WoW: Death Knight T13 - Huh.

So MMO Champion has datamined the death knight's T13 set from the latest PTR update and I have to say I am underwhelmed. It's not a bad looking set, and, if it was released/available when the others were, it would have been more acceptable. However, Blizzard has indicated that the original T13 was not up to snuff when it was rendered so they started from scratch. They went on to say they wanted to make a really great set that fit the death knight theme and I have to give them that this set does that. However, a lot of expectations were raised when the Q&A panel was asked:

Where is the Death Knight tier 13?

Its really awesome and you will see it soon

It's hard not to anticipate from that that the death knight tier 13 would be on par or better than what they did for warriors or hunters. Like I mentioned earlier, this isn't the worst set for death knights, but the first impressions from it was that it was rather bland. So what is really wrong with it?

It's really all about the helm. The rest of the set seems right and I do like how the shoulders look, but the helm is what everyone looks at first. The helm is where the first impression is from and where one would like people to stop and look at the fearsome death knight standing there. As it is, the first thing I saw was a bearded man. After some adjustments in MMO Champion's model viewer, it looked better, but I cannot unsee the beard. The female example looks like a bearded lady.

Now I know what they are going for with the spiked front of the helmet. It's supposed to be a ribcage for the skull theme of the helm. But it also makes the horns look a bit out of place. Granted, it looks fine in the front view, but the forward angle and length seems a bit much.

The biggest problem with the set is that it was released almost a month after the others were available. Even at the Blizzcon art panel, they had an image that shows every class except the death knights. This raised expectations even more. Surely something that takes this long would be an epic set that would blow away the rest. It became almost certain that Blizzard would put something that would "wow" their death knight players. It would immediately be known that death knights will have an awesome set.

Then we have the MMO Champion datamine. Huh.

I have to say, once again, that it is, in no way, a terrible set. It simply did not have the impact that was expected, certainly not in the way when the warrior or hunter sets were introduced. The general reaction was closer to when the paladin set was found. I remember the round of mocking laughter at the "bird boy" set, but, after a while, it did grow on people and I personally find it a set I would like to kit my paladin with. The same is likely going to happen with the death knight set. As understated as it is, it does fit the death knight theme and will likely look a whole lot better in the game than through model viewer pictures.

Even if it doesn't get accepted widely as a good set down the road, death knights do have to be glad that Blizzard didn't try to make a counterpart for the warducks.