My WotLK open beta experience so far...

[Memnoch]

Some screenies:


Anaxophus causing mayhem in the town of New Avalon, Eastern Plaguelands


Anaxophus with my crap green shoulders in the Scourge base of operations


Anaxophus looking for more humans to kill


At the Ebon Hold (Ebon Hawk, anyone?), the Scourge necropolis above Eastern Plaguelands


With Highlord Mograine in the heart of the Ebon Hold


Undead griffon mounts woot!


My name is Darth Anaxophus...but you can call me Noxie for short.

[Memnoch]

I've gotten my DK to 59 so far from 55 and I have to say that at this bracket they are considerably OP. A part of that is probably because you leave Ebon Hold with T2-quality gear, but so far I'm cutting a swathe through Outland at the moment. Here's my build so far, I went Blood spec:

http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=jfVMqocIcf0xzA

Basically, the DK is a plate wearing warlock/pally type that can lay DoTs (diseases) as a byproduct of instant melee attacks, as well as self-heal via the use of healing that occurs as a byproduct of some of those instant attacks. It also has an ability to drag mobs/enemies to melee range and root/snare them and it also has a ranged attack that can do damage (to enemies) or heal (itself or friendly DKs). Plus it has a pet (any spec) or a number of pets (Unholy spec) that can be spawned every 5 mins that basically do as much damage as it.

Right now my survivability is just too good - I basically heal myself for 20% of total health every eight seconds with the instant attack Death Strike (which basically heals you for x amount each hit, and you can hit as long as you have at least 2 specific runes up, which is basically every 8 seconds), then you have Plagueworms that heal you when it procs (basically these little worms spawn whenever this ability procs and attack your enemy, and the damage they do to the enemy heals you), and Vendetta also increases your healing rate when you do damage (bit like the Lifestealing enchant).

I fought a level 60 elite at level 59 and ended the fight at 100% health because of all the healing procs. Didn't have to use any pots at all either. Plus right now I can solo up to 4 or 5 mobs the same level as me even though I don't really have a decent AoE attack - I just heal myself whenever I deal out damage with Death Strike lol, and kill them one at a time. You know those demons in the Legion Front quest in Honor Hold (the infernals, dreadcaller and the imps)? I took on 6 at once (2 infernals, 1 dreadcaller, 4 imps) and finished with close to 100% health at level 58 (they were 58-59).

Plus there's a talent called Death Grip that's kind of like an inverse Intercept - you basically pull someone towards you and root them in front of you for a second or so, and then you can use another ability called Ice Freeze or something which is like a single-target Hamstring. Hunters, mages and locks will HATE that talent lol. And you have a ranged attack called Death Coil that can heal you. Plus you can summon a ghoul every 5 mins which does almost as much damage as you so you can use it as DPS or a tank (if you are Unholy spec you can summon a number of them).

Apparently the class gets balanced at 80...but right now I am very OP and am pwning everyone lol. It's funny how many of the other DKs who want to have DK mains are trying to say that it's not OP when it obviously is. Haven't tried PvP yet but I'm pretty sure with the survivability I will do very well. Someone I know with a level 62 DK beat a L70 T5 warlock in a duel.


PLUS you get this ability called Death Gate which is basically like a hearth back to Ebon Hold with a 1 min cooldown, requiring no reagents or anything. Kind of like the Moonglade spell, except that Ebon Hold is close to the 2 main Alliance hubs of IF and SW.

PLUS you have this special talent called Runeforging which is basically like Enchanting that you can do to weps to give them special abilities (e.g. dps, spell-interrupts, etc) which basically cost nothing and can be done each time you are back at the Ebon Hold.

PLUS it has a spell interrupt ability that has (I think) a 30sec cooldown, similar to Rogue Kick. Casters are going to get totally owned by this class.

One more thing - the starting quests for the DK are very cool and some of them are really original.

If they keep them like this I might be rolling a DK as my main. It's an awesome class, OP or not.

[Kakero]

Memnoch, can you check what's happening to leatherworking in the new expansion? I saw some in mmo champion but would like more info. In particular how many epic leather one can make that is rogue useable?

