WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Lichborne: Death knights remain in holding pattern in Mists of Pandaria betahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/lichborne-death-knights-remain-in-holding-pattern-in-mists-of-p/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/lichborne-death-knights-remain-in-holding-pattern-in-mists-of-p/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/lichborne-death-knights-remain-in-holding-pattern-in-mists-of-p/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

When one takes a two-week vacation, one generally looks forward to things having changed, even slightly, when one returns. This is especially sure when speaking of the Mists of Pandaria beta test. Strangely, that hasn't been exactly the case for death knights. There have been changes, certainly, but not as drastic as we might have hoped -- and not as well-explained, either.

Today, we'll take a look at a few of the more important changes and what they imply for our class. In addition, we'll see what Ghostcrawler did and didn't say about death knights in a recent post.

Plague Leech and disease issues

There've been a few changes to death knights, but the most interesting one comes with Plague Leech. This first-tier talent, which replaces Vile Spew, will allow you to generate a death rune by canceling the diseases from your target.

The nice thing about this skill is that it gives us another much-needed Blood Tap replacement now that Blood Tap itself has been turned into a somewhat more restricted talent. The bad thing about this skill is that it's probably going to become mandatory for min-maxing DPS death knights. If your diseases are about to expire anyway and you can eat them for an extra death rune, it's hard to see how that won't become a DPS increase. Once we all reach level 90 and the math has been sufficiently mathed, it seems relatively obvious that Plague Leech will be considered mandatory by the hardcore PvE community, for better or for worse.

Continue reading Lichborne: Death knights remain in holding pattern in Mists of Pandaria beta

WoW InsiderLichborne: Death knights remain in holding pattern in Mists of Pandaria beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneblood-presencedeath-coildeath-knight-beta-newsdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-diseasesdeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornediseasesdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornefrost-presencefrost-strikefrost-striokeghostcrawlerglyph-of-outbreakguide-to-death-knightsmists-of-pandaria-betanot-diablooutbreakplague-leechunholy-death-knight-lichborneunholy-presencevile-spewwow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 15 May 2012 14:00:00 ESTLichborne: Unholy first impressions in the Mists of Pandaria betahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/lichborne-unholy-first-impressions-in-the-mists-of-pandaria-bet/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/lichborne-unholy-first-impressions-in-the-mists-of-pandaria-bet/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/lichborne-unholy-first-impressions-in-the-mists-of-pandaria-bet/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

The strange thing about talking about the unholy tree since Cataclysm is that nothing ever seems to change. Don't get me wrong, unholy's been on a roller coaster of nerfs and balances, it's true, but the basic gameplay stays the same -- and more importantly, the basic problems never really get fixed.

So as we come into Mists of Pandaria, where are we with unholy? It still has a relatively unique playstyle, with a pet and less difficulty keeping diseases up (but more difficulty applying them because of the rune spending issue), but this same playstyle gives it a lot of trouble, as weapon damage scales horribly and strength becomes more important -- some would say too important. This is how it continues to go with unholy.

Today, we'll take a look at the upsides and downsides of unholy as it currently exists in the Mists of Pandaria beta and maybe make some suggestions for things Blizzard could focus on fixing once the death knights' turn for class balancing comes around.

Continue reading Lichborne: Unholy first impressions in the Mists of Pandaria beta

WoW InsiderLichborne: Unholy first impressions in the Mists of Pandaria beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>dark-transformationdeath coildeath-and-decaydeath-coildeath-knight-betadeath-knight-beta-unholy-dpsdeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichborneDeathCoildesecrated-grounddk-guidedk-infodk-talentsdreadbladefeaturedfestering-strikeguide-to-death-knightsmists-of-pandaria-unholy-levelingscourge-strikeshadow-infusionunholy-death-knight-lichborneunholy-dpswow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 24 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTLichborne: The latest Mists of Pandaria beta updates for death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/lichborne-the-latest-mists-of-pandaria-beta-updates-for-death-k/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/lichborne-the-latest-mists-of-pandaria-beta-updates-for-death-k/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/lichborne-the-latest-mists-of-pandaria-beta-updates-for-death-k/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Since the last time we talked, we have seen a couple of new updates to the Mists of Pandaria beta. There haven't been many earth-shattering changes for death knights, but some of the changes have been significant enough that it's worth talking about both what they mean for the class and what they may imply about future updates.

