Death knight dev FAQ (2nd Oct)

cupertino

not read it yet thought http://www.wow-europe.com/wrath/features/deathknight/interview.xml

Shadoed

There was one very important statement that stuck out for me and that was "It’s also important to keep in mind that even though the death knight is a hero class, that doesn’t mean it is more powerful than the other classes, just that it will offer a very different playing experience."

Some nice info, cheers cupertino.

DrowNoble

Translation:  the Hero Class won't be actually that "heroic" so we can cut down on everyone whining about overpowered Death Knights.  Would of been nice had they made them balanced only with respect to other Hero Classes, but looks like they are going to wuss them down so they can fit with the existing classes in psuedo-harmony.

Everytime they release more info about the DK I seem to want to be one even less.  (sigh)

Recant

I can hardly believe what I'm reading.  Serious question, do you actually play WoW and have you seriously considered what you're asking for?  A class more powerful than all the others.  Right, so nobody bothers to play the non-heroic classes anymore?

cptnj4

Thanks Blizzard! I love that you keep implementing new grinds to keep the masses in check.   Why would we want to just buy an xpac and have new classes when we can grind our way to a new class!?!?!     /endsarcasm

Recant

Well yes, that's one way of looking at it .

Another way of looking at it is that the whole lore and concept of a Death Knight, and the way it ties into Arthas and Northrend, means that simply picking it from the character select screen belies the whole "fall from grace" aspect that Arthas went through.

You could also argue that this prevents half the population re-rolling as a Death Knight when the expansion goes live.

I suppose it depends on if your ability to think objectively outweighs the typical MMO subscriber's tendancy to moan about anything new that's announced for a game that they haven't even tried, regardless of developer or how cool said change is.

Wardden

Don't mind a grind for the class but please god making it more entertaining and less SWG jedi grind

Antipathy

Originally posted by Recant

You could also argue that this prevents half the population re-rolling as a Death Knight when the expansion goes live.

It will only delay the inevitable. There will still be huge numbers of death knights running around within a month or two of the expansion's release.

Recant

Of course, which is why I honestly expect them to announce at least another hero class before the expansion goes live.

DrowNoble

Originally posted by Recant


I can hardly believe what I'm reading.  Serious question, do you actually play WoW and have you seriously considered what you're asking for?  A class more powerful than all the others.  Right, so nobody bothers to play the non-heroic classes anymore?

Well CoH has the Epic Archtype, which is simliar to the Hero Class.  On average they are more powerful than any other archtype(depending on slotting & power selection).  However, the game isn't filled with just Peacebringers and Warshades.  People enjoy playing other powersets and archtypes so the fact there is a "stronger" EAT out there means nothing to them.

Yes I do play WoW, started day 2 of release (was working day it came out).  

My point was they are going to "wuss down" the DK to put it more in line with the non-heroic classes.  By doing that isn't it technically not that "heroic" anymore? 

Pappy13

Originally posted by DrowNoble


 
Originally posted by Recant


I can hardly believe what I'm reading.  Serious question, do you actually play WoW and have you seriously considered what you're asking for?  A class more powerful than all the others.  Right, so nobody bothers to play the non-heroic classes anymore?

Well CoH has the Epic Archtype, which is simliar to the Hero Class.  On average they are more powerful than any other archtype(depending on slotting & power selection).  However, the game isn't filled with just Peacebringers and Warshades.  People enjoy playing other powersets and archtypes so the fact there is a "stronger" EAT out there means nothing to them.

 

Yes I do play WoW, started day 2 of release (was working day it came out).  

My point was they are going to "wuss down" the DK to put it more in line with the non-heroic classes.  By doing that isn't it technically not that "heroic" anymore? 

But by your own admission the Epic Archtypes aren't all that much more powerful depending on slotting & Power selection.  On average more powerful, but not by a lot.  I'm sure there will be more than a few "Dark Knights are OP!!!" screams in the first few days after the release...hide and watch.

DrowNoble

Well yes I said depending on slotting, enhancements and power selection how actually "powerful" the EAT is can vary.  Many go tri-form sacrificing the strength of their powers in human form to boost their shapeshifted powers.  So they are rather weak in a team if they stay human, but can pretty much take the role of a Tanker in dwarf form or match a Blaster nuke-for-nuke in nova.  I have known a few that didn't pick either of their shapeshifts and focused solely on their human powers.   They pretty much combined the nukes of a Blaster and the crowd control of a Controller.  This made them very well rounded, the "jack of all trades master of none" kind of build.

