Heya guys!!  Simply put, totems are a massive pain in the you know what.  So, why not just get rid of them? 

#showtooltip
/cast Scourge Strike
/startattack
/cast Rune Strike
/petattack
/petattack [target=Healing]
/petattack [target=Mana]
/petattack [target=Earthbind]
/petattack [target=Tremor]
/petattack [target=Grounding]
/petattack [target=Cleansing]

Basically this is set up for Unholy because it’s going to be the primary spec that will use a ghoul.  There is a Frost variant that picks up the ghoul as well however, so feel free to remove the /cast Scourge Strike line and add in another attack if you so like.

But what about the Stoneclaw totem?  It’s still bugged about last I checked and not properly shielding the totems like it’s supposed to.  So no worries there for the moment.  *shrug*

When giving your pet kill commands, everything works in reverse for targeting priority.  So looking at the above list as an example, your pet will choose targets in the following order:

1. Cleansing Totem
2. Grounding Totem
3. Tremor Totem
4. Earthbind Totem
5. Mana Spring Totem (or Mana Tide Totem)
6. Healing Stream Totem
7. Current Target

The concept is pretty simple.  Your ghoul focuses on your main target unless there are totems out that need to be killed.  Now an alternative to this macro would be to simple remove the first four lines that deal with your personal attacks.  Many times you may find it necessary to put the pet on a healer, while you dps another target.  Especially useful for healers skilled at running away and drinking.

In that case simply remove the first four lines of the macro and make sure you can spam that button easily when fighting shaman.  Some people think this is in bad form.  *shrug*  I’m gonna use what I have available to me.  Nothing personal.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  What’s going on? 

So, no messing around here.  We’re just gonna jump right into everything today.

PvP

I’ve spent some time playing around in BG’s as Frost and Unholy.  First up, let’s talk about the ninnies whose first reaction will be to cry out, “But you’re not even over 1000 rating, lolnewb!!”  Know what?  Don’t care.  I know exactly why my rating is where it is, and as always I don’t feel the need to justify myself.  If you don’t like it, go read elsewhere.  I still go out of my way to make sure my information is accurate.

Diminishing Returns

When you’re PvP’ing you will hopefully come to learn to master the art of Diminish Returns (DR).  The knowledge of how they work, how they impact you, and how to best utilize them against others.  This is a paramount skill that you need to understand.  DR is something that prevents crowd control (CC) from being spammed on a player constantly, preventing them from ever doing anything.

Any time two CC effects from the same school/group are used on you within 15 seconds of each other, the second CC effect’s duration will be reduced to 50%.  The third application, within 15 seconds of the 2nd application, will have it’s duration reduced to 25%.  The fourth application will render you Immune to that school/group of CC effects for 15 seconds.  No CC effect in PvP can last longer than 12 seconds.

Charm
Mind Control
Seduction

Cyclone School
Cyclone
Banish

Fear School
Fear
Psychic Scream
Howl of Terror
Intimidating Shout
Mind Control
Scare Beast
Turn Evil
Blind

None
Entrapment

None
Chains of Ice

None
Frost Shock

None
Death Coil

None
Hamstring

Opening Stun
Cheap Shot
Pounce

Polymorph School
Polymorph
Repentance
Sap
Gouge
Hex
Wyvern Sting
Freezing Trap
Hungering Cold

Stun Proc
Stoneclaw Totem
Impact
Seal of Justice

Stun School
Concussion Blow
Charge
Kidney Shot
Intercept
Hammer of Justice
Gnaw
Warstomp
Impact
Deep Freeze
Bash
Maim
Shadowfury
Intimidation
Shockwave

Silence School
Strangulate
Improved Counterspell
Silence

Sleep/Freeze
Hibernate
Freezing Trap

Root Proc
Frostbite

Root School
Entangling Roots
Frost Nova
Storm, Earth and Fire
Frozen Power
Improved Hamstring
Improved Wingclip
Entrapment

I’m sure I missed a few abilities, but by far this is a fairly comprehensive list that should serve you well.  The basic concept is to mix and match your CC abilities that are on DR, and to pick Arena partners who use different Schools than you do as much as possible.  Or to know when to swap.

For example a 2v2 Druid/Rogue comp is amazing because Cyclone and Blind do not suffer DR with each other or stuns.  So you can just go to town.  On the other hand a Hunter/Mage/Frost DK would have to be careful to time and alternate their CC on different targets since their major CC all fall into the Polymorph School.

Frost PvP

9/53/9 

The strengths of this spec are pretty straight forward.  Top end burst combined with solid CC capacity.  But it’s got no pressure capacity.  So what does that mean?  One of the big things required in PvP is constant pressure on your opponents.  You don’t want Priests feeling like they have time to Mana Burn your healer.  You don’t want a Hunter feeling like he can just sit out in the open and just lay into a target.  You don’t want a Rogue sitting there never popping any defensive cool downs.  You have to lay down constant pressure to keep them off balance.

As a DK the main way to do this is through CC and DPS.  Same as just about everyone.  Death Gripping a DPS off of his target, Strangulating a healer as you’re bursting down a target, keeping diseases up on all targets with Pestilence, and Ghoul Stunning a caster as he tries to flee are just a few of the options.  But that is exactly where Frost falls shy.  With only 2 diseases, and no freebie proc’d diseases, it is far easier for your opponents to keep diseases cleansed at all times.

