 50% snare as well, assuming you do not trinket out of it.
So this all brings me to my main point today:
What is the Deathknight supposed to be?
Is it supposed to be a more resilient Warrior who deals spell damage, lacks MS, but makes up for it by generally quadrupling Warrior damage every match? What pvp niche are DKs supposed to fill? The hard to kill, high damage, nigh unstoppable plate wearing niche? I did not realize that one had a spot free. Our obviously strengths in PvP come against spells, but we also remain very strong against high armor targets, most melee, and our massive damage output will send most healers to the bottom of the mana barrel very quickly. I feel as if Death knights in PvP lack a focused role. We have been given an incredible (and enjoyable) and diverse set of tools, but the combination thereof has created some very problematic circumstances, similar to Survival Hunters really.
Mind Freeze (4) ïƒ* Strangulate (5) ïƒ* Ghoul Stun (3) ïƒ* Mind Freeze (4)
That is sixteen seconds of interrupted healing spells before mitigating talents or auras, assuming the Death knight is not kited and has the resources, which is easy to set up. ¾ of this occurs off of the GCD. Is our PvP strength supposed to be interrupts? Should I be able t do that to a healing or casting class?
If the answer is yes, where are the comparisons coming from? Rogues are probably the only other class that can interrupt that many spells in a row, and it involves using a large number of combo points and stuns, as well as some longer cooldowns like Blind if your target gets free.
I suppose it just makes me wonder what the thought process was behind DK design, and where the class is going. Hopefully, it stays as fun and interactive as it currently is, but becomes a more balanced presence in the arena metagame, will a well defined role and set of viable comps. We shall see what further changes 3.1 brings. I, for one, am optimistic, but then again, I have good cause to be.
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I really, REALLY hope you're right about these snare additions being a precursor to chains of ice being nerfed, gutted, removed, revamped, or whatever. It's quite simply way too strong when it cannot be dispelled, a DK can drag a game out as long as he wants against most DPS (especially melees) by simply playing keepaway through pillar humping and coi spam. Depending on the class, you might not even need a damn pillar to completely neuter them doing this.
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