Course same could be said for WoW classes, if you don't know what you are doing and pick the wrong talents you can "gimp" yourself.  Also depends on how the player gears up their character (equipment, enchantments, etc).

Pappy13

Originally posted by DrowNoble


Well yes I said depending on slotting, enhancements and power selection how actually "powerful" the EAT is can vary.  Many go tri-form sacrificing the strength of their powers in human form to boost their shapeshifted powers.  So they are rather weak in a team if they stay human, but can pretty much take the role of a Tanker in dwarf form or match a Blaster nuke-for-nuke in nova.  I have known a few that didn't pick either of their shapeshifts and focused solely on their human powers.   They pretty much combined the nukes of a Blaster and the crowd control of a Controller.  This made them very well rounded, the "jack of all trades master of none" kind of build.
Course same could be said for WoW classes, if you don't know what you are doing and pick the wrong talents you can "gimp" yourself.  Also depends on how the player gears up their character (equipment, enchantments, etc).

Then essentially what you have is simply another class that has the potential to be quite powerful.  Maybe slightly more powerful than the traditional classes, but not so much as to unbalance the game or make other classes useless.  I believe this will be true of Death Knights as well.

DrowNoble

If they are going to "wuss down" the DK so as to keep it on par with the existing classes, they should just make it a new class for WotLK.  No unlocking, no level requirement, just you buy the expansion  you can go make a level one DK.

What level one Death Knight?!  How absurd!

Hey even Arthas was a noob at some point. 

Pappy13

Originally posted by DrowNoble


If they are going to "wuss down" the DK so as to keep it on par with the existing classes, they should just make it a new class for WotLK.  No unlocking, no level requirement, just you buy the expansion  you can go make a level one DK.
What level one Death Knight?!  How absurd!
Hey even Arthas was a noob at some point. 

That's not a bad idea, but I kinda like the way that Blizzard has done this.  This gives you a reward for reaching level 80 and it doesn't force you to go thru all the old content again.  I really WANTED to level up a Shaman when the first expansion came out, but after about 20 levels, I just couldn't force myself to go thru the whole process again.  If I could have started at level 55 or so, I would have done it.

retrospectic

I am really interested to see how this next expansion changes the game.  I am hopeful, but I'm also jaded.  I played EverQuest long enough to know how expansions can make casual players feel left out and behind.  Hopefully 2 will not magically become 12.

Pappy13

 

Originally posted by retrospectic


I am really interested to see how this next expansion changes the game.  I am hopeful, but I'm also jaded.  I played EverQuest long enough to know how expansions can make casual players feel left out and behind.  Hopefully 2 will not magically become 12.

Well Blizzard is addressing that with Patch 2.3.  Levels from 20-60 are getting about a 15% reduction to the amount of experience needed to level up.  On top of that quest experience rewards for quests in the level range 30-60 are getting an increase with a larger percentage increase as it gets higher.  They've also added about 60 new quests in the 30-40 range which had been a little light on quests.  Even dungeons are being "tweaked" to make them easier to complete and the rewards for completing them better which should make it easier to get groups for them.

So what does it all mean?  Well it means it's going to take considerably less time to level from 20-60 than it does now.  Could be as much as 1/4 less time.  So that means casuals will find it increasingly easy to get to level 60 and the new content.  And WoW has long been considered casual friendly, so if you can't make it to level 60 in WoW after these changes, well you just aren't really spending much time working on it.

cupertino

Originally posted by DrowNoble


If they are going to "wuss down" the DK so as to keep it on par with the existing classes, they should just make it a new class for WotLK.  No unlocking, no level requirement, just you buy the expansion  you can go make a level one DK.
What level one Death Knight?!  How absurd!
Hey even Arthas was a noob at some point. 

The new deathknight class is an intigrule part of the expansion.. its all rumor so far but blizz have confirmed that players will fight along side arthus in a caverns of time instance to sack the town of stratholme... as in previous CoT dungeons the player will probably take on a persona.. and in this case a deathknight? You help arthus burn the city but then something happens you "as a deathknight" decide to breakaway form arthus.. maybe defeat him so he runs away and hey-presto.. you unlocked a deathknight.

So deathknights cannot start from lvl 1, why would arthus want a lvl 1 noob  As blizzard have said you wont need to be 80 to unlock a DK.. reason being they dont want players rushing through 70-80 just to get a DK.. which is a good idea.