Mild Confusion

While I agree with you on the bladed armor synergy argument, I personally pick up toughness for the 30% snare reduction. The armor and ap are just a bonus.

 

Pallypoeper

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Depending on wether I like AMS & descecrating grounds or not,, i'll switch those points around a bit..

 

rhodin

remember that you get immune to polymorph when using lichborne aswell, although i don't know if you can get shackled?

 

diospadre

I don't understand how people are still asking that question.

 

salviastria

Just a couple things that I've noticed/thought about since my experiences with beta...

As Unholy, you have some of the best survivability, some good damage, but you are (along with Blood) pretty easy to kite. This is why I prefer Frost these days for PvP...even if you manage to kite me, I can still set up diseases and nuke from 30 yards.

However, I do not feel that Toughness or Chillblains are 'worth it' for PvP. Any self-respecting PvP build needs Runetap, so thats 18 points at least deep in Blood that you have to take. This leaves you with an insufficient amount of points to get everything you would like to take in frost. In beta I was keen on taking both Killing Machine and Toughness, and after switching I have found that I much prefer to take 2/3 Runic Power and all 6 points into Improved Icy Talons.

Beta Build:

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...00000000000000

Current Build:

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...h=000000000000

 

halcor

Long time reader, first time poster here

I did a little math on Frost Aura, and 80 resistance comes out to an average of 15% magic reduction for your group. That's pretty significant and awesome for two points I'd think.

I'm not too high on Icy Talons for PvP considering the % of yellow damage that DKs do, and the increasing amount of yellow damage for other melee classes because of the way Blizzard has added abilities over time. For the same reason, I'm not *totally* sold on Killing Machine for PvP since it's autoattack dependent, but there isn't a much better place for the points, and the RNG from it is more important than it's average DPS. This is the build I'm looking at:

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

The points in Imp Icy Touch could go elsewhere (for RP for instance), but as often as it's used, I figure it'd be worth the 30% damage boost. I'm intrigued by the idea of taking Death Rune mastery, but I'm not sure it would provide enough utility to be worth the points and crit lost.

 

• Lanky

I'd argue for Glyph of AMS, making it 10 seconds long, and just throw it down after hitting the priest once. Other than that, yah Healing Priests are awful for us, and are likely why we need a rogue to go with us in 3v3.

 

Radogor

Hi everyone.
What do you guys think about DK + priest 2v2 team? What I'm wondering mostly is what the team build should be - offensive or defensive.
Any ideas/opinions are welcome.

 

Jiggs

With 25 second death grips, CoI, and Desecration I would say we are less kitable than warriors and having played a warrior at a high level in arenas for 4 seasons I am ecstatic to see all the new toys I have while being kited. While being kited as unholy I can still keep up 2 diseases on you while I CoI to close the gap and/or wait for Death Grip. Additionally I can mitigate SO much damage that any kite class will be doing to me while waiting for DG to come up. Your spec has 35 second death grips which, one could argue, would make you even more kitable than someone who doesn't put 7 points into unholy like yourself.

Runetap is definitely NOT a must have talent for arenas. I would only THINK about taking Runetap over Licheborne if I was running a double dps 2s team and even then I would probably pass because licheborne is just amazing for arenas. It's applications are endless whereas runetap is just a heal here and there. I plan on focusing on 3s and 5s and heals will need to come from someone other than my runetap.

You say that our major problem will be kiting yet you say toughness which will cut our slows by 1/3rd is not "worth it". That doesn't make sense especially for a tier 1 talent that everyone who isn't heavy frost will most likely take. For someone who doesn't put 7 points into unholy and is more kitable than someone who does put 7 in I can't understand why you would not find points to put in toughness.

Here is the 3s and 5s arena spec I will most likely be going with...
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

The 5 leftover points will go into some combination of Dirge, Wandering Plague, and Rage of Rivendare. I haven't decided yet. Does anyone have any input on where those last 5 points will be best spent? I'm curious.

 

Amera

Since mana burn seems much weaker than in TBC, I don't think a DPS+Healer team would be very fun given the lack of MS. You can't even win the 20min games that a LD or HD could win simply because priests can't get away easily, and if you ever go against a hunter it's over.

I'd recommend spriest+DK if you are hell bent on playing with a priest. You could maybe go unholy for the synergistic damage too.

 

Xerogen

I would drop 3 into Annihilation. I havent tested Night of the Dead yet (although I heard it was bugged), but it may be better if they fix it.

 

Valerys

As Unholy you will never use Obliterate (you get Scourge Strike to replace it) so Annihilation is only half-useful. Personally I'd put 2 points into Unholy Aura, possibly get rid of Impurity and take 5/5 Rage of Rivendare. The remaining 3 points are up in the air.

 

Frostx

I would do this: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

 

Radogor

Thanks a lot for feedback.
I was thinking about unholy/blood or frost build as well, due to good util/damage ratio when playing with priest.
Now we are considering 2 possibilities - either priest will be a healer or a damager (spriest). Well, we will see.
Anyhow, if others have something to add, please

EDITED: misspelled.

 

Radogor

I'm not sure if UB is useful in arenas, apart from unhiding stealthed targets, occasionally.
Maybe 1 point in Impurity will be better.

 

Jiggs

Ya you won't use obliterate when you have SS. I don't think I want to get Unholy Aura because everyone else on my team will already have run speed enchants on their gear (pretty standard for arena players) and I will be in unholy stance so nobody will benefit from the speed. I also thought Impurity was a pretty good talent, but I haven't researched it much vs rage of rivendare.

Wandering Plague - I don't see many people taking this talent. I know that our arena sets have a good amount of crit on them so this talent may not be worth taking until I get full arena gear and a more respectable crit rating I guess. I may pass on this for now.