In addition to that, Frost falls shy on single target DPS when compared to Blood and Unholy.  It just doesn’t pump out consistent DPS as well.  I did about 10 games on Frost and then another 10 more on Unholy.  Unholy did between 1060-1100 DPS on average while Frost did between 640-670 DPS on average.  The leap is pretty big there, which in the end means it’s far easier for healers to keep their team up.  And I know DPS.

Now, that said, Frost does not suck remotely in PvP.  You just have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses.  In a 2v2 with a Paladin healing you, Frost is gonna suck.  I can attest to that.  But in a double DPS team with a Rogue or Mage, or in a 5v5 team with heavy CC’ers, this suddenly becomes money!!  With DPS assisstance, the massive burst Frost can lay down is obnoxious.  5 Frost Strikes + 3 Obliterates can be put out in 7 seconds while in Unholy Presence.  Yeah, eat it !@#$ES!!! 

If you have some solid partners who can lay down some hardcore pressure, forcing the opponents to blow their CD’s, then you have some serious potential in front of you.  Adding in lots of snares, the basic DK package of tricks (Strang, DG, etc…), and Hungering Cold…it’s nothing nice.  You just need a comp that has heavy CC outside of just you.

Unholy PvP

0/17/54

I do plan to try out Blood at some point soon, but so far this is my favorite.  Shocker.  I know. 

Basically this spec is non-stop crazy pressure on the opposing team.  You have 3 diseases per target to dispel, you keep up Unholy Blight at all times, and you keep diseases on all targets with Pestilence.  If your team is also good and doesn’t need dps peeled off of someone DG opponents into range of your UB and also throw out a Pest to make them eat damage.  Add in CoI dropping Frost Fever on all targets, Gargoyle, freebie diseases from SS Glyph, just some serious damage, Desectration procs, and you’ve got a winner.

Went from losing consistently with Frost (admitedly Frost was a bad spec for my comp, not a bad spec in general), to suddenly winning 70%+ of our matches (2 of which were against 1900 rated teams).  I am very very pleased with the new Unholy PvP spec overall.  The one contention someone might have with my spec is that I did not drop 4 points into AMZ.  That’s a personal choice really, and I for one I am not a huge fan of it yet.  We’ll see however.

Blood PvP

51/11/9

Uhm…I need to try it out still.  Heh.  It’s definetly a “pressure” spec between the snare and cleave effects on Heart Strike.  Combine that with bonus healing for healers and from Death Strike and this spec appears to be very very solid.  The immediate drawbacks however are 2 diseases (easier dispelling), weak against plate (all physical almost), and no active defensive cooldown (extra HP are nice, but reduced damage is better imo).  Put a Blood DK with something like a MS War, Rogue, or Mage and things would get nasty.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  How’s it going?  Well, here are all of the 3.1 release specs for Live that you could possibly want.  I’ve got your PvE DPS, your PvE Tanking, and your PvP Arena specs all ready to go.  Nothing but WIN all over this post!!  I know you want a piece, heh.    There are a few things that you should be aware of when reading this however:

• All talent specs can be altered to tailor any situation.  These are intended for top end content, meaning Ulduar raiding and Arena PvP.  If you play in other content primarily (such as BG’s, Naxx, or Heroics), then you may find that alternatives to these specs would suit you more.
• Some specs have situational talents, which may not be listed here.  For example IIT is not necessary (as a tank) if you always have a Warrior present providing the debuff for you.  Situational talents like IIT, Spell Deflection, Mark of Blood, and Acclimation are good talents.  But are not necessarily going to make it into a “standard day to day” spec.  Move points as you need to.
• I will be doing in depth posts for each one of these specs.  These will cover all relevant information such as swapping talents, glyphs, itemization, rotations, reasonings behind decisions, scaling, and more.  Please check back for more details.
• Rotations:  Tank and DPS rotations are almost always identical with the exceptions that Tank rotations work in Runestrike whenever it becomes available.  PvP rotations are non-existent however.  You use what you have to when you have to.  It’s that simple.
• AoE Rotations – Move DnD to a latter part in the rotation if initial threat is an issue with your tanks.  If you are the tank, lead with DnD unless specified otherwise.  For packs where mobs are not dying within 20 seconds, sub in an extra Pest as needed to keep diseases up.  Do not ever Pest the same target 2 times in a row.  Pest off of a new target.
• Please read the bottom for corrections, addendums, and edit notes.

PvE DPS

Blood

Blood DRW:  51/2/18

Blood UB:  50/0/21

The biggest question asked here is why no Bloodworms?  They eat AoE healing.  That is not good.  Ever.  Don’t be a jerk to your raid.  As to dps potential, they are nearly equal atm.  DRW is more burst, while UB provides more sustained and AoE.  Personal preference really.  T8.5 4p armor is an upgrade for Blood, over T7.5 4p.

ST Rotation:

DS – IT – PS - HS – HS – DCx2

HSx2 - DS - HSx2 – DCx2

The only caveat to this rotation is that it is very, very, very *tight* on GCD’s.  7 GCD’s per 10 second rotation = 10.5 seconds.  With the 2SR this is well within the realm of possibility unless you suffer from serious lag issues.  If you do, drop 1 DC from the rotation until either you perfect your skills or fix your lag.

AoE Rotation – 5+ mobs:

DnD – IT – PS – Pest – DC

BB – DS – DS - BB – DCx2

AoE Rotation – 2 to 4 mobs:

IT – PS – Pest – HS – DS – DC

DS – HSx4 – DCx2

If there are only 4 mobs up, it is questionable at best when deciding which rotation to use.  The dps is relatively close at that point.  Make sure that you never use DnD with 3 or less mobs however, because the auto-cleaving HS is far far more valuable.

