GC: Can DK's gets some answers pretty please?

#0 - Dec. 4, 2008, 8:08 p.m.

I won't rehash the same threads that have been beat into the ground (some of which I have made) the past few days. I would just like some simple questions answered, and I think they will make most serious pvp/raiding DKs rest a little easier if you don't mind.

#1. Rune Strike/DK pvp offense

Regardless of what it was designed for do to the restrictions on so many of our pvp abilities (mainly because of having to save runes for defense), we do extremely low damage in pvp. Rune Strike helped because it cost a low amount of RP.

With the upcoming change/nerf are you giving any though to lowering the RP cost on Death Coil and Frost Strike?

#2. Rune Strike in pve

If you greatly weaken the damage this is going to make DK tanks the worst at dealing damage of all the tank classes putting them at a great disadvantage. Tank damage matters now especially in 5man heroic content, much of which is still very hard for the average player base.

So my question is are you going to buff damage in other places to make up for this loss in damage? Rune Strike can be upwards of 30% of a tanking DKs damage in a 5man heroic.

#3. Runic Power in general

Are you currently happy with the limited uses this resource has? This might roll into question number one a bit but is there any plans or discussion on moving some abilities away from Runes and over to RP? Chains of Ice is one ability that seems like it needs a definate move over to RP because it is crippling our ability to make offensive moves in pvp.

#4. Runic Power Generation

Currently in pvp generating RP outside of dropping DnD + Butchery is next to impossible. In pve some builds like Frost don't generate RP fast enough to make up for the fact the spec has zero offensive burn type cooldowns. I know that HoW is being changed to generate some RP, but is there thoughts on another ability that could be given on a 1-2min cooldown that can give us a burst of RP for situations in pvp and pve?

#5. Ice Bound Fortitude

With the nerfs coming to this ability are you looking closely at the issues this is going to cause us in pvp? I just wanna know for my own peace of mind, that you are not going to make a change that will effectively cripple our ability to survive in pvp.

Much of what you said about pve tanking is true. We are extremely powerful with our cooldowns up, and extremely vulnerable to being gibbed when they are down. The same is true in pvp. With AMZ/IBF up we are very durable but without them we are extremely prone to getting gibbed.

Inclosing i am really enjoying this class, and I like the way it plays. There are definately some things that could be fixed i.e. Empower Rune Weapon being on to long a cooldown and not giving enough RP when used or things like Hungering Cold being impossible to use in pve and pvp because it cost to much RP for the spec that generates RP the slowest.

I just hope that you guys really go easy with these nerfs, because the class is young, and the slightest thing will drive many away from the class, and make us not viable in many areas of the game.

#4 - Dec. 4, 2008, 8:26 p.m.

When I use the term "conspiracy theories" I am usually trying to tweak someone for adding something like "I bet they nerfed death knights because they don't really want them to tank and are trying to get us all to reroll." That kind of thing is nonsense at best and start flame wars at worst. Mostly it's just unnecessary and ends up giving us all more to read to get to your actual points.

As for these actual points...

We don't want Rune Strike to be a big chunck of your dps, because as I have said, it's just not that interesting an ability. Few talents affect it. It doesn't play off of runes or diseases, which are core mechanics to the DK class. If your dps is low (even as a tank) we will adjust that, but probably not through Rune Strike.

We don't want Icebound Fortitude to be a button you use whenever it is up. It is designed to be used when burst damage is coming (in PvE or PvP) but the way it was getting used, because of the short cooldown, was to be on an awful lot of the time. That's not really an ability in that case, it's just giving the DKs 50% damage reduction.

We're happy with runic power. Runes are the core part of the DK. Runic power was an addition to make the rune use and cooldown less monotonous and to give us another way to balance spells. Consider that Death Coil for a rune cost would either be better or worse than Blood Strike and probably used or ignored accordingly. Runic power can carve it its own niche.

We wanted to try the Horn of Winter change versus just giving DKs another version of Bloodlust, because we try to only recycle existing abilities as a last resort.