Cooldowns and DKs : importance check

[Heretushi]

Hey,

I’m currently leveling a Death Knight and find it quite fun to play in solo. I like the change of pace it offers from other classes. Everybody knows that even a handicap monkey can play well enough to be able to level a character to 80 and I fear that is the level of play I’m currently at.

Let’s just get one thing out of the way: I hate cooldowns. I hate abilities that have a “long” cooldown (read: more than a minute), I hate having to choose whether to use them or keep them for later and end up NEVER using them at all.

I read, hear and understand that DK tanking is practically built around using cooldowns all the time. The good news is that I don’t plan to tank a lot, if at all.

So the question is: are the DK DPS specs built around using cooldowns? I understand I don’t HAVE to use cooldowns, but would that gimp my DPS so much that it makes me a sub-par DPS all around?

I can stand macroing a couple of big CD on big attacks, but I can’t have more than 5 or 6 buttons to push before hating the playstyle. To level, I use the typical:

Frost
Unholy
Blood
Death Strike
Death Coil
Pestilence, Blood Boil and Unholy Blight on large groups.

As you can see, it’s already VERY border line. I have an addon to remind me to put Horn of Winter because otherwise I wouldn’t use it. It’s not that I don’t understand that it’s good, I just hate having to refresh it all the time.

So, am I doomed to mediocre DPS and awkward “ I guess we’ll take you… ” group pickups?

[Aragen]

yes, and you will be sub-par for every class you ever try to play cooldowns are part of the bzns.

But to answer your main question go 2H Frost 17/51/3 the damage is strait foward and does not rely on big cooldowns like DRW and Gargoyle. Just spam frost strike and you win! In a matter of speaking at least lol...

[Bullshifter]

yes, and you will be sub-par for every class you ever try to play cooldowns are part of the bzns.

But to answer your main question go 2H Frost 17/51/3 the damage is strait foward and does not rely on big cooldowns like DRW and Gargoyle. Just spam frost strike and you win! In a matter of speaking at least lol...

Ooh, Unbreakable Armor, uh oh, cooldown *sad panda face*

Honestly, get used to using them, it's the name of the game tbh. You'll never be anything other than mediocre if you want to play without the cooldowns.

[Deleted]

if ya fancy playing a blood dps build and dont like using cd's, ya can always pop Hysteria on another melee dps and forget about it

Jokes aside, using cd's are part of pretty much every build im afraid. They do add a fair bit to your dps, especially when they are popped at the right time.

[psicorp]

for PvE dps cooldowns arent exactly hard to figure out. unless you know in advance theres going to be a point in the fight where your going to need massive burst damage, just use it every time it comes off cooldown

[Albert the fish]

DKs love cooldowns, it's simply what we are

[Mapex]

Our cooldowns are short enough to be used 2 to 4 times in a given fight. Use them when you need massive burst damage for the fight and also before or after that period of the fight, depending on when a boss needs to be burned down.

For instance, on Hodir save your cooldowns until after a Flash Freeze and when you are on a Starlight beam. The first situation this happens is a great time for Bloodlust, so you can pop DRW+Hysteria or Gargoyle and go balls out. Then use the CDs again everytime they are up and the same situation is set up.

For someone like XT-002, save your cooldown for the first and third hearts (most trinkets and class cooldowns are short enough to be used during these times, which are over one minute apart from each other).

[hadogei]

Why would you need an addon to remind u to re-apply HoW? It's 20 second CD, lasts 3 mins glyphed
cost nothing to use, and it gives you RP to boot. The only cd i fail to use a lot is army of darkness..
channeling sucks.

[Deleted]

Yes, i almost forget about army of the dead half of the time. 20 min CD for my blood spec, tho the lil guys do get stuck in when they are up.

[Heretushi]

But to answer your main question go 2H Frost 17/51/3 the damage is strait foward and does not rely on big cooldowns like DRW and Gargoyle. Just spam frost strike and you win! In a matter of speaking at least lol...

Just wanted to say thank you for your suggestion. I'm still leveling, only 76 now, but man am I having fun playing deep frost.

[Amphrodos]

as said above, the cd abilities are major kickass. personally, pvp wise(blood), mark of blood and vamp blood are the reason blood can last so long in a pvp battle. if u wana build that doesn't use many cds, go just 20pnts into every tree, no higher for the "long cd" top abilities, skip lichborne and rune tap, and see how well u do in anything :P good luck

[Heretushi]

And that would not be playing with the best build for my preffered playstyle, that would be plain stupid. :