Hello all! Here is my take on how I would go about reworking arguably the most boring specialisation in the game, the Blood Death Knight.
Within the confines of the current general tree and death knight resource system here is how I would spice up existing talents, remove talents that have no place ever existing and hopefully adding a bit of extra flavour to mask the fact you will STILL be pushing Heart Strike so many times that your keybind will likely end up like mine, with the #4 key markings rubbed off completely.
Baseline Abilities
- Mastery: Blood Shield
Each time you heal yourself, you gain Mastery % of the amount healed as a Physical damage absorption shield.
Also increases your attack power by Mastery %.
Thoughts: Adjusted to work off all self healing, this will make the Mastery feel much better and remove some of the dependence on Death Strike allowing additional damage dealing Runic Power spenders to be created for situations where self healing isn’t urgent and you want more DPS. Tanks should have the ability to choose between damage and survival outside of just talent selection.
- Runic Corruption is now baseline.
Thoughts: Not having any baseline Rune regeneration talent was a stupid decision. Which ended up with Blizzard having to slap a Haste buff on our maintenance Bone Shield just so the class wouldn’t feel like poo.
- Icy Touch is now baseline. Costs 1 Rune, deals low Frost damage and purges 1 beneficial Magical effect from the target.
Thoughts: Why was this ever taken away? It should be baseline for all specs, Death Knights do not have much in the way of group utility and in small group content, not having a group buff is already putting the squeeze on classes that don’t add to group synergies with stuff like Battle Shouts. Mark of the Wild, Magic/Physical damage increases etc.
- Death’s Caress (Replaces Death Coil)
30 Runic Power
Unleash dark energies upon the target, rending it apart dealing X Shadow damage plus Y Bleed damage over time. Will heal undead allies for X.
Thoughts: When you don’t need to heal with Death Strike, DPS with this. With no more maintenance Bone Shield I repurposed this for damage because it looks cool.
1:1 Heart Strike
1 Rune
Cleave through your target dealing X Physical damage to it and Y Physical damage to all nearby targets. Deals reduced damage beyond X targets.
Thoughts: I have removed Cleaving Strikes because it’s silly and the players do not like it. Heart Strike cleaves all the things now. No more enemies slipping through the gaps to reach your friends.
2:1 Marrowrend
2 Runes
Smash your target dealing X Physical damage and granting 2-3 Ossuary charges.
Thoughts: The damage of Marrowrend needs to be massively increased, Ossuary charges are used to power your Bone magic talents/abilities.
2:2 Blood Boil
2 Charges, 7.5sec cooldown
30 yd range
Force the blood of the target to forcefully leave their body, dealing X Physical damage to the target and nearby enemies within X yds. Additionally infects the target with Blood Plague, if used on a target already infected with Blood Plague its duration is refreshed and spreads to all damaged enemies.
Thoughts: No longer a weird raising weapon in the air and red stuff coming out of you. Would use the death coil/howling blast animation and a more visceral blood explosion animation on the target. Usable at range for those ranged group pulls.
3:1 Vampiric Blood (No change)
3:2 Bone Shield
Up to 10 Ossuary charges
Rip bone and sinew from the surrounding area to form a swirling mass around you. Absorbing X damage plus an additional Y per Ossuary charge consumed. Lasts X sec.
Thoughts: The maintenance buff Bone Shield has had so many bandaids slapped on it over the years just to ensure its somewhat usable. It’s for this reason it needs to go. Years passed before the Devs decided we should be able to generate Bone Shield from range before getting punched out by a boss because it attacked first before I could Marrowrend. No more, the spec will now be able to take a few hits without said maintenance buff, just like the rest.
4:1 Grievous Wound
Your Physical damage dealing critical strikes apply X% of that damage dealt as Bleed over time. Reapplying this to an existing Grievous Wound refreshes the duration and rolls all damage into the new effect.
Thoughts: We are a Blood spec but don’t have any Bleeds?!?
4:2 Improved Vampiric Blood (Now 1 Point)
4:3 Bone Collector 1/1
Increase the maximum amount of Ossuary charges by 2 and Marrowrend grants an additionalOssuary charge.
Thoughts: This talent as it was introduced recently is the biggest slap in the face. “Don’t worry fam, we hear you about Abomination Limb no longer generating Bone Shield, we’re going to look at ways to make it not an issue” - Paraphrased Dev. Then they make you spend a talent point on doing what it originally did LOL. A classic buy 2 and get 1 stitch up.
4:4 Ossified Vitriol
Consuming your Ossuary charges empowers your next Marrowrend or Heart Strike by X% per charge.
Thoughts: The current design means you can’t benefit from this whilst not taking damage. My Ossuary design allows them to be spent on offensive abilities when not tanking, allowing this talent to still be of use.
5:1 Blood Flows
Your Death Strike and Death’s Caress increase the damage of your Bleed effects on the target by X%. Multiple instances may overlap.
Thoughts: Leeching Strike is garbage in its current design. Nothing but overhealing. Increased Bleed damage will feed into increased Blood Shield with additional talent point investment.
5:2 Heartbreaker (No change)
5:3 Foul Bulwark
Your maximum health is increased by X% per charge of Ossuary consumed. Lasts for 10 sec. Multiple instances may overlap.
Thoughts: With maintenance Bone Shield gone, I needed to work out a way to still get that nice Health buff in here somewhere. So I decided to use the way Ironfur/Festermight now works with multiple instances able to be applied.
5:4 Dancing Rune Weapon (No change)
5:5 Hemostasis (No change)
5:6 Perseverance of the Ebon Blade
Whilst your Mastery: Blood Shield is active, it can no longer be reduced below X% of your maximum health.
Thoughts: Only the biggest of hits would concern a Blood Death Knight, non-threatening blows bounce off the rune plate like handgun bullets would a main battle tank. This would need some fine tuning so that it is both useful, but not overpowering. Maybe it ends up one way or the other, but either option is still better than a boring temporary versatility buff.
5:7 Relish in Blood
Your Death and Decay spawns a Blood Orb at its centre that absorbs all damage dealt to enemies within, exploding at the end of its duration for all damage absorbed.
Thoughts: Current iteration is weak, this hopes to make it much more worthwhile. Also making the Tank dance around the DnD a bit more, which could be detrimental in some instances. Will fix/minimise that with additional talent below.
6:1 Rune Tap (No change)
6:2 Gorefiends Grasp (No change)
6:3 Insatiable Blade
Your Dancing Rune Weapon cooldown is reduced by X sec for each Ossuary charge consumed. Additionally, it’s attacks deal X% more damage.
6:4 Bone Reaver
Consume up to 10 Ossuary charges to construct a bone reaver to aid you in combat for 8 sec.
Thoughts: A dps option for the tank who is either not Tanking currently or is able to get some damage in without fear of dying. There is no hard limit on bone reavers bar the ability to generate enough Ossuary charges. I’d ideally expect to see the first one expiring before you get a chance to call a third in.
6:5 Rapid Decomposition
Your next Death and Decay after gaining Crimson Scourge deals X% increased damage in half its normal duration. Additionally, Blood Plague leeches 50% more health.
Thoughts: 18% pffffttt. Let’s have DnD deal way more damage, in less duration. Less punishing, more rewarding. Additionally empowers Relish in Blood with a bigger Blood Orb.
7:1 Blood Tap
Rune Tap no longer costs a Rune, it instead sacrifices up to 10% of your maximum Health to activate. The sacrificed health is added to your current Mastery: Blood Shield for 4 sec.
Thoughts: More thematic blood spells, we should be leveraging the blood tap style mechanic for more things. Sacrificing health to power blood magic spells and effects, offsetting the health loss around our constant self healing and high base health pool IMO.
7:2 Instructor’s First Lesson
Increase your Parry chance by X%.
Thoughts: Druids tank hits, paladin and warriors have shield block, Monks Dodge, Demon Hunters do spiky things and Death Knights Parry. THIS IS THE WAY. The NOT way is having to put Haste on maintenance buff for the class to work properly.
7:3 Choice Node
- Tightening Grasp
Gorefiend’s Grasp cooldown is reduced by 60 sec and it now also Silences enemies for 3 sec.
- Tombstone
Gorefiend’s Grasp now raises a tombstone at the targeted location, chaining and pulling all targets within to it. Whilst shackled, targets cannot move beyond X yds from the tombstone. Shackled targets suffer X Shadow damage per sec and all damage you deal to affected targets is distributed amongst all other shackled targets. Lasts 5 sec.
Thoughts: Group them up utility. Do you want the 60 sec group and silence, or do you want the 120 sec Tombstone DPS cooldown variety? Your choice.
7:4 Choice Node
- Everlasting Bond (No change)
- Spectral Rune Weapon
Replaces Dancing Rune Weapon
You now have a permanent spectral rune weapon at your side, mirroring your attacks. It deals less damage and grants less Parry chance.
Thoughts: A few more flavour choice nodes, more powerful active cooldown vs a smaller more passive benefit. Ideally tuned so the active is a bit more powerful, but for those wanting less keybinds etc the passive option should also be useful, especially whilst out soloing the world I would assume.
