When Patch 3.2 for the World of Warcraft hits, Death Knights are once again going to see some pretty big changes. The test realm patch notes are online for players to start looking at and discussing, and the discussion has already become fairly heated. Many of the changes are being viewed as fairly substantial nerfs to the class, and many players are quite upset. Are they really nerfs though? Should they be viewed as such, and how bad are they? Those are just some of the things Byron "Messiah" Mudry looks at in his overview of the proposed Death Knight changes for patch 3.2.
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If there is one really bad thing for DPSers, it is a change to Frost Strike. This strike will no longer be unavoidable by enemies, meaning it will now be able to be parried, dodged and blocked. Frost strike will also do slightly less damage. The change to avoidance will leave many players wondering if it is worth using over any other strike. If you are expertise capped, it shouldnt make that much of a difference, but if not, it may be worth looking at other options.
Death Knights are new and OP so I can be forgiving of some tweaking. Paladins however, have been around since day one and they should have figured them out by now.
FS is only really a nerf to PvP Frost DKs, which aren't a very large percentage of all DKs anyways.
It helps in part to balance the changes brought by Threat of Thassarian and to even out how it scales compared to Heart Strike and Scourge Strike in the other talent trees.
Unholy remains completely overpowered and continually buffed. Blizzard is fun.
FS is only really a nerf to PvP Frost DKs, which aren't a very large percentage of all DKs anyways.
It helps in part to balance the changes brought by Threat of Thassarian and to even out how it scales compared to Heart Strike and Scourge Strike in the other talent trees.
Unholy remains completely overpowered and continually buffed. Blizzard is fun.
I partially disagree. It is absolutely true it is getting this nerf because of PVP. I tank with a frost spec. And I will definately miss the for sure crit (as long as I am hit capped) after a Killing Machine proc. 5-6k frost strikes in my tanking gear are good for threat. However, I will work on my expertise to minimize the impact. The biggest nerf is the longer cool down on Icebound Fortitude. Now it will be one of those cool downs I will hesitate to use because I might need it before the cool down is up. Meh, I usually roll with the punches. I guess I shouldn't continue leveling my pally and warrior to be tanks as well, lest they get nerfed also.
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I don't think paladin and warrior tanks have to worry. I think the issue became that due to their cooldowns DK tanks were the best tanks and Blizzard (good or bad) is all about making the tanks for the most part interchangeable.
What I have found in Wrath is I see very few DK tanks as the majority of them want to be DPS. Of the four in our guild that raid even regularly I think a couple have tank gear but have yet to tank in any of our raids. I have done 5-mans and one 25-man raid with a DK tank and find them to be very good (same as any other) but again they are so far and few between for me. I guess it is odd to me that DKs are supposedly the best tanks and yet I see so few.
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I guess it is odd to me that DKs are supposedly the best tanks and yet I see so few.
In my experience the DK is more complicated to tank with, and with an option for using it as DPS, most seem to want that as with any other DPS capable class.
In my experience the DK is more complicated to tank with, and with an option for using it as DPS, most seem to want that as with any other DPS capable class.
Yes, Warriors seem to be the only class capable of DPS that are mainly tanks.
Proposed Death Knight Changes for Patch 3.2
However, I will work on my expertise to minimize the impact. The biggest nerf is the longer cool down on Icebound Fortitude. Now it will be one of those cool downs I will hesitate to use because I might need it before the cool down is up. Meh, I usually roll with the punches. I guess I shouldn't continue leveling my pally and warrior to be tanks as well, lest they get nerfed also. 
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