Class Balance Q&A: Death Knight

Jokaras asked:

I want to talk a bit about Frost Presence for Death Knights. It's sub-optimal for all dps specs right now, and it just feels so slow. That said, I don't necessarily WANT to go back to Frost Presence. It just feels SO slow. Honestly, I think if Frost Presence were to be changed to be the best presence for Frost DPS, I would have to go Unholy, which I don't enjoy as much right now. It would just be too painful to give up the fast playing speed and the passive run speed since we don't have a PvE gap closer. The extra run speed is SO valuable that I don't want to go back. Right now, I feel more like you need to find a new niche for Frost Presence, even if it's to make it the AoE presence in some way, so that both Frost and Unholy use it in certain situations, or make it a niche kiting/control presence (maybe tying the Icy Touch slow/Chains of Ice root into the presence somehow, instead of the spec). I think that would be a better solution if at all possible. I'm not married to the idea of Blood Spec + Blood Pres, Frost Spec + Frost Pres, and UH + UH Pres. I think making the presences a little more dynamic would be a great change. I was wondering what your plans are for Frost Presence, and if you're looking more at making it "married" to Frost Spec again, or if you're thinking of a more dynamic approach to dps presences.

Watcher answered:

The intent is for the death knight class to encompass a variety of DPS playstyles (the pet focus of Unholy, a more variable and reactive Frost versus a more rotational Unholy, and so forth). Earlier in Cataclysm, the difference in preferred presence between 2H and Dual Wield Frost allowed for two variants of Frost that used essentially the same set of abilities to have a very different feel. The current niche of Frost Presence clearly isn't ideal, and one of our design goals for Mists is to ensure that both DPS Presences have clearly-defined purposes, while allowing as many players as possible to find a style of play that suits their personal preference while being effective.

Travis Trabalka asked:

I'm wondering if you plan to make runeforging for the DK more interesting so DK's aren't stuck with just using one runeforge depending on their spec?

Xelnath answered:

Yes, we're going to do something. We'd love to hear your ideas on the DK forums.

Fluffy asked:

Frost Presence and the Improved Frost Presence talent only increase the Runic Power generation of runes consumed, but doesn't increase the runic power generated through other means, such as the Chill of the Grave, Might of the Frozen Wastes, Scent of Blood, etc. talents (which, for the record, represent more than half our RP generation). Is this going to be corrected in 4.3 ?

Watcher answered:

Yes.

Draelan asked:

For the DK talent, Gorefiend's Grasp, it mentions friendly targets being affected. What is meant by friendly in this context? (My guild leader is excited about mass-pulling the raid into... dangerous situations...)

Xelnath answered:

It works like mind sear - only enemy targets are pulled, but you can center the gravity well effect on either an enemy, an ally or yourself.

Infamous asked:

So since all these warlocks are talking about their demons and pets and whatever the case may be. How will you make it so that Unholy Death Knights can change the Gender of their ghouls?

Xelnath answered:

This is already live. Didn't you notice the eyeliner on Cryptgobbler last night?