Frost

Frost (blood):  17/51/3

Frost (unholy):  3/51/17

Which one is better?  Frost (blood) performs better really, but it’s not as user friendly so to speak.  Realistically the difference in dps between the two is marginal at best however.  So again, personal preference should be the tie breaker for you. 

Because the Frost (blood) spec has shorter duration diseases however, it could be a potential dps loss if you get lucky on Rime procs.  Also if you have lag issues, you could have the OBx3 in the second part of the rotation miss out on their disease bonuses if they tick off.

ST Rotation

IT – PS - OB – BS – BS - FSx2

OBx3 - FSx3

Without the T7 4p bonus you will run into RP issues with this spec.  Considering how easy these pieces are to get, you *should* have them.  T7.5 4p also appear to be the BISI in T8 content, over T8.5 4p armor. 

You should be running a dmg meter of some kind as well.  Track what does more damage for you, HB or FS (should be HB).  If you do not have enough GCD’s popping HB on Rime procs to complete your rotations, drop a FS/HB as needed (whichever does the least damage).

AoE Rotation

DnD – IT - Pest – Blood Tap - HB - FSx2

BB - OB – BB – HB - FSx3

AoE Rotation (no Blood Tap)

DnD – IT - PS – Pest - FSx2

HB – BB – BB – OB - FSx3

Always, always, always take advantage of Blood Tap for AoE damage.  The combo is sick, out performing even Unholy in burst scenarios.  A 1 min CD however could mean that you will have to skip it sometimes.

Unholy

Unholy T7:  12/0/59

Unholy T8:  0/10/61

Unholy T7 is basically the spec you want to start out with when 3.1 releases.  You will be in full T7 gear.  But as you attain more and more T8 gear, you will want to respec into Unholy T8.  Basically the second spec scales better, but with current T7 itemization the first spec will win out at first.  T7.5 4p also appear to be the BISI in T8 content, over T8.5 4p armor. 

Once you swap to Unholy T8, if you find you have threat issues swap one point into Subversion if you have to.  As a lot of your dps comes from your Ghoul and Gargoyle however, if threat is an issue then that is largely your tank’s fault.  You should speak to your Raid Leader.

ST Rotation:

IT – PS - BS – BS – SS - UB

SS x3 – DCx3

Unholy plays a little differently with it’s rotation from any other spec because the SS Glyph can refresh your diseases on the target that you hit with a SS.  Because of this it’s possible to get into a rotation when you only ever hit SS, BS, UB, and DC.  UB lasts exactly 20 seconds.  Simply use it at the same time every time and you will be fine.  If your diseases are about to drop, always use IT/PS to refresh them.

AoE Rotation:

DnD – IT – PS - Pest - UB

BB – SS – SS – BB- DCx2

Which one is the best?

Well…Unholy and Blood are almost equal really for DPS.  Unholy beats blood out by enough of a margin to notice it however.  The flip side is that Blood is much much more forgiving when learning new content.  If your guild is learning Ulduar conent, you will have a much higher survivability rate with Blood due to the self healing bonuses. 

As to Frost, it’s sadly lacking still.  It’s not so far behind as to not spec into it.  But the gap is much more noticeable here.  It was nerfed into the ground because IT Spam and DW builds were Frost centric.  Due to that, and the fact that Blizzard has been considering making it the “DW Tree”, it is unlikely that Frost buffs will release in time to make it equal to Blood and Unholy.

DW has been nerfed into the ground.  It’s not competitive with the current specs atm, and so far every DW spec discovered to date performs better by equipping a 2H weapon.

Runeforging, Presences, and that other stuff…

Simple.  Fallen Crusader and Blood Presence.  Nuff said.  As to the rest, you should have at least 8% hit and 15 Expertise minimum.  If you have any questions regarding Hit and Expertise please read my post:  Hit and Expertise Revisited.

Always gem Bold Scarlet Ruby, except when you have to meet the metasocket requirement for Chaotic Skyflare Diamond.  You really should have 1 TS as Jewel Crafting however to gain access to Bold Dragon’s Eye.  It will meet any socket bonus, while at the same time meeting the requirements for the CSD.  Strength always = WIN.  Nuff said.

PvE Tank

Every spec here has a great deal more “wiggle room” than PvE dps specs.  First off the Glyphs can be changed for various needs.  Some will want the DnD glyph for AoE trash threat generation.  Others will be MT’s and want defensive glyphs for learning content.  And others will only be concerned with TPS (threat per second) and glyph out for dps/threat.  Choose new Glyphs based upon your raid tanking role please.

In addition to that, you then have talent selections.  Some people will be MT, OT, or ST (specialty tank).  And depending on which bosses you tank, and your dedicated role, you will likely find that changing your talents from these “cookie cutter builds” will be to your advantage.  Any given tank spec has 5-10 points that can be shifted depending on your role.

Blood

53/8/10 

Spell Deflection is situational, meaning you may only choose to select it if you find yourself tanking a lot of single target spell casting bosses.  Some tanks may choose to take Hysteria for raid dps synergies.  Also if you have someone providing the haste debuff in the raid, IIT could be pointless for you.  Perhaps purchasing RPM or SoB in its place would be best then.

Frost

12/51/8

Again, talents should move as needed.  Morbidity is a great talent if you are used for a lot of trash clearing or picking up spawned adds at range as an OT on boss encounters.  However if not, then you really might prefer something like 3/3 Acclimation for an additional 150 resists at fights like Hodir.  Know your role, move points as needed.

