Do you feel more like a melee or a range class?

[Deleted]

I would like to start with a melee class, who is not completely melee and I have been told that DKs are some kind of mixture between range and melee. So, have do you guys describe yourself: more melee or more range dmg dealers? Is there any other melee in this game who has more range spells, like ret Paladins or Enh Shamans, maybe?
How much of your total dmg is ranged, in %?

[Zethras]

Unholy and Frost dks are the closest things we will ever have to Battlemages.

DW frost is like, 75% or more spell damage.

[du4no]

UDK here.

Here are my thoughts, we are a melee class that has spells/diseases that need to be kept on our target/s in order to do our most damage, quite fun really.

[Ebonheart]

I would like to start with a melee class, who is not completely melee and I have been told that DKs are some kind of mixture between range and melee. So, have do you guys describe yourself: more melee or more range dmg dealers? Is there any other melee in this game who has more range spells, like ret Paladins or Enh Shamans, maybe?
How much of your total dmg is ranged, in %?

That is one of the many reasons I love the Death Knight class and Paladins. I like having a mixture of melee and range abilities in my tool kit. Try playing a Warrior. Its soo frustrating when Charge is on CD, and the enemy is at like 3-5% HP running away from you. I literally cry a little every time.

Death Knights would be considered more of a caster class than Paladins with their diseases, well at least Unholy is a pure Hybrid between a caster and a melee DPS.

Paladins have a couple range abilities which help close down the range. Warriors only have charge and Heroic Throw that does barely any damage unless you spec for Storm Bolt.

I like the idea of a Dragon Knight. That is what I would consider a Death Knight. Well the closest to a Dragon Knight in WoW.

All 3 specs play very differently. Blood is primarily a melee spec with a few range abilities. Frost to an extent, especially DW Master Frost can put a lot of pressure via Howling Blast spam. You can literally get 4 Howling Blast back to back and with lucky procs even more.

Unholy on the other hand is the epitome of a caster/melee hybrid. A large portion of their damage is done via Death Coil and Diseases.

Death Knights have a very fun and unique play style. DW Frost has a very fast play style. Unholy you sit back and let your diseases do your work for you.

Ret Paladins and Death Knights have a similar number of range spells for the most part depending which ones you count. Ret Paladins normally have a CD on Exorcism which can proc on auto attacks. DKs usually pool Runic Power to use their Death Coil which also procs from auto attacks. Paladins have a range Execute which can be useful in PVP. Paladins also have Judgement which is a range ability but considered a melee for game purposes.

[Stormcall]

That is one of the many reasons I love the Death Knight class and Paladins. I like having a mixture of melee and range abilities in my tool kit. Try playing a Warrior. Its soo frustrating when Charge is on CD, and the enemy is at like 3-5% HP running away from you. I literally cry a little every time.

Well, don't forget Heroic Throw, I've killed things with it before. I miss when Throw actually did a little damage and could proc Deep Wounds...back in Cata, during a TB match I had a guy almost dead, he rooted me and started to run, I hit him with a throw crit(which procced DW), and he fell down dead a couple seconds later. Still one of my favorite kills, and one that is no longer repeatable:-(

Oh, and to OP, I definitely feel like a melee class. Sure, we have a couple of attacks we can use at range, but we can't just sit back and spam them and expect good DPS. DW frost has it the best at range, and even they still need to be in close to build RP, regen runes faster, keep blood plague up(when Outbreak isn't on CD, anyway), etc.

[Deleted]

I would like to start with a melee class, who is not completely melee and I have been told that DKs are some kind of mixture between range and melee. So, have do you guys describe yourself: more melee or more range dmg dealers? Is there any other melee in this game who has more range spells, like ret Paladins or Enh Shamans, maybe?
How much of your total dmg is ranged, in %?

Crikey, pretty good question actually - hadn't really thought about it. Looking at a recent Unholy megaera-normal10 log (chosen because i'm not really getting a chance to keep buffed diseases rolling... Even if I did cheese on the frozen head - don't judge me) - working out the pet damages done as a percentage of my damage and then taking that away from the remaining spell damage percents to work out a relatively accurate figure o.O (Some numbers have been rounded):

http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/l...?s=7633&e=7955

Fallen Zandalari 5.8%
Army of the Dead 4.5%
Ebon Gargoyle 9%
Ghoul 11%

So that's around 30.3% of my damage straight away from pets and suchlike, some of it's physical damage but it's still "ranged."

Death Coil 12.5 %
Blood Plague 12.3 %
Frost Fever 8.5 %

That's 33.3% of my damage from ranged spells or diseases (haven't counted soul reaper or the shadow portion of scourge strike as they're "melee spells"). Chances are I derped somewhere along the line during that fight so simmed numbers will likely be a bit different :>

So nearly 2/3 of your damage from things that aren't really "melee" related. However, I still feel like a melee. DW frost feels a bit more caster-ish to me because of howling blast but then that's just personal. As a generalisation:

Unholy uses melee-ish "main" rune abilities and a ranged spell as a runic power dump.
DW uses a ranged spell "main" rune ability and a melee-ish runic power dump.

...2H frost just hits everything in the face.

