Since Patch 3.1 is right around the corner, it's a good time to start talking about dual talents and each of their classes. Specifically today we are going to deal with the Death Knight.
Surely they have more luck than the rest of the classes since each branch of talents is quite useful both for DPS or Tanking but, in the same way, some branches are better than others for certain roles and surely you want to have the best talents for Do your job. Some Death Knights have been experimenting with hybrid DPS / Tank talents but now that dual talents are arriving, it's best to dedicate the talents to a specific role and then switch if we want to do something else.
We have 3 main paths to cover: Tank / PvE DPS, Tank / PvP DPS and PvE DPS / PvP DPS depending on the interest. The hard part is knowing which combination is right for you and your brotherhood and which branch to focus on.
Choosing Branch
Tank/PvE DPS It will surely be the most popular combination. Those who prefer to do DPS but be useful in case there is no tank available or act as a secondary tank. It's also quite useful for those who do 5-person dungeons as DPS but have the tank's ace up their sleeve in case they don't find it.
Tank/ PvP DPS It is another one that we will see more commonly. If you are a Tank in your brotherhood and in the main bands but you also like to do Arenas or Battlegrounds, the Dual Talents will certainly come in handy.
PvE DPS / PvP DPS - If you really hate tanking or if you are a PvE DPS who likes to do PvP too, you will find a good double combo for you too.
Once you have chosen your role it is time to choose which branches to use. What seems more prudent is to keep the same branch between your 2 choices. I can give you a couple of reasons to do it like this. First are the band benefits. If you give the band your Unholy Aura, Might of Abomination o Improved icy claws, people will notice if you change them. If you are choosing a dual talents to switch to mid-band, you probably don't want to hurt the band with the switch.
The second reason is simply personal and is familiarity. Although a Death Knight's playstyle doesn't change much from branch to branch there are some specific rotations for each branch. Staying in a similar branch implies having similar family skills and rotations. However there will be changes but I think it is more convenient not to change the styles of play.
That said, there are also good arguments for switching branches between each role. If we choose Blood for example you can do a decent DPS with some talents 51/20 but when it is time to tank, Blood is considered the worst branch of the 3 to tank as it has few areas to generate threat and Vampiric Blood not as good as Bone Shield o Unbreakable Armor.
In Patch 3.1
Surely you have noticed that I have been speaking in general terms and I have barely put a talent pool. This is because everything will change in Patch 3.1 even the branch I have put in may not be the same and have a different impact in Patch 3.1. However I am going to put some talents for each role.
Tank
- Frost
- Blood / Frost
- Blood with Lich Born (More elusive) / Blood with Gagging on Blood (More Threat)
DPS
PvP
Do you have any suggestion? Feel free to tell us about it in the comments.