Heya guys!!  So if you noticed earlier today I brought up DKP.  If you play WoW and don’t know what DKP is, then I’m pretty amazed.  Even guilds that don’t use DKP usually know about it, refer to it, or comment on it at some point.  Or maybe you heard someone talk about DKP in their guild.  But if you have not somehow…well here we go.

DKP, or Dragon Kill Points, is a system that originated back in the days of EverQuest.  EQ was the ground breaking MMO that was the step up from Ultima Online.  EQ defined what MMO’s were supposed to become, and still has success to this day.  EQ is still around and people still pay to play.  But while EQ was the defining progression step from UO, WoW is the future.

DKP is basically a measurement of points earned by players that can be used to “win” an item that drops from a raid encounter.  When a player wins an item, they then lose an amount of points that the item is valued at.

Since it’s inception, DKP has expanded tremendously.  The two standard methods of gaining points are in the Standard DKP system and then the Zero-sum DKP.  But there are other options such as Suicide Kings (which is a really weird system of winning/attendance priority), and more.  I even helped write a DKP system for my old guild.  Pretty much if it can be imagined, it’s probably been used by someone.

What’s always important to remember about every DKP system is that it is flawed.  No matter how uber or awesome it seems, there is something wrong with it.  The question isn’t in finding the best DKP system.  The question is in finding the best one that suits you and your guild.

Sleepless Knight’s DKP System

My guild is Sleepless Knights, which is in my opinion the number one guild on Bronzebeard.  Their history pretty much goes back to the inception of World of Warcraft.  It is run by Rage and Tinytot, two absolutely amazing Guild Leaders that I don’t honestly know what we would do without them.  They’ve been on the leading edge of raiding on BB since the days of MC and BWL, we downed Muru before patch 3.0 was ever released, and we’ve already cleared all in game content except for 3 drake Sartharion.  You take that level of history, and guild members who’ve been here for 2, 3, or 4 years…  And you know you have something special.

The DKP system we use is pretty basic, but eloquent.  10 man raids are no points.  We do Need before Greed for main spec, and alts always pass to Main toons.  And we ask that people try to not be greedy.  For the most part it works really really well.

For 25 man content we generate 1 point for being on time and ready, 2 points for killing a boss, 4 points for killing the end boss of an instance, 2 points for a first time guild boss kill, and then 2 points for learning boss encounters if we’re wiping.  That’s generally 2 points per hour, though depending on what is going on more or less may be awarded.

Teir items (aka T7.5 loot tokens) cost 30 points, armor pieces range generally in the 20-30 point range, miscellaneous items (rings/neck/trinkets/off-hand/relic) run 15 points, 1H weapons run 30 points, and 2H run 40 points.  I personally would alter that a little if I could…but hey, it’s not my decision.  Whoever has the most points that indicated interest on a dropped item wins it.

Tanks always get loot priority, no matter what the DKP says.  Crappy gear on your tanks mean raid progression slows down a lot.  If all your dps are doing 4k+ dps and your healers are doing 14k heals…well that’s great and all.  But you’re not moving on to new bosses when your tanks are getting wtf pwned.

It may seem like you’d be negative a lot, but when you consider how much time is spent “farming” a raid, you’re positive by a lot.  We have had several instances with people at excess of 300-500 points.  Generally speaking when we move to the next tier of content (aka T5 instances to T6 instances) the DKP is seperated.  However we give people 20% of their previous DKP for the new Tier instances.  For example if you had 200 banked DKP for SSC/TK (Tier 5 content), then when we first started raiding in MH/BT (Tier 6 content) you would start off at 40 DKP.

Offspec items are handled differently however.  Every member of SK has a main raiding spec whether it be DPS, Tank, or Healer.  If an item is not used for main spec they may roll for it as well (highest roll wins here, no DKP involved).  If they win the item, the guild has a pre-set “purchase” price for epics won in this manner.  You do not lose DKP.  Some examples include 1 epic shard (what the guild bank would have gotten from sharding the unused item anyways), gold, or in game reagents (such a x amount of Eternals, etc…).  If someone ever switches their main spec, they are then penalized for a set amount of DKP.  I think it was 50 DKP last I heard, but it pretty much never happens. 

Also, if the guild finds someone willing to respec and fill specialty roles when needed (due to encounters, someone missing a raid, etc…), then they get priority for Offspec items for that role.  Aka. if a holy paladin agrees with the Officers to be a Tankadin for certain encounters, then if a tank item drops and goes to Offspec he will get it before anyone else no matter what the random roll was.

So how do you make your DKP system work for you?

Well, this comes down to what is most important to you?  What is it that you have to accomplish?

For many new Death Knights you may find that you have to prove that you deserve a spot in your raid.  Either you’re new to a guild, you didn’t really raid a lot before, your guild is making you prove yourself again since you rerolled to a new guild, or any number of reasons.  But you have to prove that you are an asset and deserve a spot.

