4.3 Patch Today

It looks like patch 4.3 will be hitting live servers today, which means a handful of changes for us Death Knights and lots of additions for everyone.  By now I'm sure you have heard of the 3 new 5-man dungeons, not to mention the new raid content. But, don't forget, if you did the WoW Annual pass you will also get your special mount, Tyrael's Charger.

Tyrael's Charger

4.3 Patch Changes for Death Knights


Death Strike now heals the death knight whether or not the attack misses, or is dodged/parried. As a result of this change, Death Strike no longer refunds its rune cost if it fails to hit the target, as the death knight will still receive the healing effect.

Blood Presence now provides an armor bonus of 55%, up from 30%.

Death Knight pets now properly inherit their master’s crit and spell penetration stats.

Blood
Blade Barrier has been redesigned. It now passively reduces damage taken.

Bone Shield now has 6 charges, up from 4.

Veteran of the Third War now reduces the cooldown of Outbreak by 30 seconds.

Unholy
Unholy Might now increases Strength by 25%, up from 20%.

The gargoyle called by Summon Gargoyle should exclusively use its ranged attack regardless of range to the target.

4.3 Death Knight Balance Explained

Blizzard has stated why they felt the buff to Blood Presence was necessary.

We decided not to prevent or discourage block capping for paladins and warriors, because it would have required several corresponding changes to compensate for such severe nerfs and the risk of getting things wrong or asking players to change gear was just too great. Instead, we decided to buff DK and druid tanks to improve their ability to handle streaks of bad luck. In the DK’s case, we increased the armor bonus of Blood Presence.

I feel what that will mean for PVP, especially that Druids are getting a similar buff.  The last thing I would imagine DK's need in PVP would be increased survivability in Blood Presence.

4.3 Patch Notes for Death Knight

Death Strike now heals the death knight whether or not the attack misses, or is dodged/parried. As a result of this change, Death Strike no longer refunds its rune cost if it fails to hit the target, as the death knight will still receive the healing effect.

Blood Presence now provides an armor bonus of 55%, up from 30%.

Death Knight pets now properly inherit their master’s crit and spell penetration stats.

Talent Specializations

Blood
Blade Barrier has been redesigned. It now passively reduces damage taken.
Bone Shield now has 6 charges, up from 4.
Veteran of the Third War now reduces the cooldown of Outbreak by 30 seconds.

Unholy
Unholy Might now increases Strength by 25%, up from 20%.
The gargoyle called by Summon Gargoyle should exclusively use its ranged attack regardless of range to the target.

Official Battle.net Blog Post with latest updates to the 4.3 patch.  The update released today was marked as a release client, so expect the 4.3 patch to go live this coming Tuesday or the Tuesday after.

4.0.6 Death Knight Live Patch Notes

4.0.6 Death Knight Patch Notes

The official 4.0.6 patch went live yesterday and even most servers came up on time.  By now you've probably had an opportunity to see the previous PTR notes affecting Death Knights, but here is the list that is now officially in game.

Death Knight

• Death Coil damage has been reduced by roughly 10%.
• Icebound Fortitude now breaks stuns when used, in addition to providing immunity to them.
• Necrotic Strike’s absorption effect is now reduced by the target’s resilience. In addition, its debuff duration has been reduced to 10 seconds, down from 15.
• The spell hit bonus previously given by Virulence (Unholy) has been rolled into the Runic Focus passive effect that all death knights possess.

Talent Specializations


Blood

• Bone Shield now has 4 charges, up from 3.
• Crimson Scourge has been redesigned slightly. Instead of a 50/100% chance to make the next Blood Boil free when Plague Strike is used on a target with Blood Plague, the talent now gives a 5/10% chance to provide a free Blood Boil when the death knight lands any melee attack on a Blood Plagued target.
• If Death Strike is used while a Blood Shield is already active, the new absorb will stack with the old one instead of replacing it.
• Heart Strike now deals 175% weapon damage plus 15% per disease, up from 120% plus 10% per disease.
• Improved Death Strike now increases the damage of Death Strike by 30/60/90%, up from 15/30/45%.
• Scarlet Fever now applies via Blood Plague, rather than Blood Boil.
• Will of the Necropolis no longer refunds a Blood Rune when it resets Rune Tap’s cooldown. Instead it makes the next Rune Tap free while Will of the Necropolis is active.

