Posted: July-26-2010 at 11:59PM | IP Logged

I am familiar with its use in "the Cataclysm environment". So much for the impression.

Right now, unless you're PvP, you have practically no reason at all to pick it up, regardless if you're a tank or DPS. When I used it as a tank, I found it to be a rather lackluster spell. It's even more lackluster as DPS. Maybe you're thinking that, during CC assignments, someone might say, "Oh, DK, you go run in and Hungering Cold those mobs so I don't get whirlwinded to death." First off, it's a 10 yard spell. That means I have to be, for all practical purposes, by the mob that I want to CC. Anything that's elite enough to pose a danger to a tank is certainly going to be more than a match for me. Secondly, it's 60 RP and that's not always available. I do believe that I mentioned both points in my previous post, though I did call out the DPS usage as a parenthetical reference.

That does kind of make sense, as it's in the survival tree. :) I'm prepared to concede that 1 tree in 9 additional classes in the game in "the Cataclysm environment" seems to have an analogous penalty, with the obvious exception that the hunter doesn't have to be within the mob that s/he's trying to CC and that the ability isn't on cooldown.

But my question to you would be this: Is Wyvern Sting something (the generic) you'd pick up anyway? Does the final talent in Survival in Cata (because Wyvern Sting in no way shape or form is a prerequisite for the final talent on live) good enough that (the generic) you would pick it up anyway? For that matter, is Black Arrow a good enough talent that (the generic) you would pick it up in Cataclysm? If (the generic) you answered Yes to both questions, then it's not completely analogous. If you answered No to the first and Yes to the second, well, since it doesn't act that way now (a quick gander at the Hunter trees on Armory show that only Survival has a prerequisite for the top-tier talent and its current prerequisite is yet another damage talent) why will it act that way in "the Cataclysm environment"?

I'm just struck by how you seem to equate me not wanting this as being an anti-group activity. What were your words? Oh, let me quote you:

As someone who may play a Death Knight in Cataclysm upon release, I'd like to have the choice to spec for utility. As the tree exists now (but will almost certainly change) there's no choice at all, which seems decidedly at odds with Blizzard stating that they want people not to feel forced to have cookie-cutter specs. If I want "the brass ring", I have to pick up a talent that is pretty much a guarantee to get me killed if I try to use it. For that matter, if I wanted to play an Unholy Death Knight, well, I guess that meant that I didn't want to have a CC at all, eh? It would have nothing to do with the fact that I might enjoy the playstyle associated with it, eh? The very mechanic that places Hungering Cold out of reach of a tanking death knight places the ability hopelessly out of reach of an unholy death knight, relegating this rather popular tree to the realm of anti-group and anti-utility.

Posted: July-28-2010 at 7:00PM | IP Logged

Currently? Hell no. I've used it maybe twice.

Hot damn, turns out I'm blind. I knew Wyvern Sting was a prerequisite for something I wanted, and there's currently a prerequisite for Black Arrow in WotLK, and Wyvern Sting is currently a prerequisite for Black Arrow in Cataclysm - my brain evidently put that together to yield the conclusion that yes, Wyvern Sting was indeed the prerequisite for Black Arrow in WotLK (since there is a prerequisite, and Wyvern Sting is a prerequisite).

Still, it's not like Noxious Stings is something you would ever want to not take, as far as I'm aware.

Regardless, Wyvern Sting is not, no, something that I want to pick up in WotLK, and, yes, Black Arrow is (and will presumably continue to be) good enough for me to want to pick it up despite a crappy prerequisite. And as to why I would expect that "it [will] act that way in 'the Cataclysm environment'", that's the way the current talent tree is set up, that's why. Why would you expect that Hungering Cold will be a prerequisite for Whatever Dumb Frost Ability It Is That You Want? Same reason, I'd imagine?

See, and that's the part I don't buy. Not all mobs that potentially cause dangerous situations whirlwind. Will every pull require a Wyvern Sting? No. Will no pulls benefit from its application? Also no. Will no pulls benefit from a Frost DK slipping in and applying a Hungering Cold? Probably not.

By the way, where do you DPS from now, if you stay out of the fray entirely?

No, but it might mean that if Unholy had a required CC talent that you got all mad about.

All I'm saying is this:

A. It's not that bad, you're fine, calm down;

B. Your claim that nobody else is in a similar boat is kinda silly.