Nerd Life: Sam's Top 10 Anime, Part 2 (5-1)

Part 1 can be found here.

5: Cowboy Bebop



The show that MADE Adult Swim. It's such a hit, they're still airing the bloody thing 8 years later. It's also probably the only show that I PREFER in English. The series has a very Western style, and the English voice acting lends to that. The cast was brilliant, as well. Bebop also has some of the most consistently amazing music in the history of anime. This is a show with slick action, genius comedy and brief moments of absolutely striking drama. A great "starter" anime to get your girlfriend (or boyfriend) to start watching.

4: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann



Faithful readers are well aware of my nerd crush on this show. To quote myself:

"Great comedy, good story, insane action, heartbreaking drama, there is nothing this show does not have. I dare any anime fan to watch this show and come away disappointed."



gar, adj: A term used towards male characters and individuals who are so overwhelmingly manly that your own masculinity is absolutely *buried*, leaving you naught but a whimpering, swooning girl-child before them.

And this is only my love for number FOUR.

3: Fullmetal Alchemist



I honestly started watching this show by accident. I remembered reading about the video game and passed it off as an effort to cash in on a game series' success. Well, I tuned in a few minutes early for the premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex on Adult Swim, and was treated to the last few minutes of FMA. In that one scene, I was hooked. Two episodes later, the addiction became hopeless. A truly fantastic series in every way imaginable. Art, animation, characters, voice acting, music, story, drama, humor. Name it.

2: Rurouni Kenshin



The story of a man who has spilled so much blood, he has sworn never to take another life again. Kenshin Himura, Battosai the Manslayer is the greatest warrior in all of anime. Kind of a long series, but there is a sharp decline after the second season. Samurai, ninjas, warrior-monks and assorted other badassery abound in this show. If you only watched it on Toonami... watch it again.

And..............

1: Samurai 7



This is an amazing remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic epic, The Seven Samurai. The original told the story of 7 brave samurai defending a helpless villaige from an army of bandits. The anime has the same story, but much more in depth, with a full 26 episodes to tell it in. Also, the samurai are awesome anime characters and the bandits are giant robots....

I won't give too much detail. The fact that it's #1 on my list should be enough of an endorsement!

So, what are some of YOUR favorites?

February Musings

From TFLAMB

• New Devastator = EPIC WIN
  
• Battlestar Galactica has reminded me just why it's the best show on TV.
  
• New(ish) laptop! Yay!
  
• Have to relearn how to type on a smaller keyboard! Boo!
  
• Who the heck is still making new PS2 games? You have no idea how many stores I had to search to find a copy of Persona 4.
  
• Fantastic game, by the way.
  
• As a long-time anime fan, I'm used to anime endings with high bodycounts. However, Gundam 00 raised the bar.
  
• It's especially impressive that they managed to kill EVERYONE without anyone actually dying.
  
• Yeah... try to figure that one out.
  
• Can anyone tell me what the Hell was happening in Batman: RIP? Because I have NO idea.
  

Links! 2/27

Rest4Life Closing its Doors - Phaelia, one of the most respected members of the community, is hanging up her keyboard.

Leveling your Weapon Skill - BBB has a video detailing an easy way to level weapon skills.

Attack Priority List - Pif does it again with another great Shaman info post.

MOAR SPIRIT! NEED MOAR SPIRIT! - ShamWam is easily becoming one of my favorite blogs.

Tanking Ettiquette Tips #1 - Rhidach hates it when other classes Taunt.

Best Guild Ever

"SquidMage" has made blog posts very easy on me this week. +10 DKP!

Which would be handy if we had DKP!

Calling All Bloggers!

Just a quick memo to any WoW blog authors out there. I'm thinking of trying out a community project, and I'd like to know if anyone else out there is interested. For further information, I've created a topic on the Blog Azeroth forums.

Thanks for your time.

That's One Talented Sheep

They've started training mounted cavalry. The cows don't stand a chance now.

Image courtesy of Denarian member "SquidMage"

The Argent Tournament

Matticus just brought this to my attention literally 30 seconds ago, and I thought I'd share it. I don't usually do news posts, but this is too potentially awesome to pass up.

Blue post:

In patch 3.1, a new world event titled “The Argent Tournament” will be coming to Northrend! This tournament will be live on the 3.1 PTR and open for testing, though certain aspects are still in development. Players will find a host of new features here, including:


* The ability to prove your worth to a capital city of your choosing through our new mounted combat system (still in development)
* New daily quests to construct the great Argent Crusade coliseum for glorious battles to come
* All new rewards - new items, titles, banners, tabards, pets, mounts, and more
* All new achievements
* Many more festivities, and more to come in future content updates!