Unholy

10/5/56

Unholy has a lot more “problematic” choices to sort through.  Namely you have to look at Ravenous Dead, Necrosis, Wandering Plague, IIT, and Improved Unholy Presence.  IIT still is simply a question of whether someone else will be providing the debuff, and then IUP is a question of are you an OT or MT?  If you are picking up adds then IUP is probably invaluable.  While the rest are questions of TPS and personal needs.

Which one is the best?

Frost is probably the best one, but Blood is right up there with it.  It’s a tough call, especially considering I’ve not really been doing all that much tanking.  Unholy has serious TPS issues, and I do not recommend it for any tank who is a MT for their guild or tanking a “first kill” target in a boss encounter. 

PvP

More so than for even the tank specs, you *WILL* absolutely *HAVE* to move points around in these specs.  If you are hardcore about PvP in Arena, then you will come to realize that the “comp” (composition, meaning what class/specs are in your Arena team) you play with will determine what will work the best.  A 5v5 team with 2 other physical dps might favor Blood, whereas a 3v3 DK/Lock/Paladin would definetly favor Unholy. 

Blood

52/0/19 or  51/11/9 

The BS Glyph is actually a HS Glyph (fyi).  The main question here is whether you wish to pick up survivability/utility, or just a bit more dps.  A 3 min trinket with movemend debuff reduction is something to seriously consider.  Overall this spec is more for “Cleave” teams in 3v3 and 5v5 brackets where multiple target damage can be dished out.  However if you go sub-Frost, the major strength becomes less movement reduction with non-stop snares on your target once it is in range.

Frost

10/52/9

The biggest mistake that most people make is to think, “But I need Acclimation!!”  Imp Frost Pres got changed, so you can no longer get 200+ undispellable spell resistance anymore.  The only Glyph change I might suggest, *maybe*, would be to sub in a Glyph of Hungering Cold simply because Frost Strike is your “go to” attack, and having to blow an entire FS on a HC could cost you a kill.  Consider dropping HB Glyph.

Endless Winter, topping off Bladed Armor, and Deathchill are the obvious glaring holes, but you have to realize that this spec is spread very thin on points.  Be very very careful about moving points if you choose to.  The sub-Unholy are the “mandatory” PvP points every spec includes.  And the sub-Blood are major dps boosts.

Unholy

0/17/54

This is, imo, the nastiest PvP build possible.  It does not have the ranged “caster in plate” potential, but that has been lost to us now.  AMZ and Magic Suppresion are likely to be near mandatory due to predicted caster comp dominance, but if you truly do not like these talents this gives you more wiggle room.  1 point in Wandering Plague *IS* mandatory imo because disease ticks do not interrupt stealth, drinking, etc…  But a WP proc will!!

Ghoul Frenzy is only good if you think you need it to keep your ghoul alive.  The dps gain is craptastic from the haste.  The only talent I was forced to skip on in the build that bugged me was Impurity.  But to ensure you get the good stuff, while making it to Endless Winter, you pretty much get screwed there.  With non-stop ground snare procs from SS, and with a ranged snare causing a disease, this has the most “closing the gap” potential.

Frost Ghoul

0/45/26

Hands down the best “CC” build for DK’s.  It brings improved DG, ghoul stun, Chillblains, and Hungering Cold to the table.  This will devastate healers if you master it.  The glyphs could use some altering possibly with UB.  This will kill your HC, so unless you use a “cancel aura” macro with HC, take UB out of your spec.  While I did go 3/3 Outbreak for PS damage, depending on numbers 3/3 Necrosis might be more dps depending on your white damage.  But that would be sustained, not burst.

Which one is the best?

Frost Ghoul and Unholy look to be the best hands down, though you never really know until the games get played.  Unlike PvE specs, PvP specs tend to grow and develop as the Season does.  So it’s anyone’s game still at this point.  Unholy looks to be the better dps/snare build, while Frost Ghoul stays in solid burst damage with the best CC possible.  Try ‘em both imo.

