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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Identity Crisis
by Robin Torres 
Jan 12th 2009 at 8:00AM
Once upon a time, at the beginning of 2005, just a few months after WoW was released, The Spousal Unit made the switch and traded in his Dwarf Paladin for a Tauren Shaman and never looked back. He brought a couple other classes up to 70 and made lame attempts at duos with me, but Onnix the Shammy was the only character he really wanted to play.Then Wrath of the Lich King came out. He immediately took Onnix to Northrend and started questing. But he took a brief break to make a Death Knight, so that it could sit and get rest while he leveled his main. He decided to make an Orc because they look good in plate and we picked his name from a Celtic god of death (who ended up being a goddess). He didn't spend much time on the look and didn't care too much about the name because this was just a throwaway character.
Then he decided to burn through the initial quests. He had done some of them in the Beta and thought they were fun. Then he decided to see how fast he could get through Outland. And then, just like the comic above, he took him to Northrend. Next thing we knew, he had taken his DK to 80 before many of his guild's mains.
So, after being identified as Onnix in guild and vent for years, he was now Caillech. New guildies didn't know who to heal or assist in vent. And now his main is an Orc, when he really relates more to Tauren. He changed his name to Onniix, which at least eliminates the confusion during raids, but you can't change your race. Orc instead of Tauren, lame misspelling of name and a tank instead of healer -- he is going through a bit of an identity crisis.
With all of the Death Knights running around, I know there must be more of you going through similar identity issues. Is your main completely abandoned or have you been sharing time with your new favorite class? Or are you one of the few who refuse to even try the hero class?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 6)
Kar On E Jan 12th 2009 12:08PM
I tried to switch my main to a DK...I really did. I played DK pretty much exclusively for a long time after Wrath came out and was starting to get into it.
But then...a friend asked me to bring my Feral Druid out for a quest...and I ran a couple more while I was there...
Yeah, nothing's going to be replacing my Druid as a main for a long time!
Riftsrunner Jan 12th 2009 12:09PM
My Rogue has always been my main. He is just about 3 bars shy of 80. My 'lock just got to 70 and I was able to convince 4 guildies to do Dire Maul to get her Dreadsteed (got screwed when Blizz announced the training option a few days after I bought all the components for the quest. Needless to say she needed to do DM if she was going to get back on track for her flying mount). My DK is 61 and for the life of me gets sidetracked by herb nodes (kind of like channel surfing and stopping for a second and realizing you have been watching for 10-15 minutes) while I am trying to get quests done.
Evi Jan 12th 2009 12:12PM
WotLK caused me to fall more in love with my main (feral druid) than I was before. I enjoy my DK, but she's just for kicks. I think I will always be a druid at heart.
That being said, I understand the confusion completely. Two of our most active guild members decided to make the switch to DK for raiding purposes. Their former mains are languishing in the early to mid 70s. It's been surprisingly difficult getting used to the new characters. I still want to call both of them by their former main names in TeamSpeak.
Cailleach Jan 12th 2009 12:18PM
OI!!! He's such a NAME STEALER! Meh, everyone knows that that's the name for MOONKINS, noob.
OK, to be honest.. lovely choice.
Cailleach. lvl 80 Doomkin
Saints of Elune
Eonar-A
Rictus Jan 12th 2009 12:19PM
Having come back to WoW for the third time after Sunwell hit live (and for now still liking the game, not leaving anytime soon, no Sir, especially since City of Heroes lost its glamour for me after playing nearly 4 years) I finally found my main, my real main.
First one was a Hunter, abeandoned now at level 42, second try Paladin, brought him up to level 44, then stopped playing again.
Then, my saviour came in the shape of a lovely Draenei female Enhancement Shaman, kicking ass for the elements. DWing with Windfury, Maelstrom, my trusty Spirit Wolves at my hooves, that's just the way I'm happy to play for the next few expansions. She is my main and will be so for the foreseeable future.
Still, my DK is now at level 72 and slowly killing his way to 80. He's leveling more slowly because melee is basically melee, there's not that big a difference that the experience is totally new. I guess I will give either my warlock a little spin or try out a boomkin.
Gouda Jan 12th 2009 12:57PM
I rolled DK the first day I got Lich King..made a male Draenei...then re-rolled to a female toon cuz I like to look at her boobs.
My prot-pally was gathering some rested bonus as I sped through the levels and hit 80 before any of my friends were even close.
I dug the flying mount so much I spent the 5k to zoom and leveled up the gatherings to 450.
Now, she sits shelved...perkies and all.
