rabb1t's World of Warcraft page

Welcome to the home of all things World of Warcraft. Prior to Wrath of the Lich King I played a Warrior named Aeryn on the Silver Hand server. Back when I was in that body I jotted down a few thoughts on strategies for tanking called "the Way of War", found here.

My current "main" is Petraclies (link to armory), a Gnome Death Knight on the Silver Hand server. (I also have an alt Priest; Aphaclies.) Petraclies' main spec is Blood tank; Blood 55 / Frost 8 / Unholy 8. (Here is a level 65 version.) This spec is fair for leveling. It can do fine while fighting two targets, but three or more become a bit difficult to control. It will take a bit of skill and ability to juggle to keep threat on multiple targets (as with any tank). While Blood spec may not have the mitigation of Frost spec, it does have Rune Tap and Vampiric Blood, so it can quite quickly recover HP on it's own, which can be quite helpful if the healer is otherwise unable to heal and also generates a bit of extra threat. My secondary spec is Blood DPS; Blood 51 / Unholy 20. (Here is a level 65 version.) This is a great build for leveling. While some may disagree with the choice to retain Rune Tap, it gives you a way to recover hit points quickly without the healer needing to worry quite so much about you. (Last talent change December 17, '09 - build 3.3)

Blood tank Major Glyphs - Rune Strike, Dark Death, Death Strike.
Blood tank Minor Glyphs - Pestilence, Horn of Winter, Raise Dead.

Blood DPS Major Glyphs - Dark Death, Death Strike, Dancing Rune Weapon.
Blood DPS Minor Glyphs - Pestilence, Corpse Explosion, Raise Dead.

A Dual wield Frost tank; Frost 55 / Blood 5 / Unholy 11. This build is extremely versatile in terms of strategies. You have several forms of AE damage, as well as the ability to do single target damage. Note though that it does not include Annihilation as I tend not to use Obliterate (due to mostly playing in Blood spec, where Heart Strike does more damage per rune cost.)
Major Glyphs - Howling Blast, Unbreakable Armor, Rune Strike.

A Frost tank, which was previously my secondary spec; Frost 52 / Blood 11 / Unholy 8. Frost is easier against groups (more than four targets), and Howling Blast is a ranged AE ability. Hungering Cold is a nice AE freeze that can sometimes come in handy, though its use is very situational.
Major Glyphs - Unbreakable Armor, Howing Blast, Dark Command.

An Unholy tank build with pet Unholy 56 / Blood 10 / Frost 5. This build is a bit different in that it lacks any high-end special damage abilities and instead relies on the pet for extra damage. (Scourge Strike seems very costly in terms of runes for the damage it does.) It does have what I consider the most important abilities though. This is a good build for anti-magic or controling groups via Desecrated Ground. I don't have a lot of experience with Unholy, as I'm not one to use pets, but if I were to go with an Unholy tanking build this would be what I'd use.
Major Glyphs - Ghoul, Bone Shield, Dark Command.

Petraclies' strategy is to pull with Icy Touch or sometimes Death Coil (Death Grip only if necessary). In the case of a caster I find it's best to use Strangulate and then Death Grip for pulling. This silences them and gets them to you quickly before the effect wears off. (If you have rune power you can use Death Grip and Mind Freeze.) My primary strike (with Blood) cycles through Icy Touch, Plague Strike, Death Strike, Heart Strike, Heart Strike, burn Rune Power (Dancing Rune Weapon or multiple Death Coil), Heart Strike (up to 4x) maybe a Blood Boil or two if I'm doing AE. I will use Icebound Fortitude or Unbreakable Armor as needed. As a main tank stand with Frost Presence for threat generation, but as an off-tank or if you are soloing feel free to use Blood Presence for additional damage and regeneration, though you may want to consider staying in Frost Presence if your role is to control adds. If necessary you can use Chains of Ice to control runners, but it has a very short duration and often other classes will have better skills for that. (Additionally, most raid level creatures will be immune.) I only use it on very rare occasion. Use Death Grip to control aggro if needed and Strangulate casters as soon as possible. (Strangulate acts as a taunt as well.) Mind Freeze is best spared for an interupt. Note that Death Grip does not cause any threat but does force them to fight you for 3 seconds, so when you use it to pull a target off someone else it is best to follow it up with a direct attack or an AE ability. Howling Blast is great when using the Frost build as it allows for AE threat generation. Death and Decay is a bit more tricky to use, as it saps 50% of your Runes. I will often drop that before pulling if there are 3 or more targets, and during combat if control of adds is necessary. If there are only 1-2 active targets there isn't a need for it, as you can juggle targets more effectively with regular taunts and spare the runes for higher damaging abilities.

