RBG's and Unholy DK's

[Zondorf]

I have 2 questions:

1: Why are unholy DK's always the target callers in RBG's?

2: I want to do RBG's with my unholy DK but I don't want to be a target caller so I can never join with my DK, are Frosties accepted in the RBG community and if yes, should I go 2h or DW?

[Skarssen]

DKs make good target callers because of grip, and in the case of unholy, necrotic stacks on the kill target. In RBGs frost can do just as much damage, and may even be preferable in certain situations, but it still has lower survivability unless it swaps to BP and conversion, which guts its damage output and DKs are really only brought for sheer damage and grip/Gorefiends.

Some groups specifically ask for unholy because it does have better damage mitigation, and it is far superior for arena, but frost can do just fine even at the highest levels of RBG rankings. Few specs are better at AOE snaring and/or spinning flags than frost.

[rda]

Also, because they are melee. Target calling on melee is better than target calling on ranged, because melee is much slower at switches. Captain obvious, I know.

If you don't want to be a target caller, don't, but that puts a limit on the number of groups that will accept you. It's more or less the same as coming to a raid as a prot pala and saying you want to heal or DPS - only a bit milder, because we are talking about voice comms and not in-game performance.

[Cirayne24]

DKs are TC's because of Grip, you can grip healers from the back and opportunities. A DPS really out of range of his healers? Grip him even further away.

Was talking to some higher rated DKs last night about UH vs Frost... and it came down to a couple things.

1. Whichever the player is most comfortable play as will make the DK preform better. It doesn't matter if UH is a million times better, if you dont like it then you wont do as good as others.

2. This is a general statement, dont take as gospel. BUT, UH is better for Dot Cleaves (Rot Teams) with Mass Grip, Grip, and spreading of dots. Frost is better due to On demand burst.

3. The type of Map. Don't have a knock off? Put your pet on the cliff in say Lumber Mill and target it for Mass Grip.

Both can and probably preform just as well on either team, but it comes down to perceptions of the Leader.

[Illiterate]

Play what you are better at, both are viable. And yes you will have to tc or reroll another class.

[Zondorf]

I just don't understand how TC works, is it just a case of picking a random target and attempting to shred him to pieces?

[Cirayne24]

I just don't understand how TC works, is it just a case of picking a random target and attempting to shred him to pieces?

Picking Soft Targets (I've noticed a lot of TCs start on R.Shamans)

Out of position Targets

Targets without CDs (Mage block down, Pally Bubble Down, ect)

Calling Switches

Mostly it's being vocal and helping coordinate. The best TC I've played with just kept calling the kill Target... pretty much talked the entire 20 minutes of the match.

[Aryah]

I just don't understand how TC works, is it just a case of picking a random target and attempting to shred him to pieces?

It's about coordinating your team towards the most efficient and viable kill target. Ideally everyone will switch at once and relevant classes, especially ranged, will line up some cc while melee get into position. Everyone hits the target simultaneously in an attempt to make the damage unhealable. DK's are especially good at this because of their incredible burst in the case of frost and necrotic strike in the case of unholy. Also death grip is great at getting people out of position and more importantly out of range of their healers. In this way the target caller keeps an eye on the battlefield watching for the best opportunities with the above in mind.

[Tyrean]

TC is really about keeping track of enemy cooldowns, where people are at and having very good knowledge of what classes can do. You also have to be willing to punish people that overextend into your healers, etc.

I find that when I TC I get the best results if before the match I tell the classes with CC that when I call for swaps I will call out swap to X in 3 .. 2 ... 1... and when I do that it is time for them to CC some people. When you TC like that it gives people a few seconds to finish a cast, start a long cast, get in position, etc. If you just call swap to X! it goes slowly because a few people swap right away, then the healers get on them, etc. If you call it ahead of time more often than not they just die before anything can happen.

You really have to keep track of what is going on though. Did a healer and the EFC peel off to go to the FR? Either they are stupid, or they think they will land a kill on your FC. You can see that and turn the tide quickly with a swap to a vulnerable healer putting them at 1 healer that can be CCed while you pick off their dps. Did you see a mage just block a CC? Call a swap to him because you not only might kill him in the next 30 seconds, but you will basically stop all of his DPS while he tries to run away. Are the rogues and warriors pushing into your healers? Move behind the healers and call a hard swap, then when they try to run grip them back out of position for a kill.

My favorite, although I am not sure if it still works as I have not played in a while, is to get a druid symbiosis on cliff maps. You can plant the shroom in places you can't send your pet and aoe grip onto the shroom. so funny watching people fall off cliffs...

[zenga]

and having very good knowledge of what classes can do

This. Both for the enemy and your own team. Too many target callers just go from target to target, while they play with e.g. a shadow priest, an ele shaman and an affliction lock in the dps setup, while silence is on cd and doesn't have 3 orbs, the shaman is in a flame shock lockout and the lock has no cd. The really good TC informs beforehand about the priority order and announces hard swaps more than 123 in advance. E.g. 'sit on the shaman, then we'll swap hard onto the priest'. This allows an ele to pre flame shock and purge the priest, keep lava burst available, let the lock prehaunt for dots, the priest knows he has to save 3 orbs, etc ...