Ghouls and Guys
Ghouls and Guys
Ghouls, as a pet, are a little bit more disposable and hard to control than most pets. Used in PvP without supervision, they’d probably just get dragged behind a pillar and killed within seconds.
However, when you take Master of Ghouls, a whole new world is open to you. Not only are they controllable, but a leap followed by a stun or a well-timed spell interruption could end up as the different between victory and death, and this is possible only with Master of Ghouls. This alone may end up being why Unholy takes the honor of top PvP tree.
Of course, this Death Knight still think that they should just give every Ghoul a pet bar. It’s not quite right that one talent can make the difference between usefulness and uselessness for a class feature. Of all our features, Ghouls to me feel the most in flux, and it’d be nice to know how central to our class they’re really supposed to be. They certainly do seem central to Unholy Death Knights.
Protection and Devastation through Diseases
One thing that promises to be a weakness for Death Knights is the ability to abolish diseases. While Blood and Frost Death Knights only have 2 diseases to worry about, that in itself could be a weakness. 2 diseases are very easy for a good abolish disease to chew through. In that case, it’s very nice to have not only the extra 30% resistance to dispel that Virulence brings, but also the 2 extra diseases offered by Unholy Blight and Ebon Plague. I think I’ll still be watching closely to see if Death Knights do have adequate dispel protection, but the tree that’s strongest in that regard is certainly Unholy.
In addition, these same diseases offer Unholy some amazing damage stacking and synergy for taking down targets. The fact that we can put down 4 diseases, and keep them up longer, means that we can get more use out of the stacking damage from Obliterate, Death Strike, and the like. Adding talents like Blood Caked Blade that give a chance to throw out something similar to a free scaling Blood Strike when they trigger only sweetens the deal. And if you need to apply some emergency crowd control, you can still wipe the slate clean with Blood Boil.
Scourge Strike is shaping up to be the crowning damage achievement in the tree. It’s a straight up replacement for Plague Strike, but it relies on Shadow damage, giving the power to break through any heavily armored opponent and continue to administer pain.
In addition, the effect of Ebon Plaguebringer could very well make Unholy Death Knights very desirable members of a good caster heavy group. It’s a very easy disease to apply, and makes me think that Unholy Death Knight/Affliction Warlock may be a very viable 2v2 combo come season 5, with the Death Knight adding some nice damage for the Warlock and the Warlock providing an extra level of protection for the Death Knight’s diseases.
Filed under: World of Warcraft