Players will find the Argent Tournament in Icecrown. Speaking to any Northrend flight master will get you on track to prove your worth to the Argent Crusade, your faction’s leaders, and all denizens of Azeroth!

Machinima Monday: Pwnage Like Us

Nerd Life: Sam's Top 10 Anime, Part 1 (10-6)

Welcome to Nerd Life! This is a new weekly post where I can explore all of my off-topic tendencies, and keep the weekday posts WoW-related.

I'm constantly being asked for anime recommendations. Of the many areas of geekdom where I've invested skill points, anime is one of the highest.

So, let's kick off Nerd Life with a countdown of some of my favorite series. Here's numbers 10 through 6.

10: Gundam Wing/00



This is more nostalgia than anything. After a few years of not watching anything Japanese, an amazing thing happened. My cable provider finally got Cartoon Network, and I could watch Toonami again for the first time since Voltron was part of the lineup. While there were plenty of awesome shows on at the time, Gundam Wing was the one that reminded me of just how awesome anime was.



I'm including 00 in here because it's considered my many, including myself, to be the spiritual successor to Wing. It ALSO happens to be the best Gundam series since the original.

9: Vision of Escaflowne



I'm not using the opening theme for a very important reason. At first glance, this series seems very... girly. The first episode is all about Hitomi trying to get her first kiss. It gets better. Trust me, this video shows just how awesome it can be.

FOX Kids tried to adapt this for American boys, and butchered it in the process. It got canceled after about 5 episodes, covering the first 9 or so actual anime episodes. They completely removed the first episode, leaving many viewers confused right off the bat.

8: Trigun



This anime helped make Adult Swim a hit. One of the few smart moves they made. Vash the Stampede is one of the greatest hero characters ever.

7: Martian Successor Nadesico



"You Get to Burning" has got to be the catchiest opening song of any anime. It also shows how many Japanese THINK they have a good understanding of English: "Go being your days grow up!" Anyway, Nadesico is best viewed by those with anime experience, as it is a satire more than anything else. However, amidst the humor, there's good drama and great action. All the characters are brilliant, from the hyperactive captain to the reluctant pilot to the greatest hero, Gai Daigoji.

Gekiganger owns.

6: Neon Genesis Evangelion



One of the most famous series ever created. Any modern anime fan has to watch this. It's awesome for about 22 episodes. After that, you can pinpoint the EXACT moment Gainax ran out of money in the budget. There are 2 movies, but after some awesome action sequences, they do nothing more than make the plot even more incomprehensible. Even still, it's required viewing.

Check in next week for the top 5.

Sixth of the Sixth

Wait, what? Someone linked to me?

Yup, there's a game rotating around the blog community for everyone to post the sixth screenshot in their sixth folder. Byaghro over at Casual WoW tagged me. He's just jealous that my blog has a better name than his.

Here's the shot:



That's the cutscene from the Frostmourne Cavern quest.

Just for the fun of it, here's the sixth image in my blog folder, where I thrown any random images I come across that I think I can shoehorn into a post.



Now, just to prove that I'm not the dead end of the Internet, I can find 6 more people to tag that (hopefully) haven't been tagged by others.

miss elf
Pif
K
Rhidach
Galo
Megs

My Fingers are Going to Hurt

I'll cut out all the explanations and thought patterns and just get to the meat of this issue.

I'm going to be doing a LOT of sewing.

When I first looked at the Tailoring patterns in Wrath, I instantly focused on the Ebonweave items. Ebonweave = Warlock, and that was that. I don't think I even LOOKED at some of the other epics.

But, let's do that now.

Ebonweave
Robe
Gloves

Moonshroud
Robe
Gloves

Spellweave
Robe
Gloves

Total stats
Ebonweave - 116 Stamina, 155 Intellect, 182 Spellpower, 119 Hit Rating
Moonshroud - 116 Stamina, 119 Intellect, 156 Spirit, 182 Spellpower (+61 through Spirit from talented Fel Armor)
Spellweave - 112 Intellect, 91 Spirit, 181 Spellpower (+35 through Spirit from talented Fel Armor), 155 Haste Rating

Well, what's best? The Hit makes Ebonweave a great choice. But what if I'm not in a Heroic? That Hit isn't helping me much. Moonshroud has the most Spellpower, which is my primary stat as Affliction. However, almost 5% Haste is well worth the loss of 27 Spellpower. Then again, do I want to give up over 1k HP by wearing the Spellweave?

I'll definitely be making the Ebonweave, even if I don't use it much. "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

I'm still deciding which of the other two I'll use. Maybe I'll just roll with all three.

No matter what I decide, one thing is guaranteed. My fingers are going to hurt.

