Beta is over, things I'm left wondering about
Posted 11-06-2008 at 03:46 PM by Armstrong
Updated 11-06-2008 at 03:53 PM by Armstrong (Added category, changed title)
Updated 11-06-2008 at 03:53 PM by Armstrong (Added category, changed title)
The Beta is over
and I've only had time to test about 5% of what I would have liked to test. Well it was fun while it lasted, and the expansion is only a week away.
Here are the top three things on my mind at the moment:
Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited about the class. I'm looking forward to the 13th and the months to follow. There's a long and fun journey ahead, I'm sure of it.
and I've only had time to test about 5% of what I would have liked to test. Well it was fun while it lasted, and the expansion is only a week away.
Here are the top three things on my mind at the moment:
- Resource system
With a full set of level 80 abilities the Rune + Runic Power system becomes a mini-game all by itself. The system allows for a wide variety of fairly convoluted rotations but at the same time creates unique limitations by putting abilities on a "soft" cooldown after they have been used a certain number of time. In order to reach their highest potential DKs require more advance planning than most classes since in many cases using one ability will put a number of others on cooldown.
A good number of players will likely decide that the play style is too complex for them after a while. Many others will stick with their DK, but the gap between the good and the bad DK might end up being particularly large, not unlike how it has long been the case for Hunters. The main concern then is that DKs may have a hard time getting group and raid invites if the class itself gets a bad rap early on.
- Avoidance
While their health pool and armor have been brought closer to the other two plate classes, DK mechanics still heavily favor avoidance. Not only it is easy to get from talents (up to 18% "always on" and two avoidance-based "panic buttons") but a few key abilities (RS & BS) actually scale with the DK's avoidance. In addition, strength provides both DK's main damage and threat scaling and increases parry in the process.
It will be interesting to see how this all develops on live, since until now tank classes have all worked with a resource system that scales up with damage taken, which had the effect of turning avoidance into a necessary evil at best. Death Knights on the other hand not only see no negative effect from avoidance but actually benefit from it in the form of more Rune Strike procs and longer Bone Shield duration.
On the surface this looks like a good thing for DKs, but it remains to be seen whether it will be too good and the nerf bat gets called in.
- PvP
This isn't something I've had the chance to test much. A few random 1v1 outdoor "incidents" went fairly well for me, but I suspect that was mainly due to most people still being largely unfamiliar with DK abilities. After a few weeks at level 80, everyone will know the DK tricks and how to counter them. This is expected and normal.
Pretty soon though, death knights' dependence on diseases will likely become the top issue in group PvP. The system works fine for sustained DPS in PvE. In PvP the implication is that a DK needs to apply at least one and often two diseases in order to get the full potential out of their burst abilities.
Having to use your first two global cooldowns to apply debuffs before you can hit an enemy with significant burst damage is obviously counter-intuitive in PvP. Imagine if Mortal Strike did only half damage unless both rend and sunder armor were present on the target. DKs don't have it that bad, but it's not too far from it.
Between snares, CC and 3 out of 4 healing classes able to remove diseases, keeping the diseases up will be a challenge at best, and DKs will likely find themselves having to settle for suboptimal burst during the short windows of opportunity they get.
You can read a much more thorough article on this subject here.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited about the class. I'm looking forward to the 13th and the months to follow. There's a long and fun journey ahead, I'm sure of it.
Total Comments 4
Comments
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The shear complexity of Death Knight tanking really excites me and is going to make it very hard for me to avoid playing one extensively.
You should write about the specs you have used and what rotations you found the most effective for tps.Posted 11-06-2008 at 03:57 PM by veneretio 
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Unfortunately I only got into the beta a few weeks ago and between real-life obligations and raiding on live (hoping for a Kil'jaeden kill tonight or tomorrow) my opportunities to log on have been limited.
I decided I wanted to focus more on class mechanics, formulas and numbers since that's the kind of information I'd had the most difficulty finding on the web. I have a rough idea of the capabilities of various specs, and of the potential of each ability, but I haven't spent much time trying to optimize rotations.Posted 11-06-2008 at 06:21 PM by Armstrong - I'm hoping the complexity of it drives people away. However I think a lot will just end up Unholy, which just doesn't seem as complicated as frost or blood.
Posted 11-07-2008 at 08:39 AM by Urrick - @Urrick, Blood and frost tanking to me don't seem anymore complicated than unholy, they are just less publicized.
Personally I'm drawn to unholy like a moth to flame, it just looks fun!(and scales better, until they nerf bone shield)Posted 11-11-2008 at 08:18 PM by Steve