It's difficult to say where Blizzard is going with our class in Mists, if only because they haven't said much. They've started talking on the beta forums, but they haven't directed anything at the death knight class yet. This isn't completely surprising. Our class is not in a horrible place right now, and the beta's young. Chances are we'll get our turn eventually.

That said, having developer feedback is useful for figuring out how to mold your own feedback. Knowing what a developer intends with a certain change can help us test that change with a better understanding of how it fits in to a larger vision. In absence of that, however, we can still look at the implications of these changes to see what we come up with.

Continue reading Lichborne: The latest Mists of Pandaria beta updates for death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: The latest Mists of Pandaria beta updates for death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneblood-tapconversiondeath-knight-beta-changesdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-changesdeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-glyph-changesdeath-knight-glyphsdeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedeath-pactdeath-siphondk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornegeistgeist-petglyph-of-dancing-rune-weaponglyph-of-horn-of-winterglyph-of-shifting-presencesglyph-of-the-geistguide-to-death-knightsmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-death-knight-changesrunic-corruptionrunic-empowermentunholy-death-knight-lichbornewow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 17 Apr 2012 15:00:00 ESTLichborne: The DPS presence issue in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/lichborne-the-dps-presence-issue-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/lichborne-the-dps-presence-issue-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/lichborne-the-dps-presence-issue-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

In Cataclysm, there were many hot-button death knight balance issues, but one of the biggest was Unholy Presence vs. Frost Presence. Frost Presence fell out of vogue very quickly in Cataclysm, since all DPSers found themselves running into a global cooldown wall pretty quickly. We were producing resources so fast, we needed the 1-second GCD provided by Unholy Presence to have any hope of spending them all.

This issue has come to the forefront even more in Mists of Pandaria beta testing. This is because a loss of runic power generating talents have put the dual wielding frost style at a disadvantage, enough that it needs the extra runic power regeneration from Frost Presence. Unfortunately, when it loses the 1-second GCD of Unholy Presence, it starts to stutter, with many testers using the dread descriptor "clunky" to describe the resulting rotation. Part of this could be trying to adjust going from Unholy Presence to Frost Presence, admittedly, but it feels like a problem.

If you want to see a comparison, switching to two-handed frost provides it. Thanks to the improved runic power generation on Might of the Frozen Wastes, two-handed frost can use Unholy Presence with ease, and its rotation plays nice and smoothly, very close to what it is on live.

Continue reading Lichborne: The DPS presence issue in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderLichborne: The DPS presence issue in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>2-handed-frost2-handed-frost-DPSdeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsdual-wield-frostdual-wield-frost-DPSfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornefrost-presencegcdglobal-cool-downglobal-cooldownglobal-cooldown-reductionguide-to-death-knightsunholy-death-knight-lichborneunholy-presencewow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTLichborne: Mists of Pandaria beta first impressions for death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/lichborne-mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-impressions-for-death-kn/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/lichborne-mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-impressions-for-death-kn/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/03/lichborne-mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-impressions-for-death-kn/#commentsFiled under: , ,

A Death Knight in the Jade Forest
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Having finally had a chance to play the Mists of Pandaria beta, I'll be looking this week at the basics of the experience for a level 85 death knight coming into Jade Forest, the first zone in the leveling experience.

The setup

Upon logging in to Mists of Pandaria for the first time, you will, of course, have to choose new talents. With the talent system being so radically changed, there's really no around it. Luckily, it's a relatively painless process. Having played around a bit with most of the choices, I'm not sure if many of the choices are that dynamic, but your mileage may vary.

On tier 1, you may see some blood death knights going for Unholy Blight to have a nice bit of runic power AoE, but other than that, the three choices are pretty clearly split between the three specs. That said, it's not a horrible tree, either. You can pick some cool stuff that'll help with your desired role and keep on playing, and I like that. It's just not going to be a free choice, per se. At the moment, it just appears that there's almost always a clear winner for most situations on any given tier based on your preferred spec, role, and playstyle.

