I found a guild I’m interested in and will be app’ing there shortly.  Due to that I’m spending more time researching things (boss fights, spec variations, hard mode encounters, etc…) and don’t have as much time to post.

I hope to have something up soon for you, but to be clear getting 100% ready for my guild app takes number 1 priority.

I have been PvP’ing a fair bit recently though, so I will most likely put up a PvP post soon related to BG’s.  I don’t Arena anymore, so if you’re looking for Arena advice then I am not your man.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  Damn I still love that logo!!    There have been some ground shattering announcements about the Cataclysm release in the past few days, so I figured it was time to talk about them a little bit.  *Edit: no longer a sticky post.

But first, if you have no idea what I am talking about you can check out these links to Blue Blizzard posts:

• Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements
• Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements Response
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes Response
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes Response 2
• WoR Article Related to Changes

Also, if you’re interested in a breakdown on Cata DK’s:

• A Breakdown on Cataclysm Death Knights

Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements

Where to start…  OK, the big big deal here is that 10 and 25 man raids will both drop the same loot and be on the same raid lockout.

So this means that there will no longer be different loot in 10 and 25 man and that that you cannot do both 10 and 25 man for the same instance anymore.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  One step at a time…

Identical Raid Lockouts

Every raid that exists can only be done once a week.  You will have to choose whether to do the 10 or 25 man version.  They might allow players to shift a Raid ID between 10 or 25 man mode, but once a boss is dead for the week, he’s dead.

So there will be no farming 10man and 25man both for loot and badges.  You only get to do one or the other.  And again, the idea of doing 25man one night and then splitting it into 2 different 10mans the next evening due to attendance is only a vague “maybe” atm.  They have not said they are seriously considering adding in that functionality.

Identical Loot

Plain and simple, you kill a boss in 10 or 25 man and they will drop the exact same loot.  End of Story.  The End.

Blizzard has stated that their intention is to have the 25man version of raids drop extra loot, badges, and gold to compensate for the logistical requirements of forming a 25man over a 10man.  However they also intend for the disparity in rewards between 10 and 25 man to be as minimal as possible.

Raid Duration or Raid Encounter Total

The intention at the start of CATA is for multiple smaller raids.  Instead of raids being released with say 12 bosses, you’ll see 2 raids released with 5-6 bosses.

Other Raid Plans

• 10 and 25 man content should be nearly equal in difficulty, unlike now where 10 man content is easier.
• The gating mechanic for slowly releasing boss content will continue, but they will no longer limit attempts on bosses.
• Heroic and Normal mode will follow the ICC model where you can swap the difficulty as you go.
• No clear answer on whether special drops such as mounts/legendary items will drop in both 10 and 25 man or how server first achievements will be handled.

What does this mean to a Raider?

I’m afraid that this is a lot of good and bad news actually.  Even for the casuals.  This isn’t a cry of the hardcore player about how the game is going too casual.  It’s a strictly honest appraisal.

The identical raid lockouts deal isn’t too bad of a change.  It kind of stinks insofar as it reduces the total amount of options to “do stuff” during the week, but it’s not a bad thing in and of itself.  In fact, for some, it’s a *really* good thing.

The upside is no more running 2 raids a week for one tier of content on your main, and then possibly again on your alt.  You’ll run one tier of content once only, and can then do the “2nd” time through on an alt only if you choose, giving you a lot more free time.  You won’t be obligated to do multiple content runs in order to be at “peak” efficiency.

Also if they allow a Raid ID to be split up then that will be amazing, however unlikely it is that they will do it. But if you had a 25man that was short a few people on the 2nd or 3rd night, you could possibly split the Raid ID in two and form two 10mans.

The problem arises however with the identical loot.  You combine this with identical raid lockout and the trouble rises up.

Why is combining Identical Loot and Identical Raid Lockouts an Issue?

Blizzard has stated that they plan on making 10man content more difficult, tuning 10 and 25 man to be the same difficulty.  But the problem that they are missing is that that will not make them equal.  Ever.

When you form a 25man run you usually have several people on the run who kind of suck.  Let’s be honest.  You know who they are, even if “they” includes you.    But in a 10man that is far less likely to occur.  Composition becomes very important and unless you’re putting together a PuG, 10mans tend to be more solid than 25mans.

So in essence, even if the 25 and 10 man content is equal in difficulty, the majority of guilds will be able to put together 10 good players for 10mans and 10-20 good players with 15-5 average players for 25mans.  Do the math.  The fact that you can stack more good players in ratio for 10mans will make 10man easier.

