Blizzard has shown another set of brand new hero talent trees that will be coming in the next World of Warcraft expansion- The War Within. We will be taking a look as this hero talent tree will be centered around Frost and Blood Death Knights so we will see how much the gameplay will be impacted.
Blizzard has set a lot of high expectations following their reveal of the three next expansions that will be rolled out over the following years. Although the concepts and ideas behind these hero talent trees share similarities with features from previous expansions, it is exciting to see how this will be integrated into retail WoW.
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WoW The War Within: Deathbringer Death Knight Hero Talent Tree
Since there is a lot to cover in the initial Hero Talent tree, we will be separately examining all of the nodes so we can get a better understanding of the core concepts.
Deathbringer Keystone
Reaper's Mark: Viciously slice into the soul of your enemy, dealing Shadowfrost damage and applying Reaper's Mark.
Each time you deal Shadow or Frost damage, add a stack of Reaper's Mark. After 12 seconds or reaching 40 stacks, the mark explodes, dealing damage per stack.
Reaper's Mark travels to an unmarked enemy nearby if the target dies or explodes below 35% health when there are no enemies to travel to. This explosion cannot occur again on a target for 3 minutes.
Deathbringer
Row 1
Wave of Souls: Reaper's Mark unleashes a dark wave towards your target and back, dealing Shadowfrost damage both ways to all enemies caught in its path. Wave of Souls critical strikes cause enemies to take 5% increased Shadowfrost damage for 15 seconds, stacking up to 2 times, and the wave back is always a critical strike.
Blood Fever: Your Blood Plague (Blood) or Frost Fever (Frost) has a chance to deal 30% increased damage as Shadowfrost.
Bind in Darkness: Shadowfrost damage applies double stacks to Reaper's Mark and quadruple stacks when it is a critical strike. Additionally, Rime empowered Howling Blast deals Shadowfrost damage (Frost) or Blood Boil deals Shadowfrost damage (Blood).
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Deathbringer Row 2
Shuddering Soul: Reaper's Mark explosion causes a piece of the target's soul to tear out and spiral outwards, dealing 10% of the explosion's damage to enemies it passes through. Enemies hit by this effect deal 5% reduced physical damage to you for 10 seconds.
Grim Reaper: Reaper's Mark explosion deals up to 30% increased damage based on your target's missing health and applies Soul Reaper to targets below 35% health.
Choice Node:
- Death's Bargain: When you suffer a damaging effect equal to 25% of your maximum health, you instantly cast Death Pact at 50% effectiveness. May only occur every 2 minutes. When a Reaper's Mark explodes, the cooldowns of this effect and Death Pact are reduced by 5 seconds.
- Rune Carved Plates: Each Rune spent reduces the magic damage you take by 2% and each Rune generated reduces the physical damage you take by 2% for 5 seconds, up to 5 times.
Deathbringer Row 3
Choice Node:
- Swift End: Reaper's Mark's cost is reduced by 1 Rune and its cooldown is reduced by 50%.
- Painful Death: Reaper's Mark now explodes at 50 stacks and the first scythe of Exterminate has a 100% increased chance to apply Reaper's Mark.
Choice Node:
- Dark Talons: Marrowrend and Heart Strike (Blood), Consuming Killing Machine or Rime (Frost) has a 20% chance to increase the maximum stacks of an active Icy Talons by 1, up to 2 times.
While Icy Talons is active, your abilities that spend Runic Power deal Shadowfrost damage.
- Wither Away: Blood Plague (Blood) or Frost Fever (Frost) deals its damage in half the duration and the second scythe of Exterminate applies Blood Plague (Blood) or rost Fever (Frost).
Choice Node:
- Death's Messenger: Reduces the cooldowns of Lichborne and Raise Dead by 30 seconds.
- Expelling Shield: When an enemy deals direct damage to your Anti-Magic Shell, their cast speed is reduced by 10% for 6 seconds.
Deathbringer Capstone
Exterminate: After Reaper's Mark explodes, your next Marrowrend (Blood) or Obliterate (Frost) costs no Rune and summons 2 scythes to strike your enemies. The first scythe strikes your target for physical damage and has a 15% chance to apply Reaper's Mark, the second scythe strikes all enemies around your target for Shadowfrost damage.
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Summary
Overall, these are some very interesting design choices behind making Frost and Blood Death Knights not only stronger damage-wise, but also give them a lot more survivability.
As more is being revealed regarding the newest World of Warcraft Expansion: The War Within, we are slowly starting to see just how much the scales have changed for Retail WoW. Here is the entire Hero Talent Tree as presented in the most recent blue post.
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