Fin

So, that’s it.  I’m going to bed.  I have to be at work in like 2 hours…  >.< 

Notes, Questions, Answers, and Explanations

• These (specs) are intended for top end content, meaning Ulduar raiding and Arena PvP.  That also means the specs are “raid” specs maximized for boss encounters, outside of PvP specs.
• As I’ve always said a million times, before you ask a question make sure you actually read the whole post.  Don’t just click on a spec and then ask questions about it without reading first please.  A lot of people are asking, or asked, questions that are answered here.
• People who are talking about the specs being old builds, did you forget your common sense?  Did you actually really *look* at the specs?  Unholy was moved around, but the talents are exactly the same.  EXACTLY.  I am updating the specs to alleviate confusion, but the specs are literally 100% correct for live as far as where to actually spend points.
• Specs are all updated to the Live build.
• Most bosses do not run around the room, but most of the boss fights require *YOU* to run around the room.  Imp UP is a mandatory dps talent if you are Unholy.  It’s major dps.
• NotD is a big time Blood talent because -70% AoE damage means your ghoul actually lives.  Believe it or not, you will actually do more dps with your ghoul now than before simply because it won’t just get insta gibed by AoE.
• The Unholy rotation has 3 DC’s because Unholy is an intuitive priority system rotation.  You will actually use a DC before a SS, allowing you to spend RP before you RP cap.
• Ebon Plaguebringer is supposed to be fixed finally for 3.1, allowing all DK’s to get their diseases.
• Dummy testing is going to be 100% inaccurate always.  No raid buffs, no raid debuffs, inacurate dps results from Necrosis, Merc Combat, and more.  Spell damage will be higher and melee will be lower.  Etc, etc, etc…  Dummies are to compare PTR changes from one spec to the new incarnation, practice, etc…
• If you are so die hard that you still want to DW, then you can run any spec with a slow MH weapon and just try to move a few points into the DW frost tree talent.  It will work, but just not as well as 2H specs.  Like I said.
• Blood Gorged is +10% more damage *AND* ignore 10% of the target’s armor.  That’s huge, and worth more than a perma-ghoul.
• You open with Death Strike for the Blood rotation to get Abom’s Might up instantly for your raid.  Your raids dps being buffed = greater dps than running the rotation that makes your lil mod show higher numbers.  It’s the same reasoning behind not selecting Bloodworms.  They eat AoE healing, so they hurt your raid.  Play smart.
• The builds again, are intended for top end content, meaning Ulduar raiding and Arena PvP.  They can be used for leveling, etc…  But I’d recommend moving some points if you choose to do so.
• Glyph of Disease totally sucks beyond reason.  Sure, it refreshes diseases.  But it’s also a Rune spent to do ZERO DAMAGE and a Glyph spent to do ZERO DAMAGE.  Sucktastic.  Not running the numbers for you guys, but leave it as a total waste.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  So tonight we just have a random collection of moments splayed together.  From 2v2 Arena, to the 4 Horsemen, to a random AoE moment in Naxx, and some crazy Tank DK DPS at Patchwerk.  What do women drivers have to do with anything?   Nothkinz!!  We just like the picture!! ;)

2v2 Arena

So Rashera and I hopped into a 2v2 Arena double dps team to see what it’s like.  He plays Lia in our 5v5 Arena team.  Worked out pretty well.  We took the team from 1508 to 1660 in one sitting np.  I’m not 100% sure about rolling this setup in a 1800+ bracket, but it’s definetly easy mode for the lower rankings.  He’d peobably need to Holy spec for us to breach 2k, but we’ll see how it goes ya know? 

It was hella fun!!  I’m looking forward to the DnD Glyph nerf to go through though.  The 20% fear effect is actually OP, whether I’m using it or being affected by it.  Doesn’t need to be a part of our arsenal.  Though I’ve been finding if they ignore me, there is an opening combo on any caster that will annihilate them.

Ghoul Stun -> Strangulate -> Mind Freeze

Now obviously you space these out.  You cast the Strang as the stun ends, and you follow up with the MF on the first spell they cast.  Generally speaking (especially healers who tend to not run as quickly as dps will) you lay down so much dps in the 8 seconds they are controlled that they are usually around 20-50% health just from your dps alone.  It’s pretty nasty.

Tank DPS as a Death Knight

So…we were down to 2 tanks at Patchwerk because of a rl situation.  And they were concerned about whether or not 1 OT would be good enough for the Hatefull Strikes from Patchwerk.  So I threw on my Tank gear and helped out some.  I was a lil bit sad as I have been wanting to beat my 5700 DPS from before.  But this was still amazing.  In full tank gear and Frost Presence (Unholy dps spec with Flask 180AP) I still did 3600 dps!!!  Crazy!!!

4 Horsemen Achievement

Heroic: And They Would All Go Down Together.  That’s some sexy !#$$ ehh?!?  We took that motha down tonight, yeaahhh!!!  /highfive

10k+ AoE Damage!!

Yeah, you read it right, 10k babay!!   Spider Wing of course, most adds possible.  Rocked it out blowing crap up on a trash pull!!

Best In Slot Posts

So these are coming along well I think.  I’ll have probably 2 up tomorrow.  Would have had 2 up today, but I ended up spending the equivalent amount of time as 3 posts on the last one because the HTML gods hated me today.  Peace out, and take care guys.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  So we got our 5v5 off the ground tonight and ran some matches.  And what do you know, “HOT STREAK” BABY!!!   We went 11-4 tonight and got up to 1642 rating.  People were a bit tired though so we called it until next week.  F’ING SLACKERS ZOMG!!!  Heh, j/k.  I can’t wait already!!

The rogue I teamed up with for 2’s doesn’t seem very interested, so I will be teaming up with a Retadin for a “Boom Comp”  It’s biggest weakness will be against Mages, but between Strangulate, Repentance, and LOLSTUNHAMMER, we should be good.

Also looking at putting together a Retadin/Holydin/DK comp for 3’s.  I’ll let you know how all of these go down.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  So I totally forgot to talk to you about 5v5 Arena from last week, heh.  So let’s jump right in.  First three matches were awful.  Just AWFUL.  No one talked, communication was crap, targets we’re getting split DPS, etc…  You name it, and it was going wrong.  So we stopped and talked for a second.

I was getting a little scattered and contributed to the problem.  Since everyone was assisting off of me, I can’t change targets.  Yet it was sometimes necessary to do so to spread diseases, throw a Strangulate, etc…  Now yes I know the best of the best can do all of that with macros and mouseovers without ever changing targets.  But I’ve never broken 2k rating, so I am obviously not the best of the best. 

I changed our Main Assist to Lia, our Fury Warrior.  We also made sure people started calling out targets.  That worked wonders.  So how did things go?  Erm…mediocre really.  People were a bit out of it and we had a new team who has not played together at all.  I’m not so sure people were 100% PvP spec’d either.  We also had to sub in a SP for 3 matches as a favor.  But we pulled out some wins and didn’t loose that much rating.