My prot pally is finally 80, but still mosies around on the slow bird...(I'm too frugal with my mats to make any money).
Poor DK, I thought it had staying power...but to no avail.
extra Bank slots ftw.
Denise Jan 12th 2009 12:58PM
My main's a warlock. Originally, my plan was to level my 'lock to 80 before touching any other alts of mine (and I've got plenty as an altoholic). But there's something about killing stuff in plate that's quite appealing to a clothie that generally gets ganked like there's no tomorrow. My devotion to my lock wavered for a bit as I leveled my death knight to 60, but I knuckled down and leveled my 'lock to 80 as planned before any of my other alts. Now, I'm plowing through quests on my death knight. To me, my death knight is the darker equivalent to my pally, so I chose the same race, similar skin/face/hair, just a different shade of hair color. It's working out for me in that fashion. But like I said, I always have an identity crisis with my many alts.
redmatrix Jan 14th 2009 1:01PM
And users complain why there is a healer shortage. Its cause everyone and their mothers rolled a DK. Dont get me wrong I like the lore and class of DK. But everyone is so focused on this flavor of the month. That everyone is forgetting to level up healers.
I get spammed constantly for heals on my shaman. I laugh at them and say how many dk are in your group. I get varied responses like 1-4 and we need a healer bad. We will pay for your respec. My answer is "naw, its cool. i only heal for my guild"
DK is a fad like those high school kids who think its cool to dress in black. Dye their hair black. Make up stupid poetry of how life sucks for them. How their DK matches their darkness in their soul. lmao
Alanid Jan 12th 2009 1:10PM
I love the death knight class, i just hate outland. I didnt mind playing through it once - but i really dont like the prospect of doing it again - so my DK is being shown a LACK of love that i should and want to be paying it. Although, i guess that since my paladin recently dinged 80 i'll have more time to spend on him after getting the money for artisian riding.
Jon Do Jan 12th 2009 1:21PM
I rolled a DK, but he's still level 55.
My "first" main, a warrior whom I leveled to 70 in TBC and then put in mothballs, is now my "co-main" with my "main-in-TBC" priest. The priest seems to play pretty much the same as in TBC, but the warrior is a lot more fun to play than in TBC in my opinion (helped by the love given to blacksmithing in Wrath).
Not sure when I'll get back to my DK.
But like the lead-in article, there are several DK "new mains" in our guild too.
vocenoctum Jan 12th 2009 1:35PM
My Main is an affliction warlock, and I love it still. The problem is, I'm not really enjoying any of hte late game grinds like in Outland. I miss the Isle of Quel Danas, I miss the Netherwing shelf. I knocked out Oracle to Revered for some pets, but that was boring.
I play a warlock because it feels different to me, not because of power level. When grinding, I just DoT and move, no need to babysit mobs while they die. I have a prot-war & holy priest in northrend now, and a hunter at 70 waiting, but I took the time to level my druid up to 51 (boomkin) because she's my inscriber/enchanter.
I have a DK that barely started Outland before being put on hold. I don't feel the draw of the DK as much as other locks perhaps, since I have a prot warrior skating around the battlefield with charges. :)
I enjoyed grinding tailoring for the Shadoweave set, but the Ebonweave set isn't a set and doesn't appeal to me as much. The fact leveling tailoring in Northrend sucks doesn't draw me there either. I got my magic carpet, but won't use it until the vehicle=mount change, and even then my netherdrake (yes, standard black) will see more use.
So, "power level" or "lame pvp" doesn't hinder my lock-main, it's the lack of stuff that's enjoyable to do that does. (Grinding ebonblade for the recipe for a soulbag? lame as hell)
Acabrino Jan 12th 2009 1:41PM
I don't know, I think they're a bit cruel sometimes, even you being under control of the Lich King and the Scarlet Crusade being the Scarlet Crusade, I don't like this kind of stuff much.
I have a DK, he's a nice orc and is at level 64 now and I really like the class dynamics (maybe because I was used with playing my hunter with the ability to tag multiple mobs with the pet/traps and stuff) and he's way more powerfull than my Shaman but as someone said, he can't heal others :D
AyaJulia Jan 12th 2009 1:43PM
I feel way, way too common when I'm on my DK. I only made one so I could put my main's Herbalism to good use--she's going to be an Incription/Alchemist when I get her to 65 and park her arse in Dalaran for the rest of her days.
My only identity crisis is, which alt do I level now that I've finished my old main and my new one? Leaning toward maybe a shaman, maybe a lock.