Dirge - RP building is pretty key for pvp and an extra 5 per PS SS and DS would be nice. I think I like this talent for my final build.

Night of the dead - I see a couple people putting this in their builds. After reading up on it at least 1 point in it may be real nice. Sounds OP, but 2/2 should remove the cd completely which could lead to an endless chain of exploding/stunning ghouls? Is it still bugged to not count the next 10, but to count any PS or SS? I can also see a good potential with this talent to set up bursts by stunning then exploding your ghoul and being able to quickly resummon another. I can't test this talent because I'm at work, but I was curious if anyone else had any feedback on it. I will have to try this talent out tonight and see how it goes, but it could be real nice. I also think this talent will be great for arenas when people realize how much utility our ghoul provides and how easily they get smashed. Our ghouls wont live too long haha

I think this may be my final build...
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Last point in either 2/2 Night of the Dead or 2/2 Dirge depending on how NotD works.

 

Nerosis

So I've been working on trying to make a viable Unholy PVP spec and it has come down to about four different variations. I can't seem to find a recommended one, though it may be due to how inflated the unholy tree feels or just that there are many usable specs, so I decided to come here to get some insight. I found that either spec is use able in PVP, but how useful they actually are is a different story.

Unholy/Blood (18/0/53) = Spec
Unholy/Frost/Blood (7/11/53) = Spec

I couldn't decide whether to put points into dirge or not. If I did I would have to pull points out of somewhere, and I'm kind of unsure from my own experience in duels and PVP if the extra runic points really make the difference or not. The second problem I had to choose between is whether I should put the two points in Blood-Caked Blades somewhere else. I've heard Blood-Caked Blades is not that useful and the only other place I could think of putting the points is in Anticipation.

Desecration - It's obvious that Death Knights have only one/two base snares (depending on what you define a snare as) so I figured Desecration would be a great addition. I also found that it procs so often at just 80% I felt the last point could be placed elsewhere.

On a Pale Horse - I think being able to cut time down feared and stunned by 1/5th is a very useful tool since Death Knights seem a little easy to CC. Anyway to cut that time down is a plus in my book.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or even questions as to why I chose what I chose?

 

Dristig

Last two posts are right up my alley. I played unholy in beta arenas and will be playing arenas with a Resto shaman. His spec is a big concern of mine. I'm leaning away from Runetap even though it is awesome when I'm alone. I need to test NotD a lot more as I've never dropped a point in it while leveling. I'm married to 2/11/50+ but the rest of the points are up in the air for me. I'm leaning toward the first few Blood points for more burst but I also love everything in unholy and could happily put 60 there. lol

I'd really like to here opinions on BCB from those of you who have it in your arena builds. I know it tested well point for point on the Dummies but it seems too RNG for the points when I'm trying to prune my unholy tree.

Forgot to include my most likely build: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

PPS I'm really curious if there is some sort of pseudo tank build that maximizes dodge and parry for more Rune Strikes because oddly enough our most damaging attack is a tanking skill.

 

Vain

According to the latest post by Ghostcrawler, rune strike's damage is being reduced, because they feel it is doing too much damage in PvP. It will now be more of a threat move. Also, they will be nerfing bone shield and icebound fortitude (the latter is too good in PvP), but improving general mitigation in frost presence.

 

Dristig

/cry

Oh man, I got the bone shield rune as fast as I could and have been laughing to myself about since release. I guess someone heard me.

 

Koettaren

I'll be starting my arena career playing with a retribution paladin in 2v2. Since it's been pretty much impossible to do any testing in skirmish arenas and BGs, all I can do until the 17th is to theorycraft. Hence, I'm paying the EJ forum a visit.

As most of the discussion has been circling the unholy tree, I thought I'd pop in to ask you for advice on this Deep Frost build.

I am having some trouble placing the last 2 talent points.
I can choose to place them in:

• Subversion for an extra 6% crit on Obliterate. The problem with this as I see it is that there is a lot I don't have any use for in this talent. Blood Strike and Heart Strike crit chance+less threat is not something I'm interested in as Frost in PvP.
  
• Two points in Chillblains. This will leave me with a pretty permanent slow on at least one of my targets in the arena. Can be useful when you don't want to waste a FR on CoI to catch up to your target. I'd see this talent having more use for setups using a healer though, as it really shines when your target is chasing someone, not trying to escape (read pillar kiting, for example).
  
• Another two points in Killing Machine. I don't see this talent being very useful in 2s for the same reason as Icy Talons. You simply won't be glued to a target. I cannot comment on how this will work with resilience though (aren't there some talents that can proc off crits even if you didn't crit? The game calculates the crit before the resilence is applied, if you understand what I'm getting at).

 

Koettaren

I would absolutely favor your second spec. I would choose the 11p in frost over improved rune tap any day of the week.

I think that Lichborne is close to a must for any PvP DK. The only exception I could think of here is if you're undead, but even that would probably make up for the fact that you get a 15 second fear, charm and sleep immunity AND the possibility to heal yourself with DC for eleven points, where the pre req. talents for it are really good aswell.

 

Valerys

After some tinkering I came up with this spec: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Possible alternatives include taking points out of Impurity and into Annihilation (crit is crit). Is Corpse Explosion any good in BGs (I'm not thinking only arena here)?

 

kamiu

Isn't the use of Scourge Strike (SS) vs Obliterate (OB) situational?
I would imagine that using shadow damage (SS) versus teams and classes with shadow resistance isn't as effective as pumping physical damage (OB). Especially if you are fighting (SR) cloth due to lack of armor mitigation.

 

Targrend

No, chance-on-crit stuff just gets owned by your opponent's resilience. You're probably thinking of the fact that defensive stuff - that is, chance-on-being-crit abilities - get benefits from your resilience to make up for the fact that you don't get critted as often.