Build 8926 Review, Wintergrasp and Warhammer Online

Long time no post. I've been taking breaks here and there. Rather burnt out at the moment on the Beta and my mind has been elsewhere.

Now last Build saw Blizz beat us half to death with a nerf bat; our burst damage was almost completely destroyed and our DoTs were nerfed to uselessness. Without the DoTs doing at least moderate damage (ala' a Warlock or Shadow Priest) they only exist for utility purposes to increase burst. But that was screwed too. What does that leave? Auto Attack white damage?

Yes, and that has been fine. With skills like Necrosis our white damage was actually ok. Tolerable at least. Even our specials didn't lose ALL of their burst, thanks to other nifty talents like Rage of Rivendare, Black Ice and Outbreak.

My experiences in PvP suffered with the changes however. Quite a few did. Tanking was not much better, due to the changes and some MAJOR bugs like Unholy Blight having a hidden 1 minute Cooldown....

SO! Wed comes around and their is a sudden patch going. Seems like a new Build! Yay! The problems will be addressed.

And they were, but not in a way anyone thought.

Our talents that help our abilities and white damage scale better? NERFED.
That "bug" giving Blight a 1 minute CD? INTENTIONAL

I can't understand the logic at the moment.

Ghostcrawler said fairly recently that they were afraid that giving Unholy 4 diseases was making them more powerful then other trees in regards to Abilities that scale with disease. And what is wrong with that? Frost has(actually had) burst potential through freeze/shatter combos. Blood had improved self regen. Diseases are our niche, one that in PvP requires very careful thinking. The logic is mind boggling.

To make it worse, this has even effected PvE. I've tanked twice since the total changes. Both times saw me losing aggro easily and having a hard time regaining it from our heavy hitters.

These changes are dissapointing.

Curious to see how DK's fare in PvP with resilience gear, I rolled a Premade on the new server, Murmur. The experience was very disheartening. Numbers were still abysmal compared to all other classes.

Speaking of Murmur, I need to address Wintergrasp.

Upon first hearing of the area I fantasized about toons drop podding from escort flyers, Keeps ablaze and all sorts of PvP goodness.

Again, Blizzard took my expectations and shattered them. Badly

The zone has no sense of realism. Instead of feeling like you are attacking a mighty keep, you feel like you're knocking down or simply removing lego walls from a four year old's plaything. There is no sense of organic PvP to be had. Everything rings with whimsy and, honestly, can't be taken really seriously. The idea was solid, but the execution was sloppy. Truely Blizz can learn from their newfound rivals over at EA Mythic.

Which brings me to a mild but pleasurable detour in my WoW PvP blog. Warhammer Online.

Now I have a long history with this license. Over 15 years in fact. My first job in fact was at a Games Workshop store, and I dare say it was the best fun I ever had in my working life. The lore is something I'm very familiar with.

My initial thoughts on the game were ones of dismissal. However slowly EA Mythic was able to clear those doubts away and draw me in. Here is PvP as it should be. Group play that is fun and World PvP that matters. I suggest everyone looking for a breath of fresh air try it out. This "WoW Ripoff" is anything but.

Unholy Review for Build 8905

Eww...



You know it's a bad sign when a Blue posts before a new Build goes up to prepare you. I feel rather bad for Ghostcrawler. She has been a friend of the DK community, a reliable person and very receptive of our feedback. Now most treat her as if she's the enemy; like she is responsible for Unstable servers and ...this.

Now we all knew it was going to happen; Scourge Strike needed to get knocked down some. There was no ifs, ands or buts here. A 75 popping off (albeit rarely) a 9K crit on a mob or another player is more than a little OP. I for one was greatly looking forward to getting that issue ironed out so we can come closer to finalizing everything and getting a Release Date set.

Which is why when I saw the new Tool Tip for SS my jaw quite literaly hit the floor. Scourge Strike, after all, is the Deep Unholy substitute for Obliterate. Our primary finisher. Now? Not so much.

The situation gets worse. They cut us across the board. Literally every offensive ability we have was slashed almost in half. Like many I figured SS was the problem and was the primary focus of change. I figured it was utilizing talents and enchants it should not (Impurity, Black Ice, Cinderglacier, etc) to get those massive crits, and that these things would be looked into closely (which they may have been. I can't say for sure). But instead the ability itself took a massive hit. And the disease scaling. And the abilities that inflict those diseases. And so on.

Not only that, but any legitimate talents we had that improved SS had it removed from them, while Oblit got reapplied to several. The reward for investing deeply in Unholy; the alternative to Oblit, is not so much an even alternative now.

To explain it to those that haven't played a Death Knight before, I tend to compare them to Frost Mages with their Shatter Combos, but obviously melee. Regardless of spec, everything we do besides CC during a fight is a set up to increase the size and power of our finisher. Our "shatter". In the case of Blood it may be DRW with Oblit or Heart Strike. For Frost it is a freeze effect for Howling Blast. For Unholy we are talking diseases to amp up Scourge Strike. Now I've seen Mages at 70 in good gear crit easily 3-3.5K. Scourge Strike versus an equal level foe? Lucky if it crits past 2K.