So where is the upside?  Well, the Paladin healer I had tried to get flaked out on me.  Probably mostly due to the holidays.  But by dumb luck we got Akhan (Resto Shaman in my guild Sleepless Knights) to join us.  He was a S3/S4 Gladiator.  And we have Lia, who was a S1 Gladiator on Rashera.  While in current gear a Resto Shaman is a bit squishy, he is one hell of a player.

It’s going to take some practice and time for us to become a solid team.  We’re going to have to lose a bit before we can win.  But the makeup, and the caliber of players, should prove to be very solid in the long run.  Team Compostion:

• Arcane PoM/Pyro Mage
• Unholy Death Knight (may swap to Frost after 3.0.8)
• Fury Warrior
• Retribution Paladin
• Restoration Shaman

The concept is straight forward.  I drop an AMZ somewhere where the Shaman/Mage would like it, then we uncork everything we’ve got into someone.  So long as we don’t newb it up, they pretty much die.  Even if they get a bubble, spell damage from Ret and DK, combined with PoM/Pyro finishers still = a death you know?

One of the upsides to the build is that even after everyone has a ton of Stam and Res, “outlast” teams will still have a massive problem against our comp.  It brings so much massive burst down to bear on one target that it is nearly impossible to save them.  Throw a Strangulate out, the mage throws out a Counterspell, and burn down a target.  /WIN

Now…whether or not we execute that well remains to be seen, hehehe. 

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Heya guys!!  How’s it going?  Been having a good holiday season?  I hope so!  So I’ve been wrapped up some doing the holiday thing, hence less posting.  Also, well everyone’s kind of been taking their vacation you know?  Less info coming out from sites such as MMO and WoR, and next to no Blue posts from Blizz.  Even my readers are down (shocker I know!! lol) for the holiday times!!  Hey…you know.  I think those big time television people have got something.  They stop airing new episodes for series around this time cause people are busy!!  Hey…  /sarcasm off 

Heh…

So I’ve been pretty lax on everything (even playing) but I did get some BG’s in recently.  Now I realize some of what I am about to say may seem apparent, but always remember that some readers are still newbish to WoW.  And we love our newbs just as much as our old timers!!

So take a look at this pic ok?

OK, now if you look at my name you will see that I did the 2nd highest KB’s and also the 2nd highest total damage done.  Now to save you the hassle of doing the math and reading here is what I did for Alliance.  I did the most total damage, the most total HEALING for ALLIANCE (yes, I said that right), and I did the most Killing Blows.  “I rocked it like a pornstar!!”  /sigh  Not really.  WE LOST!!!!

First off the fact that I did the most healing is F’ing sad.  I beat the next closest person by nearly 150,000 healing Alliance side.  Is it a wonder we lost?  No, not at all.  When a Death Knight does more total healing than anyone else on your side for a BG, then you are pretty much guaranteed a Loss.  So while before you only heard this kind of a rant from Warlocks, you will now hear them from Death Knights as well.

BG’s are about teamwork.  “All Stars” can be a deciding factor in winning a game, however without teamwork between the players in a match, the /win will be elusive and near impossible to achieve.  I asked repeatedly for people to focus on killing Adultswim who did an obnoxious 900k healing.  It never happened.  I asked people to go get the flag in groups.  It didn’t happen.  I asked people to support the flag runners.  It never happened.

Now they don’t know me.  I get that.  So it’s not fair to expect people to follow orders from an “unknown”.  However if you play in BG’s, I think it’s a fair expectation that you understand the basic strategies involved in winning those BG’s.  Which, were that the case, people should have been doing what I asked before I even mentioned it. 

You get the point?  Don’t be one of these people.  Don’t think you’re the bomb diggity rocking the house like a midgit on crack hopped up on speed.  OK?

PvP Basics

• Kill the healers.
• Support your other team members.
• Don’t fight in areas like midfield with no objectives there (flags, bunkers, GY’s, etc…).
• Don’t run into groups of enemies without backup.
• Wait for other people on your team and attack in groups.

Now on the upside, I had an amazing experience in AV immediately after that.  I asked for 1 person to come help me defend SH Bunker in AV (it started as 20v20 due to low population start).  That is my favorite AV strategy btw.  I typically stay behind at SH Bunker and ask for 2-3 people to come join me to stop the initial cap.  Once this is done, and IW Bunker is attacked, we then run there and recap IW Bunker.  We take the “low road” and avoid the SH GY entirely.  Basically at that point you rinse and repeat.  Running back and forth with your small group retaking those 2 bunkers repeatedly, slowing down the Horde Offensive.

Well this druid named “Lurky” came and healed me like a rock star.  OMFG, it was awesome.  On top of my obnoxious self healing to begin with, we were obliterating Horde with his/her rolling HoT’s.  We did that a few times until we noticed Alliance was having some trouble at our base.  So we pulled back to hardcore D, and started retaking our bunkers.  This went well for a little while until the Horde O finally pushed out the Alliance D, but by that point we pulled in a win.

So why did we win in AV, but not in WSG?  In WSG everyone was out for themselves.  They did what they wanted, helped no one else, didn’t heal, didn’t support, etc…  In AV however people communicated in BG chat, called incs, and small groups supported each other on O and on D.  If you can find someone who doesn’t appear to be a complete newb, run with them.  If you notice a good healer, try to stick with them or get them to come with you.  And help keep them alive too.  You get the point?

