Blood DK - Tanking going into T13

#1 - Oct. 12, 2011, 10:32 p.m.

First off I would like to commend Blizz on creating something as dynamic, intricate, and complex as the Blood Death Knight has become. It is the most fun I have had playing this game in years. I am not asking for you to change how it plays but more or less realize how uneven the tanking playing field is in certain areas. That being said, there are issues that at hand going into T13 that need to be addressed sooner than later:

Amount of dmg taken from an unmitigated/unavoided hit and the Death Knights imminent ability to have it occur.

This is an issue that has been expressed not only by novice players but more experienced and talented ones as well. I know Blizz has replied to such claims and is aware that it is something they need to address. However, right now it doesn't seem to be the case. That applies from things as small as the 2pc t13 set bonus to the lack of armor buff on PTR. I will address both below and in the next several posts:

Not that I dislike our current 2pc, but I can see situations where it is less than optimal. If you want it to be equal and consistent with the other tank classes, the best solution would be to change our 2pc to react more like the Warr/Paladin and have it tied to Heart Strike. Giving us a % absorbed of the dmg dealt by HS. This also gives us incentive to use blood runes as well.

I've expressed my views on the DK tank in depth on EJ and I don't necessarily agree with most of the logic expressed on the topic from other players, but it seems that our ability to take spike dmg is the main concern with the class. As far as addressing these issues pertaining to 'EH' and such, all they really need to do is buff Blood Pres armor coefficient back to what it was (or atleast more than it is now). Adding more hp is just going to effect the entire synergy of the class (DS, DP, RT, WotN, etc) and possibly cause balacning issues, where as changing the armor effects less areas, but accomplishes the same thing (consistent reduced melee dmg intake).

Really really wish you would toss AMZ into Blood for a much much needed raid cd. Druids are in the same boat since Tranq and Innervate are very weak as a feral. Yes, I'm aware of the t13 setbonuses, but that is just a band-aid. I'm guessing its a quick and easy fix to the issue and it will be redesigned next xpac. With that said, let's hope you design tank raid cds to be independent of our own (ie DSac, not Rallying Cry).

My druid has almost 17k more armor than my DK (both in near Best in slot gear) :(

http://i.imgur.com/rWtu1.png

No, I'm not asking to have as much armor as a druid, but rather pointing out the large gap in constant mitigation. If you are looking to smooth things out, this would be the best area.

#61 - Oct. 19, 2011, 8:36 p.m.

We haven’t yet completed our tank balancing for 4.3 and, indeed, want to see more guild attempts on the PTR to check those results against our internal testing. We agree that DK (and possibly druid) tanks might not have the survivability against damage spikes that the block tanks have, and that is something we are taking a look at. We also agree that this is generally only a problem against very cutting-edge content, where a boss might kill a tank within very few hits if he or she doesn’t receive adequate heals.

I don't necessarily agree with most of the logic expressed on the topic from other players, but it seems that our ability to take spike dmg is the main concern with the class. As far as addressing these issues pertaining to 'EH' and such, all they really need to do is buff Blood Pres armor coefficient back to what it was (or atleast more than it is now). Adding more hp is just going to effect the entire synergy of the class (DS, DP, RT, WotN, etc) and possibly cause balacning issues, where as changing the armor effects less areas, but accomplishes the same thing (consistent reduced melee dmg intake).