Frost

• Chilblains now also causes Chains of Ice to root the target for 1.5/3 seconds.
• Howling Blast now deals 40% less damage to all targets other than the primary target of the spell.
• Hungering Cold now has a PvP duration of 8 seconds.
• Might of the Frozen Wastes now also increases all melee damage by 4/8/12% while wielding a two-handed weapon.

Unholy

• Blightcaller (Mastery) has been redesigned and renamed Dreadblade. It increases all Shadow damage by 2.5% per point of mastery.
• Dark Transformation now increases pet damage by 80%, down from 100%.
• Death’s Advance (new talent): While both Unholy Runes are depleted, movement-impairing effects cannot reduce the death knight below 75/100% of normal movement speed.
• Desecration is now also triggered by Necrotic Strike.
• The ratio of runic power return from Magic Suppression has been reduced by roughly one third.
• Rage of Rivendare now increases strike damage by 12/24/36%, down from 15/30/45%.
• Runic Corruption procs while the aura is already active now add 3 seconds to the existing aura duration, instead of simply refreshing/overwriting the existing aura.
• Shadow Infusion now increases pet damage by 8% per stack, down from 10%.
• Sudden Doom is now triggered only from main-hand auto attacks, and is normalized according to weapon speed rather than having a fixed percentage chance.
• Unholy Might (passive) has been reduced to a 5% Strength increase, down from 10%.
• Virulence has been redesigned. It now grants 10/20/30% additional disease damage.

Glyphs

• Glyph of Dark Succor (new glyph) raises the minimum healing done by Death Strike from 7% to 15% of maximum health, but only while in Unholy or Frost Presence.
• Glyph of Death’s Embrace no longer refunds Runic Power when self-healing via Lichborne.

Runeforging

• Swordbreaking and Swordshattering now reduce disarm duration by 60%, up from 50%.

Death Knight Bug Fixes

• Blood of the North is no longer incorrectly increasing Blood Strike damage by 10%.
• The tooltip for Blood Presence was giving an incorrect value and has been corrected.
• The amount of bonus damage Blood Strike was receiving per disease was inconsistent with its tooltip and has been amended.
• Crimson Scourge will no longer proc if Blood Plague is not present on the target.
• Death Grip has a minimum range requirement of 8 yards against players, but this was not stated in the tooltip. The tooltip has been updated.
• Desecration should stay in place while on the Alliance Gunship in Deepholm.
• When a character is raised as a ghoul with Raise Ally, there is no longer a considerable pause after losing control of the ghoul before being returned to the corpse or graveyard.
• The Scourge Strike tooltip is now correctly augmented by Rage of Rivendare.
• The shadow portion of Scourge Strike was receiving more than 10% increased damage from Frost Presence and has been corrected.
• The shadow portion of Scourge Strike no longer incorrectly still receives a 13% spell damage increase from Earth and Moon.

Glyph Fixes

• The Chains of Ice tooltip is now correctly augmented by Glyph of Chains of Ice.
• Glyph of Raise Ally now correctly affects the risen ally's health.
• The Vampiric Blood tooltip became awkwardly worded after applying Glyph of Vampiric Blood. We made the words less awkward.

Latest 4.0.6 PTR Notes for Death Knights

The latest round of 4.0.6 PTR patch notes have been placed, which will be affecting all Death Knight talents and a single glyph.  Despite all the beta, it sure seems like we are having more changes and hotfixes than any other expansion I can remember.  Perhaps it's just the newness of it, but I'll be very thankful when things start remaining consistent for longer than a week at a time.