25man raids are also a logistical nightmare, causing officers fits in regards to recruiting people.  But to date it was worth it for some people because of the improved rewards.  But in CATA, why bother?

One answer is that the “hardcore” top end guilds will still view 25man as the standard for progression, meaning that is where the competition will take place.  Another answer is that even with buff homogenization you will have buff/debuff issues with class balancing more in a 10man than you ever will in a 25man.

But the list of reasons goes on and on.  But even with those answers, some still won’t want to bother with 25mans anymore.

The end result will likely be that many guilds will fracture.  Whether this means that the guilds will split into multiple smaller guilds, or just simply stay together for the social aspect while scheduling multiple 10mans is an unknown.  The flip side however is that many guilds may still want to compete in the 25man progression or just want to keep all of their people together raiding.

While it’s too early still to predict the actual outcome (and too many unknown variables such as the impact of 10/25 man progression on the guild talent trees), if this model does hold firm you can expect to see at least 25% of WoW guilds fracture into multiple 10mans, or new smaller guilds.

So what about those smaller raids?

Well, this is both a good and a bad thing.  On the upside it means that if they mess up one raid, you don’t have to spend that much time in it (read: ToC which sucked).  Also, the added variety of content could be really interesting and fun!  Moar raids = guud!!

But the *HUGE* major deal?  If you ever have to do a run with people who have restrictive schedules (guild or pug), smaller raids are *PURE WIN*!!  Think about it.

How many times have you gone into a raid and only killed 4-6 bosses before having to call it, and then you have a saved raid ID with people and can’t figure out when to get everyone together again?  Who cares in Cata?  Go to the next raid with new people.  Problem solved. 

So what’s the downside?  Blizzard keeps to a budget on content design.  Unless some of the raids share artwork and design, it becomes more likely that Blizzard will take short cuts and use a ToC model again.  I *dread* reused skins for bosses, 2 room raids, and multiple class shared armor designs.  I’m getting aggravated just thinking about it.

The only truly positive feedback Blizzard ever got from the ToC model was the lack of trash, but it was a *lot* of positive feedback.  Due to that we could see something similar again.

So, in the end it’s going  to come down to how much time and effort Blizzard decides to put into these smaller raids.  If they run with it however, the potential is just amazing.  This could really be a huge, huge improvement to PvE content.

Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes

The short version is that badges are going away and becoming a point system.  The honor system is also being folding into this design as well.  This is actually good news and gonna make stuff way less complicated.

New PvE Point System

Remember those times where you had to change 60 badges into 60 different badges, just to turn those into another 60 different badges so you could but those epic gems?  That is gone forever.  Finally!  *yay*

The new point system mirrors the current badge system, except that the “lower tier badges” are always lumped into just one category.

• Hero Points – Current lower tier (current equivalent Triumph Badges) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).
• Valor Points – Current top tier (current equivalent Frost Badges) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).

When a new tier of content comes out your current Valor Points will be added to your Hero Points total, so your Valor Points will be zeroed out at the start of each new tier of content.  It is possible that the first tier of content in Cata will be Hero Points, but no word on that implementation yet.

This all follows the exact same model that exists in LK, except that all of the lower badges are going to be lumped into just one pool.  Making it far easier to track and spend.  The one other difference is that there will be a maximum cap on how many you can have at one time.  The weekly earned cap already exists in LK, just the Cata cap will likely be lower (aka more restrictive on generation).

New PvP Point System

Now this is going to be a pretty big change.

• Honor Points – Earned from almost all PvP activities (spend to purchase lesser pvp gear, including previous season gear) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).
• Conquest Points – Earned from Arena and Rated Battle grounds (spend for the best pvp gear of the season) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).

The biggest change is the removal of rating requirements on all PvP items except for the PvP weapon equivalent of the current Heroic (hard mode) PvE weapons.  Those will be the one PvP item with a rating requirement.  PvP weapons that are equivalent to normal mode 10/25man raids will have no rating requirement.

The next major change is the induction of Rated BG’s.  You can either Arena, or you can play in Rated BG’s to earn Conquest Points.  So that uber awesome gear that only Arena players had?  You can now earn them in the rated BG system.

The easiest way to think about all of this is imagine that the current season (Wrathful) of PvP gear is the equivalent of ICC gear.  You’d spend Conquest Points on these.  Last season (Relentless) of PvP gear is the equivalent of ToC gear.  You’d spend Honor Points on these.

