Homework: QotD Nov 3rd

[Lord Nipsey]

Question of the Day:

 

There was a conversation brought up in Teamspeak3 during the runs which brought up the argument of the Frost DK on the team and his stat priority.

 

Mastery as we all know provides massive "rot" damage gains to team-fights.

 

Versatility provides decent gains to damage, and massive gains to suitability.

 

There are a million and 1 ways to paint this picture based on situation.  Based on the situations we face, here is the question.

 

Would it be more beneficial for the Frost DK to go mastery build or versatility build?  Why?

 

 

[Ezlock66]

it would go between what you are playing, for rbgs i would suggest mastery, gives all your dots more power behind it. for arena i would suggest versatility so you can take less damage while in arena so it helps out your healer and makes you more survivable.

[crazyjohn23]

From what I understand, the "rot" damage will come into play much more than the versatility in rbgs. Versatility is great for DKs when first gearing as it not only increases damage done but healing as well, however against better geared teams the spread damage will dish out more pressure on healers leading them to be oom quckier, which I do recall being the main time to go for kills. 

[Infx]

I think it's entirely dependent on the situation. Is this question directed at Frost or Unholy? Stat priority for Unholy changes with Necrotic Plague while Frost stays essentially the same. In the case of pure damage, stat priority should be as follows:

 

Frost: Strength > Mastery > Multistrike = Haste > Versatility > Critical Strike

Unholy (non-Necrotic Plague): Strength > Multistrike > Mastery > Critical Strike > Versatility > Haste

Unholy (Necrotic Plague): Strength > Mastery > Multistrike > Critical Strike > Versatility > Haste

 

NP is the obvious choice for all RBG situations, which means priority for Mastery over Multistrike in Unholy. Now, the question remains whether a Mastery over Versatility build is more beneficial. Again, I believe this is dependent on situation. If the DK is going for pure damage, Mastery is the best choice. If the DK is going for better survivability (increased healing, decreased damage taken), Versatility is the best choice. 

 

For the majority of regular play I'd value Mastery over Versatility. However, having a Versatility build definitely helps. Situational applications for this Versatility build are not hard to come by in RBGs. For example, let's imagine playing on Arathi Basin. Typically a DK would be sent to Blacksmith to spin flag for as long as possible. In this case, the Versatility build is preferable to allow for increased survivability. If for some reason a DK would have to sit a base, the Versatility build would be preferable once more.

 

Bottom line - situational awareness is key. Assess the possibilities and choose accordingly.

[Aavrianbro]

As for me. I find Versatility is better in RBGs because you have a higher chance of surviving if your healers die and you are left spinning a base or whatever the case is. Mastery increases frost damage and that is it. Versatility on the other hand, increases damage/healing done AND decreases the damage you take. ALONG with this. I believe DKS should run Death Siphon instead of Death Pact because it has no CD while DP has a 2 minute CD. But that's my 2sense.

[Infx]

I did some comparisons via Simulationcraft. It seems I stand corrected (given I did the sims correctly). Versatility build actually boosts damage and survivability in RBG situations.

Global Parameters: Level 100 Human Frost Death Knight (Dual Wield), Veteran PvP Skill, Light Movement, 2.5 minute fight, 0.5% target error

Global Talents: Plague Leech, Lichborne, Chillblains, Blood Tap, Death Siphon, Desecrated Ground, Necrotic Plague 

Global Glyphs: (Major:) Runic Power, Regenerative Magic, Icy Touch (Minor:) Resilient Grip, Path of Frost, Death's Embrace

Talent / Glyphs taken from Rank 1 US RBG Death Knight Hoochella

HTML Results: Mastery Build, Versatility Build

[Drr95]

So my thoughts are this, with the what was coming from both sides of the party I would be in the place as using it Mastery in  the correct situation which would be in Eye of the storm I would say that you need to run more mastery only because you need more burst and damage and not that vers. I am still in favor for having it because it help you live longer. On a Flag caring map i would run Mastery also unless I was needed to hold the flag. Mastery is needed but with that being said I still think it is a good idea to run vers. I get what people say by the best dk's run high mastery but you have to take into account that everyone has there own play style. And they take the same situation into account it is all SITUATION it dosen't have to be mastery all the time or all vers. What you see in the higher ratings is mastery but that is on armory's not in all the games. Those are my thoughts on it.

