Death Knights in World of Warcraft still have no raid buff. Blizzard sees a solution for this – but it makes Death Knights unhappy.
When forming a good group for a raid in World of Warcraft, different things are usually considered. Typically, you want a character from each class to cover all raid buffs. But one class has no such “raid buff.” Blizzard acknowledges this and states that one of its abilities is basically a buff for the whole raid. It’s a bit absurd considering that this ability has little utility in the next raid.
What are raid buffs? Raid buffs, or most commonly “group buffs,” are different strengthening effects that benefit the entire group. Some buffs are direct:
- Priests increase the stamina of the group, Shamans increase versatility.
Other buffs are indirect or debuffs on enemies, from which all still benefit:
- Demon Hunters increase the magic damage taken by enemies, Monks increase the physical damage taken by opponents.
So all classes in World of Warcraft have a special benefit in the raid that a large part of the group benefits from. Only one class cannot do that: the Death Knight.
What does Blizzard want to change? Blizzard acknowledges in the preliminary patch notes for Patch 11.2 that Death Knights do not have a “real” raid buff in the classical sense but see an ability that essentially replaces it: Death Grip.
Death Grip allows the Death Knight to pull an enemy to their position. This is particularly strong when you need to bunch many enemies in one place or when it comes to fast, precise positioning of enemies.
The catch is, however, that bosses and most “leader” NPCs are immune to Death Grip. Typically, only smaller enemies, or “adds,” can be pulled in fights with Death Grip.
This seems particularly absurd to many when looking at the next raid, Manaforging Omega. In all boss fights there, there are only a few adds – and when there are, they already have mechanics that either prevent the use of Death Grip or make it unnecessary.
The community is angry, calls for more: In the WoW subreddit, the topic is being discussed vigorously. Many Death Knights wish for simply a bit more and are concerned about their place in the raid. Because if all the other classes have a useful buff – why should you take a Death Knight? Some of the comments:
- “Classifying Death Grip as a raid buff is just like classifying Rallying Cry or Totem of Spirit Link as a raid buff. And the classes still have real raid buffs.” – Alex_Wizard
- “How can anything that does not directly strengthen other players count as a raid buff?” – Cloud_N0ne
- “Ah, a classic. You just love to see something like this.
They probably need another Shadowlands to wake up hell in some respects, because they’re getting arrogant again at BfA level.” – Kurthalos
Death Knights are apparently not particularly satisfied with Blizzard’s decision. However, “DKs” are not doing as terribly as they might sound – because there is one class that is currently much, much less popular than the Death Knight.