I'm not going to go into the bugs too much as I know that they will be fixed soon (I hope), but having Blood Boil and Unholy Blight broken on top of everything else being so badly downgraded makes it very difficult to handle AoE grinding with the expertise we did before, not to mention PvPing.

On that note, I do have to point out something that ruffled my feathers that Ghostcrawler did say;

"Death knights shouldn't be able to obliterate rogues (see what I did there?). In fact, many players will tell you that rogues can defeat characters of higher level if they get the drop on them. Death knights should have to rely on all of their tools and not just spam the hardest hitting ones. Death knights should not do the most damage in an instance while tanking. All of those things were happening before. Some were bugs, but some were just very generous numbers or stacking talents. "

Now first of all we all know some classes just have a natural counter class. Ask Warlocks how they feel about Rogues and you'll see what I mean. Between AoE's, DoT's and hard hitting finishers, Death Knights are a great counter class for a Rogue. The nerf to Disease DoT and to D&D hinders us against this class by quite abit. And the idea of a Rogue, unlike other classes being able to defeat higher level players because they can "get the drop on them" seems a bizzare thing to champion when you are speaking of balance. I've fought several Rogues as Unholy and I never just "spammed the hardest hitting abilities". There is alot of CC involved with taking on a Rogue, especially if he gets the drop on you. Death Knight or no. Seems just an odd statement to stand by to me.

As for the Tanking and top-DPS issue, I agree completely. However we need to look at what the groups were comprised of and what spec the DK was.

Scourge Strike was very broken. The rest of the abilities were not. I'm honestly baffled by this change, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it gets resolved. Surely there must be a happy medium somewhere.

DK's vs Casters: A Review

Yes folks, I potted after this.



Blizzard said from the start that Death Knights would be an Anti-Caster class. Truer words are rarely spoken. Between Strangulate and Mind Freeze, Death Grip and Racials (warstomp, arcane torrent, etc) we live up to the hype in this regard. Yes, I've had Mages blitz me out of nowhere and drop me like a bad habit. But in 1v1 situations where we are both aware of each other, it can come down to precious seconds; that is all a DK needs to Spell-Lock you and take you out.

The above individual is a 78 that was also enjoying the PvP quests in Grizzly Hills (a great way to help with your leveling, folks. You get exp everytime you turn them in) when we came across each other. I popped Lichborne on myself after the fear, my Ghoul Stunned and I utilized Chains of Ice and Strangulate to give me time to get my diseases up. One Scourge Strike was utilized(and did not crit or do absurd damage, ye of the QQ), otherwise it was Death Strike to keep me up. Let me say first that Strangulate and Chains are a nasty combo, and if you are an Unholy Deathknight you should work this as a precursor to a D&D over the area. D&D is absolutely wonderful to use in PvP, provided you can keep them in the area. Easily accomplished with a well-timed Death Grip or a Ghoul Stun.

As I said, I did use a pot afterwords to keep from dropping dead. Just as with Locks (and other DK's, but that is another entry entirely) DoTs hurt like hell, and should not be underestimated. had I been thinking clearer I would have put my AMZ or Shell up. Hindsight is a great teacher though.

So never underestimate our caster friends in their fancy robes, but remember your tools of the trade.

Bears beware!

I returned to my new PvP paradise in Grizzly Hills today in the hopes of reaching 75. And who do I see but a 78 Night Elf Druid.

*gulp*

He's in flight form, but repeatedly comes in for the kill. Each time I counter with my Ghoul's stun and try to keep him in place. He gets away in cheetah form each time. Eventually he switches to bear and whoa. There I am fighting a player 4 levels higher than me. And I win.

Now it's easy to say that my Scourge Strike hit him for waay to much. I didn't. I popped off a 6k crit at one point with 4 diseases up. Most of my 2 Runers were Death Strikes to stay alive. I alternated D&D, my Desecrate, Chains of Ice and Ghoul stuns to keep him within range. And it worked like a champ.

The hardest fight I've had so far, and I came out of it healthy. I can see that Druids are really going to have a problem with facing DK's. The trick is control and dots to wear them down. Remember that if you run into Smokey the Bear in Northrend.

Welcome to GH, BITCH.

World PvPers, your dreams are coming true.


Ever wonder what it must've been like to be there for the first time some brilliant lad combined peanut butter and chocolate? I bet there was a sense of awe and satisfaction; finding a way to combine two great things into one better thing.

Here in the Beta, I am first-hand experiencing that sense of wonder and awe, and I can't stop smiling over it.

But to fully understand this moment let's go back in time abit, shall we?