That’s the model that it will follow.  No word on how much Conquest can be earned at a time however, aka how quickly you can gear out.

PvE and PvP Meet!!

Some players from the BC era may remember how many PvE raiders did Arena.  It was free epics.  You put together a 5man, did 10 games, and collected your free gear periodically.  Who doesn’t like free loot?  While Cata will not be exactly like that, there are similarities.

Many PvP’ers supplement their gear with key specific PvE items.  The new PvE model will make it far easier for them to do so.  Whether it’s due to the new point system, or just heading on into 10man raids.  You will see PvP’ers spend more time raiding than before.

On top of that, the PvP equivalent weapon of 10/25man raid normal mode will be available for anyone who spends enough time and effort farming rated BG’s.  While we don’t know how that system will work yet, it is a likely prediction that anyone who wants a decent weapon, but can’t seem to get one, will be doing rated BG’s.

You are going to see not only PvP’ers in rated BG’s, but a crap ton of raiders and solo’ers as well.  All after a current tier weapon, even if it’s got resilience on it.  Blizzard has been making the steady progression of having PvE and PvP both as desired end game content for all players.  And this is just one more step in that direction.

Summation

Long, or short, Cataclysm is looking really good overall for WoW as a game.  The biggest fear and change will be the identical raid loot/lockout on 10/25man content.  Again I fear this will be the death of many guilds, but like the transition from 40man to 25man, I feel that the guilds of WoW will bounce back from it all the same.

The point system is a straight up much needed improvement and promises many good things.  Combined with less “required” farming, WoW is looking more and more to be less “grindy” and more fun for both the hardcore and casual player.  It’s going to open up a lot of room for alts.

As always, if you’ve got questions and need answers leave a comment on site or e-mail me at:

Skeleton.Jack@hotmail.com

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

 3.2 Questions and Answers by SJ, Part 1

3.2 Questions and Answers by SJ, Part 2

I will be revamping the specs soon, and making a page for them as well.

Live 3.2 Death Knight Specs:  DK DPS, Tank, and PvP

Heya guys!!  So it looks like it’s time for 3.2 release.  Tons of nerfs, buffs, interesting changes, and new toys to play with.  Don’t worry, you are getting a free respec for all of your DK talent trees. 

“But what are the new specs?”

Don’t worry, it’s all here for you!! 

Blood 3.2 PvE DPS

Blood PvE is pretty much the same as it was in 3.1 release.  The only major difference is that the old 50/0/21 variant build has gone the way of the Dodo.

2H Blood Build - 51/0/20

Rotations

PS – IT - HS – HS - DS - RP  //  DS – HS – HS – HS – HS - RP

Priority System:  Unlike most specs, there is not really a priority system because there are no spare GCD’s in this rotation.  It has been proven Blood does best in BP (not UP) even though it uses all available GCD’s.  

You must keep your rotation perfect.  If you have a terrible ms/lag, this spec/rotation may prove difficult for you.

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Sigil:  Sigil of the Vengeful Heart

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Blood

Note:  I am not a fan of Blood Worms as it will eat up AoE healing in a raid.  In essence, it can and will lead to raid deaths or unnecessary pressure on healers.  Because of that, I spend the typical 3 points in BW into defensive/utility talents since there are 0 available dps talents available at that point.

2H Blood RP Build – 51/2/18

Rotations

PS – IT - HS – HS - DS - RP  //  DS – HS – HS – HS – HS - RP

Priority System:  Unlike most specs, there is not really a priority system because there are no spare GCD’s in this rotation.  It has been proven Blood does best in BP (not UP) even though it uses all available GCD’s.  

You must keep your rotation perfect.  If you have a terrible ms/lag, this spec/rotation may prove difficult for you.

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Sigil:  Sigil of the Vengeful Heart

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Blood

Note:  I am not a fan of Blood Worms as it will eat up AoE healing in a raid.  In essence, it can and will lead to raid deaths or unnecessary pressure on healers.  Because of that, I spend the typical 3 points in BW into defensive/utility talents since there are 0 available dps talents available at that point.

This RP build is not superior to the standard 51/0/20 spec.  However it gives more RP leeway with the DS Glyph and preventing RP capping, making it 100% viable.  You give up 2 points in your ghoul for more leeway room.

