deathcoil's posterous

Answer A Saresa: Nothing! Why, What's wrong with Warlocks?

Saresa over at Destructive Reach posted a little poking at Death Knights ( http://www.destructivereach.com/2010/07/ask-a-saresa-death-knights-and-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-them/ ) and I feel the need to pipe up.   She makes a couple of valid points, but she also overlooks the possibility that some folks were *ready* for a class change.

Point 1: "Every man and his dog is going to roll the class that starts FIFTY EIGHT levels ahead of the rest of us."

Truth!  However I had just completed a sixty level grind on a PvP server with a Warlock during a time they were getting no love.  I was ready for a change in play style to freshen up the feeling of the game.  Plus I was really interested in how the mechanic worked, as it had been hyped senseless the weeks before the release.  Starting at 55 (then progressing three levels while learning the basics of the class was icing, really.  It also kept blizzard from having to add more itemized loot to the old world so that the STR and AGI dependent DK would have decent gear to hit Outlands with. (Additionally, everyone can agree the starting zones for Vanilla wow are exercise in extreme patience in some cases.)

Point 2: Death Knights are like the new plate wearing Mage.  They stand around, try hard to look pretty, and QQ at the drop of a hat.  Not the way to behave for the class that is trying to take the evil mantle from Warlocks.

Honestly, my first reaction was that Unholy played EXACTLY how a warlock felt it should have played.  The whole time I was leveling and frequently in Dungeons was Unholy DPS.  With the diseases and the pet, it is extraordinarily like playing a warlock with enhanced survivability. I ran the first one (Horde) to 73, then popped over to play with the Girlfriend on Alliance (since she doesn't see the cool of Horde...) and pressed to make 80 in short order.   I still dig playing my DK and am competent enough to not wipe instances or raids.  (I am currently working on a hunter, but it's another pet class that plays NOTHING LIKE a warlock.)  My only QQ is about my ability to get into instances, mainly because I don't have a lot of time, or am on a connection where there is latency enough to cause instancing to be a problem. (I have a second location that I play from, but it is WiFi only, making things touchy for timing.) But that is my own problem that I could solve eventually. 

As far as the MANTLE OF EEEEEVIL(tm) is concerned, we currently share it with the Warlocks, Forsaken (Wrathgate counts!) and the Blood Knights (Blood Elf Paladins) who are doing pretty good at keeping it real (Evil.)


Note: This is a joking reply, and more geared to poke at Saresa's funny bone than sore spots.  Any animosity is actually reserved for all gnome characters, as they are creepy little child things.

Observations on Cataclysm ( spoliers) and looking ahead.

I have been peering at the screenshots of the various zones in Cataclysm
over at www.mmo-champion.com and in addition to the strains on the vanilla
world we know and mostly love, I see some strains in the relationships of
the various groups, who up until recently, were pretty darn tight.

SPOILERS BELOW- NO FOLD

I see this mostly in the Horde, as we see that the Tauren have now gated
off the little path that leads to Mulgore. In some ways this could be
because of the increased presence of Alliance troops in the Barrens, but
also because Garrosh Hellscream is now running the show over in Orgrimmar.
I think that the Tauren expansion throughout Kalimdor is a good thing,
but it seems like there may be some tension with the more war-minded
Garrosh at the helm. The bit I read about Sylvanas using the Vrykul to
raise new Forsaken has got to be sitting poorly with the other groups
within the Horde, as creating new undead is not really a comfortable
thought for the living. The Blood Elves appear to have redeemed
themselves at the end of the Burning Crusade and are more in line with the
Tauren and Trolls (which could explain the Troll Druids and the Tauren
Paladins.)

I find it hard to believe that the current political structures are going
to remain static for many more expansions, but I am not sure how to
implement a change. I would prefer to see the Tauren, Trolls and Blood
Elves move into their own arrangements, possibly picking up the Draenai as
an unlikely ally, as it seems these groups are all headed in some similar
direction.

Having the Orcs, goblins, forsaken, and perhaps a new race group (Ogres?
Living Vrykul? BOTH??) form an warhorde would make sense as well, though
the reasons for such might have to be looked at closely.

The Alliance would be fine with the current structure (Gnomes, Night
Elves, Dwarves, Humans and Worgen.)

I don't know that the balance would work out for things like Wintergrasp,
but I think that it would be an interesting change for the game in the
long run. Blizzard has shown that they are willing to kill a few sacred
cows to make things interesting, so I wouldn't put anything off the table.