Examples

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/korgath/Hoochella/advanced

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/tichondrius/Deejaydeekay/advanced

on these armor'y they have high mastery but that dose not mean that they run all mastery gear all the time. 

 

 

[Drr95]

crazyjohn23 wrote:

From what I understand, the "rot" damage will come into play much more than the versatility in rbgs. Versatility is great for DKs when first gearing as it not only increases damage done but healing as well, however against better geared teams the spread damage will dish out more pressure on healers leading them to be oom quckier, which I do recall being the main time to go for kills.

 I do agree that rot will put more pressure out. But With that being said with out having the rot in you have the burst so you have a Rot/Burst comp and that will be amazing to execute on with the burst damage instead of letting things rot down and have the team last longer i think with the rot and then the finishing burst damage will be more effective in Rbg's because in rbg's they do not have a dampaning so the damage will stay the same until Cd's come up and if we are going aginst healers who know what they are doing then they will swap out mana drinking and punish us for having a rot comp.

[FoxesnSockez]

from what ive seen its situational... the mastery works when the DK is going in to spread disease in team fights, not hit hard. Vers its for tankyness and hard hits. our play style at the moment fits vers. but i do think we should eventually transition into mastery once the team is ready to handle that style.

[courtt]

I took the approach of statistics for this subject. I looked up the top ten DK's for rbg's and the three DK contributors from skill cap. Right across the board they are all spec'd into mastery. That being said I do feel that versatility would be a consideration on certain maps and situations where you may be holding a flag and need survivability.  

[Somansoul]

For all the cheese fans out there, this is about to get gouda.

All the top dk's I saw were stacking mastery. also enchanting mastery. I see the valid argument that Versa can sometimes trump mastery for a dk situationally.

Mastery for Dk's increases the amount of Frost dmg a DK does.

we know what versa does.

 

Hoochella: top dk was sitting around 57% mastery and 8% Versa ( 8%dmg ^ 4% dmg reduc)

Our fearless leader was sitting 36% mastery and 14% versa (14% dmg ^ 7percent dmg reduc)

Hooch is doing 40% more frost dmg to Vice's 20%.

 

Hooch is only losing 3% dmg reduc, and overall dmg by 6%.

 

That being said you have too look at the way that Dk's optimally deal dmg.

With the buff to howling blast and frost strike and the relative nerf to Obliterate. Frost dmg is the best way for dk's to not only deal dmg but to also be more rune efficient.

Howling blast = 1 frost rune (100% AP deals dmg in frost)

frost strike = 40 runic power (80% AP deals dmg in Frost)

obliterate = 1 frost 1 unholy ( 215% physical dmg) also has proc to increase FS and HB's dmg.

Obliterate costing 2 runes and having a chance to pro HB and FS to do more dmg as well as free makes it usable.

however the stacking of mastery increases your HB dmg and FS dmg without a severe drop in Obliterates dmg. Above u see Hooch's obliterate will hit less, although his HB and FS will hit significantly Higher.

On top of those two spells hitting harder, they add a necrotic plague and chill blains HB is AOE and FS is Single target. 

Nercrotic plauge hits for 80% physical dmg as well as 20% frost dmg. 

This makes blood strike a more viable part of your rotation while Obliterate is used only when Obliterate itself procs or to fill empty time.

 

If we are looking at the way Dk's go defensive in order to survive, they go blood (30% armor ^ 20% stam ^ 10% dmg reduction). DPs rotations doesnt change all that much (maybe more blood strikes depending on the situation), but overall dmg does not drop significantly besides you rely more on runes than runic power.

 

On to talents. Plague leech or Unholy Blight.

If u are running Mass grip Unholy blight.

If your are running desecrated ground plague leech.

 

while running unholy blight and mass grip ur burst dmg has the chance to peak at around 75k while only 60k with plague leech.