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We're baaack! Gnomes just look better on Big Blizzard Bears...

On Hiatus

I never thought this day would come, but unfortunately, it has, and I must now announce my very own Departure from World of Warcraft. I do hope to come back to the game at some future point, but for now, Death Knight of Warcraft will not be updated. I will continue to update MagentaBlade, once life gets back to normal and my gaming schedule resumes.

Best of luck out there, my brothers and sisters of the Unholy! Have fun storming the castle.

We're Moving!

Death Knight of Warcraft has expanded its focus to talk about more than just DKs. We're opening up a new blog to discuss gaming in general, called MagentaBlade. Happy trails!

A Guide to DK Glyphs, Part Two: A Glyph for Every Occasion

We continue our examination of DK glyphs this week by dissecting all the major glyphs at our disposal. Remember, I have used a highly scientific measuring system, by which I mean I picked my favorites and gave them all correspondingly good letter grades (A, B, or C; no pluses or minuses) based on their application in PvE DPS, PvP, and PvE Tanking.

Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

An extra 2 seconds on one of the DK's chief resistance abilities is a solid addition to your glyph page, if you anticipate taking a lot of magical damage. Thus, tanks and arena fighters will probably find it very useful, while support DPS will probably want to skip this one.

Glyph of Blood Boil
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: A in BGs, B in Arena; Tank Grade: B

For those DKs who love facing off against large collections of trash mobs in dungeons, or running BGs with groups of opponents, this glyph is outstanding, adding more versatility to your basic AoE attack. Its usefulness is in direct correlation to how many mobs you'll be fighting however; arena players will want to think twice before taking this one on, though tanks may find it gives them an extra method of keeping unruly mobs in line.

Glyph of Blood Strike (Highly contingent on above glyph)
See above.

This glyph should really only be taken if you invest in Glyph of Blood Boil (unless you run dungeons with a troop of Frost mages). Bottom line: if you want to slow your targets, this glyph will help you bring them down all the faster.

Glyph of Bone Shield (Unholy Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

This glyph is all about survivability. And the two areas where DKs need it most are arenas and when tanking. In both cases, this glyph is one an Unholy DK should strongly consider.

Glyph of Chains of Ice
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: B

It never hurts to deal some damage when you slow those pesky escaping enemies. But in the current game where level 80 toons can only have 3 major glyphs, anyone who is not heavily into PvP may find this glyph too limited for everyday use.

Glyph of Dark Command
PvE Tank Grade: B

Only a tank should bother with this glyph. And most often, a MT won't need to rely on Dark Command to keep enemies in line. Taking this glyph does help to ensure that if a mob escapes you can get them back to you all the faster, but maybe it's a better choice for OTs instead.

Glyph of Death and Decay
PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

DKs tank by doing DPS, and the more damage they put out the better they are at holding aggro. This glyph makes it all the easier to keep mobs where they should be. And the occasional black sheep PvPer may like it as a means of more effectively routing grouped enemies.

Glyph of Death Grip
PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

Take this glyph any time you anticipate a need to pull mobs/enemy players quickly and efficiently. Players in WSG or AV will most likely get the most out of this glyph, but any PvPer can put it to good use. Tanks may also find it helpful in timed instance runs, like Heroic Culling of Stratholme.

Glyph of Death Strike
Grade for all instances: A

Any time you need to heal yourself, this glyph will help out. It will help even more when used as a "panic button" in high-damage or lengthy fights, and is a great way to keep healers from having to focus on non-tanking DKs.

Glyph of Frost Strike (Frost Tree Only)
Grade for all instances: B

This glyph is a time-saver, allowing you to put out more damage while expending less runic power (always a plus if you're saving up for a big cooldown ability). Simple as.

Glyph of the Ghoul (Unholy-friendly)
Grade in all instances: A

A major complaint of Unholy DKs is how easily our ghouls perish when caught in the crossfire. This glyph significantly buffs ghoul longevity, which everyone can appreciate.

Glyph of Icebound Fortitude
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

Waiting to get enough runic power for Icebound Fortitude to activate has caused many a DK to take unnecessary damage. On the flip side, some may argue that 20 runic power isn't a lot to spend.