Others may find that they are more of a casual raider.  When there is a spot and they have the time they like to go, but they don’t focus on raiding and clear all of the content every single week.  Sometimes people are parents, in school, have to work, etc…as well.  It just depends.  But since you generate less DKP, you then have to consider how to best spend it.

Some people have guaranteed raid spots as well.  Whether it’s a close knit group of friends, you’ve proven yourself time and time again to be a valued player, or you guild insists on bringing certain abilities to a raid that the DK provides.  You’ve got a spot and can more easily decide when and how to spend your points.

Once you know what your priorities are, what you have to do, and what leeway you have…then you can make a decision on how to use your DKP.

Spending your DKP

Proving Yourself

If you have to prove yourself, then you have to make the best decisions possible and gear as quickly as you can.  One of the best offsets to your DKP expenditure is going to be Heroics.  You need to run them, and run them often.  Researching which ones will drop items you can use, particularly the epics, and farming the badges is important as well.  Try to not purchase items with DKP that can be purchased with badges, or an equivalent item.  For example, while I was saving for my new weapon I bought both T7 pieces from a vendor to complete my 4set.

Also make notes of your weakest item slots.  Focus on saving DKP to upgrade only those items and your weapon.  If you have epics in most of your slots, but say 4 crappy blues.  Then you should never spend DKP on anything outside of those 4 crappy slots unless some amazing piece of gear drops that is way better than your current epics.  And make sure you complete your 4set ASAP.  Typically this means you will see a noticeable dps increase, and you can get 2 pieces from badges.

Try to prepare a list (whether online, a piece of paper on your desk, or in a notebook) of some of the best items you are looking for and only spend DKP on these items.  It’s fine to have a list of 2-5 items in case any of them drop.  You’re looking to spend DKP on items that are upgrades that will give you the most bang for your buck.  Also, don’t double upgrade the same slot.  If you just spent DKP on a chest slot item, and then within the same week a better chest drops, don’t buy it.  You have to prove yourself to your guild.  Not only does it make you look greedy, but it doesn’t net you a noticeable dps increase.

Casual Raiders

Whatever the reason is that you don’t raid often, the fact is you’re not likely to be earning that many DKP to begin with.  So how do you spend these points efficiently?  You don’t.  The fact is that even hardcore raiders can go weeks sometimes without seeing the upgrade items they are after.  And for a casual raider, the chances of this happening are even higher.

Basically the choice here is to spend your points on upgrades when you see them.  And for you, it is ok to double purchase on the same slot.  The fact is that even if you just bought a chest item, if a better one drops later and you can get it, then do so.  You may not ever see it again, or even fight that same boss for several weeks again.  A good rule of thumb is don’t upgrade an item slot more than twice from the same level of content.  Aka 25 man content T7, or 10 man content T7, or 25 man content T8, etc…

The casual raider will likely never ever get the best in slot items until the other people in their guild already have it, so just remember to take the upgrades as you can get them.

Raiders

This group of people ranges from those who raid 2-3 times a week to the hardcore who clear all content every week.  For you, there are two major options that will work best for you.  Either hoard your points for the rarest best in slot items, or purchase major upgrades every chance that you get.

Hoarding points has its strengths and weaknesses.  First off, it’s painful as hell watching loot drop that you know you could win (and want to), but passing on it.  This will happen a lot.  Trust me.  You also have to work a lot to make sure you get as many upgrades as possible from alternative sources such as crafted BoE’s, Heroics, and Badge gear as well.  But the pay out in the long run is usually amazingly worth it.  You’re guaranteed to get those highly sought after items such as trinkets and weapons.  And you’re usually the first person to get them.

Purchasing items early also has its own upsides.  Upgraded gear usually puts you ahead of the pack as far as dps, healing, or tanking is concerned.  This helps immensely when clearing new content and as a side benefit, farming becomes easier as well.  You get the new shiny toys, and generally have a well epic’d out character very early.  The downside however is that you typically are waiting in line for the hard to get items such as weapons and trinkets.

Things to always remember

Raiding is supposed to be fun.  If it stops being fun, then you need to reconsider what you are doing.  If your DKP system has flaws or problems, talk to your GM or Officers about it.  Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion.  But try to have a solution or alternative prepared beforehand.  Nothing is more frustrating to people who work on the DKP for a guild than people whining about it without a viable and fair solution in hand.  If you have to spend DKP on offspec items, then don’t do it.  In an ideal world you raid as a spec that you enjoy.  If you’re offspec is your favorite spec, then you need to stop and seriously reconsider what you are doing.  It’s one thing to have a favorite PvE and PvP spec.  But if your favorite PvE raiding spec is not the spec you actually raid with then you need to change something.  Whether it be your guild, how your guild sees you, your playstyle, your performance, etc…  This is again, a game.  It’s supposed to be fun.  Remember that.

Thanks for reading guys.  I know this one is a little bit off topic of “Death Knights”.  However, as DKP affects most players in WoW, I thought it worthwhile mentioning.  GL out there with the phat epicz!!!

Tags: Raids