Goal Updates

Well, Sam reached 80. T made it to Northrend and is now able to send herbs to Sam for Inscription.

What now?

For most people, goals seem to be like this:

1: Reach level cap
2: ???
3: Epic Lootz!

However, we all know that's not how I roll.

I've got a great deal of character building planned out. After all, that's why I started this adventure.

My current priority is to "finish" Sam. This involves:

1: Finish all Northrend quests. Not just for the loot and gold, but for the fun of it all. WoW has such an amazing lore that I can't NOT do this. I am Chris Metzen's bitch.
2: Along with #1, obtain Loremaster of Northrend, as I previously explained.
3: Max Tailoring, make Ebonweave and Spellweave "sets".
4: Max Inscription
5: Finish of any Reputations I want. Wyrmrest is currently top of the list.

From there, I'm not sure where I'm going. I'll run the odd instance, but I won't actively seek out PuGs. *Shudder* Maybe a lil PVP in Wintergrasp or Battlegrounds. I'm still considering going full Loremaster.

Since I've gone through all the trouble of getting T to Northrend, I might as well get him to 80 while I'm at it.

I'm also getting back into the Shaman groove with Haddar. I'd like to get a healer leveled for when Dual-Specs go live.

Now all I need is to find the time to get all this done. I've got this "blog" thing taking up all my time...

Affliction DPS: Fresh 80

So, I decided to try a DPS test as a fresh level 80 Warlock.

Let's take a look at my stats.



Further breakdown:
10.7k Health, 8.8k mana
62 Hit Rating (Plus Suppression)
147 Crit Rating
3.42% Haste
9 MP5

This is entirely self-buffed with:
Fel Armor, talented with Demonic Aegis
Fel Intelligence, talented with Improved Felhunter
Grand Spellstone

I'm wearing Northrend greens, mostly in the mid-70s range, with a few blue tailoring and rep items.

None of my gear is enchanted, with the exception of my self-made Sanctified Spellthread.

The only DPS-enhancing glyphs I'm using are Corruption and Shadow Bolt.

Finally, my talent build is still optimized for solo-play, not Max DPS. My armory link is off to the left there.

I ran a 3 minute long test against the REGULAR Level 80 Training Dummy, with no debuffs other than my own. No Heroic-quality gear, no Heroic-quality dummy!

With all that out of the way, what are we looking at?



That's over 1600 DPS, 1800 counting the puppy.

Breakdown:



I was using Curse of Elements, talented with Malediction. Since I don't plan on raiding, I can't count on others to bring that debuff. Additionally, I'm too much of a noob to add another DoT into my rotation. I tried it, it wasn't pretty.

Of course, I COULD have done better. My DoT uptime was not optimal. I let Haunt drop a couple of times. I didn't always have a double stack of Shadow Embrace up. However, this should be a good indicator of the average fresh level 80 Affliction Warlock. Affliction is VERY tough to play, and I wasn't even running with a DoT Timer in this test to help out, as I'm sure many non-raiding 'Locks do not. I did, however, give it a few practice runs, which any player SHOULD do.

At no point did I ever run out of mana, and I finished the 3 minutes with full health. Haunt and Siphon Life are enough to keep you topped off while Life Tapping. Of course, if you're taking group damage, heals and the odd Dark pact will help, as well.

This is by no means my way of saying YOU should do this DPS. This is not e-peen waving. I just want to show what others should expect to see immediately after hitting 80 with a little practice. Your mileage may vary. I will be giving further DPS updates as my gear (and hopefully play) improves.

Machinima Monday: The Lament of Captain Placeholder

Cranius delivers again.



Yes, Captain P really did exist back in the day.

My Valentine in Pictures

On this special day, I would like to introduce everyone to my Valentine.

She is a Mighty Hunter


She is a Fearsome Warlock


She is even The Snow Princess of Death


She likes monkeys


She LOVES dragons


Even when they're about to eat her



The reason for making this post is that she loves to take pictures. She will spend excessive amounts of time lining up the exact perfect shot. She has taken some beautiful pictures that I never would have dreamed possible, and I would like to showcase those images here as a gift to her.






Happy Valentine's Day, babe.

I love you.

Links! 2/13

A Brief Discussion about my Attitude - BBB has an attitude, apparently. I guess this means I do, too.

Leveling a Blood Spec Death Knight - I prefer Frost, but Stop has a nice mini-guide to Blood.

Maelstrom Weapon: more than you Ever Wanted to Know - Pif has started a new blog, and has a nice post about Shaman's Maelstrom Weapon.

Tinkering Complete

All done, hopefully everything works.