Glyph of Icy Touch
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

Everyone uses Icy Touch, and this glyph sets you up with a healthy dose of runic power right off the bat. Highly useful for tanks who prefer pulling with Icy Touch.

Glyph of Plague Strike
Grade in all instances: B

This glyph isn't fancy, but Plague Strike is part of pretty much every DK's rotation, adding some decent damage to each fight. A solid, if unimaginative choice.

Glyph of Obliterate (Frost-friendly)
Grade in all instances: B

While not Frost exclusive, Obliterate is less friendly to those DKs without Annihiliation. Still, this glyph poses a good damage buff for those able to compensate for it.

Glyph of Rune Strike
PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: B

The damage increase is good, but the fact remains that Rune Strike is a situational ability; filling a slot with this glyph may not suit everyone. And PvE DPSers should stay away because of the ability's high threat generation.

Glyph of Rune Tap (Blood Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

Dungeons and raids are where this glyph really shines - a group heal effect is never frowned upon, especially among single-target healers like paladins.

Glyph of Scourge Strike (Unholy Tree Only)
Grade in all instances: A

Perhaps more than any other tree, Unholy relies on diseases to get the job done ("the job" being, of course, reducing your enemies to a puddle of bones and goo at your feet). This glyph helps to ensure that your diseases are always up, and can cut down on rotation time also.

Glyph of Strangulate
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: C

This glyph looks tailor-made for arena fights against casters. Most mana-based classes have abilities which allow for melee kiting, and this ability is a nice counter-attack to Blink, Fear, or Disengage. It application in PvE is weaker however, and tanks especially shouldn't waste time with this one.

Glyph of Unbreakable Armor (Frost Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

An increase in armor is critical for hard-hitting bosses and melee fighters, and this glyph is a good one to take in both situations. Since the goal of DPS support in PvE is not to be hit all that often, this one is probably not all that useful.

Glyph of Vampiric Blood (Blood Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank grade: A

In situations where healing over time is a must, this glyph is a good friend to Blood DKs. Again, not as useful to DPS support classes, but this glyph may be worthwhile anyway for its utility, at least until dual specs come out.

The Unholy Commandments

Taking a leaf from one of the best melee DPS guides I’ve found out in the blogosphere, I’ve put together my own list of dungeon and raid commandments for DPS DKs. Enjoy!

1. Don't die. Or, alternatively, Heal Thyself! You have more healing abilities than the average non-mana fighter, so use them to the best of your ability. Death Strike when you can, pop consumables, sacrifice your ghoul, bandage, pray, use Icebound Fortitude or Lichborne, do whatever you can to keep your health above that red zone, and keep healers from worrying about you. And if you die, you better come back as a ghoul.
2. Don't cause your friends to die, whether from wanton use of Death Grip, berserking ghouls, or plain stupidity. Learn boss fights in advance, and know what that debuff that just got cast on you does. We are a new class, yes. But that's no excuse for ignorance.
3. Don't pull aggro from the tank. All it takes is a mis-cast Death Grip or Dark Command to cause mayhem throughout your entire party. To this end, always keep an eye on your Presences too.
4. Know your role, and use your special abilities well and often. DKs are the leaders in melee anti-magic classes. We have interrupts, silences, taunts, and shields, all of which revolve around making us both resistant to magical damage and capable of dealing out damage better to magical classes. Let the warriors and druids handle the big sweaty hitters, and the paladins manage the trash mobs. Our prey is mana-users, and we hunt them better than anybody else.
5. Always maintain your diseases on your targets. There is absolutely no excuse for not doing this, as it's how we DKs do our best damage. Use Pestilence and Blood Boil whenever applicable, for in the current state of the game, AoE is our friend. But, remember also to...
6. Pay attention to CC. Do not indiscriminately DoT magely sheep or cancel priestly shackles. When you AoE, do it intelligently.
7. Keep monsters away from your squishy friends. It's often easy to forget that despite all our damage, DKs can also be a support class. We can shield our friends from magical damage, call more minions into battle to turn the tide, and act as off-tanks in a pinch to keep aggro where it belongs. It is never noble to ignore pleas of help from the mages and priests you've sworn to protect just to get a higher ranking on that damage meter.
8. Love your ghoul. It can increase your damage, interrupt spellcasting, heal you, and act as interference when your squishy friends get targeted. That said, always use your ghoul well, and don't distract other players by misuse.
9. Help your party buff. Horn of Winter may be all we have in our spellbook, but that's no reason to sit idle while the raid prepares its assault. Max out your cooking and share food with your friends. If a mage or warlock is casting a table or stone, help them out. Be responsive and active, for in the buff department, DKs get more than we give.
   
