Simetrik - Blood Death Knight

[simetrik]

No problem, I wish you guys luck in finding the right tank for your group!

[simetrik]

Hey guys,

I'm now 536 (it's not inflated because of the 608 cloak, I'm still only 4 runestones in =/) and 9/13h on 25 man. Obviously I am still eighteen years old, so if that's still a roadblock, I understand, but I'm significantly more qualified in the gameplay department for my blood dk compared to before.

Perhaps your best indicator of my skill level will be the log where I main tanked heroic 25 man iron qon on progression with a 523 ilevel. I was almost convinced to do it with a dps trinket too, but I loved the massive blood shields too much (and would have died without them when all dogs came down, lol)

http://www.worldoflo.../?s=4883&e=5564

I'm not one tanking, but the offtank is basically taking the boss long enough for my impale to reset and he also took the boss when all of the dogs came down in the last phase. I'm taking the majority of the damage ( easily visible in the logs).

Also, yes, I die at the very end of the log that I'm showcasing. I'll make my excuses if you ask for them.

Any other logs are worth checking out, but this is perhaps the best indicator of my skill while under the threat of constant death. Despite what you guys said above, once my gear got above 530 average ilevel, heroic 25 bosses aren't consistently dangerous (e.g. killing Twin Consorts tonight, I felt like I was tanking a boss on 10h), and though I don't think I played badly on these logs where I was geared, I don't think my cooldown use was necessarily as optimized as it could have been. You could argue that constant vigilance is necessary even on easy content, but I'd argue that I'm still pulling good damage (frequently ranking) and not drawing healer attention (check any of my healing taken logs), thus fulfilling my duties as a tank. I'm also not totally throwing my cooldown use out of the window. I might just choose to pool death strikes instead of popping a cooldown on a second breath on Megaera, because I'm crazy like that. I'm still watching mechanics closely, just reacting to them in a manner that an undergeared character might not necessarily be able to do. I understand someone will undoubtedly have thoughts about this, so assuming you don't immediately deny me because I'm 18, I'm happy to discuss this.

I should note that I do like this guild I've recently joined very much, but I'm sending this message because it is likely that my summer job will conflict a little too much with this guild's raid times. Despite a listed 8EST start time, they frequently form up at 7:30EST and give raid spots based on who's there first. I like this system a lot, and it's worked out for me well so far, but as my time becomes limited this summer (I knew 8EST was tricky but doable, however, 7:30EST is unfortunately out of the question for me in combination with my summer job). Your raid times are so comfortable for my schedule it's ridiculous, and I don't see that changing even through the "turbulent" course of my young adult life.

Plus, I'll admit, the last two weeks of tanking in a 25 heroic progression guild have been some of the most fun I've had in the game since Dragon Soul. I've been bitten by the 25m tanking bug, and I don't plan to leave it behind any time soon.

Once again, I'm not trying to be obnoxious and I'm totally fine with withdrawing permanently if age is a true roadblock. However, I'm a much more attractive candidate for your tanking spot at this point, so I thought I'd just send this quick feeler to hear your thoughts. Your professional attitude, even though it resulted in a denial, left a good impression and hopefully you'll see me in a *slightly* different light now that I'm closer to your level.

[Ashin]

I don't think you're being obnoxious in the least. Appreciate the followup on your app.

I'm glad you explained the reason you are already looking to leave your current guild, as that would have been my first question (loyalty being very important to me).

Right now we are putting a freeze on most trial applications, because we are literally in the middle of our H Lei Shen progression. It wouldn't make sense to test a new tank / stranger on that fight. However, I'm sure Hip will be interested to check out your 25m logs (if for no other reason than the fact that he only ever gets to see 10m logs from tank applicants these days).

Lastly, yes your age would still be a major concern for me. You seem to be very mature for your age, but it is still a worry because generally you have less control over your schedule than most adults would.

[simetrik]

I was just browsing other dk apps, and I thought I'd post my thoughts on Rizor's math, because I'm off work today and have nothing better to do.

Rizor's calculations are solid, for the most part. He doesn't account for haste, but perhaps that would make things too complicated, and very few death knights seriously stack haste enough to make a meaningful difference in those core calculations.

However, blood tap does sort of require hit to be capped (so that RS never misses) in order to be effective as a tool for consistency (I noticed Rizor isn't hit capped). That isn't to say all other level 75 talents aren't improved when hit is capped, but blood tap is frequently valued for its consistency, etc. etc. My point is hopefully clear.

One other thing I haven't seen in other threads is, at least in my mind, the real reason most blood death knights take RC - they can't handle more micromanagement. RC is valued for being a set and forget talent, not for its throughput. Theoretically (not just from a mathematical standpoint, but from an ideological one) RE and BT should always beat RC - they inherently require more thought. I wish RE was optimal for blood death knights, as I actually enjoy rune tetris, but as Rizor accurately states, it's random and the option to be able to store death strikes emphasizes the death knight strength of stacking up massive blood shields. Especially in 25 man content, I have found blood tap to be far and away the superior talent in that rune regen tier, assuming it is used properly.

