Blood DK Warlords of Draenor Patch 6.2 Guide (Long but has TLDR Version)

[Aegle]

I absolutely love your guide, it's so amazing to know why I like a stat instead of "I said this is priority so it is" type of thing. Especially on tanks, given that I'm garbage at Simcraft anyway. So thank you so much!

Are there any additional thoughts on professions? Like you said, Alchemy looks amazing right now, but so does Engineering. But what are your thoughts on why? I'm thinking Alchemy because of the trinket right away, but are there other notable benefits for tanking? How sacrifice-able is Engineering, given there are rocket boots for mobility? Are there other sweet gadgets that might help? (Just general questions really, looking for why you suggest the professions you do. )

[Troxism]

I absolutely love your guide, it's so amazing to know why I like a stat instead of "I said this is priority so it is" type of thing. Especially on tanks, given that I'm garbage at Simcraft anyway. So thank you so much!

Are there any additional thoughts on professions? Like you said, Alchemy looks amazing right now, but so does Engineering. But what are your thoughts on why? I'm thinking Alchemy because of the trinket right away, but are there other notable benefits for tanking? How sacrifice-able is Engineering, given there are rocket boots for mobility? Are there other sweet gadgets that might help? (Just general questions really, looking for why you suggest the professions you do. )

Professions barely matter outside of Blacksmithing a few items before raids open. The Alch trinket got nerfed yesterday, so I don't think it's that amazing anymore (although 40% health pot bonus is not to be scoffed at). Engineering rocket boots share a CD with pots, so they aren't very useful anymore, but can sometimes be okay.

Honestly I wouldn't swap professions at this point.

[Aegle]

Professions barely matter outside of Blacksmithing a few items before raids open. The Alch trinket got nerfed yesterday, so I don't think it's that amazing anymore (although 40% health pot bonus is not to be scoffed at). Engineering rocket boots share a CD with pots, so they aren't very useful anymore, but can sometimes be okay.

Honestly I wouldn't swap professions at this point.

Thanks for the reply. It's a new main, I don't have any professions yet. I'm thinking I'll go BS/Eng just for fun then. Woo!

[Rixarius]

Has anyone messed with Blood in challenge modes yet? My co-tank Prot Paladin has been running them with the guild but I've been more focused on doing heroics. Wondering how good we are in them.

[Troxism]

Has anyone messed with Blood in challenge modes yet? My co-tank Prot Paladin has been running them with the guild but I've been more focused on doing heroics. Wondering how good we are in them.

DK is very good in CM. Debatable if DK or BrM is the best atm, somewhat depends on Dark Sim options in the instance, vs Touch of Death (which is horribly OP in CMs in general). What kind of hurts BrM representation is that WW monk is hilariously OP right now (seriously, WW monks can do 50k sustained on a boss fight), so a lot of monks are playing WW for CMs.

[FurtyIRL]

Has anyone messed with Blood in challenge modes yet? My co-tank Prot Paladin has been running them with the guild but I've been more focused on doing heroics. Wondering how good we are in them.

DK is very good in CM. Debatable if DK or BrM is the best atm, somewhat depends on Dark Sim options in the instance, vs Touch of Death (which is horribly OP in CMs in general). What kind of hurts BrM representation is that WW monk is hilariously OP right now (seriously, WW monks can do 50k sustained on a boss fight), so a lot of monks are playing WW for CMs.

I would say DK is overall the strongest tank in Challenge Modes currently purely because some pulls are not possible with any other tank. The amount of HPS a DK can put out is frankly absurd and AotD is actually extraordinarily useful now that vengeance is no longer in play. Every instance has a magic nuke you can take advantage of via dark sim as trox mentioned, and the buffs complement other strong CM classes currently with no overlap. Restro druid is the strongest healer by a mile and being able to sustain yourself while they are able to DPS for their entire heart makes tough bosses melt.

[Numiro]

I have gear lists in the OP now

That's from raids though, I was talking heroics / pre raid. Anyway, seem to have pulled something out of AMR, hoping it works.

Has anyone messed with Blood in challenge modes yet? My co-tank Prot Paladin has been running them with the guild but I've been more focused on doing heroics. Wondering how good we are in them.

We're amazing but brewmasters can kite, we can't. Monks are simply the best if you're pushing for time, blood DK's are insanely tanky though, so if you're just clearing them for a silver / bronze / daily, we're the class to pick if you get to choose.

DK is very good in CM. Debatable if DK or BrM is the best atm, somewhat depends on Dark Sim options in the instance, vs Touch of Death (which is horribly OP in CMs in general). What kind of hurts BrM representation is that WW monk is hilariously OP right now (seriously, WW monks can do 50k sustained on a boss fight), so a lot of monks are playing WW for CMs.

BrM is just insanely strong purely because they can kite, means you can pull twice the amount of mobs and just use the opening stuns to grab aggro then kite untill dead. DK's really don't have the same option outside of army, which is a 10 min CD...

Still like the position we're in, in challenge modes atm, feels like my healer could go boomkin on some bosses tbh.

[Troxism]

That's from raids though, I was talking heroics / pre raid. Anyway, seem to have pulled something out of AMR, hoping it works.



We're amazing but brewmasters can kite, we can't. Monks are simply the best if you're pushing for time, blood DK's are insanely tanky though, so if you're just clearing them for a silver / bronze / daily, we're the class to pick if you get to choose.