Gitane Jan 12th 2009 2:41PM
Dumped my BC MT Warrior for a DK. For some reason, not all related to the game itself, I'm sure, taking my Warrior to Northrend just didn't do it for me. I got to play with some of the new Prot talents, and I tanked the first instance there in the Fjord. Well, since we were ridiculously overgeared for it at 70, I guess tanking isn't the best word. But questing was just painful for some reason. It wasn't HARD at all, it just... it was meh. And the xp didn't seem to roll in like I was expecting. Yes, I realize this is all just perceptions...
Anyway, a ridiculous amount of guild drama later, I resolved to stop feeling guilty for wanting to switch classes (not roles) and decided to let the drama queens be drama queens and act like idiots. I picked up my DK and haven't looked back since. And now I'm having more fun than I ever had herding cats. I remembered what the game was supposed to be about... fun.
Although with the upcoming nerf to the Death and Decay inscription, I almost feel like the kid with the new toy at Christmas when the batteries run out after a few days of constant play... but it's still better than all the baggage that comes with my warrior.
Neophyte Jan 12th 2009 3:16PM
I did exactly what your spousal unit did. But now I've gone back and got my shammy up to 80 (initially due to the lack of healers and I happen to be my guild's class lead) and I'm not looking back. I'm back throwing around my yellow laserbeams of happy. I still play my DK when melee DPS is needed, which is around a quarter of the time.
A word of warning, levelling a DK is a lot of fun and easy as. Levelling an old main after bringing a DK to 80 is somewhat tedious. But if you stick with it, and you identified with your main in BC, it's faily easy to reestablish your rapport with it.
Penkii Jan 12th 2009 7:01PM
I never took an amazing interest to the DK class. I admit they are fun to hop on once and a while to decimate through a BG or quest once in a while but I still like my druid and hunter more. I mostly use my DK for her trade skills.
kou5oku Jan 12th 2009 3:28PM
Exactly.
I was a lock, and after affliction became the new must have build for PvE. I felt kind of let down. Downing a mob with shadowbolts was so satisfying! I originally was affl specced, but going back to affliction just didnt sit right with me.
Then WOTLK came out, and I said "ho ho!" I shall try a DK for Tanking!
...never looked back. Tanking is soo much better than DPS in a raid it isnt even funny. I enjoy the responsibility and having to pay attention at the beginning of a pull. Oh and I still get DOTs. delicious.
lock is 72, someday he'll get to 80. After my DK downs Arthas.....
Brckit Jan 12th 2009 4:34PM
Hate DK's with a passion. They are a pox on the game and could very well be the straw that broke the camels back.
Biggest mistake ever blizz made was with them and one day we can all just run around looking for healers together.
Cant help myself in hatred for DK players. They are the lazy ones , me first players who want to ride the coat tails of their guild. They are a million times worse than the Night Elf Hunter or Ret Paladin stereotypes have ever been.
They directly contribute to the healer shortage and growing Ranged DPs shortage, by eating AOE damage and making healers freak out trying to heal a group of 4 melee players. They are freakin every where and you cant take a breath without smelling their stench.
Shame on all of you DK's may you all become abandoned and unwanted on the same day.
Gitane Jan 12th 2009 8:05PM
I've got news for you.
Not every hunter is a huntard and not every DK is a lazy good for nothing.
I've got more news for you: even if I wasn't playing a DK, I wouldn't be playing a healer. It's like comparing apples and... basketballs. You have more of a leg to stand on if you start talking about Ret Paladins, because that's a class that can heal and a lot of Rets choose not to.
In all honesty, I'd be a lot more worried about all these DKs that suddenly want to tank. I thought the tank balance in BC was fine, really. We had to turn tanks away because we really didn't need any more. And now it's starting to look like every other person who makes a DK wants to tank.
I hope they realize that most of them will never be as good as a prot warrior. But, it can still be fun. Good luck to those that weren't tanks before and now all of a sudden want to be. Try taking 5 tanks into an instance and see how far you get.
DeathPaladin Jan 13th 2009 12:02AM
I've seen Death Knights called a lot of things. Lazy is a new one.
Apparently willingly taking a 15 level penalty in order to not even change party role (melee dps to melee dps) because I wanted a class that could do sustained dps with a proactive rotation makes me lazy.
Apparently the rogue who rerolled a Death Knight in order to tank, and was tank in almost every Heroic run I've been on for the past couple weeks, is riding on the coat-tails of our guild.
Apparently every Death Knight would otherwise be a healer, or ranged DPS, if they weren't so lazy. And there wouldn't be any raid damage if people didn't roll Death Knights.
Death Knights cause ebola.
Death Knights are responsible for the current economic crisis.
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!