Reviewing the Blood Death Knight Patch 11.0.5 Launch Tuning - Guide Writer Feedback
With the release of Patch 11.0.5, Blizzard released some last minute tuning for Death Knights and Mages. Our Blood Death Knight Writer, Mandl, breaks down the changes to Deathbringer and how it affects AoE, talent choice, and tank balance.
Blood Death Knight Guide
Wowhead Editorials
On October 22, Blizzard published the following:
Blood
- Deathbringer: Reaper’s Mark initial and stacking damage reduced by 22%.
- Deathbringer: Exterminate damage reduced by 22%.
- Deathbringer: Wave of Souls damage reduced by 22% (does not apply to PvP combat).
This later also included a reversion of the buff Soul Rupture received during the entirety of the 11.0.5 PTR cycle, bringing it down from 20% to 10%, thus amplifying the impact of the original nerf to Reaper's Mark in AoE even further. These changes were mirrors of Frost Death Knight nerfs, and mirrored them in their entirety. While Frost is overperforming, one can hardly call Blood great at damage — particularly when two other tanks received significant positive changes this patch. So — what happened? And more importantly, why do these nerfs matter so much, particularly the two changes to Reaper's Mark? Let's dig in.
Buffs and Nerfs
The figures shown on the Wowhead article for Deathbringer Blood Death Knight are the result of a complex interleaving of effects that each have their «niche», so to speak:
- The bread and butter of the rework in single target — and the source of the cautious 5% single target buff came as a balancing act between two indirect nerfs to Reaper's Mark (the loss of 10% of its explosion damage from the removal of Painful End, and the loss of Grim Reaper) and the ability to consistently add another 300% AP in damage after any Reaper's Mark thanks to the