[Memnoch]

So far I've only trained LW to 390 and the only recipes I've learned have been greens. Apparently this is what you can do though:

http://wotlkwiki.info/index.php/Leat...ab=New_Recipes

No word on epic recipe drops yet.

[Memnoch]

Well, my DK just respecced to Unholy (1c respec fee FTW) and it's even more OP - I have a permanent ghoul pet that can tank and also do a lot of DPS and I have great AOE attacks now. My DPS at level 60 went from 260 to 360 which is pretty decent. I can take on up to 7-8 mobs my level at a time with no CC and still beat them.

[Zink Whistlefly]

A good read - thanks Mem.

My open beta key never arrived, ah well only a few weeks to go till Wrath anyway

I think I will shelve my rogue and druid to begin with and try this new DK out. I have always fancied playing a character with a "big 2 hander" (oo-er) but I never had the patience to level a warrior. This DK sounds ideal, as I enjoy tanking, will be able to level with pretty much no downtime (similar to levelling my druid), will be competitive in PvP (by the sounds of things) and will be able to throw out some pretty damn good AoE DPS!

Have you noticed much of a difference in down-time between blood and unholy? All those self heals has got to help you with the 55-80 grind from blood, but does the multi-mob capabilities of unholy more than make up for that?

The dual spec system Blizzard is introducing sounds VERY appealing - one selfish spec I can really enjoy that suits my play style, and one spec to use during instances for the good of the group. I must say I am really pleased with how WoTLK is shaping up.

Have you tried dual-wielding on your DK Mem? Is it the general consensus that DW is better for tanking, 2H for PvP and levelling (since various frost abilities rely on crits, which you will obviously get more of when you use 2 fast 1H weapons)? It sounds like blood spec gives great survivability, and good single target DPS. Frost for some good burst damage and tanking abilities, Unholy for AoE DPS and utility. Can we deduce from this that UH is pretty much the anticipated spec for PvP then, or will the self heals from Blood rule king in the arenas?

I'm not sure what to do about race. Both of my characters are on a Horde PvP realm, which means I cannot create an alliance DK unless I pay to transfer one of my characters to a PvE realm which I would rather not do...Orcs look pretty cool, but I don't want to be tied down to using axes - I like to keep my options open. Tauren DK's just don't seem quite right somehow, and since Endurance was reduced in effectiveness I think there's less expectation to use them for tanks now. I don't like Undead characters (even if they do get a really good PvP racial), Blood Elves seem a bit overly feminine although they now have amazing racials, Trolls have always been pretty cool, but I have a troll rogue already and I don't like how they look with 2 handed weapons

How is the Ghoul as a summon/pet (in terms of toughness, HP, DPS compared to say a hunter pet)? What about the Gargoyle?

Thanks mate!

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by Zink Whistlefly A good read - thanks Mem. My open beta key never arrived, ah well only a few weeks to go till Wrath anyway I think I will shelve my rogue and druid to begin with and try this new DK out. I have always fancied playing a character with a "big 2 hander" (oo-er) but I never had the patience to level a warrior. This DK sounds ideal, as I enjoy tanking, will be able to level with pretty much no downtime (similar to levelling my druid), will be competitive in PvP (by the sounds of things) and will be able to throw out some pretty damn good AoE DPS! Have you noticed much of a difference in down-time between blood and unholy? All those self heals has got to help you with the 55-80 grind from blood, but does the multi-mob capabilities of unholy more than make up for that?

Blood has less down time than unholy definitely. Even though you have less AOE abilities most CDs are very short with blood.

The dual spec system Blizzard is introducing sounds VERY appealing - one selfish spec I can really enjoy that suits my play style, and one spec to use during instances for the good of the group. I must say I am really pleased with how WoTLK is shaping up. Have you tried dual-wielding on your DK Mem? Is it the general consensus that DW is better for tanking, 2H for PvP and levelling (since various frost abilities rely on crits, which you will obviously get more of when you use 2 fast 1H weapons)? It sounds like blood spec gives great survivability, and good single target DPS. Frost for some good burst damage and tanking abilities, Unholy for AoE DPS and utility. Can we deduce from this that UH is pretty much the anticipated spec for PvP then, or will the self heals from Blood rule king in the arenas?