Blood

• Heart Strike now causes 175% weapon damage, up from 120%. Deals an additional 15% for each of your diseases present on the target, up from 10%.
• Improved Death Strike now increases the damage done by Death Strike by 30/60/90%, up from 15/30/45%. Still increases critical strike chance by 3/6/9% and amount healed by 15/30/45%.
• Scarlet Fever (Rank 2) now procs from Blood Plague. (Tooltip bugfix)

Frost

• Chilblains now also causes your Chains of Ice to immobilize targets for 1/3 sec.

Unholy

• Rage of Rivendare now increases damage of Plague Strike, Scourge Strike, and Festering Strike by 12/24/36%, down from 15/30/45%.
• Shadow Infusion now increases the damage dealt by your Ghoul by 8%, down from 10%.

Glyphs

• Inscription: Glyph of Dark Succor now causes your Death Strike ability to always restore at least 15% (down from 20%) of your maximum health when used while in Frost or Unholy Presence.

Again, these patch changes are not on live servers yet and are still undergoing testing on the Public Test Realm.  Looks like the Blood buffs will help with some aggro, Frost gets a barely noticable CC buff and Unholy is left to be nerfed.

See ya in Azeroth!

Death Knight Blood Tanking Nerfs

So, if it sounds like a nerf, acts like a nerf, and looks like a nerf, it's probably a nerf.  However, just because it's a nerf doesn't make us irrelevant or unable to complete content current or future within the World of Warcraft.  Unfortunately, a lot of people get worked up over a few set backs or tweaks within our class, so lets slow down and take a look at what is actually going on with the latest Blood Tank Spec nerf.

Blood Tank Nerf Gun

First of all, armor and stats are based off of existing equipment and gear.  Next week all of this will change and new gear will be on par with the talent trees Blizzard has imposed upon us.  Perhaps a new spec will be in order, something more optimal, or more cookie cutter.  Either way, Blizzard will not just allow a tank class to flop around on the ground, unable to complete dungeons or raids.

Now, I will agree that we aren't the flavor of the week, but guess what, no one is.  Every tank class has been nerfed in some way, where we may have been dinged hard on armor, others were dinged hard on threat, AOE abilities, and stamina.

Things will start to normalize, but not with a new expansion imminent and probably not until a few months after content is starting to be cleared.  Hunker down, take the nerfs on the chin, and let it make you a better tank and/or DPS.  It's not worth complaining about, but it is worth discussing in an open and constructive format.

Lastly, keep in mind situational abilities.  Perhaps its time to revisit our spell book and take a look at some spells that we perhaps didn't use as much before.  Change up some rotations, plan ahead, because Cataclysm will change the way 5-Man normal and heroic dungeons are ran.

Looking for a place to vent your concerns in a constructive manor?  Check out this thread over at MMO-Champion.

4.0.3a Death Knight Patch Notes

The Shattering is currently under way and we are dealing with a very extended maintenance schedule. Personally, I feel sorry for the Blizzard employees that have had to be there since 3 this morning. Surely they go out and party after a clean patch day.

At any rate, below are changes to Death Knights that will take affect immediately after the realms come back online.

• Death Pact now heals for 25% of maximum health, down from 40%.
• Death Strike now heals for 25% of damage taken in the last 5 seconds, down from 30%, and will heal for a minimum of 7% of maximum health, down from 10%. The tooltip may not yet be updated to reflect this change.
• Icebound Fortitude now provides 20% damage reduction, down from 30% (now 50%, down from 60% when talented), and has a 3-minute cooldown, up from 2 minutes.
• Talent Specializations
• Blood
• Rune Tap now heals for 10% of maximum health, down from 15%. The tooltip may not yet be updated to reflect this change.
• Glyphs
• Glyph of Rune Tap now heals for 5% of maximum health, down from 10%.
• Bug Fixes
• Frost Fever critical strikes now apply the correct amount of bonus damage.
• Horn of Winter will once again provide runic power when used while another Attack Power buff is already present on the death knight.

Also, don't forget the major changes to Azeroth, which include thousands of additional quests from 1-60.  In addition, more important to new or leveling Death Knights, there has been a change to allow a 25% leveling time from 71-80.  Now, get out there and get ready for Cataclysm.

The Shattering Happens Today?