Heya guys!!  That’s right, that IS my gopher 5v5 team!!  Step off haters before they kneecap your sorry a$#@!!!  Word!!

Heh.  That’s my boys…that’s my boys… 

So I made a quickie little 5v5 last night to generate some points.  I had intended to get that off of the ground sooner, but I’ve been busy.  It was far from an ideal composition, but it was a full SK guild team using people who enjoy PvP and doing it frequently.  Wait…that sounded wrong.  People who enjoy PvP and PvP’ing frequently.  Yeah…heh.  So we had that going for us.

Nightmare Before Xmas – props out to Jack Skellington, the original Skeleton Jack.  We went 8-3, which I was very happy with considering it was a last minute effort.

• Unholy Death Knight
• Retribution Paladin
• Fury Warrior (using Furious Attacks)
• Affliction Warlock
• Discipline Priest

The start to every fight was exactly how you might imagine.  The primary kill target was always either the Warlock or the Priest.  Which, the Priest survived pretty well considering we could BoP her.  But the Lock got owned regularly.  With Blizzard publicly admitting here and here that Locks are not up to par for PvP damage mitigation, this came as no real surprise.

So the strategy finalized into something like this.  The group tries to nail down which types of toons are on the opposing team, and then pick the best kill target.  Once this is agreed upon, we prepare for destruction.  If we cannot get enough time before we engage to do so, the team defaulted to whatever target I picked.  Once I had something on Lockdown we just opened up on it.

I would Death Grip the target directly to me and Chains of Ice it.  Then I would drop an AMZ making 3-5 of our team in it for any initial burst damage dropped on the party, negating a massive amount of damage we were originally taking.  Once this is down I would lay down the damage, reserving my ghoul stun for if the target trinketed and was trying to make an escape.

Past that it was a bit of chaos.  CC’ing ranged that we could, dropping massive amounts of AoE dmg (Pestilence, Whirlwind, etc…), and generally out bursting anyone else’s capacity.  It was a lot of fun.  Most annoying thing ever?  Watching your Death Grip beam shoot off to another direction away from your target as a Grounding Totem eats it.  Always lead off with an Icy Touch if there is a Shaman, or have a caster drop it.  Wasting your DG to a GT is totally suckage.

I do not think this is the exact team I will stay with down the road however.  S5 in LK is all about burst capacity, or being able to survive burst capacity.  This gives a distinct advantage to any toon that has both of these things.  While eventually a CC compostion team might come back ahead, it’s too easy to kill someone now for that to bring as much to bear as it used to.

The composition I am in the process of forming:

• Unholy Death Knight
• Retribution Paladin
• MS or Fury Warrior (depending on which proves better since they both provide a healing debuff)
• Holy Paladin
• X Factor

So that X Factor is throwing me off.  Ideally any Plate dps would be awesome.  Hard to kill and good dps, but I’m not 100% sure that would outweigh the CC a Rogue or a Mage could bring to the table.  Also an upside of bringing a Rogue or Mage is that the other team would always try to kill that target first, meaning we could build our strategies around the expectation of whom would be the primary FF target.  With a 5th Plate the best assumption would be that they would go after either the Holy Paladin or the Warrior, with no clear ideal kill target. 

Then we’re not even covering the potential CC brought to the table by the Mage and Rogue.  I could care less about the Sap and/or Polymorph.  A POM/Pyro spec’d Mage, or just a pure Frost mage with their Water Elemental and Frost Nova Shatter Bombs = WOW!!!

For those unsure of what that last part just meant, when you are Frost Nova’d you are subject to their talent Shatter, which means they are at +50% crit chance on top of their base chance for all spells.  So if they land say 3 spells on you in that time, they will probably all crit.

And then the stun locking capacity of a Rogue?  Get out!!  Drop a Mutilate rogue Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Mutilate burst combos + plate melee = WTFJUSTHAPPENEDTOMEOMFG!!!!!  /win baby!!

The last slot is almost definetly going to a Rogue/Mage, but we’re not sure yet which one.  My buddy Lia (he was a S1 Gladiator on his paladin Rashera) is the warrior on the team, and we’re still discussing what to run with.  When it’s settled I’ll let you guys know.

So anyways, that was my 5v5 first time experience in WotLK.  I hope it was informative and helpful.  GL guys!!

Heya guys!!  See that? ^  Yeah, that’s what 2v2’s are like, lol.  So I teamed up with a rogue buddy of mine tonight for 2v2’s.  And we did…mediocre.  Hey, we didn’t go negative at least.  Heh.  I also spent a good bit of the day doing some BG’s…well AV really.  Bonus honor = WIN.  And hit up WG twice already.  Hopefully I’ll get in there at least one more time tonight.  And I tried a swap up spec…that I didn’t really like.  AMZ is more useful than people say it isn’t.  So let’s dig in yeah?

2v2 Arena

Tonight wasn’t the best example of what we could do.  But hey, it was fun.  My rogue partner used a PvE Mutilate spec with basically no PvP gear minus a trinket.  I used some PvP gear (270ish res), and went with a variant spec (which I don’t like) on a standard Unholy.  I can’t argue specs if I don’t try ‘em.  Heh.