Continue reading Lichborne: Mists of Pandaria beta first impressions for death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: Mists of Pandaria beta first impressions for death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>betaconversiondeath-knight-betadeath-knight-beta-changesdeath-knight-beta-talentsdeath-knight-beta-testingdeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-mists-of-pandaria-beta-testdeath-knight-talentsdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedguide-to-death-knightskilling-machinemists-of-pandariarimeunholy-blightwow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 03 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTLichborne: Testing notes and goals for death knights in the Mists of Pandaria betahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/lichborne-testing-notes-and-goals-for-death-knights-in-the-mist/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/lichborne-testing-notes-and-goals-for-death-knights-in-the-mist/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/lichborne-testing-notes-and-goals-for-death-knights-in-the-mist/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

With the Mists of Pandaria beta test under way, I'm reminded of an interesting discussion I've seen going around the death knight community. Coming out of Wrath, we were most definitely seen as overpowered, and starting a few patches later, we started off on a balance roller coaster we've never quite disembarked from, getting nerfs, de-nerfs, tweaks, and even the removal or redesign of entire spells and systems.

Some argue that we could have avoided this by being more thorough and honest while beta testing in Wrath. By not only advocating for what we needed but being honest that some stuff (such as, say, the stun effect on Death and Decay) was overpowered, we might have avoided a lot of heartache down the road.

Whether you believe this is true or not, it does highlight the importance of beta testing. Blizzard certainly has its own internal numbers and testing methods, but for those of us lucky enough to get hands on in the beta, this is our chance to help make sure our class gets through this great period of balancing. This week, let's look at a few things we'll need to focus on when we finally get those invites and get to beta test our death knights.

Continue reading Lichborne: Testing notes and goals for death knights in the Mists of Pandaria beta

WoW InsiderLichborne: Testing notes and goals for death knights in the Mists of Pandaria beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>beta-testsblood-death-knight- lichborneBlood-death-knight-Lichbornechill-of-the-gravedeath-and-decaydeath-coildeath-knight-betadeath-knight-beta-testingdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-glyphsdeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-mop-beta-testingdeath-knight-mop-glyphsdeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornegcdglyph-of-tranquil-gripguide-to-death-knightsmists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-glyphsmop-betapandaria-betarune-tetrisrunic-corruptionscourge-strikeunholy-death-knight-lichbornewow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 27 Mar 2012 19:00:00 ESTLichborne: Death knight group utility in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/lichborne-death-knight-group-utility-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/lichborne-death-knight-group-utility-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/lichborne-death-knight-group-utility-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

So Mists of Pandaria just got a pretty huge info dump, and while there weren't large amounts of class information in there, who am I to buck the trend and talk about something else? Luckily, there's plenty of gold still be mined from what we do know about death knights. This week, we'll be looking at a couple of the skills, talents, and mechanics coming our way and how you can use them to add a little extra utility and fun to your group experience, outside the normal tanking or DPSing.

Control Undead

Control Undead is honestly something I'm pretty excited for. Coming to us as a new level 69 skill, it allows us to take temporary control of almost any basic (or, I assume, elite) undead mob. Sure, it could be seen as mostly fluff, but it's awesome fluff, and I expect it to have some unexpected benefits.

Continue reading Lichborne: Death knight group utility in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderLichborne: Death knight group utility in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>control-undeaddeath-and-decaudeath-and-decaydeath-knight-group-utilitydeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-fevergroup-utilityguide-to-death-knightsicy-touchmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-death-knight-guidemists-of-pandaria-death-knight-talentsmists-of-pandaria-talentsoutbreakplague-strikeremorseless-winterwow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 20 Mar 2012 16:00:00 ESTLichborne: Why I play a death knighthttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/lichborne-why-i-play-a-death-knight/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/lichborne-why-i-play-a-death-knight/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/lichborne-why-i-play-a-death-knight/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

You know, starting at level 55 and not being a vanilla WoW class, you arguably have to go through a unique process to decide to play this class. It's true that you make a conscious choice to play what class you play, but somehow, starting from level 1, it's as much a dabbling as anything, a solid start point that could branch off. With a death knight, you're already in the game. You make a solid choice to leap from one class to another. It's probably more true of those of us who started at the beginning of Wrath, deliberately choosing to leave our mains to start anew, but on some level I think it can apply to just about anyone who plays a main death knight.