BrM is just insanely strong purely because they can kite, means you can pull twice the amount of mobs and just use the opening stuns to grab aggro then kite untill dead. DK's really don't have the same option outside of army, which is a 10 min CD...

Still like the position we're in, in challenge modes atm, feels like my healer could go boomkin on some bosses tbh.

I have pre-raid gear in the advanced guide.

Also kiting isn't a thing when doing times, since it's a huge DPS loss to kite.

[dr_AllCOM3]

How well do you think DKs are going to perform in raids compared to the other tanks? Simcraft says they're fine, but Simcraft is only chaining cooldowns and doesn't really use them intelligently (the DS part is quite ok).

[Troxism]

How well do you think DKs are going to perform in raids compared to the other tanks? Simcraft says they're fine, but Simcraft is only chaining cooldowns and doesn't really use them intelligently (the DS part is quite ok).

DKs will be okay in raids. They will likely struggle on a few bosses however (unless there where changes from beta to them). Basically the same as MoP was for Blood, although overall DK feels stronger then in MoP relatively. So probably overall slightly better then MoP, which is a pretty good place to be in, since MoP there really wasn't any reason to play DK outside of knowing it better or liking it more then the other tanks.

My fear for the spec mostly pertains to Resolve DR/Cap in Mythic raiding, as that may end up being a problem (but it's also possible it won't be that bad, so it really is a case of 'wait and see').

[Resurgo]

...
BrM is just insanely strong purely because they can kite, means you can pull twice the amount of mobs and just use the opening stuns to grab aggro then kite untill dead. DK's really don't have the same option outside of army, which is a 10 min CD......

Sorry, I haven't tried the CM yet, and I don't know BrM either, but why can't a DK kite?

Far as I've ever known, having Chillblains specced and worst case Remorseless Winter would let me kite all day given enough room. Glyph of Death and Decay was always helpful for that in the past if I really knew ahead of time I'd be kiting.

[Troxism]

Sorry, I haven't tried the CM yet, and I don't know BrM either, but why can't a DK kite?

Far as I've ever known, having Chillblains specced and worst case Remorseless Winter would let me kite all day given enough room. Glyph of Death and Decay was always helpful for that in the past if I really knew ahead of time I'd be kiting.

Like I said it doesn't matter anyways. You won't ever kite for times/gold in CMs since it costs so much DPS time.

[Drunkenvalley]

Which blacksmithing items would you consider the most strategic choices in general? At a glance, the likely candidates would be the chest+legs+shoulders, since they appear to give the most amount of stats for the cost. Roughly speaking.

[Numiro]

Which blacksmithing items would you consider the most strategic choices in general? At a glance, the likely candidates would be the chest+legs+shoulders, since they appear to give the most amount of stats for the cost. Roughly speaking.

I'm pretty sure the head is going to be up there since there's no head dropping from Highmaul. But my experience with progression as a tank is limited.

[Troxism]

Whatever slots you dont have good 640 items from CM daily of, but barring that, yeah high stat slots like Head/Chest/Legs.

[Jellospally]

I'm pretty sure the head is going to be up there since there's no head dropping from Highmaul. But my experience with progression as a tank is limited.

There is a head... its just awful stats its off Kargath...

[Dizzzzzzzzz]

How do you feel about the alch trinket post nerf?
I have the str multistrike & str mastery trinkets, was wondering if I should start throwing those on instead of my alchemy trinket. Also what are your thoughts on the trinket if you aren't going to be benefitting from the 40% potion increase?

[evermynd]

Can someone help clarify multistrike for me?

I understand that mastery is a better defensive stat than multistrike, but is multistrike more defense than the other stats like versatility and haste?

[Troxism]

How do you feel about the alch trinket post nerf?
I have the str multistrike & str mastery trinkets, was wondering if I should start throwing those on instead of my alchemy trinket. Also what are your thoughts on the trinket if you aren't going to be benefitting from the 40% potion increase?

If you aren't using pots all the time (and you should be, but whatever), those trinkets are def better now then Alch Stone. I'll have to check later when I have time on exactly how much difference it is. Was busy doing my CM Golds last 2 days and farming heroics, kind of have a backlog on the guide now of a few things I want to update to be more accurate.

- - - Updated - - -

Can someone help clarify multistrike for me?

I understand that mastery is a better defensive stat than multistrike, but is multistrike more defense than the other stats like versatility and haste?

MS is generally the worst defensive stat period. There are mitigation stat weights in the advanced guide.

[FurtyIRL]

Sorry, I haven't tried the CM yet, and I don't know BrM either, but why can't a DK kite?

Far as I've ever known, having Chillblains specced and worst case Remorseless Winter would let me kite all day given enough room. Glyph of Death and Decay was always helpful for that in the past if I really knew ahead of time I'd be kiting.

You can kite, but generally pulling large has repercussions other than pure tank damage. A lot of the bigger pulls have lethal party damage if they're not killed quick enough and kiting only serves to lessen your damage, generally speaking. It also makes strong AoE abilities such as Prismatic Crystal, Cataclysm, Ravager, etc. much more difficult to land further lessening your damage. Typically kiting is not your first approach to any pull and should only be considered as an extreme last resort.