1. #1

    Death Knight Tanking @ 85

    So, I've pretty much decided to move away from pure dps classes for Cataclysm. (Been one since Vanilla!)

    I've been wanting to try a tanking class. Lowered my choices down to Paladins or DKs.

    Question is, any insight on how DKs are fairing as tanks at level 85?

    Threat-wise, and healing wise?

    And how does a DK tank compare to a Paladin tank.

    Thank you qts.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Well paladins at lvl 85 I have no idea, but I tanked on my DK on the Beta and I thought it was fine, the aoe has been "easyfied" a bit and with heart strike hitting 3 targets and Rune Strike being instant it's all fun and games. I reckon most changes are good ones, and as far as I am concerned I like tanking as a DK more now than pre patch/pre cata.

    I tanked all normal and all HC instances and I didnt have any problems at all, with a good chunk of mastery we can survive very well.

    What I dont like right now is that dieseless tanking is far superior than it's counterpart. I want DK's to be all about dieses and such, it's a lore thing. Dont take that away from us :<

  3. #3
    Epic! videotape's Avatar
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    Warrior

  4. #4
    My friend who tanks on every class, ranks them at leats from his viewpoitn as such

    Warrior
    Death Knight
    Druid
    Paladin

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Adahy View Post
    My friend who tanks on every class, ranks them at leats from his viewpoitn as such

    Warrior
    Death Knight
    Druid
    Paladin
    I'd have to agree

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by k_dog View Post
    I'd have to agree
    I'd have to differ. Care to elaborate why you'd agree that warriors are more fun than DKs and why Paladins are a lot less fun than DKs? I think that's the main reason the OP started this thread and I think he deserves an answer to it.


    I like that a large chunk of my DKs incoming damage counter (it's not 100% mitigation, you take the damage, but you counter it via heal and prevent future damage through blood shield) is decided by a button I actively push or chose not to push. As a Paladin your Mitigation and Avoidance is almost all passive. Sure there's WoG and it's shield but it's a harsher impact on threat generation and less damage countered than DS means.
    This and the seemingly endless cooldowns you can use and myriads of possiblites that are available make a DK a great choice.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Uzume View Post
    Well paladins at lvl 85 I have no idea, but I tanked on my DK on the Beta and I thought it was fine, the aoe has been "easyfied" a bit and with heart strike hitting 3 targets and Rune Strike being instant it's all fun and games. I reckon most changes are good ones, and as far as I am concerned I like tanking as a DK more now than pre patch/pre cata.

    I tanked all normal and all HC instances and I didnt have any problems at all, with a good chunk of mastery we can survive very well.

    What I dont like right now is that dieseless tanking is far superior than it's counterpart. I want DK's to be all about dieses and such, it's a lore thing. Dont take that away from us :<
    What do you mean by "diseaseless tanking superior"? that you don't need to put disease to tank well?it's better? I, like you, prefer tanking since last patch. It's more fun, dynamic, more cd, more dps (yes vengeance is awesome, it's nice to see some pretty numbers while tanking).

  8. #8
    I'm with Nye. There's a very high probability that after five years of Warrior tanking I'll be changing to a Death Knight in Cataclysm.

    My experience in the end has been that Warriors have a lot of really nifty tricks (interrupt, two silences, single-target and AoE stuns, spell reflection, disarm, high mobility) but that so much of it goes to waste on bosses who are immune to most of it. It sounds ridiculous to say, but my favorite fight in Icecrown was probably Valithria because it was the only fight where I felt like Warriors got to shine. There's also the persistent problem that Warriors have nothing in the short cooldown department to deal with magic damage, a rather obnoxious hole in their defenses that I was surprised Blizzard didn't touch in Cataclysm.

    So this is all personal opinion of course. If you like a class, you like it. Paladin mitigation (and Warrior for that matter) is relatively passive. Paladins have a lot of utility (auras, Hands, Divine Protection), a couple of stuns, and respectable burst self-healing through WoG. Death Knights by comparison have very active management of their damage intake and have a ton of cooldowns for the job. Good Death Strike usage adds some depth even to tank-and-spank fights. I also find Death Grip and Anti-Magic Shell to be particularly fun abilities to use, although glyphed Dancing Rune Weapon is a runner up.

