We all know patch 4.0.something.whatever is out. We’ve known it was coming. Some of us even decided to try it out on the PTR before it went live. Some of us meant to and didn’t get to it before it hit. It’s a big sucker. I’m downloading it now. Yes, I know, I’m a couple of days late but this is the first opportunity of any time I’ve had to address it.
I have to admit that I have some ambivalence and trepidation regarding the changes. I know they are all in preparation for the expansion. I am excited to see the changes, especially to the land, in Cataclysm. And so we have to deal with the changes in the patch. I’ve heard lots of concerns from one of my friends. He’s not very happy about what was being done to his Paladin. That’s fine. I get that. And I will be honest, I’m not very happy with what they have done to the Death Knight.
You may recall that my only level 80 character is a Death Knight. I have been playing DPS in the Blood spec. I like the Blood spec but I don’t want to tank. I tried to learn to play the Frost spec as I have another DK that I’ve been working on, on a different server. I just don’t care for it. It’s slow. There aren’t enough buttons to push fast enough.
So now that I get a re-spec opportunity I’ve got to figure out what to do. I could go blood and I would have to learn to tank. I could got Frost and learn to deal, I could go Unholy and figure that one out. Now, if this isn’t bad enough, there is the little issue with the need to re-gem and to get new glyphs. I’m just not happy about this. Quite honestly it’s going to be expensive and I still haven’t recovered from my last major purchase which was the Epic Flying. Seriously, this is just annoying.
Since I do have that other Death Knight that also got a re-spec, and I’m not sure I’m going to keep, for silly reasons but they will do, I suppose I could sped her as Unholy and see how that works out. But do I want to deal with the ghoul?
I’m really having trouble getting interested, not to mention excited, about playing my Death Knight again. There’s just so much work that will be involved in getting back to a comfort level. Ugh.
Then again there is my Rogue. Yep, this has potential. Yes, I still have to deal with the re-spec but…she’s only at 46. Not so many points to have to dither over. Also, I play combat for my Rogue and I read something that looks like the combat Rogue is going to get a little more ability to deal with multiple threats. WOOT! I like my Rogue but I’m more comfortable with it for single targets or two at the most so this could make it even more fun to play. Guess which toon I’ll be playing first? Yep. I also don’t have quite so much already invested in gear and glyphs and all so it won’t be as annoying to get her ready to go. I may still have to learn some new bits but that feels less a chore than my Death Knights.
One of my friends who has several 80 level toons was telling me that he ran out of inks to make his new glyphs and so hasn’t been able to completely retool all his toons. Nor has his wife who is in the same boat. This is a big patch and it’s a big chore to get back to really being able to do some damage.
I’ve heard that tanks are having trouble holding agro in the dungeons and that the dps are pulling it away. I’ve been told that that means dps will have to learn to play better. Ok, that’s fine if you play a class that has some spells that give it something special, like a Rogue with Sap and some of the casters. I usually play a Death Knight for this. Death Knights don’t have a lot of finesse type spells. They just beat the garbage out of stuff. That’s what they do. They don’t do subtle. As this is my reference point, while they are complaining about the situation and the crappy dps I’m feeling a little assaulted. On the other hand they are telling me that this is more like when Burning Crusade came out and when a Heroic Dungeon was a real challenge and getting through it meant something. Ok. I can see where this would be good and return a certain amount of challenge to the game for many more players.
While I’m lacking in enthusiasm for the changes at the moment, I can see how some of the changes to the talents and such are a good thing. Lets face it, last week if you were a Blood Death Knight you pretty much had all the same stuff the next Blood Death Knight had as far as talents and gear and gems and glyphs. Everyone was pretty cookie cutter because things had been analyzed and tested to the point that there really was only one build per spec that did the most damage, held the most agro, or healed for the most amount at a time. I think, at least until they’ve analyzed and scrutinized all the changes in enough situations that there will be a time period where not all Blood Death Knights will look the same and not all Combat Rogues will look the same. There may be a little room for some variety and individualism to be had. I think this will add some challenge as well. I think it will now take more than a gear score and spec to determine if you want a particular person as part of your raid team.
Change is usually a good thing. It keeps us from getting complacent and it keeps us learning and adapting. Sometimes though there is the desire or need to whine a bit about all the effort that is involved in that. I guess I better log in and get started.
Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.