Tinkering with Feed

Doing a bit of tinkering with my feed. If any readers don't get the "Tinkering Complete" post in their readers, please resubscribe. If that doesn't work, please let me know, and I'll try to fix what I've broken.

Calm Down!

Another short one today. Then again, most of my posts seem to be a bit long-winded, so this may be for the best.

Look around the web and you'll find hundreds, thousands, nay BAJILLIONS of people complaining about how Patch 3.1 will destroy the game.

*sigh*

This is why I don't comment on patches until they're live.

FIRST, if it's not live, it's not final. This is why these things are tested. Anything is subject to change. Heck, less than a week later, they've already scrapped the non-consumable ammo idea.

SECOND, it's not even the full patch notes. It's just a list of changes they're trying to implement. It's not even on the PTR yet. Right now, all the ranting and raving and yes, even Theorycrafting is nothing more than conjecture.

THIRD, since it's not full notes, and it's not even up for testing, this patch is AT LEAST 2 months away. Play the game you have now. Leave the rest of us with sense alone.

Google Loves Me

A little under the weather, so a quickie today.

Looking over my site stats on Google Analytics, apparently, the Google search engine likes my Death Knight Guide.

Try it out! Do a semi-specific search on anything Death Knight related.

"WoW Death Knight Spell Rotation"
8th result

"Frost Death Knight Combat"
6th result

"Death Knight Hybrid Build"
6th result

"Blood Tank Talent Build"
4th result (3rd unique)

"Blood Death Knight Combat Rotation"
3rd result

"Unholy Combat Guide"
3rd result

"Basic Death Knight Spell Rotation"
1st result!

What have I created?

Machinima Monday: The Rumpus Machine

Yes, that voice REALLY is who you think it is.

More movies from Oblivious Films can be found here.

Weekend Warrior 10

Finishing up Zul'Drak this week.

This hurts


So use this

The tiki guys out here are too cool.


He's gonna be soooo pissed

After gathering items from his family members you obtain Tiki Dervish Ceremony, which will summon a tiki idol to fight by your side. DO NOT PULL AGGRO. Zol'Maz will wipe the floor with any non-tanking class. Melees be aware that he will use Retaliation around 30-40% and counter all attacks for a short period of time.


Akali, the Rhino God


You wouldn't like him when he's angry

The last if the Animal Gods of Zul'Drak.

All done with Zul'Drak, on to Sholazar Basin! What? No achievement? No, I'm currently 94/100 for The Empire of Zul'Drak. I need to complete the Amphitheater of Anguish, and Saturday afternoon is not the time to do that, with everybody fighting over the questgiver.


Barely survived that crash... I wonder where I am?


I get it. I must have dies and gone to Hell

Oh Hemet Nesingwary, how I despise thee.


I'm having terrible luck with planes today


Ding!

Yippee! The last person in the world to hit 80!


Cornered

This is Pitch from the quest Part-time Hunter. After stealing the Wolvar's kill, he will begin the questline to join either the Oracles or Frenzyheart.

That's all for this week!

Links! 2/6

BRK Power Auras Movie - BRK has a new addon, and it's awesome. I may try this out myself at some point.

Holding the Line: DK Tanking for Newbs - Queklain has some nice beginner tanking tips for Death Knights.

Pacifist Undead Priest - This has to be the most awesome thing I have ever seen. I didn't even know this was possible.

T's Death Knight Guide

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.



This guide, in keeping with my mission statement, is designed for casual players. If you're just starting out, or are a bit confused how to play this fancy new Hero Class, then this guide is for you. It may not be as in-depth as some other sites out there, but I feel it is a very good starting resource.

Chapter 1: Basics
1-1: Roles and Resources *3.1
1-2: Stats, Presences and Runeforging *3.1

Chapter 2: Spells
2-1: Basic Spells *3.1
2-2: Talented Spells *3.1

Chapter 3: Talents
3-1: Blood Talent Builds *3.1
3.2: Frost Talent Builds
3.3: Unholy Talent Builds
3.4: Hybrid Talent Build

Chapter 4: Combat
4.1: Basic Combat ***READ ME FIRST***
4.2: Blood Rotation
4.3: Frost Rotations
4.4: Unholy Rotation

Recognition
I'd like to thank the forum communities at WoWHead, MMO Champion and Elitist Jerks. They are excellent sources of information and were invaluable in the creation of this guide.

T's Death knight Guide 4.4: Unholy Rotation

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

If you have not done so already, PLEASE read the Basic Combat chapter.

**From this point forward, all calculations are not including Butchery, which almost every talent build, regardless of spec, will include. Honestly, that math is just too complicated, I'll leave that to EJ.

Here's my basic Unholy build.

This is fairly simple, as well.

Phase 1

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Apply Diseases, as normal.