With this in mind, I thought it might fun this week to establish why we play our class, focusing on my own reasons for playing it and sticking with it.

A storied history

I will admit, I tend to be sort of a sap when it comes to stories. I like stories that are clashes between good and evil, with defined boundaries. I like my knights in shining armor fighting the forces of darkness. Some people find that too simple and tidy, but if I want shades of gray, I can find plenty of that in real life. Sometimes, I just want to kick some evil ass.

Continue reading Lichborne: Why I play a death knight

WoW InsiderLichborne: Why I play a death knight originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneclass-choiceclass-choicesdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornefrost-strikeguide-to-death-knightsobliterateoutbreakPlayStationunholy-death-knight-lichbornewhy-we-playwow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 13 Mar 2012 14:00:00 ESTLichborne: The effect of the new stat changes on death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/lichborne-the-effect-of-the-new-stat-changes-on-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/lichborne-the-effect-of-the-new-stat-changes-on-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/lichborne-the-effect-of-the-new-stat-changes-on-death-knights/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

We're still a couple of weeks away from the dam burst that is the Mists of Pandaria press event, but in the meantime, Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has posted a new Dev Watercooler. He listed some stat changes coming in Mists that, while ostensibly not as complicated as those in Wrath, still hold some interesting and possibly major implications for class balance in the coming expansion. Let's dive right in and see what they mean for death knights.

Blocking takes a week

While it doesn't directly affect us, the blocking changes will certainly shake up the tanking hierarchy that we're a part of, so it's worth pointing out that the usual single roll combat table for dodging, parrying, or blocking a hit is gone. Instead, the chance to block will be calculated only after the dodge and parry chance is calculated. This essentially means that being unhittable is gone. You can't just stack to 102.4%. Of course, death knights and druids have never been able to do this, but they will now be joined by the shield tanks.

Continue reading Lichborne: The effect of the new stat changes on death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: The effect of the new stat changes on death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>avoidanceblockblockingblood-death-knight-lichbornecritical-strikedeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsdodgeexpertisefeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneghostcrawlerguide-to-death-knightshitmistsmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-changesmists-of-pandaria-death-knight-changesmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-stat-changesparrypvp-defensepvp-powerresiliencerunic-focusstat-changesunhittableunholy-death-knight-lichbornewow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 06 Mar 2012 19:00:00 ESTLichborne: Further reflections on death knights in Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/28/lichborne-further-reflections-on-death-knights-in-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/28/lichborne-further-reflections-on-death-knights-in-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/28/lichborne-further-reflections-on-death-knights-in-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

Bridge in Pandaren Temple
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Now that we've all had a couple of weeks to absorb the latest updates to the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, it's worth going back and taking a second to look to see if we can dredge up anything else. I've been keeping track of various errata, as well as discussions among the death knight community, and I feel it's worth taking another week to take a second look at a few skills and talents and see where we lie as we wait for a new update, the Mists beta, or both.

Those annoying rune costs

You remember that Death Siphon and Soul Reaper have no rune cost in the current calculator, right? Alas, it's not that simple, and I must make a mea culpa here for not noticing this sooner: Blue posts have clarified that those two skills do cost a single death rune each.

This, of course, throws their proper use into a little more question. Is it worth it to use Soul Reaper when you could be spending that rune on a Scourge Strike or half of an Obliterate? Is the healing of Death Siphon worth giving up the extra damage from one of those weapon strikes? This is, again, where we'll need solid numbers to make that choice. At the least, though, I'd say it makes Death Pact an even more tempting choice for unholy death knights on the level 60 talent tier. As beta progresses, we'll definitely want to keep a close eye on these type of talents and try to answer that question. Are they worth the rune they're spending? If not, how do we fix them?

Continue reading Lichborne: Further reflections on death knights in Pandaria

WoW InsiderLichborne: Further reflections on death knights in Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>death-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsguide-to-death-knightswow-death-knightwow-dkDaniel WhitcombTue, 28 Feb 2012 09:00:00 ESTLichborne: New Mists of Pandaria talent updates for death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/21/lichborne-new-mists-of-pandaria-talent-updates-for-death-knight/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/21/lichborne-new-mists-of-pandaria-talent-updates-for-death-knight/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/21/lichborne-new-mists-of-pandaria-talent-updates-for-death-knight/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

As I'm sure you've heard by now, Blizzard treated us to a nice new chunk of news this past week with an update to the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator. Death knights received some new talents and new skills as well as adjustments to old ones that definitely deserve some analysis. We'll start by looking at the talent tiers, then move on to some of the new modified skills we're seeing in this build.

