PvP DK Spell Pen...

[Sarc]

So I was idling in IF, inspecting lowbies for my own amusement and I happen across a Furious/Relentless geared DK with Spell Pen gems... They seem to be rather successful, their arena teams had decent ranks (2k+ in 2s and 3s), they were wearing the "Arena Master" title, but wtf?

Is spell pen ever actually good for something?

(I would link their armory, but they logged out in PvE gear :/)

[Freyros]

A lot of death knight abilities deal magical damage and facing teams with some kind of magical resistance is not rare in arenas.

[viljar]

you need enough spell pen on a dk to be abel to burst enemies with resistances 130 incase of pally or 80 with druid buff. or your seeing up to half of your damage based on RNG going down the drain when you pop cooldowns to burst them down

[nubnub2009]

Is spell pen ever actually good for something?

Yes.

Diseases and Scourge Strikes and Death and Decay and every other spell.

Best use is for strangulate though.

[Sarc]

I knew it's working through resistances, but I wasn't aware it was enough of an issue that you'd actually gem for it.

Good to know, thanks.

[Shawaam]

I would get at least 75 spell penetration to counter mark of the wild. Though 130 spell penetration is the optimal to counter every class except of mages resistance (which can reach 270 quite easy)

[Nangz]

Best use is for strangulate though.

[Baabinator]

Enemies can have resistance through talents or buffs, or even gear.

Resistance reduces the effectiveness of your spells dramatically. And also increases the chance on of your spells will be completely resisted.

Alot of DK's rely heavily on utility and damage from their spells.

Spell penetration reduces the resistance of your enemies (down to 0 at max, there is no negative resistance) thus making your spells less likely to be resisted, or partially resisted (note: MISS is NOT a resist. Get hit rating for that)

A Strangulate resisted, or a death Grip resisted can alter the fight dramatically.

Recommended spell penetration would be 80 (easier to gem then 75), but even then some classes will have more (such as a paladin with fire aura or a mage)

[waxer]

You need 90-130 Spell penetration as a DK in arena. i recommend 123

Remeber the hit cap at 5% for Blood and unholy, or 2% for DW frost.

u can start playing arena without it, but thrust me above 1900 rating, ull need to be sure, STRANGULATE, Death coil, frost strike, icy touch, Scourge strike, Howling blast, MIND FREEZE, and whatever ull come up with from the spellbook, HITS 100 % of the times where its possible.


i actually still meet ppl in skirmishes that says, omfg noob, spell penetration!!!!

just shows how much ppl know about this subject....

[Balbaroy]

You weren't the idiot on my server the other day that was making fun of my spell pen gems were you? :P But if you want half of your damage to not be resisted, you get spell pen (pvp only of course). 115-130 should do the trick. its not really an option

[Sarc]

You weren't the idiot on my server the other day that was making fun of my spell pen gems were you?

lol, nope. I didn't say a thing.

I PvP on my warrior (Skillstorm, yo), so I've never really thought about it for the DK.

[Trork]

lol i am new to forums here, i dont pvp with my dk (well, the casual WG and a few BGs but no arena) and would never imagine that spell penetration would be so vital, good to know (in case in the future my guild won't need me as tank or dps anymore)