B B F F U U
RP: 25

Dirge grants extra RP.

2 Blood Strikes.

D D F F U U
RP: 45

Reaping grants Death Runes, just like Blood of the North in the Frost rotation.

Unholy's special strike is Scourge Strike.

D D F F U U
RP: 65

Now, it would appear that Obliterate will do more damage than Scourge Strike. However, without Annihilation, Obliterate will consume the diseases. Diseases are more important to Unholy builds than any other, by far. Plus, you will have to burn Runes to reapply them constantly. Scourge Strike, while less damaging, itself, will grant more damage, overall.

Just like the Blood rotation, were going to save RP for Gargoyle.

Phase 2

D D F F U U
RP: 65

We have Epidemic, so diseases do not need to be reapplied. Since we're sitting on a bunch of Runes, the best thing to do with them is use 3 Scourge Strikes.

B B F F U U
RP: 100

At this point, bring out the Gargoyle and repeat the rotation. Unlike Dancing Rune Weapon from Blood, which gains buffs as you do, your Gargoyle only scales with your stats at the time it is summoned, so time your buffs and trinkets accordingly.

Just like DRW, gargoyle has a 3 minute cooldown, so burn RP with Death Coil or Unholy Blight until it's ready to use again. Also, just like Blood, there are fancier rotations out there, but I'm trying to keep things simple.

T's Death Knight Guide 4.3: Frost Rotations

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

If you have not done so already, PLEASE read the Basic Combat chapter.

**From this point forward, all calculations are not including Butchery, which almost every talent build, regardless of spec, will include. Honestly, that math is just too complicated, I'll leave that to EJ.

Frost Basic

Here's my basic Frost build.

This is fairly similar to the untalented rotation.

Phase 1

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Apply diseases. Be sure to use Plague Strike first, to maximize your Icy Touch damage through Glacier Rot.

B B F F U U
RP: 25

Chill of the Grave grants 5 extra RP.

2 Blood Strikes.

D D F F U U
RP: 45

There's those "Ds" instead of "Bs." Blood of the North gives us Death Runes.

Obliterate.

D D F F U U
RP: 65

Why Obliterate and not Howling Blast? True, Howling Blast tends to do more damage. However, the insane crit chance to Obliterate with a Frost build makes it the better option. Frost-heavy Dual-wield builds will want to use Howling Blast, since that does not scale off weapon damage like Obliterate.

That being said, if Rime procs, use it! This will generate extra RP, but I'm not including procs in my calculations.

Frost Strike.

D D F F U U
RP: 25

Phase 2

By now, our Runes from the initial casts are coming off cooldown. For simplicity's sake, and because timing may vary, I'm going to list all Runes as active for now. Time to begin the second half of our rotation.

D D F F U U
RP: 25

No Epidemic in my Frost build, so reapply diseases.

D D F F U U
RP: 50

Now, use Obliterate twice to take advantage of those Death Runes.

B B F F U U
RP: 90

Frost Strike twice.

B B F F U U
RP: 10

A fairly simple rotation. Continue as necessary.

Frost Max-DPS Rotation

This is a new rotation I just found that should give a huge increase in DPS over my standard rotation. It's insanely simple, too.

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Apply diseases, right? WRONG!

Start with a Blood Tap. Yes, this even generated Runic Power.

D B F F U U
RP: 10

Now, apply Frost Fever ONLY. Just use Icy Touch.

D B F F U U
RP: 25

Now, here's where things get interesting. Right off the bat, fire off 2 Obliterates.

B B F F U U
RP: 65

Finish up with a Blood Strike.

B D F F U U
RP: 75

Of course burn that RP with a Frost Strike.

B D F F U U
RP: 35

Now, let's reset.

B D F F U U
RP: 35

Looks similar, no? After the initial Blood Tap, the rotation is exactly the same over and over.

Icy Touch
Obliterate
Obliterate
Blood Strike
Frost Strike(s)

Very simple and VERY effective.

T's Death Knight Guide 4.2: Blood Rotation

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

If you have not done so already, PLEASE read the Basic Combat chapter.

**From this point forward, all calculations are not including Butchery, which almost every talent build, regardless of spec, will include. Honestly, that math is just too complicated, I'll leave that to EJ.

Here's my basic Blood build.

Phase 1

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Apply Diseases, as always.

B B F F U U
RP: 20

Next, with a Blood build, we can replace our Blood Strikes with the much more devastating Heart Strike. Use this twice to burn both Blood Runes.

B B F F U U
RP: 40

Finally, use Obliterate with those last 2 Runes.

B B F D U D
RP: 55

See those "Ds" instead of the usual "F" and "U?" Those are Death Runes from the Death Rune Mastery talent. We'll get to those later.