The basics come down to who gets their combo/burst off first the majority of the time.  The majority of teams are double dps, with a few healer/dps teams.  So, I wasn’t suprised when that is what we saw.  If they got the drop on Darip (my rogue partner…censorship means nothing since you guys can Armory my team >.<) then we were boned a lot of the time.  If he got the drop on them, then the other team was boned.  Anytime they FF’d me first, they always lost.  I’d pop defensive CD’s and start DS’ing, etc…  But a Rogue in leather with no Res is just asking to be owned.  I think one warrior did a 12k Execute crit on him at one point.  GG Blizz.

I learned some valuable lessons however.  I use my MoB and RT more often now, and learned to use my ghoul stuns often and early for burst.  Gargoyle simply f’ing OWNS for bursting down targets.  Most fights are determined within 20 seconds of combat starting.  So in a 2v2 use whatever you have, and use it fast.  With current gear it’s a dps race the majority of the time.  What I have to say is extremely OP however is Shadow of Death.

There were 3 battles out of like 19 that they killed us both, and then SoD popped me up as a ghoul and I stole the victory.  One of those times both of the opponents were still alive (although fairly injured at this point) and I was still able to kill both of them.  SoD in a full dps team is hands down an amazing investment.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!

Strangulate is not something best saved for when you need it btw in a 2v2 environment on a double dps team.  Shutting your opponents down as quickly and as early as possible to allow you to kill one of them is absolutely mandatory.  I also dropped AMZ for this and HIGHLY regret it.  There was several matches involving mages where had I used AMZ we would not have lost.

Notes on 2v2 Arena Double DPS:

• Partner with either a high burst dps that is hard to kill (read: Retadin/MS War)
• Or Partner with a high dps CC’er (read: Frost Mage/Mut-SubRogue)
• Use your CC early to allow both of you to kill one opponent
• Use your first 10 seconds of rotation to build RP for a Gargoyle/DRW and to lay down diseases
• Use your second 10 seconds to dump burst FF

Overall I’m looking forward to seeing what 2v2’s develop into with more Resilience and when both of us are full PvP specs (proper ones in my case, heh).

Battle Grounds

Nothing too special to write about here.  Overall I think SotA is probably the best honor gain per time spent.  You are guaranteed to never waste more than 25 minutes tops on any SotA game (max time + loading, etc).  And on a good day SotA could be only 10-15 minutes.  However on bonus honor weekends you will need to check out the competition.  AV today was netting me sometimes 2k honor in 10 minute wins.  Hard to beat that yeah?

All in all, there is something to be said for battle ground jumping however.  Turning marks in for bonus honor is still damn nice.  But I think I would not recommend doing that unless you were doing a pre-made group of about 5 people you knew and would work together as a group.

Wintergrasp

Free honor here I come!!!  *SNAG* 

“The Alliance has just captured Wintergrasp!!”

WTF!?!? HOW IN THE HELL!?!?!  IT JUST STARTED!!!

Yes, that too can happen to you!!  When you get into WG drop what you’re doing, and get your butt in motion.  Sometimes, especially when you come in only 5 minutes late, the Alliance (or Horde) can steam roll a win out of nowhere and you’ll find yourself not getting any marks or honor.  So whatever you do, don’t do nothing.  Get your butt in motion and get into the fray!!

Now on non-cheapo wins, this place is amazing.  Even with the Tenacity BS.  Why?  I’ve walked out of a long WG with 10k honor before and 3 WG marks of honor.  Pure Win…I know.  Anytime you’re in Dalaran just drop by the NPC who creates the portal to go to WG and see when the next one is up.  Set a timer, or an alarm…whatever, and make sure you get in there.  It’s not super hard and the rewards are great, even if you do lose.  And on top of that, it is such a nice change of pace after you’ve been honor grinding in BG’s all day.

Specs

I’m not promoting the spec I tried today.  It’s ok, but it’s not solid.  So moving on.  This is what I will be using for the rest of S5 pre-patch release in 2v2’s double dps.

24/5/42 Unholy Alternative PvP spec

• Reaping – I am currently considering taking some points out of something (maybe Toughness) in order to pick this back up.  It isn’t to use SS over BS’s.  BS hits like a freight train with this spec/build.  But sometimes you need to CoI or DS, and those Death Rune’s help a lot.
• Unholy Aura – I will be partnering with a rogue with +15% move from spec.  So unless he spec’s out of that, I’m skipping it.  If he does, then I’ll likely drop 2 points from Toughness and move them into UA if he thinks he needs it.
• Toughness - Depending on the compostion of your team, and the teams you come up against, this may be paramount or moot.  So buy this as needed.
• Night of the Dead – If I was on a dps/healer team, or a larger sized team, then I would put points into this.  But as it was, out of like 19 matches RD CD came back up maybe twice where it could be used again after the start of a match.  The fights are THAT fast in 2v2 double dps.  They die, or you die.  Period.
• Anti-Magic Zone – This spec has no answer for being immobilized outside of Death Grip.  AMZ shuts down incoming damage from casters, especially Frost mages, when they’ve locked you in place.  Combined with Strangulate, Death Grip, AMS, this evens the odds a LOT.  Not to mention being able to stop incoming damage on your partner if they got nailed with you.

If your compostion demands something different you can move the points around a little bit.  But only you can make that judgement call.  The top DK’s in Arena atm are all using Unholy specs.  So if you want to try something else.  Go for it.  But I don’t recommend it.

And if you go into Arena and don’t break into the 1600’s, don’t be shocked.  Some of the best players out there are competing to get rating to purchase gear.  And if everyone on your team is not farming honor, getting the best gear/trinkets, and not doing full PvP specs…you’re not going to do well.  You get what you bought so to speak.