Haven't tried DW, mainly because I haven't found weps to beat the runeblade I have. I've heard of people keeping their runeblades from Ebon Hold till level 68. Most people tended to keep their blues until mid-65 at least. As for arena, not sure - but in BGs I was owning with BOTH blood and unholy - firstly as a 58 blood DK I was beating l60s in BGs, then as a 60 unholy. Since I dinged past 60 I haven't pvpd.

I'm not sure what to do about race. Both of my characters are on a Horde PvP realm, which means I cannot create an alliance DK unless I pay to transfer one of my characters to a PvE realm which I would rather not do...Orcs look pretty cool, but I don't want to be tied down to using axes - I like to keep my options open. Tauren DK's just don't seem quite right somehow, and since Endurance was reduced in effectiveness I think there's less expectation to use them for tanks now. I don't like Undead characters (even if they do get a really good PvP racial), Blood Elves seem a bit overly feminine although they now have amazing racials, Trolls have always been pretty cool, but I have a troll rogue already and I don't like how they look with 2 handed weapons

Doesn't really matter mate. I went with a Draenei DK, but I don't think the racial bonuses are significant on either side. Tauren DKs look pretty sick, as do Draenei, and either of the elves or orcs. Just don't go gnome DK - it just looks...hmm.

How is the Ghoul as a summon/pet (in terms of toughness, HP, DPS compared to say a hunter pet)? What about the Gargoyle? Thanks mate!

The ghoul is pretty sick, it has about as much HP as you (I exaggerate, but you get the picture). It's kind of like a cat pet but with lots more armour and health. Gargoyle is a waste.

BTW - as unholy if you die in combat, you turn into a ghoul for 45 secs and have the same hps as your ghoul pet. Very cool and great to finish off foes.

[Zink Whistlefly]

Cheers mate.

I wonder what good 2v2 lineups we'll see involving the DK class. I guess Frost Mage / Frost DK will make for some wonderful control and burst damage.

I also wonder what class will be able to handle the DK in a 1v1 sitaution - all classes have their counters, but with the DK's self healing, great survivability (against melee and casters), good sustained DPS, and control (death grip, slows, freezes etc) nothing really jumps out at me...

[Kakero]

I was thinking of rerolling a death knight frost tank.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=jbxMZGgxzhcdMhRVssx0gM

Mem, in your testing. Does the death knight have any kind of viable cc? Chain of ice seems pale as it's only on 10 secs and each one of the seconds the enemy will gain 10% movement speed back.

Kinda afraid that the death knight as a dpser won't be invited into 5 man dungeon for not having a viable cc.

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by Kakero I was thinking of rerolling a death knight frost tank. http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=jbxMZGgxzhcdMhRVssx0gM Mem, in your testing. Does the death knight have any kind of viable cc? Chain of ice seems pale as it's only on 10 secs and each one of the seconds the enemy will gain 10% movement speed back. Kinda afraid that the death knight as a dpser won't be invited into 5 man dungeon for not having a viable cc.

Not sure where you got the idea that DKs don't have a lot of CC. Aside from Chains of Ice which is a single target snare, you also have other AoE snares like Icy Talons/Improved Icy Talons, Chilblains which all have AoE slowing effects and then you have Hungering Cold, the 51 point Frost talent that basically is like a Frost Nova and but allows diseases to continue to spread. Or if you go Unholy you get Desecration which is again an AoE group snare.

The only weakness I see right now for the DK is the fact that once you use up Death Grip you don't have any way of closing to melee and your only ranged weapon (Death Coil) is a bit meh. But this class is easily the most complete class I've ever played in WoW, and I've gotten to at least level 40 with pretty much all of them now. It can tank, self-heal, heal (in limited amounts), buff, and do a crapload of DPS while wearing plate, and has no issue with being OOM or anything. I notice that they've nerfed some of the more staggeringly OP talents it had, but it's still a god class. You can easily offtank and require only minimal healing. We ran Ramps and BF with 5-man DKs when we were levels 58 and 59 and nobody even remotely needed heals lol.

I know it's hard to explain given you haven't played it yet, but you will have no issue whatsoever getting invited to 5-mans as a DK, either as Frost to AoE tank, Unholy to DPS/Buff or Blood to DPS. I'm telling you that at 60 I was doing more DPS than a level 65 rogue in any spec.