Level 15 begins our journey with a couple pieces of very welcome news. Outbreak is back to a general class skill, once again taking its place at level 81 for all three specs. In its place for tier 1 talents is the old-school Unholy Blight, in all its AoE glory. That's right, you can once again have that awesome semi-permanent damage aura. Alas, this welcome change is accompanied by the similar removal of Corpse Explosion in favor of Vile Spew, an ability that will explode an undead minion for AoE damage and disease infection.

Continue reading Lichborne: New Mists of Pandaria talent updates for death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: New Mists of Pandaria talent updates for death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>anti-magic-zoneblood-death-knight-lichbornebone-shieldclass-helpcontrol-undeadcorpse-explosiondeath-coildeath-gripdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedeath-pactdeath-siphonDesecrated-Grounddk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichbornefrost-presenceguideguide-to-death-knightsicy-griplichbornemists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-talent-calculatormists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopoutbreakpandariaRemorseless-Winterrunic-corruptionSanguine-fortitudesoul-reapertalenttalent-calculatortalentsunholy-blightunholy-death-knight-lichbornevampiric-bloodvile-spewworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 21 Feb 2012 09:00:00 ESTLichborne: Divining the direction of death knight lore in Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/14/lichborne-divining-the-direction-of-death-knight-lore-in-pandar/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/14/lichborne-divining-the-direction-of-death-knight-lore-in-pandar/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/14/lichborne-divining-the-direction-of-death-knight-lore-in-pandar/#commentsFiled under: ,

Forsaken Death Knight in Ebon Hold
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Let's face it: We had it pretty good in Wrath. Since that expansion was our grand debut, we were everywhere. We had an opening experience where we connected with our origin and found out that our own factions, for obvious reasons, barely trusted us. We were instrumental to the battle in Northrend, doing things other factions wouldn't do, with a clear goal of destroying those who wronged us. We were perfect tragic figures with some robust story and great characters in the form of Thassarian, Crok Scourgebane, and Darion Mograine, among others.

In Cataclysm, things have been, to say the least, a little bit sparser. With Arthas dead, do death knights have a purpose in lore anymore, or are we just around because it'd be sort of silly to remove the class and have everyone reroll? I tend to think death knights are still a pretty interesting and dynamic class, story-wise, and this week, we'll look at where we are at the end of Cataclysm and where our story might go in Mists of Pandaria.

Continue reading Lichborne: Divining the direction of death knight lore in Pandaria

WoW InsiderLichborne: Divining the direction of death knight lore in Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>andorhalblood-death-knight-lichbornebolvarbreakingclass-helpcrok-scourgebanedarion-mograinedeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-loredeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightsguide-to-loreknights-of-the-ebon-bladekoltiralich-kinglich-queenlorelore-guidemists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmoviespandaria-pvprole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideshasylvanas-windrunnertalenttalentsthassarianthe-shaunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingwow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 14 Feb 2012 15:00:00 ESTLichborne: Useful consumables your death knight should stockhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/lichborne-useful-consumables-your-death-knight-should-stock/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/lichborne-useful-consumables-your-death-knight-should-stock/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/lichborne-useful-consumables-your-death-knight-should-stock/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

So you've geared out. You've memorized your rotations. You've practiced them at the testing dummy. What's the next step? What do you do now to get your game to the next level and get some good habits going that will set you apart from the pack? One of the easiest ways to do that is to pay attention to your consumables.

Consumables are one-time use items that can heal you or give you a stat boost of varying lengths of time. The downside is that they do cost money or time to acquire. The upside is that they can have a significant boost on your DPS or survivability. Any player who's trying to play at the top level or even the middling level can and should use them. Today, we'll take a look at some of the most basic consumables death knights should be using and discuss how to get them and when to use them.