[Stormcall]

Crikey, pretty good question actually - hadn't really thought about it. Looking at a recent Unholy megaera-normal10 log (chosen because i'm not really getting a chance to keep buffed diseases rolling... Even if I did cheese on the frozen head - don't judge me) - working out the pet damages done as a percentage of my damage and then taking that away from the remaining spell damage percents to work out a relatively accurate figure o.O (Some numbers have been rounded):

http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/l...?s=7633&e=7955

Fallen Zandalari 5.8%
Army of the Dead 4.5%
Ebon Gargoyle 9%
Ghoul 11%

So that's around 30.3% of my damage straight away from pets and suchlike, some of it's physical damage but it's still "ranged."

Death Coil 12.5 %
Blood Plague 12.3 %
Frost Fever 8.5 %

That's 33.3% of my damage from ranged spells or diseases (haven't counted soul reaper or the shadow portion of scourge strike as they're "melee spells"). Chances are I derped somewhere along the line during that fight so simmed numbers will likely be a bit different :>

So nearly 2/3 of your damage from things that aren't really "melee" related. However, I still feel like a melee. DW frost feels a bit more caster-ish to me because of howling blast but then that's just personal. As a generalisation:

Another thing to consider:Sure, 12.5% of your damage is a ranged attack(death coil), but...how much of that damage would you have been able to do if you were constantly out of melee range, without being able to build RP(or SD procs) through FeS/SS? And without that RP to pump out the Coils, you wouldn't be able to pump up Timmy as much, lowering the amount of damage he did as well. And if you couldn't stay in melee to maintain blood plague via FeS(or PS), you'd have to rely on Outbreak, lowering the amount of damage the disease did, as well. So even if 2/3 of your damage came from sources other than direct melee strikes, without those strikes to power them that total damage would be a lot lower.

[Vereesa]

Melee for the simple fact that I do all of my DPS when in melee range (5 yards) of the boss.

[Deleted]

Another thing to consider:Sure, 12.5% of your damage is a ranged attack(death coil), but...how much of that damage would you have been able to do if you were constantly out of melee range, without being able to build RP(or SD procs) through FeS/SS? And without that RP to pump out the Coils, you wouldn't be able to pump up Timmy as much, lowering the amount of damage he did as well. And if you couldn't stay in melee to maintain blood plague via FeS(or PS), you'd have to rely on Outbreak, lowering the amount of damage the disease did, as well. So even if 2/3 of your damage came from sources other than direct melee strikes, without those strikes to power them that total damage would be a lot lower.

And you, sir are correct.

[Nillo]

Ya in WotLK you could do fairly decent ranged dps for a while with a frost/unholy hybrid spec - right now the best you can do is 4x HB and then you're out of fuel.

[Murdos]

...2H frost just hits everything in the face.

Faces for generations will fear my name.

[Darsithis]

We're melee, no matter what minor ranged tools we have depending on spec (HB for frost, DC for UH)

[Samsarathedk]

Errr dw frost dk here, for aoe heavy fights: roughly 26% (spell) of my damage is howling blast, roughly 21% (melee is frost strike main hand, roughly 16% (melee) is frost strike off hand, roughly 15% (dot) is frost fever, roughly 8% (obviously melee) is melee white hits, and the rest of my damage being made up by obliterates (melee), blood plague (dot), plague strike (melee) fallen Zandalari (melee), ghoul (melee), legendary meta proc (spell), soul reaper (spell), and army of the dead (melee).

For single target fights: roughly 27% of my damage is frost strike mainhand (melee), 25% of my damage is howling blast (spell), 17% of my damage is frost strike off hand (melee), 10% of my damage is melee white hits (again obviously melee), 7% is soul reaper, 5% is frost fever (spell), etc.

So I guess what I'm getting at here is: Why are do people think we are 75% spell damage? For aoe encounters: only taking into account the rough percentages of melee based attacks I've listed, my attacks are at minimum 52% melee thus discrediting the claim that dw frost dks are 75% spell damage. For single target encounters: taking into account the rough percentages of melee based attacks I've listed, my attacks are at minimum 54% melee thus once more discrediting the claim that dw frost dks are 75% spell damage.

[broodax]

So, obviously we're melee. But, I think Unholy is exactly what you're looking for.

Council is some of the most fun I've ever had, playing unholy like a Boomkin or Warlock, keeping dots rolling on everything. You ALSO have to be in melee of course, but the feeling is still very caster-ish.

And Death Coil is the best ability in the game, so that helps too.

[DeathKnight Guy]

I would say although we are more focused on melee, we are still able to do decent range damage.

That is why I always have trouble with other MMO's. I only like to play classes with mechanics such as DK's (melee and range). Which is not a common class to be found in most MMO's.

[Puddingcess]

No matter what I do I always feel like a melee in the end.

[Itisamuh]

It may have some spells, but it is still very much a melee playstyle. The same applies to enhance shaman.

[mizeri]

melee, all my toons were war, rogue, dk and a pali

[Deleted]

How are DKs a ranged class? 'Cause they have HB for Frost and Death Coil for UH?

Sure, go ahead and stand 30 yards away and you'll see how much DPS you do compared to a DK in melee range.

It's like saying: Hey! Hunters, Mages and Warlocks are melee 'cause they can hit them from 1 yard away ... Actually these classes are 10x times more melee than DKs are ranged ...