Why are the only Frost Artifacts that we’ve seen so far one-handed swords? Why don’t they have a two-handed counterpart? Quite simply, because Blizzard has confirmed that Warlords of Draenor will be the last expansion in which a two-handed sub-spec exists — in Legion, Frost will be a dual-wielding spec exclusively.
But, my honest reaction is sadness and a resignation that things might be over for me. It's funny, my last post was all about coming up with storylines for the class halls and how it helped me get excited and interested in the next expansion. And this bit of information undermines it.
To be fair, it isn't this one thing in isolation. There have been a lot of things of late. But something about this just hits me and I am really left disappointed. More than disappointed.
It's not like I even play my death knights that much and the frost one isn't commonly played. But I have this one that I really like, her theme of Frost makes so much sense to me. That is who she is. A frozen warrior of death and destruction with a massive axe that lays waste to all in her path. I don't care if her DPS is sub-standard to dual-wielding, I like her as she is.
In the article the author says:
I fully acknowledge that many players enjoy the playstyle afforded by two-handed Frost. I am also aware of the fact that two-handed Frost represents the closest thing to a “Lich King”-like playstyle that many players feel is crucial for the fantasy behind the class. After all, who can forget the Lich King chasing us in the Halls of Reflection, a massive ice storm swirling around him as Frostmourne glittered menacingly in his hand? Should this type of fantasy simply cease to exist in the interest of better balance?For me, the answer is a loud and resounding "No". And the fact that Blizzard is heading a different direction may be one of the signs that I am not going with it.
Hate to make a "that guy" response, but at least you are still filling the same role of mdps unlike us poor hunters that are being forced to move from rdps to mdps if we want to play survival.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I can completely understand being upset over it. A two handed weapon is what we think of when we think frost DK and that is how it should be. Blizzard missed a few things here, such as options. They should have let DKs choose which artifact to level, a two handed weapon of a single that mimics itself in both hands. But choice is not something blizzard has been big on the last few years. They have been more about "you do what I tell you to do and shut up and like it" sort of design for a bit now.
Not a "that guy" at all but a very fair point. While the idea of a melee character with pet could be really neat forcing survival hunters to do it is frustrating. Especially if they are really taking the pet away from marksman, so that Beast Mastery is the only ranged pet attack option for hunters?
DeleteAnd the thing is, I kind of liked the vanilla survival that had some melee tricks up their sleeve. I will always remember a description of that talent line as deceiving melee into thinking an easy kill because the hunter was in unable to use their bow. That sounded cool. But as you said in your post earlier - it is too late to go back to that. Blizzard left that idea long ago and to suddenly return to it is bad.
And yup, it is that option thing that bothers me. And it just seems so strange that frost DK's would be moved to the two-handed spec and not one of the others.
Like I said, I'm not closing the book but, at the time, this really disappointed me.
This last week, I started farming Malygos with my Frost DK to get a Hailstorm to Transmogrify over her Artifact blades. I've generally considered my Frost DK to occupy the dual-wielding 1H weapons Transmogrification niche because my Warrior is Titan's Grip Fury and dual-wields 2H weapons. Sometimes, though, there's a 2H weapon that I want to use as single-wield, and then my DK gets to wear that kit. I'll miss being able to wield 2H weapons with my Frost DK... but mostly from that Transmogrification perspective, rather than a class fantasy perspective. I guess it's time to start leveling my lowbie Ret Paladin for those single-wield 2H weapon Transmogrification ideas...
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great too. And I'm not against dual-wielding 1H weapons for Frost DKs (I know you aren't arguing this, just me stating all of this), in fact one of my off-spec DKs might do that from time to time. But it is that removal of the option, especially for something so thematically tied to lore that really bothers me. Ah well, we'll see what comes of it.
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