Thosedaysareprobablyover.NotonlywastheGargoylegivenaslightnerftoitsbasedamageonthePTR,butitsdurationwasslicedinhalf,to30seconds.I'veyettoseeenoughparsestogiveafinalverdictastowhetherit'sunderpowerednow,butit'saharshnerf,regardless.With3.0.8likelytomakeittoliveserversinthenextweekortwo,thisisprobablyagoodtimetodiscusstheDeathKnighttweaksthathavegoneinthelastfewPTRupdates.
Gargoyle
Yeah,Gargoylegotnerfed.Ithinkeveryoneknewitwascomingatsomelevel.ItwasanamazingsourceofDPS,somuchsothatBloodDeathKnightsfoundtheirDPSwasbetteriftheydroppedDancingRuneWeaponandpickedupGargoyleinstead.
Itmayalsoendupbeinganotherfacetofthe2handversusdualwielddebate,despitebeingunrelatedtoweaponry.Unholyisconsideredtheonlyspecwherea2-handedDeathKnighthasachancetokeepupagainstDualWielding,andthatwasinlargepartbecauseoftheGargoyle.Overall,there'ssomeconcernthatnerfingtheGargoylemayhaveknockedonemore2-handedspecfurtherdowntheladder,wideningdualwield'sleadintheDPSmeters.
Still,iftheGargoyle-onetalent-waswhatwe2-handeddisciplesneededtopulleventodualwielding,thatcertainwasn'ttheoptimalsituationeither.There'sotheradjustmentsthatshouldbemadetobring2-handersinlinewithdualwielding,andthoseadjustmentsshouldcertainlyapplytoatleastBlood2-handingaswell.
DeathandDecayRuneNerfedAgain
Finally,andperhapsinevitably,theDeathandDecayglyphwasnerfedtocompletelyremovethecowerinfearportion.NowitsimplyincreasesDeathandDecaydamageby20%.
ThefearportionofDeathandDecayhasactuallybeensteadilyweakenedeversinceitcameout.Itusedtobeonthespellitself,thenwasmovedtoaglyphandmadeweaker,andfinallyhasbeenremovedaltogether.Afterafashion,it'ssimpleenoughtoseewhyBlizzarddidit.BeingcrowdcontrolledhasalwaysbeenoneofthemajorcomplaintsfromPvPers,andinglyphedDeathandDecay,youhadasetitandforgetitCrowdControlmethodthatmadeasmallareaaroundtheDeathKnightano-man'sland.Sure,youcanarguethatit'spossiblejusttorunrightoutofit,butDeathKnightshadwaysofpreventingthattoo,fromDesecrationandDeathGriptoChainsofIce.
InPvE,thismayalsobeabitofablowaswell.ALotoftanksactuallyusedtheglyphforAEtanking,sincehavingthatfeareffectbothcontributedmorethreatandmoredamageavoidance(mobscan'thityouifthey'recoweringinfear,afterall).However,thatextra20%damagemayendupbeinggoodenoughanyway.That'salotofextrathreat,probablyevenmorethanthefeareffectitselfprovided.
IfIdohaveacriticismforBlizzardonthis,it'sthattheyshouldhaveseenthiscominginBetaandjustshutoffthefeareffectforgoodbeforetheDeathKnightclassevermadeittoliveservers.IfthisfeareffectwasgoingtobeoverpoweredinPvPnomatterwhat,itprobablyshouldn'thavemadeitlive,allowingplentyofDeathKnightstobecomeusedtoandenamoredofitbeforeitwascompletelysnatchedaway.Igetthefeelingthattheysomehowsenseditmightbecomeproblematic,whichiswhytheyremoveditfromthebasespellandsentittotheglyph.
Perhaps,though,theydidn'tthinkthateveryone(oratleastalmostanyoneseriouslycompetinginPvP)wouldtaketherune,makingthefearportionubiquitousanyway.It'soneofthosethingswhereoneisn'tsurewhyBlizzarddidn'tseeitcoming.Maybetheywerejustoverlyoptimistic?
TheRemovalof2-handedtankingweapons
Theremovaloftheseweaponsreallyshouldn'tsurpriseanyonewho'sbeenfollowingBlizzard'sdesignphilosophiesanddecisionssinceWrath.3.0.8,remember,isalsothepatchwheretheyremovedFeralweaponsasauniqueitemizationtype,sosuddenlyaddingtanking2-handersinthiseraoflootconsolidationseemsalittleoff.ImyselfpredictedawhilebackthatthiswasprobablyjustastopgapmeasurewhileimplementedmoreloottofixDeathKnightdefenseitemizationissuesinlaterpatches.Itseemstheydecidedthattheydidn'twantDeathKnightstogettooattachedtodefenseweaponry,whichisunderstandable,andtakingdefenseweaponsoutnowinsteadofgettingangryDeathKnightsdemandingtoknowwhytherearenotanking2-handersinUlduarlaterisforthebestinthelongrun.