Dual Wield (Frost) 3.2 PvE DPS

The clear leader for 3.2 appears to be Frost DW, but Unholy DW is not dead.  In fact it’s better than it was before.  However Unholy DW is still the loser, ranging from as much as a 10% dps loss to as little as a 3-5% dps loss, leaving it a viable option.

Unholy DW will suffer significantly however in any encounter that you cannot keep at least a 70% uptime on your ghoul.  There is no longer a viable 2H Frost DPS build as the DW build outscales it by such a significant margin as to make it a “dead spec”.

The Frost Tree is officially the “Dual Wield Tree” as of 3.2 for PvE DPS.

DW Frost Oblit/Pest Build – 0/53/18

Rotations

IT – PS – BS - Pest – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP (Set up rotation)

OB - BS - Pest – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP (Future rotations once diseases are applied)

Priority System:  Diseases (FF > BP // or Pest) > KM Rime > MaxRP-Dump > OB > BS > FS.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability. 

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off FS/HB Rime procs and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Howling Blast/Rime Procs:  Attempt to use these with KM procs whenever possible due to HB having a lower crit % chance than FS.  Do not push back a rotation however to do this.  If you have spare GCD’s then it is ok to delay a Rime proc.  Otherwise use KM on FS’s.

This rotation/spec will not proc IIT due to Pest refreshing the diseases.  If you need to be buffing the raid you can take a personal DPS loss (but a raid DPS increase) by ignoring Pest, and subbing in a new glyph.  

If you have to provide IIT to the raid you follow the “Set up rotation” only:  IT – PS – BS - BS – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP

The secondary glyph choice (instead of GoD) is relatively unimportant, so you could leave it the same or take something like Glyph of Blood Strike if someone actually provided the snare debuff for you.  It won’t impact your dps much by swapping this glyph honestly unless someone is providing the snare debuff.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader / Rune of the Fallen Crusader *or* Rune of the Fallen Crusader / Rune of Razorice

Sigil:  Sigil of Awareness

Weapon Speeds:  Slow/Slow

Presence:  Blood

Notes:  FC/RI is a far superior Runeforge setup for dps in any encounter where you’re basically sitting on one target for over a full minute.  However when you get into constantly swapping targets, FC/FC becomes superior for it’s lack of needing to stack debuffs on a target.  Basically this comes down to the type of encounters you will be facing.

DW Unholy Oblit Build – 0/18/53

Rotations

PS – IT –  BS – BS – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP > FF) > MaxRP-Dump > OB > BS > DC.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability. 

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader / Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Sigil:  Sigil of Awareness

Weapon Speeds:  Slow/Slow

Presence:  Blood

Notes:  FC/RI is a far superior Runeforge setup for dps in any encounter where you’re basically sitting on one target for over a full minute.  However when you get into constantly swapping targets, FC/FC becomes superior for it’s lack of needing to stack debuffs on a target.  Basically this comes down to the type of encounters you will be facing.

Unholy 3.2 PvE DPS

Unholy has gone under some significant changes, mostly due to the nerfs to Scourge Strike and the Unholy Blight changes.  You should fully expect to see further changes to Unholy in the 3.2.1 patch simply because 3.2 Unholy breaks the “design goal” by Blizzard for Unholy spec.

Blizzard’s “design goal” for DK’s is that there should be one major F/U strike for every tree’s rotation.  Blood has Death Strike, Frost has Obliterate, and Unholy has Scourge Strike.  However Unholy will scale best with OB once you have T7/T8+ itemization, though 18%+ Armor Penetration makes it ideal.  SS will soon no longer even be used by Unholy specs unless Blizz changes something.

2H Unholy SS Build - 0/10/61

Rotations

PS – IT - BS - BS - SS - RP  //  SS - SS - SS – RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP > FF) > MaxRP-Dump > SS > BS > DC.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability. 

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Anytime your diseases are not refreshed by SS Glyph, make sure you refresh them yourself.  So long as your diseases have 2+ seconds on their duration firing off SS’s is fine.  Just be aware of your Rune CD’s and the duration left on your diseases at all times. 

BP and FF diseases take priority over all other attacks.  Otherwise you can spam SS and BS, ignoring IT and PS as long as the SS Glyph is proc’ing.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Sigil:  Sigil of Awareness / Sigil of the Vengeful Heart

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Blood

Notes:  Substandard to 2H OB Unholy if you have T7+ gear.  SotVH becomes the better Sigil once your AP/Spell Damage scales enough with gear to outpace the SoA benefits.  This is an itemization threshold that will be breached somewhere when you are ilvl 232+.  If you have not yet reached 20% Apr, this is the superior spec.

