Minipost: Thoughts on Death Knight Tier 12 look


Tier 12 sets: Paladin, Mage, Rogue, Death Knight, Hunter, Priest

Blizzard released the Tier 12 Armor Set Preview this week, for Paladin, Mage, Rogue, Death Knight, Hunter and Priest classes. I think the Paladin set looks amazing (I'm a big fan of the armored dress/surcoat look, and you can never go wrong with HOODS and BADASS MASKS), but I also really like the Hunter set. Horns, a rad eyepatch, and a very nice fiery trim without being garish or gaudy? Sold!

But the Death Knight set...WTF. I'm very unimpressed with it, for a number of reasons.


First of all, the colors. Dear god, what is with those colors?? Every other set (except Rogue) has cool fiery colors, lots of red/orange/yellow mixed with some steel or silver framing. Rogues don't have the fire colors, but they are Rogues after all, and instead get a cool shadowy color scheme with rich browns, which works for me.

But Death Knights? No awesome fiery red etchings or complimentary contrasts for us, nope! Instead we get RUST. Rust, and greenish purple metal that looks like it was found in a junkyard somewhere. Seriously, this color combination makes me want to puke.

This is what I see when I look at the set:


Death Knight 4pc bonus: Transform into an ugly piece of crap (2 min cooldown).


EDIT: Driving back to work today, I spotted something which made me realize another reason I don't like the look!


Now granted, there have been some additional colored sets released that are slightly better and less eye-stabbingly ugly, but the fact that this Rust set EXISTS is a crime against humanity.

Colors aren't my only complaint, though. The DK set is just plain inferior to the other sets when it comes to polish and detail! Look at the Paladin or Mage armor, the detail in the etchings, how crisp and sharp the edges and lines are. In comparison, the DK armor is dull and bland. The contrast is low, the lines are faded and muddy...it just has an unfinished, washed-out feel to it. It feels like a piece of artwork that hasn't had the final inking phase yet. :\

Finally, the design. The design is terrible. Seriously, a giant V shape on the chest is the best they could come up with? I mean, the Mage and Rogue sets aren't terribly creative either, but at least they still look distinctive and interesting. The other sets have so much fine detail - laces on the Priest chest, the spikey looking metal ridges on the Rogue chest, basically everything about the Paladin set - and DKs get stuck with a giant stupid V. Sigh.

There is literally nothing I like about this set. At all.

In conclusion:
• Terrible "Rust" color scheme
• Dull and lacking the polish of the other sets
• Uninspired, boring design lacking in creativity and style
• Ugly as the devil's face

Maybe I'll be making a return to Hunter come Firelands!

8 Responses Subscribe to comments

  1. gravatar
    Redbeard

    Cue 'Dueling Banjos'.

    The first thing I thought of when I saw the DK look was that Blizz must have thought that DKs were a bit on the horny side, but that's just me.

    Given the Middle Eastern influence on the Mage set, I figured that's where the shoulders and garish coloring came from. The helm still seems to hail from Nordic inspired regions with the dragon-esque look to the wings, but come on. the Pally helm looks like it'd fit better on the DK, but that's just me.

    May 8, 2011 at 7:25 AM

  2. gravatar
    Snack

    It's just the wings on the hat. Tha'ts the only piece that bothers me.

    May 8, 2011 at 7:37 AM

  3. gravatar
    Cynwise

    I think my problem with the DK set is that it makes people look a little ... portly. Rotund, even.

    Maybe it's the belt.

    May 8, 2011 at 8:07 AM

  4. gravatar
    Korenwolf

    Count your blessings, they've put Paladins into plate skirts again.

    May 8, 2011 at 8:14 AM

  5. gravatar
    Cevan

    It looks like we have Chutlhu on our face. Which isn't bad but it doesn't go with the rest of outfit.

    May 8, 2011 at 9:00 AM

  6. gravatar
    caerphoto

    I dunno, it didn't make me think of rust, more like shiny red metal.

    No, the first thing I thought when I saw it was 'eww, red and blue together'. It looks horrible. Red, orange or yellow flame would look much cooler.

    Tier 10 was the best DK set imo :(

    May 9, 2011 at 8:56 AM

  7. gravatar
    caerphoto

    And yes I realise that it makes little sense to say warmer colours would look cooler. You know what I mean :p

    May 9, 2011 at 9:00 AM

  8. gravatar
    Faeldray

    I think it might be the wings on the helmet that made me immediately think "Butterflies!"

    May 9, 2011 at 11:46 AM