    Edit: I'm also with Uzume in that I'm a tad sad that diseaseless is considered the superior playstyle at this time because I think diseases are just one of those little things that makes the class more interesting. That said, it appears that the two are close enough and that there are enough differential situations that diseases can be useful that I don't feel guilty sticking with them. I figure if diseaseless ever becomes the only way to play Death Knights they'll probably slap some disease scaling on Death Strike or Rune Strike.
    Last edited by Neichus; 2010-12-04 at 02:06 AM.

  9. #9
    Just wanted to add this for those that are saying they aren't too happy with diseaseless being so good:

    Outbreak

    That + epidemic = semi-diseased rotations. Personally, I would love it if they gave blood tanks a cooldown reduction on Outbreak so that we can keep diseases up with just that if we have epidemic.

    The only reason diseaseless is good is because using IT + PS can make rotations slightly more screwy than not doing so. Outbreak helps alleviate that problem.

    Back OT: As others have said, DK tanking is in a very good spot right now. Most paladin tanks I know are kind of bored with their class after 4.0 (although for some of 'em it may just be because they've played it for so long), but I'm definitely enjoying my DK tank.

  10. #10
    Just from what paladins told me, they went from 96969 to 393 as rotation... It's basically about the same strict "push the button that lights up" it was in wrath, they got a nice amount of abilities, but they don't have to decide which one to use because there are no alternatives. If for each GCD there'd be a decision to be made which skill to use because of the different effects they had, paladin tanking would be fun again.
    But if all your skills just deal damage and you have to spam them one after the other it gets kinda boring really fast.

  11. #11
    Fluffy Kitten Zao's Avatar
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    The problem with personaly preference is...that it's personal.

    We really can't help you with choosing your class, since everyone's different and prefers to do other stuff. Some like to be gcd capped, some don't. Some like Pepsi, some like Coke.

  12. #12
    Warchief SoulPoetry's Avatar
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    threat and healing wise they want most tanks to be pretty much the same, hence the nerf to Bear HP. it really is personal preference. would you prefer to take a shield into battle? or a 2h sword? there's your answer.

  13. #13
    If it was really all about weapon/shield preference, we'd all be feral druids. Cmon, Who doesn't want to be a bear? It's the other small things that elevate preference above Beardom, like DnD and being able to solo Magtheradon each week for 600g.

  14. #14
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    I really enjoy the Death Knight tanking mechanics and the Mastery/Death Strike will only get stronger in Cataclysm as health scales up. Death Knights also have a lot more cooldowns to fall back on or just to pop all at once and become nigh on invulnerable for 10ish seconds. Then again, having played feral, protadin and Blood DK I think it is a personal thing. I prefer the visceral tanking of a DK, I don't like block much, and I like being able to switch to frost presence to offtank/help with burn phase DPS, thats why I tank on my DK

  15. #15
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    Being a newcomer tank I'd say go with Pally since they are a bit more "auto-pilot" if you will... I hear their aoe threat is ridonculous (as before) as well, which is ++ for a new tank. If your looking for a bit more of a challenge, ie - more interactive tank, go with DK. They are both good choices.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Adahy View Post
    My friend who tanks on every class, ranks them at leats from his viewpoitn as such

    Warrior
    Death Knight
    Druid
    Paladin
    I have a warrior tank, paladin tank and good friends with a DK tank.

    I'd have to agree with this 100%

  17. #17
    The pure versatility that DK tanks have are what (in my opinion) make them so great.

    It's as people have said before. Need a little snap aggro? Concentrate more on rune strikes and heart strikes. About to take a lot of incoming damage? Soak it all with vampiric blood and get a HUGE heal/shield with death strike. Even lichborne+death coil as a self heal is going to be viable at 85. It's much more interesting than the static-ness of a paladin. We also have 2 taunts, a silence (on CD) and an interrupt every 10 seconds.

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