Note that the combat strikes of the Death Knight are almost all +XX% of main hand weapon damage. These kinds of abilities favor heavy hitting weapons, so often times wielding a two-hander is your better bet for doing the most damage. As ability use is based on rune recycle time you want the highest damage max possible as weapon speed is irrelivant for these abilities. However, some abilities, such as Blood-Caked Blade favor a faster hit ratio, in which case dual wield may have a better gain. Also (I'm not sure on the game design) dual wield may give more chances for parry, which is good for Rune Strike, but as a +100% weapon damage skill Rune Strike would do more damage with a two-handed weapon.

Note: When reading strategy guides always keep in mind that people have different ability levels, preferences, and play styles. One particular guide may or may not fit your style, strengths, and what you find enjoyable to play. Strive to do your best, let the guides be your forge but don't let anyone force you into a style that does not come naturally. Choose talents and strategies which you find enjoyable. After all, why would it matter if you "have the best build for your class" if you aren't having fun?

Note: Gear is a big part of what role you can play. If you have only tanking gear it will be difficult for you to do a DPS role even if you are using a DPS spec, similarly if you only have DPS gear being a tank will be challenging due to taking higher amounts of damage.

I currently don't use any add-ons. I really like the simplicity of the Blizzard UI. I would, however, like a few things; 3D portraits, cast bars for group members, independent scale on the party box / player / target / raid, maybe damage/health reports on portraits, and the option to always showing my castable buffs on group/raid people. I'm sure though that these will be added when Cataclysm goes in, if not a touch before to work out the bugs by launch. You can peep my Blizzard UI and chat settings here if you like.

When I need an enhanced UI I use X-Pearl (which you can download here). X-Pearl allows you to control the size of just about everything, as well as options to show who is casting what as well as control over placement of lots of UI bits.

If Death Knight were a unit in the Warcraft strategy game, I believe there would be several sayings. Here are some examples...

"Rise and serve again, %t."
"Your life for mine, deadite."
"My curse consumes me."
"Blood for blood."
"I can not rest until honor is satisfied."
"Runes pave the way."

Note that with any voice or macro you want to be very careful not to use it more than once per 10 minutes or so. More often than that may annoy other players and I recommend you simplify ones that you use frequently. (Example: "Heal >> target <<") Note too that ones which are lengthy will be difficult to discern the message within the text and players may start to visually ignore such lengthy statements. I recommend lengthy macros (such as the ones above) be used infrequently for role playing purposes and simplified ones be your common use macro.

The most important macro for me as a tank is...
/script SetRaidTarget("target", 8)
... which flags my current target with the skull icon. Changing the number will alter the icon.

Once upon a time I thought that I'd write a story about Petraclies and how he became Death Knigh. I never really got past this early beginning...

The noise and clamor of battle had long since faded, but the memories haunted him. Nothing but the void remained. From the void came a voice. Death said, "The light can not shine in your race. If you were returned to the world what you are would be undone. Your fall in battle was too great. You can not be returned as you once were." Petraclies replied, "My family... my brother... all the little ones. The scourge must be stopped. I do it for them. I must return... for them."

Death pondered a moment. "So be it. Your sacrifice will be noted. Though the light does not shine in your race, may it shine within you strong enough to endure the curse you must bear."

Petraclies asked, "Can I ever return to what I once was?" Death replied, "Because of your sacrifice the light is within you now. Perhaps... some day young gnome, perhaps."

Here are some screen shots I did that you can peep and use for whatever you like. (Though do reference they came from here if someone asks.)