7:5 Choice Node
- Blooddrinker (No change)
- Consumption (No change)
Thoughts: The current location for these talents and its lack of pathing makes it a very expensive choice. These “deadend” talents either should not exist or be ridiculously powerful and both these choices aren’t what I call game changing, so I have moved them up and plan for something with a bit more power and prestige to fill its previous position.
7:6 Coagulopathy (No change)
7:7 Bloodworms (No change)
8:1 Blood Feast
You heal for X% of all Bleed damage dealt.
Thoughts: Bleed damage → Self Heal → Blood Shield, it just makes sense. The increased healing whilst using AMS promotes using it wrong. You either completely immune a DoT effect or the effect hits that hard that you’re already at full health in anticipation for it.
8:2 Instructor’s Second Lesson
Anytime you Parry an attack, increase your Dodge chance by X%. This stacks until you perform a Dodge.
8:3 Spell Deflection
Whilst your Dancing Rune Weapon is active, you can also Parry direct damage spells against you, sending them back to the caster if possible. If using Spectral Rune Weapon you instead have a chance equal to your Parry chance of taking X% less damage from a direct damage spell.
8:4 Dreadforged Armor
Increase your Armor and Stamina by 10%.
8:5 Blood Beasts
Activating your Vampiric Blood spawns 2 Blood Beasts that attack your target, inflicting Bleed damage. Each time they deal damage, you gain a stack of Blood Power increasing your Physical damage dealt and size by X%. Lasts 10 sec.
If using Bloodworms, your auto-attacks have a chance to spawn a Blood Beast instead. Blood Beasts spawned through your auto-attacks gain all Bloodworms effects in addition to their own.
Thoughts: Deathbringer Saurfang knew what was up with his Blood specialisation. Now the Deathlord wields similar powers. Sanguine Ground has been banished.
9:1 Iron Heart (No Change)
9:2 Instructor’s Third Lesson
Anytime you Parry an attack, you strike that target with Rune Strike.
- Rune Strike
Strike the target dealing X Physical damage. This damage cannot be Dodged, Blocked, Parried or otherwise avoided and is always a Critical Strike.
9:3 Door of Shadows
45 sec cooldown
30 yd range
Teleport to the targeted location, exploding on arrival dealing X Shadow damage to all enemies within 10 yds. Will replace Wraith Walk if talented, granting Door of Shadows the ability to also remove roots and movement impairing effects and increasing movement speed by 70% for 4 sec.
Thoughts: Have you ever be in a group running a dungeon, and you’re pulling stuff as fast as your little legs can carry you, but the dps is just blinking, leaping and sprinting way ahead of you. No more, remember a tank leads the group from the FRONT!
9:4 Shattering Bone
When your Bone Shield expires or is destroyed, it shatters dealing X Shadow damage to all nearby enemies and reducing the damage they deal to you by X% for X sec.
Thoughts: Changes to how Bone Shield works needed a bit of change here, also the need to stand in DnD to get the big damage has been removed because being immobile is not how current content is designed at the high end.
9:5 Red Thirst (No Change)
10:1 Blood Shot (No Change)
10:2 Plagued Blood
Your Blood Plague and Bleed damage now deal Plague damage. Plague damage increased by X%.
Thoughts: Converting Bleeds into shadow damage via Plague damage type (Nature/Shadow) will allow greater synergies with Deathbringer hero tree talents.
10:3 Bone Golem
Consume your Ossuary charges to construct a monstrous bone golem to attack your current target. The bone golem unleashes a deadly Bone Storm for its duration, inflicting Bleed damage upon all damaged targets. Threat generated by the bone golem is transferred to the death knight.
Lasts 1 sec per Ossuary charge consumed up to 10 and regenerates 1 Ossuary charge per sec whilst active.
Thoughts: BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEEEEEE SSSSSTTTTTOOOOORRRRRMMMMMMMM!!!
10:4 Purgatory
An unholy pact that prevents fatal damage, for the next 3 sec after suffering fatal damage all damage is instead absorbed and 85% of the absorbed damage dealt to you after 3 sec.
This effect can only trigger every 4 min.
Thoughts: Many issues with this talent.
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Should be available to all specialisations and be much higher in the tree. The death knight, a deathless abomination that has no real death immunity mechanics outside of a Blood Capstone?! But rogues do!? Come on mate.
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The current design is weak sauce. Any moment your heal absorb is removed, the effect ends, this means if you’re at 1 Health, and take 1 Damage, then get healed by 1 Health. The effect ends, and you’re sitting at 1 Health waiting for that next incoming deathblow.
As usual, feel free to comment on my ideas and suggestions on improvements etc.