It's Tuesday, patch day, and we have an extended maintenance.  Further evidence, like an official blog post discussing The Shattering and patch 4.0.3a, make for a compelling argument that the event has hit.  However, I realms are still down and I just can't imagine then starting something in the middle of the Pilgrim event.

I mean, we are currently in a Holiday, Thanksgiving is on Thursday, and they want to set Azeroth ablaze?  I'm fine with that, but can you imagine the posts, complaints, and utter anarchy that will be found on the WoW forums?  It's been proven time and time again that people will complain about anything, so here is something else for them to get all hot and bothered over.

So, since we still have at least a few hours before servers come back up, will the actual Shattering event happen as soon as realms come back up, before the end of the Pilgrim Event, or after the Holiday like on Friday?



*Update - Maintenance on Tuesday 11/23/10 The Shattering 4.0.3a extended till 7 pm.

4.0.3 Now Live, Still No Shattering

It'll be another few days at least until the event known as the Shattering actually takes place.  The latest patch, 4.0.3, is just putting things in place so that Azeroth falls apart as planned.  Look for a 4.0.3a patch to trigger the event and release Death Wing.

So, as far as this patch is concerned no real content added.  Mainly we get some bug fixes, pre patch patching, and a UI tweak.  For all purposes patch 4.0.3 is for back end goodies and nothing that we will notice in our day to day trekking.

General

• Much of the data being downloaded in patch 4.0.3 will pave the way for the shattering of Azeroth shortly before the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm on December 7.

• The leader of Wintergrasp raids can no longer kick players from the raid (this change will also apply to Tol Barad in Cataclysm).

• When in a Looking For Dungeon group, using an instance portal to that instance will now take players to the Looking For Dungeon entrance point instead of the normal destination of that portal. This will make it easier to return to the instance after dying in an LFD group.

• Honorable Kills are no longer awarded for killing players below level 5.

User Interface

• Added pets to the new raid unit frames when displayed in party.

• The default UI Scale has been altered so it will be set at a 1:1 pixel/texel ratio. This will result in a smaller UI appearance for higher resolution monitors.

• Players may now adjust the local "Lag Tolerance" time for better precision of spell timing. This is an advanced-users-only feature found in the Interface Options (Combat) panel.

Bug Fixes

• Macros now handle spell variant transitions better. For example, Trap Launcher causes a different version of Frost Trap to be cast. Previously the macro system was not handling this transition properly.

• Queuing in Looking For Dungeon for a different wing of the instance a player is already in now works properly. For example, a party can now queue for Scarlet Monastery - Library after completing Scarlet Monastery - Graveyard.

• Killing High Interrogator Gerstahn before killing Emperor Dagran Thaurissan in a Blackrock Depths - Upper City random Looking For Dungeon run will now provide the proper reward. This also applies to Archmage Arugal and the Crown Chemical Company bosses in Shadowfang Keep during the Love is in the Air holiday event.

• Repeatedly inspecting other players should now function correctly.

• Area heal-over-time effects should no longer cause players to stand up.

• Male blood elves have received a crash course in dancing and now know to stop dancing when they run.

• Drake mounts have gotten bored with gliding and will flap their wings again when flying forward.

• Druid Flight Form now properly appears in the Spellbook before Expert Riding is learned.

• Sunfire's damage-over-time effect now deals damage at the same rate as Moonfire's damage- over-time effect.

• GM Ticket messages should now displace buff icons instead of obscuring them.

Rune Strike Issues With 4.0.1

Many people have been complaining about the new changes to Rune Strike, specifically it only becoming available after an avoidance move.  Some Death Knight tanks feel this modification in the 4.0.1 patch makes the rune regeneration modification even more convoluted.  It's virtually impossible to create a fluid and sustainable threat level, especially on single target.

Right now there is a 4 page thread in the Death Knight Forums calling out for a hot fix.  As of this post, no dice.

Consider the need for such a fix to RS in 4.0.1.  It's another casualty of the random number generator (RNG), that doesn't allow proper planning when coming up against tank changes, boss pickups, etc.  The issue of not being able to build agro with Rune Strike becomes an even larger threat barrier when coming up against caster bosses.

