mendax.org

One of the fundamental concepts governing groups in World of Warcraft (WoW) is the “holy trinity”, which says that group survivability is a function of some classes tanking, some healing, and others doing the brunt of damage during an encounter. WoW adopted this concept from previous MMORPGs, and in all likelihood, it will be some time before the holy trinity is abandoned in these types of games.

In WoW, there are currently three classes capable of tanking, four capable of healing, and all nine capable of specializing in damage output (albeit some perform this role better than others). This is quite an evolution from WoW’s release, when only one class could truly tank, one could truly heal, and only five or six truly take on the DPS role. Back then, some classes were relegated to a fourth role, in which they provided marginal support in the form of buffs, wipe prevention, and “off” tanking/healing.

Needless to say, since WoW’s release in 2004, changes were slowly implemented such that off-tanks became fully capable tanks, and off-healers similarly became full-fledged healers. Nowadays, there is no class that cannot take on a leading role, and the fact that all classes can solo-grind effectively as long as they are properly talent-specialized for it, makes every class viable.

Unfortunately, dealing damage is a more appealing role to most players than the arguably more complicated roles of tanking and healing. While the latter may not impose the same degree of responsibility as the former, there was a time when healers were in much shorter supply than tanks, though this phenomenon has reversed itself since the release of Burning Crusade (BC). A significant factor behind this is undoubtedly the need to focus on damage in order to successfully engage in PvP combat, which today includes not only Battlegrounds, but also Arenas and World PvP. Thus, it is no surprise that tanks are lacking, and Blizzard undoubtedly knows this, which is why they intend to release the Death Knight Hero Class as tanking capable.

Much ado has been made about the Death Knight class, in great part because it’s still uncertain as to what exactly a Death Knight’s limitations are, and how their role will differ from Protection Warriors/Paladins, and Feral Druids. What we do know is that Death Knights are not supposed to be inherently more powerful than any other class, and yet they will be capable of tanking while dual-wielding and using two-handed weapons. In this capacity, Death Knights will be able to perform tanking and damage roles, though it’s unlikely that they will be able to do both at the same time, at least in the same capacity as a pure tank/damage class.

One of the common complaints made by current tanks is that Death Knights will compete for existing tanking gear, though this is unlikely. Just as Protection Paladins need different gear than Protection Warriors, the fact that Death Knights will utilize a rune-based system instead of mana/rage means that they will likely focus on different stats than their contemporaries. While the specifics of the rune system aren’t available yet, what we do know is that Death Knights will have to etch six runes into their weapon before combat, and as special abilities are used, these runes are consumed, and are ultimately refreshed later. The runes come in three forms: blood (damage), frost (control), and unholy (utility/DoTs).

Given the little we know about them, Death Knights will likely be limited in their abilities to tank and deal damage based not only on their talent spec, but also on the six runes they’ve chosen to utilize in a given combat session. In other words, a tanking Death Knight will likely choose to use mostly defensive runes (frost), while damage-dealing Death Knights will prefer to focus elsewhere (blood).

In this respect, Death Knights will likely be great situational tanks much like Druids who have not focused specifically on tanking talents, or Paladins/Warriors who are not heavily invested in the Protection tree. Chances are, Blizzard’s final Death Knight product will be one that cannot play both tanking and DPS roles at the same time as some have envisioned, but rather specialize in one role, and can handle limited aspects of their unchosen role just as Retribution Paladins can momentarily tank during exigent circumstances.

Itemization will likely be adjusted for Death Knights, and the fact that they will be designed exclusively for late-level play means that item drops will begin to includes plate with other stats on them (i.e. bonuses to frost damage). At this point, it’s hard to condemn Death Knights for replacing existing tanks, though the threat of this is unlikely. Rather, there will be one more option for tanking, and some encounters designed to be easier for Death Knight tanks, just a some encounters are currently designed for Paladin tanks.

At the very least, most people should agree that four classes capable of tanking is much better than one, which means we have indeed come a long way.

Popularity: 6% [?]