2H Unholy Oblit Build – 0/17/54

Rotations

PS – IT –  BS – BS – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP > FF) > MaxRP-Dump > OB > BS > DC.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability. 

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Sigil:  Sigil of the Vengeful Heart

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Blood

Notes:  Don’t expect this spec to last as it breaks the design goal stated by Blizzard.  You can shift one point from Necrosis into IUP if you don’t have a speed enchant on your boots yet.  Ignoring AoE, I’m not sure if Morbidity is a better buy than Necrosis yet.

Blood 3.2 Tanking

Just like PvE DPS, Blood Tanking is pretty much the same thing as it was before.

2H Blood Tank - 52/5/14

Rotations

PS – IT - HS – HS - DS - RS/RP  //  DS - DS – HS – HS - RS/RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP + FF) > MaxRP-Dump > DS > BS > RS > DC.  Unlike a standard dps rotation, you actually want to fire off one more Death Strike in the 2nd rotation instead of two extra HS’s.  The healing generated from DS contributes towards your TPS. 

It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability.

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.

Also, Rune Strike is more of a TPS gain than DC is, so make sure that you give RS priority on RP expenditures.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader (TPS) / Rune of Swordshattering (Avoidance) / Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (If below Def cap)

Sigil:  Sigil of the Vengeful Heart (TPS) / Sigil of Deflection (Avoidance) / Sigil of the Unfaltering Knight (if below Def cap)

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Frost

Note:  As with all tanking specs, your raid environment will usually force you into changing your spec no matter what a cookie cutter spec says.  You may be the AoE tank, the MT, the OT, etc…  Depending on the role you need to fulfill (including debuffer/buffer) you may find moving a few talent points around beneficial.

Talents such as Improved Icy Touch, Glyphs such as Glyph of Death and Decay, and more can cause a great deal of talent point changes.  Don’t be afraid to totally change around a tanking spec if it will suit your raid needs more.

Frost 3.2 Tanking

Totally unlike Frost DW PvE DPS, you actually want to stick to a 2H build for tanking.  DW’ing causes more Boss parries, which in turn gives the boss “parry haste” meaning he will hit you more frequently.  Aka. you take more damage more frequently making it much more difficult to keep you alive.

Also all tank 1H weapons tend towards Fast, and the new DW Frost builds only favor Slow weapons.  You’d take not only more damage as a DW tank, but your TPS would suffer as well.  All in all, DW Tanks are just not viable.

2H Frost Tank - 13/51/7

Rotations

IT – PS - BS – BS - OB - RS/RP  //  OB - OB - OB - RS/RP

Priority System:  Diseases (FF > BP) > KM Rime > MaxRP-Dump > OB > BS > RS > FS.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability.  

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off FS/HB Rime procs and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Also, Rune Strike is more of a TPS gain than FS is (unless it is a KM FS), so make sure that you give RS priority on RP expenditures.

Howling Blast/Rime Procs:  Attempt to use these with KM procs whenever possible due to HB having a lower crit % chance than FS.  Do not push back a rotation however to do this.  If you have spare GCD’s then it is ok to delay a Rime proc.  Otherwise use KM on FS’s.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader (TPS) / Rune of Swordshattering (Avoidance) / Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (If below Def cap)

Sigil:   Sigil of Awareness (TPS) / Sigil of Deflection (Avoidance) / Sigil of the Unfaltering Knight (if below Def cap)

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Frost

Note:  As with all tanking specs, your raid environment will usually force you into changing your spec no matter what a cookie cutter spec says.  You may be the AoE tank, the MT, the OT, etc…  Depending on the role you need to fulfill (including debuffer/buffer) you may find moving a few talent points around beneficial.

Talents such as Improved Icy Touch, Glyphs such as Glyph of Death and Decay, and more can cause a great deal of talent point changes.  Don’t be afraid to totally change around a tanking spec if it will suit your raid needs more.

Unholy 3.2 Tanking

Unholy tanking will stay within the realm of SS no matter what simply because you will not be seeing 20%+ Armor Penetration on a tank set of gear.  Overall it plays pretty similar to current Unholy tanking.

2H Unholy Tank - 10/5/56

Rotations

IT – PS - BS – BS - SS - RS/RP  //  SS - SS - SS - RS/RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP > FF) > MaxRP-Dump > SS > BS > RS > DC.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  The one exception to Rune > RP  is if you will go over your RP cap (thereby losing potential RP), then immediately fire off a RP ability.