10. Do not abandon your post. The tank is there for keeping the attention of the boss, the healers are there to keep the party up, and you are there, though thick and thin, to see that the boss goes down. When the @#$% hits the fan, use everything at your disposal to see that you do your job, regardless of repair costs, personal safety, or used consumables.
    

A Guide to DK Glyphs, Part One: Free Ghouls For Everyone!

Who doesn't love a good ghoul?

Once your death knight has completed the long slogging trek that is leveling and reached level 80, you likely have a number of things to cross off your list to make them ready for what lies ahead. There's gear to be purchased/made/picked up in dungeons, and PvP to be won for that all-important resilience gear. There is an epic flyer to save up for, and daily quests to be done. And now, with patch 3.1 waiting in the wings, every death knight needs to be thinking long and hard about their dual specs. But in all the hubbub that ensues after your DK's final ding, make sure you don't forget about your glyphs!

I'll start part one of my glyph analysis by taking a look at the minor glyphs available to DKs. In part two, which is forthcoming, I'll be discussing the plethora of major glyphs we have at our disposal. Remember, at level 80 you've got three minor glyph slots and three major glyph slots to play with, so go wild and have fun!

In a purely scientific evaluation system (a.k.a. choosing which one sounds the coolest or is most useful to me personally) I have given each glyph a letter grade which corresponds to how well I think it meets the need of three basic DK capacities: PvE DPS, PvP, and PvE Tanking. Where applicable, I have also identified whether a glyph is useful only to a particular DK talent tree (Blood, Frost or Unholy), as some glyphs deal with talent-specific abilities. Edit as of 2/23: I have eliminated the pluses and minuses from my letter grade system, to make it less subjective.

Saving Time: an Examination of DK Minor Glyphs.

Glyph of Corpse Explosion (Unholy Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: A for BGs, C for Arena; PvE Tanking Grade: B

Basically, if you're the type of DK who likes playing in situations with multiple targets, this is the glyph for you. Most dungeons these days come packed with trash mobs, adds, or multiple bosses, and this glyph is a key way to make you effective at dealing AoE damage to trash mobs. Same for BGs. But, for arena players, this glyph is less useful. After all, unless you're in a 5v5, the likelihood of the "double explosion" proccing at all is small. As far as tanking goes, it'll help you in trash fights, but probably not against those big boss baddies.

Glyph of Blood Tap
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: A

I didn't give this glyph a super-high rating because I figure most people are going to use Blood Tap regardless of whether it damages them or not. On the other hand, tanks may find it useful because it's less damage their healer needs to worry about. But personally, I'm on the fence on this one.

Glyph of Death's Embrace
PvE DPS Grade: A while leveling, B at level cap; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: C

Death's Embrace is extremely useful for you ghoul-lovers out there, and should be a key slot of the leveling Unholy DK's glyph page. After level cap though, most players will be weighing whether they want to get a refund on runic power for healing their ghoul, or whether they'd just rather summon a new one after the old one dies and leave this slot for another glyph.

Glyph of Horn of Winter
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: A

For raiding, I think this glyph is critical. In boss fights no one wants to waste a second thinking about renewing Horn of Winter, especially in timed DPS races, where every damage spell counts. Only one DK needs to take this glyph per raid. As far as PvP goes, however, I don't think this is anything special.

Glyph of Pestilence
Grade for all instances: A

Simple fact: DKs do damage by inflicting diseases. Any time you're fighting multiple mobs you'll be using Pestilence, and this glyph just means you'll be hitting targets even if they're farther away, allowing you to manage more dispersed mobs. No brainer.

Glyph of Raise Dead
Grade for all instances: A

Personally, I love this one, since I hate buying Corpse Dust and don't always bring enough to get me through an instance without many humanoid targets. This glyph also means that non-Unholy DKs don't have to worry about spending their hard-earned cash summoning ghouls that only last a couple of minutes.

Join us next time for a look at major glyphs! Happy Trails!