@Nilianil: I’m with you; I hate the fact that one class above all the others gets to start at level 55. In my opinion, they’re going to have to allow ALL classes to work that way at some point. Guild Wars has something similar, actually, where you can create a maximum level character if all you want to do is PvP with it.

@Nox: I am not painfully overpowered. It feels … sooo …. goooood. And I haven’t decided whether I will seriously play my DK, although Mr. Phae and I are talking about leveling a brother/sister pair for fun.

@Azatharis: I don’t know how much attention Blizzard pays to pre-maximum level balancing anymore. Especially with the increased emphasis on Arenas and competitive PvP, they have little reason to concern themselves with OP abilities available to level 30 characters.

@Tone: Interesting point about Subtlety providing some resistance to Degeneration. The idea makes me suspect that it isn’t considered a dispel after all.

I think you’re right about the motivation of many people rolling DKs. The very description of a Death Knight doesn’t call out to people wanting to play the generous role of a tank. Instead, I think you’ll see DPS Warriors and Rogues rerolling DKs en masse. Warlocks, too.

Interestingly, the change to the Healer/Tank/DPS dynamic is something Mr. Phae has talked to me about many, many times. He thinks games should operate more the way that traditional RP games do in that “tank” characters don’t taunt mobs but instead position themselves so that they’re a target. I personally really like playing a healer and support character (Bards were always my favorite D&D characters), so I’m not sure I’d be too keen on such a drastic re-envisionment of the genre.

@MeanderingMind: I hope you’re right. I think I’d prefer to be more viable in 5v5 where there is less stress on one healer to keep everyone — including herself — alive. Certainly the armor increase in Tree of Life will help … but only if the form can no longer be banishable by Warlocks.

@Ramalina: Haha.

Priest 1 “I am nice, let me mind control you so my friends can’t hurt you.”
Druid “I am also nice, let me stack some nice heals on you.”
Priest 2 “Actually, after some consultation the three of us have decided we’re not so nice after all. That’s why I just MCed your deathknight friend and turned those HOTs into a disease.”

Thanks for the feedback. I don’t want to sound too negative – you’re definitely right in saying that Blizzard is doing a lot of other work on existing tanking classes (and maybe even the group content itself). I’m pretty enthusiastic about some of the potential goodies for Warriors and Druids, and didn’t mean to imply that Death Knights are Blizzard’s idea of a “solution.” Rather, my concern is that the players who will most benefit from all these changes are those who already play tanks. Maybe improving the classes themselves will reduce the barrier for some players, but I’m worried that it’s not the classes that are the biggest problem – it’s the tanking concept itself.

The majority of players either don’t want to play that kind of role, or simply can’t because the characters they’re invested in are not capable of it. What I would prefer to see is a re-evaluation of the tank/dps/healer dynamic. Instead of a standard 5-person group requiring 1 tank, 3 dps, and a healer (all fighting more against aggro tables than badguys), why not tune the content and gameplay so that groups can be formed more loosely, and empower all characters to better take care of themselves and each other in a fight. There would still be reason to put together a good team, but it would be more about having a good mix of offense, defense, utility, and healing. There’s nothing heroic to me about 1 person doing all the “fighting” while 3 people do all the “killing” (trying very hard not to let the targets notice that they’re being killed!). But this is the highly-engrained gameplay I was referring to. It’s easy for me to call for change, and maybe I’m the only person who finds this convention to be totally lame, but I think it would make group play more exciting and would greatly reduce the “shortages” of tanks and healers.

It might also ruin the game. I probably haven’t thought it all the way through…

I don’t find the class quite as artificial as you, perhaps because of a different outlook.

Blizzard isn’t just creating a new tanking class, there are significant changes coming to the old ones. While we don’t know what Paladins are getting, we’re seeing many current complaints for Druids and Warriors being addressed. So, at least from where I stand, the DK appears to be merely one facet of a larger plan to fix tanking.

@Phae

Personally, I’m hoping that Degeneration is part of a larger scheme to make Resto Druids more useful across all levels of Arena, rather than simply overpowered in one venue and increasingly underpowered in the others.

MeanderingMinds last blog post..Seabass 2008

No, Resto Druids aren’t all that overpowered. They have a great set of tools to work with in 2v2 and BGs. They do ok in 3v3, but not exceptional, and they do poorly in 5v5. Even in 2v2, supposedly the place where Resto Druids dominate, Disc. Priests perform almost as well. A 2v2 team isn’t automatically winning just because there is a Resto Druid on their team.

That being said, I’m really unconcerned about this. It adds a new element to game play, that’s all. What used to work for Druids may not work as well any more, at least under certain circumstances.

For example, there’s a problem of not enough people playing tanks. Part of Blizzard’s solution is to make this new tank class, but to give it a new twist and more of an edge. The DK may draw more people in to try tanking, but I personally feel that the tank shortage is more about players than classes. I think it would be better addressed in changes to the player experience of gameplay, not class. But the gameplay is highly-engrained, so I understand that it’s a very hard sell.

There’s also the problem of Resto Druid representation in arenas. The fundamental nature of Druids (agile mobility and HoTs) happens to be very effective in parts of the arena system. So along with other changes, it looks like Death Knights will be able to help shut that down. I can see where they’re coming from with this. In a way, it’s smart because it seems like a single DK would greatly counter a Druid in 2v2, a little less so in 3v3, and much less so in 5v5. But personally, I think a more creative solution would be to reevaluate the arena playstyle itself, and come up with something better. Resto Druids are not really overpowered – they’re just particularly well-suited to an artificial environment of 4 people stuck in a gladiator pit, trying to kill each other. It makes sense that dedicated PvP players will be drawn to a healing class that allows them to leverage their skill and be quick on their feet (and paws!). Changes like this may have the desired outcome that Blizzard wants. But I think it’s also very risky. What will happen when arena players realize that Resto Druids are now a liability? They’ll stop playing them, and suddenly Druids will be underrepresented and clearly “in need of buffs.” Relentlessly meddling with class balance for PvP has come to feel like treating the symptoms, rather than the underlying illness. Death Knights are a whole new class, and so they’re a whole new batch of meddling. Again, they just feel very artificial.

But despite my criticism, I’m not really that worried. I’m sure whatever Blizzard does will work out fine (or be adjusted afterward to work out fine!). And to be honest: from a game-mechanics standpoint, there are actually some aspects of Death Knights that do seem really interesting to me, but I doubt I’d ever get over the ‘darkness and disease’ vibe. It’s just not me. I’m more of a ‘sunshine and tree hugs’ guy, so I suspect I’ll just stick with Druids for now.

Nox: I like the idea of a Death Knight bank alt too! That way I don’t have to level up my current bank alt to get max Enchanting to disenchant the green trash I pick up in Outland!

I will stand by my belief that resto druids are not as overpowered as half the entire world thinks simply because dealing with druids is different than dealing with all other healers which rely on casting times. I’m sorry we’re not all EQ clerics. I do think they’re currently overpowered, but I think the bigger aspect is that it’s combined with resto druids being very annoying to face, and annoyance always gets to people. If someone’s doing more harm to you but it’s not in an annoying way, they’ll often be overlooked compared to the guy not doing as much but just really getting on your nerves.

Painfully overpowered is a stretch, unless your life is 2v2.