What do you think about the change to Rune Strike in 4.0.1?

4.0.1 Death Knight Blood Tank Talent Spec

Looking to hit the ground running with the all new 4.0.1 patch?  How about starting things off with this level 79 Blood Tank spec, which gets you the basics of a good build, at least what worked well on the public test realm.

This build also focuses on Rune Strike, which continues to be a primary threat builder moving into 4.0.1 and beyond.  However, if you are looking for a bit more of survivability and less on the threat scale, then perhaps consider putting some points into improved Blood Tap.

Blood Tank Spec for 4.0.1
WowHead Link - http://cata.wowhead.com/talent#jchr0srrusdZ0h:Rzosmac
WowTal Link - http://wowtal.com/#k=YfHoQ3t1.a5o.deathknight. (How to use WowTal.com to automatically update your talent spec in game.)

Patch Day For 4.0.1

Looks like the new patch is for sure hitting the Blizzard servers as we speak.  It's a massive patch, 4.8gb to be exact and is reportedly taking up to 2 hours on a decent computer to install.  Yes, that is 2 hours to install, not just download.  Hopefully everyone started their background downloader a week ago.

4.0.1 Patch Highlights for Death Knights

• Runes - The way they fill is different, which slows the special ability use down, but allows for some different fighting mechanics. Runes will now fill one at a time, instead of all at once. Not meant to gimp the Death Knight, just allow for some broader changes come Cataclysm.
• Blood Is Only Tanking Tree - As mentioned in another post, quite possibly the biggest change for patch 4.0.1 will be that blood is the only tanking tree for Death Knights.
• Rune Empowerment - Ability to instantly refill certain runes, which allows for less cut'n paste rotations, a little variety in your fights.

Blizzard claims the servers will most likely be back up at noon, I'm doubtful.  Such a huge patch and Blizzard's history of never hitting patch deadlines, you'll probably be lucky to play before dark.  Hmmm, wonder if there will be a que to log on to my server?

Blood Will Be Only Tanking Spec For Death Knights

Sure was nice while it lasted, being able to dual-wield, blood, frost, and even unholy tank as a Death Knight.  However, that time has come to pass and the next patch will be the end of unique tanking trees, when 4.0.1 becomes live, Blood will be the only tanking tree.  This becomes a real bummer for me, since I had finally got used to dual-wield tanking in Frost and loving it.

Early on, while learning to tank as a Death Knight, I had been using the Blood spec.  It provided a lot more room for error, plenty of hit points, just maybe not so much control over AOE threat.  Thankfully Blizzard has made it clear that they will be stealing some of the talents from Unholy and Frost to make up for the lack of Blood specific tanking abilities.

Several of the more fun tanking talents from Frost and Unholy will be moved into Blood. 

There has been some speculation that the next patch will be out next Tuesday, October 12th.  Start holding your breath now.

Make Money As A Death Knight

The upcoming patch 3.3.3 will have far reaching implications for everyone trying to make a little gold. Specifically there will be some very convenient changes to the way items are listed on the auction house, the availability of rare mats, and the removal of cool downs.

First of all the auction house changes, which will make listing a large number of items easier. The new World of Warcraft auction house will allow you to drag and drop entire stacks of an item into the window and then have the option to sell in smaller quantities. This removes the requirement to break down all your stacks to sell things like infinite dust. Much more efficient auction listing and management, without the need for add ons.

Next will be the Frost Orb exchange, which allows a 1 to 1 exchange for more expensive mats. For example, when patch 3.3.3 becomes live you will be able to exchange one Frost Orb for one Frost Lotus. No doubt this will drop prices on items like Flasks immediately, so start stocking up on those vendored orbs now.

Lastly, Patch 3.3.3 will remove global cool downs on abilities like Titan Steel Bars. Obviously this will help drive the price of craftable ilvl 200 gear down as well, making gearing up easier. There should be no reason to not hit defense cap immediately after hitting lvl 80 for Death Knight Tanks.

Makes me wish I would have been saving all those Frost Orbs, so keep an eye out on ninja's needing every time.