Continue reading Lichborne: Useful consumables your death knight should stock

WoW InsiderLichborne: Useful consumables your death knight should stock originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>beer-basted-crocoliskblackbelly-mudfishblackbelly-sushiblood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpcrocolisk-taildeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-consumablesdeath-knight-flasksdeath-knight-fooddeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-potionsdeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedense-embersilk-bandagedk-consumablesdk-flasksdk-fooddk-guidedk-infodk-potionsdk-talentsearthen-potionfeaturedflask-of-steelskinflask-of-titanic-strengthfortune-cookiefrost-death-knight-lichbornegolemblood-potionguideguide-to-death-knightsinvisibilityliving-action-potionmushroom-sauce-mudfishseafood-magnifiqueswiftnesstalenttalentsunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 07 Feb 2012 14:00:00 ESTLichborne: 5 common death knight mistakeshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/lichborne-five-common-death-knight-mistakes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/lichborne-five-common-death-knight-mistakes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/lichborne-five-common-death-knight-mistakes/#commentsFiled under: ,

A blood elf death knight outside molten core
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

A guide that tells you how to play is pretty helpful, don't get me wrong. But just reading that and following along often isn't enough. Sometimes, we make mistakes anyway. If it were simple as reading a guide, we'd all be in heroic raid groups never doing any less than 40,000 DPS on Madness of Deathwing and/or never dying due to our constant chain of Blood Shields while tanking. But human error will always enter into things.

Of course, realizing what mistakes you're making and getting them fixed is easier said than done, especially when they're being yelled at you by an irate guild leader or that especially grumpy member of your Raid Finder group. This week, we'll look at some of the most common mistakes death knights make and offer some short and sweet commonsense tips to avoiding them.

Continue reading Lichborne: 5 common death knight mistakes

WoW InsiderLichborne: 5 common death knight mistakes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>anti-magic-shellarmy-of-the-deadblood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpdeath-gripdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightsicebound-fortitudepillar-of-frostraise-deadsummon-gargoyletalenttalentsunholy-death-knight-lichbornevampiric-bloodworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:00 ESTLichborne: 3 predictions for death knights in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/death-knight-mists-of-pandaria-predictions/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/death-knight-mists-of-pandaria-predictions/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/24/death-knight-mists-of-pandaria-predictions/#commentsFiled under: ,

A Temple in Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Let's face it. The Mists of Pandaria information drought is ongoing and likely to keep up for quite some time. As a result, we're stuck in a holding pattern. We know the class needs some changes. We know we have been promised (or threatened with, depending on your viewpoint) changes for blood death knights, if only via a general change to the tanking paradigm. None of that information is forthcoming, however, and the blues lately have indicated it won't be coming for a while.

With that in mind, what we're left with is speculation. Today, I'd like to discuss three major changes I think we'll probably see with the new patch 5.0, one for each death knight tree. We already know change is a pretty huge constant for our class. It comes with the territory. We'll roll with the punches, as always, but it's nice to know what's coming. It helps you brace for it.

Continue reading Lichborne: 3 predictions for death knights in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderLichborne: 3 predictions for death knights in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>active-mitigationavoidance-capblockblock-chanceblood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-speculationdeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfestering-strikefrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightshowling -blastHowling-blastmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsscotlandtalenttalentsunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:00 ESTLichborne: The top death knight DPS gear of patch 4.3http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/17/top-death-knight-dps-gear-of-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/17/top-death-knight-dps-gear-of-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/17/top-death-knight-dps-gear-of-patch-4-3/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

I will be honest: I am still not impressed with our tier 13 set. The whole bone motif just isn't working for me. The set bonuses are also a little iffy for me, what with half of them being sort of OK and half sort of lackluster. It all leaves a bit of a lukewarm feeling. That said, I'm not too disappointed with the final tier of Cataclysm, because we have definitely received some pretty nice surprises from the itemization team.

Every tier should have those one or two items that make you stop and look again, items that, more than their superior stats, have a look or feel that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy and makes you want to get it no matter what the cost. We'll look at some of those items from the Dragon Soul raid today, starting with everyone's favorite sword that summons horrible visions from the depths of the earth, Gurthalak, Voice of the Deeps.

