WotLK Death Knight Changes - Build 9038

Lots of solid changes in all 3 trees for death knights in this most recent build. I really like the way the class is headed for both its DPS and tanking roles. One of the most talked about issues with the class has been its inability to function at the same level as other tanks. At this point it’s hard to really tell if the class will reach that point, but it’s looking promising.

The frost presence armor increase is a great start. Based on these most recent changes in addition to several videos and sources I’ve seen of death knight tanks in action it’s looking like the class will be fine. Threat wise there don’t appear to be any major issues left, the largest complication will be finding the gray area of ideal avoidance, damage mitigation, and DPS.

This past week has been packed with loads of changes, especially for tanks. It’s a clear priority for Blizzard and one I’m confident will end in a solution which meets the needs of all 4 tanking classes.

Death Knight

Blood

• Blade Barrier - Changed to when you have no Blood runes. (Old No runes)
• Heart Strike - Damage increased. (Now Rank 6 60% weapon damage plus 220.8, and an additional 110.4 bonus damage per disease.) (Old Rank 6 50% weapon damage plus 184.0, and an additional 92.0 bonus damage per disease. )
• Dark Command - Range increased to 20yds (Old 5yds)

Frost

• Frost Presence - Armor contribution from items increased to 65%. (Old 45%)
• Frost Strike - Now cannot be dodged, blocked, or parried.
• Black Ice - Frost damage doubled (Now 6/12/18/24/30) (Old 3/6/9/12/15). It no longer affects Shadow damage.
• Tundra Stalker - Passive Icy Touch damage lowered by 25%, expertise increase doubled. (Now 5/10/15/20/25% increase to icy touch damage, and 2/4/6/8/10 expertise) (Old 20/40/60/80/100% increase to icy touch damage, and 1/2/3/4/5 expertise.)
• Rune Strike - Runic Power cost lowered to 10, and damage increased, now only useable after an attack is dodged or parried. Can’t be dodged, blocked or parried. (Damage Now - 200% weapon damage plus [200.0 * AP * 10.0 / 10000.0].) (Old 65% weapon damage, and only usable after a critical hit with an ability that causes a disease)

Unholy

• Blood-Caked Blade - Chance to proc doubled. (Now 10/20/30%) (Old 5/10/15%)
• Scourge Strike - Damage lowered. (Now Rank 4 60% of weapon damage as Shadow damage plus ogx 190.5, and an additional 95.25 bonus damage per disease.) (Old Rank 4 60% of weapon damage as Shadow damage plus 226.8, and an additional 113.4 bonus damage per disease.)

WotLK Druid Changes - Build 9038

The big discussion regarding druids the past few weeks has been heavily centered around the tanking situation. Quite frankly, druids are the most dominating tank in WotLK. They are on par as far as avoidance and threat generation go, but the overall damage mitigation is simply too high. The 30% decrease should bring feral druids back in line with other tanks.

The restoration changes are quite good, particularly wild growth which will likely become a staple for druid PvE healing, an area that druids have been anything but stellar in for the Burning Crusade.

Druid

Balance

• Typhoon - Max rank damage reduced to 735 Nature damage. 3 ranks added for a total of 4.
• Insect Swarm - Wording changed to “decreasing their chance to hit with melee and ranged attacks” from “decreasing their chance to hit”.
• Moonkin Form - Now increases armor contribution from items by 370%. Down from 400%.

Feral

• Predatory Instincts - Now reduces the damage taken from area of effect attacks by 10/20/30%. Up from 5/10/15%.
• Dire Bear Form - Now increases armor contribution from items by 370%. Down from 400%.
• Growl - Now has a 20 yard range. Up from 5.

Restoration

• Nourish - Mana cost reduced to 18% of base mana, down from 22%.
• Wild Growth - All ranks saw healing increase and mana cost reduction. Now 23% of base mana, down from 35%. Max Rank: Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 1442 over 7 sec. The amount healed is applied quickly at first, and slows down as the Wild Growth reaches its full duration.