Always keep the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s and HoW between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Also, Rune Strike is more of a TPS gain than DC is, so make sure that you give RS priority on RP expenditures.

Anytime your diseases are not refreshed by SS Glyph, make sure you refresh them yourself.  So long as your diseases have 2+ seconds on their duration firing off SS’s is fine.  Just be aware of your Rune CD’s and the duration left on your diseases at all times. 

BP and FF diseases take priority over all other attacks.  Otherwise you can spam SS and BS, ignoring IT and PS as long as the SS Glyph is proc’ing.

Runeforge:  Rune of the Fallen Crusader (TPS) / Rune of Swordshattering (Avoidance) / Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (If below Def cap)

Sigil:   Sigil of Awareness (TPS) / Sigil of Deflection (Avoidance) / Sigil of the Unfaltering Knight (if below Def cap)

Weapon Speeds:  Slow

Presence:  Frost

Note:  As with all tanking specs, your raid environment will usually force you into changing your spec no matter what a cookie cutter spec says.  You may be the AoE tank, the MT, the OT, etc…  Depending on the role you need to fulfill (including debuffer/buffer) you may find moving a few talent points around beneficial.

Talents such as Improved Icy Touch, Glyphs such as Glyph of Death and Decay, and more can cause a great deal of talent point changes.  Don’t be afraid to totally change around a tanking spec if it will suit your raid needs more.

3.2 PvP Specs

Sadly this is going to have to wait until some time later this afternoon at earliest.  Since I have been out of the PvP loop for so long it was my intention to simply look up the top ranked Arena teams in WoW and then relate to you guys what those specs are.  However one of the sites I like to refer to is buggin out, and on top of that the WoW Armory is currently down as well.

So I am left at a road block.  I promise I will have these up within 24 hours as long as WoW Armory comes back online.  If not, I can’t make any promises.

Keep in mind that because all DK specs have been reset (Armory is back up) – I am going to be a lil behind still on this one.  I totally did not think ahead enough to realize that all specs would be reset.  Sorry again.

Posts you should read

Best in Slot Items – This page has listings for all T7 and T8 itemization currently.  It breaks the gear down into 6 different categories depending on your current hit and expertise ratings.  Highly useful for picking your gear out from instances..

The Two Second Rule, 2SR – This page explains the mechanics behind the 2SR.  As a DK it is paramount that you understand how this mechanic works to take advantage of all of the tools you have available.

Hit and Expertise Revisted – Most people don’t actually understand how Hit and Expertise come into play for a DK.  Or even what the caps are, or what they mean to you.  Here is your post.  Caps, ratings, etc.  It’s all here.

Blood Tap – Most DK’s never use this ability, but it’s actually key to many specs.  If you have any 1 Rune special abilties in your spec such as Vampiric Blood, Ghoul Frenzy, Bone Shield, and Unbreakable Armor then you need to read this post to see how you can use BT once a minute to fire these off without messing your rotations up ever.

Death Knight Macros – I need to go back and revamp this page.  Make better headings, better names, categories, etc…  But if you don’t mind pilfering through it, it’s still got some decent macros in there to use.

Donations

Why donate?  Good question if you ask me.  Personally, it’s entirely up to you guys.  No pressure.  But as to the “Why?”

I quit WoW a lil while back when the site was peaking at 10-12k individual hits a day (not page views, individual people).  I was burnt out.  Then I came back and changed some things.  My guild, how I played, what I did with my time, etc.  And I also decided to try my hand at treating WoW like a business.  Tons of people make money off of the gaming industry.  Why not me?

The weird part?  Now that I view WoW more like a business, I’ve been having fun playing again.

So I’ve been working on developing the site, completing Best in Slot Items rankings, covering important game mechanics, etc.  Generally speaking I spend about 15-20 hours a week on the website alone.  Peak times like patch releases can push that upwards of 20 hours a week easily.  Which makes this a lot like a part time job. 

While I enjoy writing, and will continue to do so, donations are more along the lines of an incentive for me to keep pouring myself into the site and developing more resources to put into the hands of my readers.  Adding in more pages, website development, specs pages, macro pages, forums, more BISI upgrades, etc…

So if you want to support my spending time into this kind of work, that would be why you might want to donate.  Donations go to me and will also help contribute to any website development I may need to pay for in the future. 

  -Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

#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.

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.

• 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.

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?