Esta asked an interesting question in Rizor's thread - "where might each talent shine, if at all?" The first thought I had was the effect of high levels of haste on these three regen talents. Rune regeneration time is, with no haste, 8.33 seconds per rune. Let's look at a situation where bloodlust is up - rune regeneration is now 6.41 seconds per rune. 2.5 extra seconds of rune regeneration/6.41 seconds = 0.4 death strikes per proc, thus 0.45*0.39 = 0.1755 death strikes per RS, or 5.7 rune strikes per DS (all on average). It's still mediocre, but RC is now starting to seem viable in heavy haste scenarios, and it also boosts blood rune regen, for additional dps. RC might be the best talent on Sinestra, for example. It seems unlikely that there will never be another progression encounter with a persistent, major haste buff.

Yet, these assumptions made in the last paragraph are all made in a vacuum only considering RC. Haste benefits all rune regen talents because, ultimately, haste speeds up the blood death knight rotation. More rune strikes are going to go off no matter what, and with any level 75 talent, that will accordingly increase rune regeneration. The final nail in the coffin is that Blizzard saw this haste scaling issue coming, and preemptively designed RC such that the duration for which it speeds up rune regeneration scales with haste. RC will always be the worst talent for regen, no matter the circumstance, and that's entirely appropriate, for it requires the least skill of the three options in that talent tier.

It's worth noting that I'm not trying to play a game of one-up with other tank applicants in this post (despite how it might seem). I'm just bored and like talking about my class. If any other applicants read this and have thoughts, I want to hear them and have a discussion. That's how I learned the fine mechanics of my class, and I suspect I have more to learn. Really, anyone who wants to post should feel welcome, because posts on this thread have been kind of sparse (compared to other applicant threads, at least) and I'm interested in talking about WoW with people who love it as much as I do. We don't even have to talk about blood death knights xD

[Rizor]

I agree with you wholeheartedly and More then happy to learn from any errors or miscalculations that I've put forward, Anything that makes me a better player is always a good thing, Also thank you for taking the time in answering Esta question on my application, I agree any RC would be the best if we had a boss fight like Sinestra or anything with a static haste bonus, but I based all my numbers on my flat stats, and since im using tanking gear and not dps gear I have no haste bonus's. Being in a 10 man guild you don't always end up with all the buffs either, so sometimes you don't have attack speed.

[simetrik]

I totally understand - we raided without a haste buff for a few weeks in my old 10 man guild, and it was surprising how large of an effect it had on everyone's dps. Plus, I was all about securing rankings back then (I "secretly" still like getting them, but there's a lot less competition on 25h lol), and losing that haste gave me a definite disadvantage.

[Ashin]

Thanks Sim - I enjoyed reading your take on it.

[Estarriol]

I really like that you went out of your way to answer additional questions and put thought into subjects others have brought up. Bravo!

[Hip]

Whats up Sim,

Thanks for touching base with us again and congrats on your progression since we last saw you.

As for the level 75 talent choice discussion I agree that one of the primary benefits of Runic Corruption is the "Set it and forget it" element. However I don't think it should be overlooked that it also offers the most consistent results as well. Certainly Blood Tap offers the most control over Rune regeneration and can be treated as an extra CD (both offensive and defensive) however not only does this require consistent monitoring of your Blood Charges it may also require pooling or camping those charges or sitting on Rune Strikes to have the correct number of charges to proc the Runes to get the Death Strikes at "the right time". It would take nearly impossible planning to play Blood Tap perfectly (never missing a window for gaining an extra DS, without wasting Runes or Charges and having those DS's for the perfect opportunity).

Basically it would come down to what do you want/need your Runes for. If you know you have a fight where you will absolutely need/largely benefit from that on demand DS then I wholly agree BT is the way to go, otherwise I don't see the costs outweighing the benefits in most situations.

anywho

Logs!

Blood Shields look ok; could be bigger size wise, uptime could be a bit higher

Death Strikes look in-line as well, 36% overheals, but that could easily be attributed to your off-tanking times.

Bone Shield uptime looks on the low end at 33%, probably a factor of some of those skewed numbers on DS/BS

Rune Tap usage looks nice at 16 and only 14% overheals

AMS could have been used more, you only popped it once and there are opportunities to avoid plenty of fire damage in this fight.

Vamp Blood use looks good to me, probably maxed that one out.

Your other CDs could have gotten more use; IBF, DRW, Trinkets could all have gotten a few more pops but not way off on use.

thoughts?

[Raer]

could be bigger size wise

*snigger*

couldn't resist