Death Knight Info

Background


Death Knights were first created by Gul'dan, the treacherous Orc Shaman-turned-Warlock that was responsible for bringing the Orcs through the Dark Portal to invade and conquer Azeroth. The first ever Death Knight was Teron Gorefiend, previously an Orc Warlock, but slain by Orgrim Doomhammer once the Orc leader discovered the whereabouts of the secret Shadow Council. Gorefiend's spirit was later returned to the body of a dead Human Knight by Gul'Dan, hence the term, Death Knight.

Because of their very nature, the talents and abilities possessed by Death Knights are akin to the Lich King, Arthas' powers. Arthas was, or still is, a Death Knight, but he found and destroyed the frozen body of his predecessor, Ner'zhul, and the essence of the Lich King merged with him. Arthas first appeared in Wacraft III and featured heavily in the expansion: The Frozen Throne, which follows Arthas as he makes his way to the home of the Lich King and claims the title.

Introduction



The Death Knight class was announced at BlizzCon 2007, but not much else was confirmed at that time, other than that the class was being introduced to the game.

In May 2008, Blizzard held a press conference and revealed a few facts about this new class, and even showed one in action to a handful of people. In this presentation, Blizzard shared details of abilities, as well as some other useful facts about the Death Knight.


For the first time, people outside the Friends and family Alpha were allowed to try out the Death Knight themselves at the Paris Worldwide Invitational in June/July 2008.

Death Knights, the Facts

Humble Beginnings

Simply have a character of at least level 55 on the World of Warcraft account you play, and you will be able to create a new level-55 death knight of any race (if on a PvP realm, the death knight must be the same faction as your existing character). Upon entering the world, your neophyte death knight will undertake a series of quests designed to teach you your new abilities. You will be able to create one death knight per realm, per account. DKs will start in the Eastern Plaguelands, in a floating necropolis, similar to Naxxramas. There will be a new area added to Eastern Plaguelands, east of Tyr's Hand and the Noxious Glade, that will be the starting zone for DKs where they will have a number of quests that will teach them how to use their spells, and reward them with better armor.
Death Knights' starting armor will be a mixture of Uncommon and Rare items (greens and blues), but they will immediately have the chance to upgrade it further by completing their starting quests. Unlike other classes, when they are first created they will have wide selection of spells to use straight away, including Summon Death Charger, which summons a regular land mount. DKs will have the chance to upgrade this mount to an epic speed one quite soon into their questing. Due to the Death Knight's built-in abilities and tendencies, it has been indicated to us that NPCs will display some contempt for Death Knights.

Unique Resource System

Death Knights have the ability to inscribe runes on their weapons. This is similar (but not the same) to the new profession: Inscription, which will be available to all classes. The runes can be used in any combination, and are consumed as the DK uses spells, but they regenerate quickly, like a Rogue's energy. You can read more about this in the dedicated section below, Runes. Further to the Runes, Death Knights also have another resource that slowly builds up as the Death Knight uses the Runes, called Runic Power. This power is required for certain spells, but when one of those spell is cast, all of the Runic Power is consumed regardless of how much there was left over. Runic Power also decays over time, like Warrior's Rage.

Weapons and Armor

In addition to making use of their Rune system, Death Knights have the ability to use 2-handed weapons, as well as Dual Wield, able to wield Axes, Maces & Swords. Death Knights appear to be more alike to a Paladin than a Warrior, as they have use of a range of spells that enable the class reach it's full potential. However, Death Knights do not use mana at all, so therefore will share armor designed for Warriors as opposed to Paladins.

Hero Class

As the Death Knight is a Hero Class, players will need a character on their account which is level 55 or over. When the Death Knight is created, it will start at level 55. This means there will be no need to level the character up from level 1 like all the other classes, but also means that they will start with a full compliment of spells and abilities at their disposal. No characters are destroyed or absorbed to create a DK, the new character merely becomes available for you to play, so you will need a character slot free on the character selection screen.

Another difference to all the other classes so far is the Death Knight's use of Runes instead of Mana, Rage or Energy. There will be three choices of Rune - Unholy, Frost, or Blood. These Runes are applied to the weapon the
Death Knight is using, and are slowly consumed during a fight as the Death Knight uses abilities, though they replenish over a few seconds. Blizzard has indicated that it intends to make more Hero Classes further down the line. Speculation of which classes we might see are The Blade Master, Demon Hunter and Arch Druid.

Who Can Be a Death Knight?

Both genders of all playable races can become a Death Knight. Here's a list of the playable races at this time, and their character traits:

Specialization

Death Knights are able to tank and deal high DPS, by changing to one of the three Presences they use. These presences are very similar to the Auras Paladins use, but they only affect the Death Knight. They are:

Frost Presence - Increases armor, and the threat a DK causes.
Blood Presence - Increases the DKs DPS, and also heals them slightly.
Unholy Presence- Increases attack speed and reduces the Global Cooldown on all spellsand abilities, making this presence very effective for PvP.

Tanking


Death Knights don't use shields, but will be able to tank using a 2 handed weapon or by Dual Wielding. The Frost Presence spell will ensure that the Death Knight takes less damage due to the increased armor that comes with it like the Druid Bear Form, and the added threat the spell provides works like the Warrior's Defensive Stance. The developers have said that Death Knights, like other tanking classes, will be better at tanking in some circumstances than others. They will be particularly good at taking on spell casting mobs, due to their anti-magic abilities, though we only know of a few at this time, the Anti-Magic Shield, Strangulate and Mind Freeze. Other spells that we know of which will help the Death Knight to tank efficiently are Grip of Death and Blade Strike, you can read more about them below in the Spells, Talents and Abilities section.

Tanking and DPS

Blizzard have stated that they were aware of the fact that many players who tank like to feel they are still dealing some decent damage. In the past, Blizzard has balanced the game so that tanks don't cause much damage compared to the high DPS classes, but they have realized that players need to feel their damage is a somewhat meaningful contribution, and they want players to feel they are actually dealing some decent damage whilst tanking in future.

DPS

Death Knights make use of the Blood Presence spell, they will be able to cause a high amount of damage while healing themselves. This is ideal for soloing, or fighting in a group where the DK is in the role of a melee DPS character. Spells that will probably be used by the Death Knight when soloing or in DPS mode will be Blood Strike, Death Coil and Death and Decay.

PvP


In PvP, the Death Knight will prove to be a tricky foe, especially against casters. The Unholy Presence spell, which reduces the global cooldown and increases attack speed, will benefit the Death Knight tremendously while in PvP. A number of attacks the Death Knight starts with will be particularly useful against long distance foes and spell users, such as Grip of Death, Mind Freeze, Strangulate and Anti-Magic Shield. Against melee DPS enemies like Warriors, the spell Chains of Ice will be very handy.

Spells, Talents and Abilities

At the press conference in May 2008, Tom Chilton and other Blizzard members talked about some Death Knight spells, and demonstrated them for the people gathered. There has also been some mention in various interviews, blue posts and references in Lore about abilities Death Knights might have, and these are listed below, along with some other spells that Blizzard mentioned at BlizzCon 2007 when the new class was announced. However, any of these spells may be changed or even removed, as Blizzard are still nowhere near finished with the class. At the Worldwide Invitational in Paris 2008, players could try out a Death Knight for the first time. From this time trying out the Alpha client