Don't burn that Runic Power just yet. We want to save our RP for a full-charge Dancing Rune Weapon. If you have a Sudden Doom proc, by all means, use it.

For a shorter fight, go ahead and use Death Coil. However, this rotation will assume a longer engagement.

By now, our Runes from the initial casts are coming off cooldown. For simplicity's sake, and because timing may vary, I'm going to list all Runes as active for now. Time to begin the second half of our rotation.

Phase 2

B B F D U D
RP: 55

With the Annihilation and Epidemic talents, our diseases should still be active and have plenty of life left in them. What to do with those Frost and Unholy Runes, though? Obliterate!

B B D D D D
RP: 70

Once again, the Frost and Unholy Runes become Death Runes.

Now we can use those two Blood Runes for more Heart Strikes.

B B D D D D
RP: 90

What about those Death Runes? They are treated as wild cards, and will be used as ANY Rune. So, two more Heart Strikes!

B B D F D U
RP: 100

Now, bust out that Rune Weapon. With 100 RP, it will last 30 full seconds. DRW matches all of your attacks, and will gain any buffs you do, so feel free to burn trinkets and use Hysteria.

With the 3 minute cooldown, use Death Coils until DRW is almost off cooldown, then start saving RP again.

Granted, there are more complicated rotations out here that maximize the potential of DRW, but this is just a basic guide. Feel free to search around for more in-depth rotations.

At this point, there are several more phases to the rotation. Just be sure to reapply diseases when necessary, use Obliterate when the Runes are available to create Death Runes and always use Death Runes for Heart Strike.

T's Death Knight Guide 4.1: Basic Combat

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

This section of the guide will cover the basics of Death Knight combat.

Death Knight combat is broken down into 3 phases.

1: Apply diseases. All Death Knights, regardless of spec, need to keep diseases up at all times. The damage is important, and many skills work off diseases.
2: Use remaining Runes.
3: Burn Runic Power. The only specs that will not burn RP every rotation are those that use DRW or Gargoyle, as those skills are most useful with a full RP bar.

Death Knights, moreso than almost any other class, rely on a solid rotation of skills to maintain optimum effectiveness.

Let's cover some basic rotations. These models assume perfection. That is, no misses, parries, etc. If a skill does not land, simply cast it again and move on.

Basic rotation

This is a simple, talentless rotation.

Let's look at your Runes and Runic power at the start of combat.

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Let's follow step 1 of the rotation and apply our diseases. This involves casting Plague Strike and Icy Touch. This consumes one Unholy and one Frost Rune, putting those on cooldown. One-Rune skills generate 10 Runic Power each, giving us 20 Runic Power.

B B F F U U
RP: 20

Next, let's follow step 2 and burn the rest of our Runes. First, we'll use 2 Blood Strikes. This puts our Blood Runes on cooldown and generates 20 more RP.

B B F F U U
RP: 40

Depending on level, you'll cast either Death Strike or Obliterate next, putting your last 2 Runes on cooldown. Two-Rune abilities generate 15 RP.

B B F F U U
RP: 55

Time for step 3, burning Runic Power. The basic RP dump is Death Coil. Let's use that, consuming 40 RP, and assume all our Runes are up and ready for use again.

This leaves us ready to start our rotation over again.

B B F F U U
RP: 15

Basic Tanking

Here's a basic AOE-tanking rotation.

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Step one is the same as above.

B B F F U U
RP: 20

Next, throw out a Pestilence to spread your diseases to multiple mobs.

B B F F U U
RP: 30

Finally, drop a Death and Decay.

B B F F U U
RP: 55

At this point, your party can start DPSing without fear of drawing aggro. Continue your rotation.

T's Death Knight Guide: 3.4 Hybrid Talent Build

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

15/37/19 The famous Dual-Wield Tri-Spec
**Due to only one talent that increases melee hit rate, TONS of hit rating is needed.
This build relies on 4 factors:
1: Speed
Icy Talons and Improved Icy Talons are required.
2: White Damage
On average, 2-Handed builds will only have 20% of their attacks as white damage. Dual-Wielders will have far more. This is really the only time Necrosis is worth talent points for anything other than getting down to the next level.
3: Procs
Blood-Caked Blade will go off all the time.
Killing Machine is on a proc-per-minute system, but is still essential to the build.
4: Howling Blast
Unlike Obliterate and the various Strikes, Howling Blast does not scale off weapon damage. This makes it the attack of choice for Dual-Wielders.

T's Death Knight Guide 3.3: Unholy Talent Builds

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

17/0/54Unholy DPS
Keep Bone Shield up at all times.
Don't forget your Ghoul Master of Ghouls gives you a very potent source of extra damage.