Continue reading Lichborne: The top death knight DPS gear of patch 4.3

WoW InsiderLichborne: The top death knight DPS gear of patch 4.3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>bone-link-fetishclass-helpcreche-of-the-final-dragondeath-knight-dps-trinketsdeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-geardeath-knight-gear-guidedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-dps-trinketsdk-geardk-gear-guidedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsdk-trinketsdps-trinketsdragon-souldragonsouleye-of-unmakingfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightsgurthalakgurthalak-voice-of-the-deepstalenttalentstrinketsunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 ESTLichborne: Fall of Deathwing Raid Finder tips for death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/-fall-of-deathwing-raid-finder-tips-for-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/-fall-of-deathwing-raid-finder-tips-for-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/-fall-of-deathwing-raid-finder-tips-for-death-knights/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

I will be frank: Every death knight should have a solid goal to defeat Deathwing this expansion. It's not for the experience, it's not the glory, it's not even for the achievements. No, it's for one thing: It's for the tentacle sword. This baby is everything that one can aspire for in a WoW weapon. It's a sword. It can be transmogrified into our signature runeblade. It has an awesome creepy pet proc. What's not to love?

Of course, to get to the sword, you'll first have to take down four bosses, hope the sword drops, and then hope you win the roll against who knows how many other plate DPSers in the raid -- but hey, you have to start somewhere, right? Let's dive into the Fall of Deathwing.

To be frank, the most annoying part of the fight with Ultraxion, the first boss, is his trash. Dragons will fly in slowly from the skies above and must be pulled down where you can DPS and/or tank them. If you can get past that, Ultraxion himself should be a breeze.

Continue reading Lichborne: Fall of Deathwing Raid Finder tips for death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: Fall of Deathwing Raid Finder tips for death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-raid-finderdeath-knight-raid-guidedeath-knight-raidingdeath-knight-raiding-guidedeath-knight-raiding-tipsdeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedeathwingdeathwing-raiddeathwing-raiding-guidedeathwing-raiding-tipsdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfall-of-deathwingfall-of-deathwing-lfr-guidefeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightsguide-to-raidinglfrlfr-fall-of-deathwingmadness-of-deathwingraid-finderraid-guideraidfinderspine-of-deathwingtalenttalentsultraxionunholy-death-knight-lichbornewarmaster-blackhornworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 10 Jan 2012 17:00:00 ESTLichborne: Siege of Wyrmrest Raid Finder advice for the death knighthttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/03/lichborne-seige-of-wyrmrest-raid-finder-advice-for-the-death-kn/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/03/lichborne-seige-of-wyrmrest-raid-finder-advice-for-the-death-kn/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/03/lichborne-seige-of-wyrmrest-raid-finder-advice-for-the-death-kn/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

Once you've finished the new patch 4.3 dungeons and gained a bit of loot from them, you may ask yourself: What's next? One of the most obvious answers is the Raid Finder tool. You'll get better loot and faster valor point gain, as well as some starting experience in the raid game if you ever get the desire or chance to join an organized raiding group.

Still, the idea of heading into a raid (even a simple one) can be a little daunting, so today I'd like to help allay your fears by giving you a quick look at the first of the Raid Finder scenarios, the Siege of Wyrmrest.

Before we get into the boss strategies, though, there are a few things you should get down.
  • Make sure your gear's good enough. If you can, get it gemmed (with strength gems) and enchanted. While you can head into Raid Finder as low as ilevel 372, don't be afraid to pick up an extra piece of gear or two from the heroic dungeons. A good weapon upgrade, for example, will do wonders for your DPS.
  • If you can afford them, consider grabbing some consumables. A Flask of Steelskin and some Lavascale Minestrone for tanks or a Flask of Titanic Strength and some Beer-Basted Crocolisk for DPS will put your performance at the next level, and for a good group, you'll only need one flask to face the whole dungeon. Morchok's easy enough that sometimes I save the flask until we engage the second boss, just to make sure it stretches.
  • Follow your raid leader. A raid is only as good as its raid leader and its members' abilities to follow their raid leaders' instructions, even in Raid Finder. Use these boss strategies, but defer to your raid leader where you can. They don't always know what they're doing, but in Raid Finder, sometimes that doesn't matter; either way, the more everyone works together, the easier things become.
  • Don't Panic and don't get uptight. This is a pickup group, so things will go wrong and people will randomly drop between groups. Just stay loose, have fun, and be prepared to wait a bit for replacements in between each boss. Griping just makes it less fun for everyone.