Idon'tthinkthisshouldaffectDeathKnightsnegativelyinthelongrun,certainlynotwiththeRuneoftheStoneskinGargoyle,whichprovides25defenseskilland+2%stamina,goingin.ItgivesustheopportunitytogoforhighDPS2-handerswithhighstrengthandhighagility,givingusalotofextraavoidanceandthreat.Intheend,aslongaswegetenoughdefenseonourothergear,Ithinknotbeinglimitedtoacouplesmitheddefensiveweaponswillbenothingbutablessing.Inthemeantime,youcanusethematsyou'vebeensavingonaTitansteelDestroyer.
ClosingThoughts
Asyoucanseefromthesechangesalone,andfromtheoneswe'vediscussedbefore,DeathKnightsin3.0.8aregoingtohaveabitofadjustingtodoastheyworkthroughthesechanges,andlikelymoretodowhenBlizzardgetssomemorebalancinginin3.1and3.2.Tosomeextent,asthenewclassontheblock,thisisexpected.We'llprobablystillneedabitmorehelpbeforewereallyfindaplaceingamewherebothweandBlizzardarehappywithourperformance.Hopefully,we'llbeabletodothatwithaminimumofgrowingpains,buteitherway,Lichbornelooksforwardtocataloguingit.
KillingMachine
SoIsaidthatwhenHowlingBlast'scooldownwentawaywe'dprobablyhavetoseesomeotheradjustmentstopreventdualwield32/39stylebuildsfromdominatinginDeathKnightDPSmeters,andwehaveseenone.KillingMachinehasbeennerfedtoasimpleproc-per-minutetalentinsteadofproccingoffcriticalautoattacks.
Intheory,thisshouldhaveboughtdownthedamageofdualwieldingbymakingthenumberofprocsofkillingmachineroughlyequalbetween2-handersanddualwielders.Unfortunately,sometestersarereportingthatthisisnotthecases.Rightnow,it'sestimatedthatthenewKillingMachinemaxesoutatabout5procsperminute-butbecauseKillingMachineappliestoeachweaponindividually,dualwieldersaregetting10procsperminutetoa2handwielder's5.
Toaddtothis,Necrosis,oneofthepremieredualwieldingtalents,isalsogettingabuffupto20%ofautoattackdamagedoneasshadow.Onceagain,sincedualwieldersdomorewhitedamagethan2-handedweaponwielders,thisisacleardualwieldbuildbuffthateasilymakesupforanylossfromKillingMachine.SomealsoarguethatdualwielderswereoftenforcedtoletKillingMachineprocsgotowasteanywayforlackofrunesorrunicpower,soafewfewerprocswon'tbeasmuchofanerfasitfirstappears.
Ghostcrawlerhassaidthey'lltakeanotherlookatKillingMachinetomakesureit'snotfavoringdualwieldingtoomuchagain,butthe2-handedversusdualwieldingdebatecontinues,andmoreandmore,dualwieldingseemslikethevictor,atleastinthePvEDPSarena.Moreandmore,there'sagrowingfearthatthismaybeinevitable.DualWieldingjustplainscalesbetter.
WhenEnhancementShamansfirstgainedtheabilitytodualwield,therewerestillquiteafew2-handerdiehardswhowereafraidthattheirplaystylewouldfalltothewayside.Thishasprettymuchturnedouttobetrue.2-handeddamagejustcan'tkeepupinanywaywithdualwieldingforEnhancement,andBlizzard'smadenorealmovetosupport2-handersforenhancement.Now,forDeathKnights,Blizzardhassaidtheywanttokeep2-handersviable.Butdualwielding'sexcellentscalingmayjustbetooinexorableintheend.
Iimaginethisnerfwillhardlybethelastwordintheattempttobalancethetwo,though.Evennowthedebaterages,withmanyDualWielddisciplessayingthat2-handedDeathKnightsshouldbehappythattheycantankwith2-handers,andmany2-handedDeathKnightssayingthatthedeveloperspromisedthat2handerswouldalwaysbecompetitiveasaDPSmethod.Eitherway,I'mexpectinganotherroundofbalancingcome3.1.