17/0/54Unholy DPS - AOE Variant
This build drops Night of the Dead for Corpse Explosion and Unholy Blight. Although, I am unsure how useful Corpse Explosion is in a group setting.

5/8/58 Unholy Tanking
Once again, keep Bone Shield up.
This build excells at higher gear levels, when Frigid Dreadplate is no longer necessary from the Frost build.

0/11/60Unholy-Bloat PVP
This build is geared toward GROUP PVP. I feel Frost is a better option for Lone Wolf PVPers. But, hey, go with what you want. I've said over and over how each tree is viable.
This is the only build where I suggest Desecration. Movement impairing effects are always great in PVP.

T's Death Knight Guide 3.2: Frost Talent Builds

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

17/50/0 +4 Frost DPS
This is essentially my Frost DPS build. The points in Rune Tap, Hungering Cold and Frost Aura are Wild Cards and can be spent elsewhere.
Note: Between Annihilation, Rime, Subversion and Dark Conviction, your Obliterate has an extra 32% chance to crit. That is what this build is designed around. Frost may not give the highest sustained DPS, but it has great potential.
Why only 2 points in Runic Power Mastery? Simple. 120 RP grants you 3 Frost Strikes. 130 grants you 3 Frost Strikes with 10 useless RP left over.

5/59/7 Frost Tanking
Arguably the best tanking build for early gear levels.
Excellent physical mitigation from Toughness and Frigid Dreadplate.
Acclimation and Frost Aura also help with heavy magic-dealing enemies.
Lichborne and Unbreakable Armor give Frost Tanks other skills to use while Icebound Fortitude is on cooldown.
While Hungering Cold may seem like a great AoE tanking ability, I don't feel it's necessary. A 1 minute cooldown means you can only use it once on most AoE pulls. I feel you're better off using a combination of Death and Decay, Pestilence, Howling Blast and Blood Boil for multiple mobs. Plus, that RP cost means you're more than likely only using it part way through the battle.

17/54/0 Frost PVP Build
Frost's incredible burst potential makes it perfect for PVP.
This is really the only time I suggest taking Icy Reach and Deathchill.
This is where Hungering Cold really shines. Death Knight Frost Nova FTW.

10/56/5 Dual-Wield Tanking Build
Insanity! As everyone knows, Dual-Wielding causes extra parries. Every time (most) mobs parry, their swing timer resets and the next attack comes faster. Dual-Wield tanking leads to getting Parrygibbed. Right?
First of all, read this. Long story short: A DK Dual-Wielding 2 slow 1-handers actually has LESS chance of being parried than a Warrior using a fast 1-hander, as tanking Warriors do.
I've seen DW tanking builds that weren't heavy Frost, but I don't like them. Frost Strike cannot be parried. That is essential, as far as I'm concerned.
Dual-Wielding allows you to equip 2 good, defensive 1-handers. This should give better tanking stats over a 2-hander in most situations. However, the tradeoff is slightly reduced threat generation.
Please note, this build requires VERY good gear and is not recommended for entry-level tanking.

T's Death Knight Guide 3-1: Blood Talent Builds

60/0/11 Leveling Build
This build is all about pumping out damage while staying topped off on health. It offers great survivability.
Rune Tap, Vendetta, Bloodworms and Improved Blood Presence all help keep you healed, letting Blood Gorged stay active pretty much all of the time.
Mark of Blood is a nice Panic Button for when you find yourself in trouble.

51/0/20 Group DPS Build
Standard straight-up group DPS Build. Honestly, neither Frost nor Unholy are terribly great for secondary trees, which is lame since Blood makes a great secondary tree.
Heart Strike and Dancing Rune Weapon are the core abilities of this spec.
Improved Death Strike and the change to Abomination's Might make Death Strike Blood's secondary attack in 3.1, instead of Obliterate.
Hysteria is an awesome buff. Be sure to use it as often as possible, and not necessarily on yourself. Just let the healer know.
Mark of Blood and Vampiric Blood don't really contribute much, but those 2 points really don't have anywhere better to go.

58/5/8 Tanking Build
Blood tanking got a pretty big boost in 3.1. I'm still not crazy about it, however.
Blade Barrier was altered to make it more steady, but it no longer has synergy with Spell Deflection
Subversion is still a good talent for the crit. The reduced threat does not apply to Frost Presence, which is what you should be using for tanking.
Vampiric Blood is a solid talent. When it expires, you only lose the initial health boost, not the additional gain from healing.