On the 25th of March, Blizzard released its final big patch before WotLK content. 2.4.0, the Fury of the Sunwell. The big draw in this patch was a whole new outdoor area, The Isle of Quel'Danas, which housed a brand new instance and a huge raid to trump the Black Temple.

For most regular WoW Joes though, the Isle (also known as IQD) drew more attention for its dailies. up to ten easy and close packed dailies that could easily fund folks seeking to improve their gear, power level a profession or save for that long-desired Epic Flyer.

Of course as these folks wandered upon the shores of IQD for the first time, with visions of Gold in their heads, others were arriving as well.

The Anarchists. The Bored. The Unsavory.

Gankers.

For them, easy honor and a few laughs meant way more than Gold, and they were determined to get their pound of flesh.

To this day IQD is jokingly referred to by many as the Isle of QQ. The money hungry stayed, as did the Gankers. From an area designed with PvE in mind came the greatest World PvP spot to be implemented in the game.

Now let's return to the present. New cap, new continent, new dailies. But not your old fashioned dailies; no no. Ones fashioned with the bloodthirsty in mind.

The area is Grizzly Hill, and until you reach Wintergrasp this is where it is at.

When I first arrived I figured the Alliance were very bored. VERY BORED. Every five seconds the Local Defense was screaming. Blue Sky Logging Grounds, Black River Logging Camp and Venture Bay seem to be very popular places.

When I arrived I found out why.

Each area is a battlefield of Alli Guards at war with Horde Forces, as well as about five dailies each. Each daily has a PvE element to it. For example driving out Venture Company Stragglers or Bandaging wounded soldiers. However each also has a very clear PvP goal as well. Those that don't still take place in the same hectic area, and don't expect care bears.

Dailies and Ganking; our peanut butter and jelly.

Have fun earning that Gold, kids.

Unholy Review, pt2

Seems I forgot a few things so I wanted to cover them really quick.

- [New Ability] Horn of Winter.

Love this. Loveitloveitloveit.

Nice 2 minute boost and I can keep it up all the time.

- [Talent Change] Toughness now reduces slowing effect durations.

I always skipped this Talent before. I won't know. After getting my head bashed in by a VERY good BM Hunter recently I realized that slows are gonna be the death of us in PvP against ranged classes. This talent increases our armor making us sturdier and also reduces slows by up to 50% I bet those who take Bladed Armor will also fall for this nice talent. <3

Unholy Post-8885 Review

Only 2 diseases applied. I LOVE IT, but something is amiss...



So Friday brought us Build 8885, and the Unholy tree finally got some love. Some bugs remained, some new ones popped up. All in all though it is finally getting the attention it deserves. Here is my current stance on the issues.

- [Bug] Ghoul is still permanent if you "dismiss" it via zoning, flying or mounting.

They still can't get this right, and I wish they would see this as a sign from the Gods. The Unholy DKs would love a Minion without duration. It adds flavor and saves us Gold and resources in regards to Corpse Powder. It also helps with situations where there are no Humanoid corpses about. On the subject of Corpse Powder...

- [Bug] Corpse Powder is not working atm.

Even a Perma-Ghoul isn't permanent, and this is a bummer. Hope it gets fixed soon. As it stands if there is no Humanoid Corpses around you are screwed.

- [Bug] Death Coil not healing Ghoul, Death Pact not sacrificing it.

Probably connected to the Perma-Ghoul bug. Fortunately bandages are everywhere. Yes, I bandage the bugger.

- [Bug] Scourge Strike OP?

Not so much a bug per se but a numbers issue. As you can see from the above Screen Shot a critting Scourge Strike can do huge numbers even without diseases effecting it. This may be a scaling issue or it may be a bug.

- [Change] Desecrate procs off Plague Strike now

HUGE boon. Before Desecrate when attached to Obliterate found itself at the end of a rotation, which limited it's use and was brutally unplayed unless you took Annihilate in the frost tree to keep the Oblit from consuming your diseases and screwing up your work. Now it becomes a starter or secondary strike and effect, helping to keep Chains of Ice for when they do slip free.

- [Change] Scourge Strike becomes the Unholy Oblit

Scourge Strike has been overhauled to pay in dividends for those who go deep Unholy. Think of it as Oblit with Annihilate free of points and ignoring armor on top of it. Perfect burst finisher even when "fixed".

- [Change] Reaping only gives one Death Rune, procs off Pestilence and Blood Boil now

A bit of a nerf here; before we toss D&D and we got 3 Death Runes. Still useful to allow rotation manueverability, but not as much so.



Overall this most recent build has brought Unholy into its own. Immediately in PvP situations I found controlling the enemy's positioning became alot tighter. Between Chains of Ice, Desecrate and Death Grip we have quite a few anti-kiting techniques at our disposal. All we need to do is time them right for maximum control.

The new Scourge Strike frees up those points previously invested in annihilation and serves as a great follow up to Blight running. Even after it's "fix", we'll still be good.

Once the issues effecting our zombified minion get resolved, we are looking at a damn good tree.