CAUTION WALL OF TEXT IMMINENT!
I had a big write up regarding changes I’d like to see but wasn’t able to finish it before the latest blue post regarding some additional changes which looks to be moving in a positive direction for the class. Regardless here are some ideas and what not I’d like to see moving forward into Dragonflight and beyond.
Death Knight General Tree
Mind Freeze
60% of the time, everytime. You need to stop that cast.
Suggestion:- Baseline
Reason:- All other previewed melee specs have a baseline interrupt.
Runic Empowerment / Runic Empowerment
One of these needs to be baseline, it delivers better performance and also a MASSIVE QoL increase.
Reason:- If the option is available, EVERYONE will take one of these talents, whatever is the best will be forever locked in, making the journey down towards it and the prerequisite talents also mandatory.
Brittle
Another debuff needing to be tracked, probably proccing on a target you aren’t currently targeting mostly negating any of the miniscule damage increase or by the time you notice it, the extremely short duration has expired.
Suggestion:- Virulence (New talent)
Virulence
Your diseases now have an X% chance to erupt dealing damage again to the target.
Reason:- Clutter of the nameplate debuffs is a real issue, especially for unholy. This change gives a tangible bonus, you can see the damage, but you need not worry about it, the ideal passive throughput talent.
Enfeeble
RNG to put up a slow which would be overwritten by Chain’s of Ice and a small damage reduction to the Death Knight. Useless for Unholy, beyond useless for Frost and Blood.
Suggestion 1:- Enfeeble-> Black Claws (New Talent)
Your ghoul’s claws attacks apply a DoT effect.
Suggestion 2:- Enfeeble-> Deathly Duo (New Talent)
Your Raise Dead ability now also raises a Skeletal Magus to assist you.
Control Undead
Useless most of the time for Blood and Frost bar a certain dungeon or two per expansion, useless 100% of the time for Unholy.
Suggestion:- Control Undead-> Dominate Undead
Your time spent fighting the Maw Sworn and their domination magics has strengthened your own. Your Raise Dead ghoul is replaced with a more powerful undead with improved abilities. (Grants Dominate Undead ability which allows you to “tame” undead creatures around the place to use in place of the standard ghoul, perhaps you’d like a Lich? Maybe an undead hound? The choice is YOURS)
Capstone Talents
Empower Rune Weapon
This is an excellent talent, nothing to change here ALTHOUGH, I’d love to have Dancing Rune Weapon as a DPS cooldown instead, its so much more visually appealing and could work very well with Frost and Unholy. Nevertheless, great talent, will be awesome for Unholy and Blood.
Abombination Limb
99% of DPS Death Knights are probably Necrolord, and for good reason, more CC for PvP is excellent and the bonus damage was icing on the cake with Unity. Will depend on if the Unity bonus is baked in as to whether or not this is a #1 pick. PvP crew will be locking this in regardless.
Soul Reaper
Just cannot compare to the other two talents, Abomination Limb or Empower Rune Weapon. It would need to hit RIDICULOUSLY hard to beat the CC AoE damage of Abombination Limb or the ability to stack another cooldown during burst with Empower Rune Weapon. If it is tuned to do ridiculous damage, it’ll mean we have to be tuned around it meaning wet noodle damage anytime a target is above 35% HP. Not fun.
It’s a fairly boring capstone in all honesty, no interaction with the rest of our kit, this could be changed though.
Suggestion 1:- Remove execute range requirement, secondary damage triggers additional effects depending on specialisation.
- Unholy, activates Dark Transformation or Summon Abombination or something
- Frost, the frost artifact ability, launch frozen blades at the target inflicting Razor Ice
- Blood, activates Blood Drinker on the target
Suggestion 2:- Soul Reaper now hits for x Shadowfrost damage, and applies Soul Reaper to the target for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds deals X Shadowfrost damage and activates a Death Rune!
Death Runes should make a return as a Death Knight mechanic, obviously with a bit more flavour than the traditional death rune which we already have in the mighty green rune of usefulness.
Death Rune Mastery (Mind Freeze replacement talent)
When your Rune regenerator passive activates there is an X% chance one of your runes will become a death rune. Death Runes empower certain rune spending abilities. Consuming a death rune will empower your class specialisations main runic Power spender. Below are a few ideas I think would be cool.
Deaths Caress:- Launch a bone spear at the target impaling them and dealing X Bleed damage over X seconds then exploding in bone fragments dealing the same damage again to all nearby enemies.
Marrowrend:- Cut deep into the target, bypassing armor and opening a dreadful wound dealing X% additional damage and X damage Bleed over X seconds. Each time the bleed deals damage, a blood worm crawls out and assists the death knight.
Death Strike:- Deals X% more damage and heals for X% as much, any overhealing grants X times that value to your Blood Shield.
Howling Blast:- Deals X% more damage and applies Remorseless Winter to your main target.
Obliterate:- You smash your rune weapon into the target, shattering all stacks of Razor Ice consuming them for X damage per stack. For each stack shattered a frozen shard begins to orbit the Death Knight.
Frost Strike:- Launch the shards of Razor Ice at your target, dealing X frost damage per shard and applying Razor Ice for each hit.
Outbreak:- Deal X% more damage and apply Unholy Blight to your main target.
Festering Strike:- Empower the diseases coating your rune weapon, dealing Shadow damage instead of physical damage and applying 6 Festering Wounds and bursting any existing wounds on the target. Applies Necrotic Plague to the target. Necrotic Plague deals high stacking damage up to X stacks before dissipating.
Death Coil:- Fire 3 Death Coil’s at your target dealing X% increased damage and activating Dark Transformation on your pet for 6 seconds or adding to its existing duration.
Death and Decay:-
- For Frost, conjure a pillar of Frost and smash it down upon your Death and Decay dealing frost damage instantly and frost damage over time.
- For Unholy, conjure a shambler to RUN VERY FAST into the centre of your Death and Decay and explode dealing shadow damage instantly and applying Festering Wounds to targets hit.
*For Blood, conjure a dark matter rift in the centre of your death and decay, any targets trying to flee the area are death gripped into the centre and crushed dealing X physical damage. The rift collapse at the end of death and decay dealing x shadow damage.
Unholy Tree
Overall not bad, a few talents could use a bit of love or changing.
Infectious Wound
Was mentioned this is being looked at/changed in next build.
Suggestion:- 20/40/60% Chance wounds burst deal their normal damage in addition to that damage again over X secs. (Ignite style mechanic)
Capstone Talents
Can we please address the GCD bloat on our burst setup, coming from my Ret Paladin and fire mage alts, having to hit up to 6 buttons to get things rolling is a bit ridiculous from the one button Wings and Combustion. Wrapping a few of these cooldowns into each other much like Rune of Power and combustion would be great.
Frost Tree
Looking pretty good, love that Chillstreak is making an appearance. Only real issue I have is I hate the look of Breath of Sindragosa, would love if it functioned like Dark Arbiter but AoE blasts on your main target, and obviously a very cool Frost Dragon Circling above.
Blood Tree
I don’t play Blood much and definitely not at the high end of things so I’ve not much to say about it, talents look fine, some nice options and being able to get Runic Empowerment/Runic Corruption will help immensely early on with low haste.
And thats it, look forward to seeing all your thoughts on my suggestions/suggestions of your own to make our class the most fun its ever been moving into Dragonflight. I hope I can get in on this alpha testing and test the Maw out of our Death Knights.