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T's Death Knight Guide 2-2: Talented Spells

Blood

Rune Tap - In keeping with the purpose of Blood, a heal.
Mark of Blood - Honestly only useful for soloing. Easily dispelled in PVP and most bosses will be hitting for much more than 4% of the tank's HP.
Hysteria - Use this as often as possible on yourself. A Blood Knight's healing capabilities will offset much of the damage, with healers compensating for the rest.
Vampiric Blood - This makes tanking with Blood much easier. Since it lacks the mitigation of other specs, it's easier to end up in those dire moments after a lucky string of crits.
Heart Strike - Amazing damage, will replace Blood Strike in every rotation.
Dancing Rune Weapon - The whole point of Blood DPS. DRW will match not just your strikes, but any spells you cast, as well. It will also gain any buffs you do during its duration.

Frost

Lichborne - Great for avoiding CC in PVP, in addition to the usual Trinket. Just don't go up against any Priests or Paladins, since you're officially Undead.
Deathchill - Use this just before a Howling Blast while AOE tanking to make sure those mobs don't budge. Great for DPS, as well, but Frost already crits like crazy.
Hungering Cold - While this is a nice talent for tanking, I would not rely on it due to the cooldown. However, this is wonderful for PVP.
Unbreakable Armor - Every Frost Knight, tank or DPS, should be hitting this button every 2 minutes.
Frost Strike - This thing hits like a truck and bypasses armor, since it's Frost damage. I consider this the reason Frost Knights are the best spec for main tanking, since this attack is unavoidable.
Howling Blast - A fantastic skill. This is the staple attack of Frost Dual-Wield builds, since it is one of the few attacks that does not scale off weapon damage.

Unholy

Corpse Explosion - Fun spell. Use it on your summoned Ghoul for massive damage.
Unholy Blight - Great AOE damage. Also nice DPS when Gargoyle is on cooldown. This follows you around, so great for rounding up mobs.
Anti-Magic Zone - Unholy Knights have the best spell defenses, and this only increases it. Unconfirmed by myself, but I believe the damage limit is shared if multiple people are in the zone. It will not absorb 10k per person.
Ghoul Frenzy - New talent in 3.1. Honestly, not that great for DPS. Using this will goof up your rotation for a small increase in Ghoul DPS. Best used if your pet really needs healing, or if you're in a situation where you are unable to attack.
Bone Shield - A great tanking talent, necessary for Unholy tanks. With the longer cooldown in 3.1, save this for when you know you're going to need it. With the buffs elsewhere, it's no longer vital to keep up 100% of the time. Nice for DPS, as well, keep this up for as much time as possible.
Scourge Strike - An Unholy Knight's primary attack.
Summon Gargoyle - Great damage and worth a point in any Unholy build.

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I Promised her I'd Post it

Syla, the Snow Princess of Death.

She wants a horn to toot.

Movie Monday: Super Bowl Trailers

Slight deviation from Machinima Monday this week. I previously did a movie day with upcoming trailers. I promised some new ones during the Super Bowl, so here they are.

Commercials were very weak this year and seem to be in a steady decline over the past several years. However, one caught my attention.



On to the trailers!

First, one I was not expecting.

Star Trek


GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra


"When all else fails, we don't." I like that line. Honestly, I've watched this trailer several times. While I remember it being amazing, the only scene that I can picture is Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow! +15 Awesome!

Now, the big daddy.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen


The term for what you just experienced is a "Baygasm." While Michael Bay may not be the next Kubrick, he's the best at what he does: blowing crap up. An interesting tidbit: all signs point to the giant Decepticon destroying the bridge at the end being one of the Constructicons. We all know where that leads.

Favor to BBB

I know I'm not much of a fixture in the community, but I'm always more than happy to interact with my fellow Bloggers. So, per his request:

"Bear is a dumbass and has a broken Feed, and if you are still interested in getting his posts, folks need to please, pretty-please visit the site and subscribe to the new feed."

Weekend Warrior 9

Continuing in Zul'Drak.

Meet Gymer, what a nice guy


Okay, maybe not THAT nice

The Storm King's Vengeance. This is by far the best "vehicle" quest yet.


The animal Gods of Zul'Drak


Har'koa, the Leopard Goddess


Rhunok, the Polar Bear God


Quetz'lun, the Wind Serpent Goddess, and man is she PISSED

This is such an awesome questline. And I'm not even done with it yet.


Good thing I'm stealthed, wouldn't want anyone to see me

I hate cats.


Loot!

Couple hundred Gold right there.


Who would want this?

Seriously, who would use this thing? Retribution Paladins' skills scale off AP now, not Spellpower. Shamans should be able to get FAR better stats off 1-Handed and Shield. Nobody else that can equip this has any use for it. I guarantee I could put it on Auction and have some Death Knoob buy it.

Closing in on 80! Check back next week.