Continue reading Lichborne: Siege of Wyrmrest Raid Finder advice for the death knight

WoW InsiderLichborne: Siege of Wyrmrest Raid Finder advice for the death knight originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-raid-guidedeath-knight-raidingdeath-knight-raiding-guidedeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedk-guidedk-infodk-talentsdragon-soulfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightshagarahagara-the-stormbinderlfrmorchokpatch-4.3raid-finderraid-guideraiding-guideraidstalenttalentsunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-lfrwow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-raid-finderwow-raidingwow-raidswow-talent-guideyorsahjyorsahj-the-unsleepingzonozzDaniel WhitcombTue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 ESTLichborne: 2011 in review for death knightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/lichborne-2011-in-review-for-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/lichborne-2011-in-review-for-death-knights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/lichborne-2011-in-review-for-death-knights/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

As 2011 draws to a close, we have come to an end in some places. Patch 4.3 has been confirmed as the last major raid patch for the Cataclysm expansion. Certainly, Blizzard could always change tracks and create another raid or two if it can't get Pandaria up and running fast enough, but we can probably assume that most new class balancing will be put off.

With that in mind, it's a good time to look back on the year that was 2011 and see what death knights have been up to, what's happened with our class, and maybe make a few guesses about what we can expect going forward. 2011 was strange for us. We were never, perhaps, horribly underpowered, but we had some weird quirks, some strange deficiencies, and a lot of mechanical stuff to worry about. If I had to give it a title, perhaps I'd call it the year of contradictions.

Continue reading Lichborne: 2011 in review for death knights

WoW InsiderLichborne: 2011 in review for death knights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>20112011-year-in-reviewblood-death-knight-lichborneclass-helpdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-guidedeath-knight-infodeath-knight-talentsdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornedeath-knight-year-in-reviewdk-guidedk-infodk-talentsfeaturedfrost-death-knight-lichborneguideguide-to-death-knightstalenttalentsunholy-death-knight-lichborneworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-death-knightwow-dkwow-guidewow-talent-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 27 Dec 2011 15:00:00 ESTLichborne: A guide to leveling your death knight in the Cataclysm erahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/20/cataclysm-death-knight-leveling-guide/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/20/cataclysm-death-knight-leveling-guide/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/20/cataclysm-death-knight-leveling-guide/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

So the news that pandarens can't be death knights in the new expansion is a bit of a bummer, but it does mean you can start a new death knight right now without worrying about missing out on a new race choice. If you've read my guide to death knight racial abilities, you probably have a good idea of what race to roll, too. With that done, you've already taken the first step into a larger world.

Death knights, of course, start at level 55 and have that starting experience, which for the most part is pretty intuitive. You'll get more talent points as you finish quests, which can be fun in that you get your goodies a lot faster than other classes, but frustrating in that you don't have as much time to get used to everything. Luckily, we're here to help.

This guide isn't about maximizing your DPS at the raiding level or even the dungeon level; it's about getting you to level 85 as smoothly as possible. With that in mind, let's look at each talent spec and what they have to offer, starting with my favorite leveling spec, frost.

Frost is a great leveling tree (if there's a best leveling tree, this is it) because not only does it have On A Pale Horse, which allows you to move between mobs and quest objectives faster, but it has Lichborne for emergency heals and Howling Blast for superior AoE capability.

Continue reading Lichborne: A guide to leveling your death knight in the Cataclysm era

WoW InsiderLichborne: A guide to leveling your death knight in the Cataclysm era originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-death-knight-lichborneclass-101damage-rotationdeath-knight-101death-knight-blood-levelingdeath-knight-blood-lichbornedeath-knight-damage-rotationdeath-knight-frost-levelingdeath-knight-frost-lichbornedeath-knight-levelingdeath-knight-leveling-guidedeath-knight-unholy-levelingdeath-knight-unholy-lichbornefrost-death-knight-lichbornelegalleveling-guideunholy-death-knight-lichbornewow-leveling-guideDaniel WhitcombTue, 20 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST