Join The Death Knight Blog

I'm currently looking for a few Death Knights that enjoy sharing their experiences in Azeroth. Your writing doesn't have to be perfect, just coherent, and English must be your first language. Leet speak is fine and there are no grammar nazi's around, just Death Knights looking for a little bit more information about their class and surroundings.

To apply to be a contributor to The Death Knight Blog, please leave a comment here. I'll contact you through email. Please be prepared to submit 1-2 unique posts that you've created, along with non-specific information about your experience with World of Warcraft. If it's what I'm looking for then you will be added to the blog so that you can add content at your leisure. Remember, generally speaking, articles over 400 words long lose the interest of WoW addicts, so please keep them relatively short.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

My Death Knight Hit 80

Well, my Death Knight hit 80 last night! It's been a fun ride and now the adventure really begins, mainly with my foray into tanking at max level. Unfortunately characters aren't automatically endowed with copious amount of perfect gear once dinging, so I've been running some level 80 reg's and dps'n in heroics. Oddly enough I've been getting in groups faster and easier as DPS rather than PUG's needing a tank. We'll see how long that lasts.

I'm looking forward to gearing up for Raids, even at a casual pace. Thanks to Blizzards methods of badge rewards and craftables I should be well on my way to handling most heroics in a few weeks. As I do research into what gear I need and work toward I'll post here, with options for new level 80 Death Knight Tanking and DPS gear.

See you then.

Unofficial Mount Prices Fall

It's being reported in the forums that the price of mount training has fallen yet again since the release of 3.2. Now there are reports that you can purchase the Normal Flying Skill for 237 gold and Artisan Flying Skill at 4250 gold.

And to think, I'm still pissed about not realizing I could buy cold weather flying as an artifact for my DK at 70. What the hell was I thinking, I'm fairly certain I would be 80 by now had I known.

Death Knight Leveling In Alterac Valley

Believe the rumors, put on your pvp gear (or whatever) and head on over to Alterac Valley. Bar none it seems to be the absolute fastest way to level, especially compared to grinding out instances. Heck, even compared to non flying mount questing it seems faster, but that might be attributed to the play style.

After every single AV game I've played I've went up at least 1 bubble, even if I lost. However, if I got a good team, which caps towers, prevents capping, and smacks Drek, then I can get 3 bubbles easy or more. This is the average I've been seeing from level 74 to 77, give or take.

I like it because it always takes less than 1 minute to get into a game and provides a clear goal, instead of following the quest helper arrow around. Not to mention it's nice to take a break from grinding instances and quests, yet still have a means to earn XP. Consider this, by the time I'm done running all these Alterac Valley's to hit 80, I'll be able to score some decent Purple PVP gear too. Some gear that will allow me to jump right into tanking some heroics.

*Update

Looks like I opened my mouth too soon and just at the wrong time. Apparently there was a ninja nerf to xp gain in Alterac Valley with the release of patch 3.2.2. This means that the XP gain in Alterac Valley was nixed by about 50%.

Big Bummer.

Death Knight Venture Coin Rewards

Well, after completing all the PVP dailies down on Venture Bay and taking over the zone by myself, I realize the rewards were not that great. As mentioned in an earlier post, there are 3 new Sigil's available for purchase from the Venture Coin Vendor, but for my playing style, they just weren't the 30 coins each.

I think my time will be better spent moving on to Dragonblight and doing all the quests out there. Mobs are definitely not a problem, especially since I just upgraded most of my gear to blacksmithing blues. I even created enough gear to use the integrated Blizzard Equipment Manager, which allows me now to easily swap out between DPS and Tank gear.

Speaking of Death Knight Tank Gear, as mentioned in a post found on the Blizzard forums, for leveling dungeons I'm only planning on stacking stamina. The rest will work itself out as I get closer to 80 and have to worry about Heroics. Right now I want to focus on just being able to handle a few big hits from bosses so my healers don't stress too much.

Thoughts On Cataclysm

I can't get over how many people are getting excited about Blizzard revisiting old content with the upcoming Expansion Cataclysm. There seems to be plenty of confusion about what it means to change the landscape of the original Azeroth and most importantly for those that might not end up purchasing this next World of Warcraft Expansion.

First of all, new alts or players to WoW won't notice the changes that will come with purchasing Cataclysm. The destroyed lands of Azeroth, as shown in the teaser trailer, will most likely only be seen through those who have purchased the expansion. Which leads me to believe that the land won't truly be changed at all, in regards to lower levels trying to level up.

My guess is that Azeroth will become one huge phase. Think back to how parts of Icecrown and even Dragonblight were phased, so that there were different stages of 1 area. If other toons weren't at the same stage in the phase, then you couldn't see or interact with those toons. So, it would be highly unlikely that low level toons would notice high levels interacting with new parts of Azeroth.

I wouldn't hold my breath for a completely revamped lower leveling experience. I'd expect more of the same in terms of grinding your way out to the future level cap of 85. However, if you disagree or want to contribute to the hysteria surrounding the next WoW expansion, please visit the Cataclysm Forums.

New Death Knight Sigil At 74

Looking to upgrade that tired old Sigil you started with as a level 55 Death Knight? Well, at 74 there are 3 more readily available for purchase with a few coins and a little gold. Specifically, there are 3 Sigil's available for completing the PVP quests in Grizzly Hills, with the acquired Venture Coins.

The daily quests themselves are simple as pie and the coins come easy. The Sigil's you can purchase are 30 Venture coins each, so if you are looking for some variety, why not buy all of them. Each Sigil will either provide a bonus to your Death Coil, Icy Touch, or Sourge Strike.

Sigil of Arthritic Binding
Sigil of the Frozen Conscience
Sigil of the Wild Buck

After feeling connected at the hip with the Death Knight Sigil I started with, I might just have to purchase these to change things up a bit. As it stands I'm about 6 bubbles from leveling to 74, might as well start heading to Grizzly Hills.

The Problem With 25 Man Raid Tanks

A diamond in the rough has emerged with a very thoughtful thread on Death Knights tanking level 25 Raid dungeons. Essentially most agree that there isn't an issue, even in 10 man Raids, but once a DK tank makes it to 25 he becomes too squishy.

Generally speaking most Death Knight tanks can handle the threat production, have plenty of armor, great evasion, but just can't cut it when they get hit. In a 25 man Raid, when they get hit, they get hit hard and it becomes an issue for healers. Where as compared to Paladins, Warriors, and Druids, healers have more consistency with heal requirements.

Below are a few suggestions by the thread starter:

1. Make Toughness back to the way it was with 15% increase to armor at 5 points, but switch it's position with Killing Machine. This puts the armor talent deeper into the tree(4th row) similir to both warriors and pallys both on the 3rd row of talents, forcing those that want it for PvP to ether spec frost or switch up where they put their points. Putting KM on the first row is completely uselss to both Blood and Unholy since they won't have Frost Strike or Howling Blast.

2. Have the Frost Pressence talent increase armor bonus by 5/10% and reduce damage by 1/2% or just increase armor by 10/20%

Most Death Knight tanks responding to the thread are suggesting that the talent trees become specialized. As it stands now, almost any tree can perform almost any roll. Like other tanking classes, there should be a clear tanking tree and a clear DPS tree. This way a Death Knight can specialize in either/or, instead of mediocre at all.

Death Knight Tanking Tip #2

So what happens when a new tank and a new healer get together in an instance? Magic! That's right, both are willing to help each other out, talk, and work out strategies. If one were much more advance than the other, chances are frustration would set in, wipes would happen, and groups would disperse. I've learned to love working with new healers and it provides a great learning opportunity.

2. Save your trinket and/or pots.

Having a backup doesn't hurt and can save the group from a wipe if the healer gets stunned or runs out of mana early during a boss fight. It's not necessarily because they are a bad healer or you are a bad tank, it's just a learning phase. So, having a little bit of back up makes the run smoother for all involved and keeps you on your toes.

Remember to pop that trinket at just the right time, like when you are about to die. ;)

Death Knight Tanking Tip #1

As a new Death Knight or at least new to tanking as a Death Knight, I'm finding out little things that might not be immediately apparent. So, I've decided to start a series of tips for tanking with your Death Knight. Keep in mind, these are just tips, not the end all and not the general info you can find on proper gear and boss fights.

1. Don't pull mobs with Death Grip.

Death Grip is a great tool to use if you happen to lose agro on a mob. This can save your group from a wipe if you have a healer that pulls agro or an overzealous Warlock or Mage that love to AOE.

So, just pull with something else and save Death Grip for when it really matters.

How To Get Rooster Mount

There has been some confusion amongst the World of Warcraft community on how to obtain the ultra rare Rooster Mount. Although I'm not sure what the fascination is with wanting to ride a cock around in a virtual world, but whatevs.

To obtain the Rooster mount you must either purchase WoW Trading Card Packs and hopefully get a rare loot card or purchase a statue of your toons likeness from FigurePrints.com and enter to win 1 of 10. Either way, your chances of scoring a Rooster Mount will be slim to none, you might have better luck playing the lottery.

Or, to be guaranteed a Rooster Mount, simply wait a month or so and check on eBay for an over priced Rooster Mount Loot card. If I remember right the Spectral Tiger mount cards were going for around $400. Ouch!?

Death Knight Gear At 73

I leveled to 73 last night, through a combination of grinding out quests and running a few instances. The most beneficial instance I ran was The Nexus and not because I lucked out on a drop, but because of the easy to obtain Blue Quest Rewards. The following quests provided some Blue loot to make it easier on a low 70's level Death Knight, especially one interested in tanking.

Have They No Shame? - Reward is a decent set of Plate shoulders with great stats like Stamina, Strength, Dodge, and Defense. There is a Shield stat too, which obviously doesn't pertain to Death Knights, but still makes this a great addition to a leveling DK.

Postponing the Inevitable - Reward is a sweet set of Plate gloves that comes with a little bit of Hit rating and the usual Strength, Stamina bonuses.

Quickening - Time to replace those Cobalt Boots or Spiked Cobalt Boots. The quest reward for this one offers 2 different Plate Boot options, so choose wisely. Hint, being a Death Knight means you could care less about Intellect. ;)

Also, keep in mind this gear is easily obtainable at a lower level. I ran this with a group of 70's and even a level 69 DPS. So, while it might be a little challenging for a tanking Death Knight at a low level, support can get you there if you're in a hurry.

Mok'Nathal Down Again

I'm not a WoW addicted lunatic, but when I get opportunities to play I would like to enjoy the game uninterrupted. However, it seems like lately Mok'Nathal has been down for some time every single morning. For most, this isn't a problem, but for those of us with families, it's beginning to become a nuisance.

An hour before the family gets up may be all the time I have to play WoW during the day. So what then when unscheduled maintenance, unscheduled upgrades, and then the flukes start happening at day break?

Like everyone else, I'll grin and bear it. It's just so darn frustrating when I could be playing WoW right now instead of writing this silly blog post.

Faction Change For My Orc Death Knight

Yesterday morning I started the faction change process for my level 71 Orc Death Knight. Well worth the $30 fee imposed by Blizzard, considering how much time I had already invested. I'm more of a casual player, so I was not prepared to throw away 350+ professions and a 71 experience level. Besides, the only reason I even created a Horde Death Knight was so that I could experience the greener grass of Horde PvP.

The faction change process only took my character about 8 hours to complete. Once finished I was not notified by email that the pending status had been lifted, but when I logged in the changes were complete. It was like creating a fresh toon, only with all my other gear and professions already in place. Heck, I even picked a new name, abandoning Tabtech and going with a reborn Mehlord. ;)

I hadn't played my DK since last February, decidedly because I was working on an Alliance Druid. However, now that all my toons are back on the Alliance side, I think I will take the DK to max level. This blog will be a place where I can organize my thoughts on Death Knight leveling and where others can come for advice, by learning from my mistakes.

Lesson number 1, the grass is not greener on the other side. I read it best on the WoW forums, the sting of defeat lasts much longer than the thrill of glory.

Welcome To Death Knight Blog

This blog was created because I found there to be a lack of Death Knight specific websites. Much of my WoW related reading online comes from blogs like Big Red Kitty and 4 Haelz. So you can see my frustration when trying to find a DK specific blog to discuss and comment on.

Things to expect from this blog:

• Death Knight related news as it pertains to me leveling my own DK toon.
• Death Knight related news in regards to leveling tips.
• Spec discussion.
• Death Knight PVP and PVE discussion
• and other related WoW news as I see fit to post on a slow news day.

I'm looking forward to contributing to this blog, so I hope you look forward to reading it. If you have an idea on what I should be covering Death Knight related, let me know in the comments area, I hope to hear from you.