The Enigma Order

Class: Death Knight
Role: DPS/Tank hybrid
Races: To be decided, but currently all races are said to be able to roll deathknight.

The Death Knight doesn't use mana, rage or energy, but utilizes a new form of powersource; self replenishing runes.


How this works is still subject to speculation, but what's said so far is this:
- You have 3 types of runes available to you, Frost, Blood and Unholy, and it's said to be the same as the 3 talentrees of the deathknight. Runes are self replenishing, almost like energy, but there are also death knight skills that will replenish runes, like a DoT which is said to give back 1 Blood rune after it's duration.
- You have 6 slots for runes in your "energybar", you can input any combination of runes, but it can only be done out of combat. Like 6 Blood runes, or 2 Blood, 1 Frost and 3 Unholy. The combination of runes decide which skills you can use.
- Let's say you have 2 skills, 1 costing 3 frost runes, and the other 1 blood rune. If you put 2 of each rune in your bar, you can't use the spell that costs 3 runes, but you can use the one that cost 1 rune twice. And if you put 6 blood runes, you could cast it 6 times in a row. For me this seems almost like playing warlock, where you just use the amount of runes you need for the situation, compared to locks using pets or sacrifices for different situations.
- The category of runes and talents are rumored to be:

- Frost = Control Oriented (probably some form of CC)
- Blood = Damage Oriented
- Unholy = DoT and Utility Oriented (Probably for tanking)

- This creates an unique style of combat. For instance, let's say you'll be tanking, and Unholy is the tanking rune. You then put on your tank gear, and maybe put 6 unholy runes in your bar, for maximum aggro. Or maybe you'll be offtanking and want some dps too? 4 unholy runes and 2 blood perhaps.... It's just speculation, but it could be a very versatile DPS/Offtank class.


Misc Info:
-Designed to fulfill both tanking and DPS roles.
-Can tank without a shield, using two-handed weapons or dual-wielding. Death Knights cannot use shields.
-May only use bladed weapons, currently 1H and 2H swords and axes.
-The term, "Hero Class", may be misleading, causing some players to believe Death Knights will be overpowered. Blizzard has stated on announcing the Death Knight that they will be of similar strength and value to existing classes.

Shamelessly stolen from Wowwiki.com

Once certain criteria are met, players will be able to create a new death knight character, which will start at a high level. The exact level has not yet been determined, but a senior producer of Blizzard says it will be somewhere around level 60 or 70.  In a post on WoW's druid forums, Nethaera said the following:
Keep in mind please that the Death Knight is a Hero class and is not dependent on the needing any other particular class to get it. You will need to at least have (at this point in time) a level 55 character in order to unlock one and play it. The details on this may all yet change.

The Death Knight is intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only. The death knight combines martial prowess with dark, necromantic energies. Players might be familiar with the death knight from previously released Warcraft games -- most recently, in the campaigns for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne expansion, the former paladin Arthas became a death knight and wrought havoc across Azeroth before fusing with the spirit of Ner'zhul to become the Lich King. It is important to note that these particular Death Knights are based upon those created by the Lich King in Warcraft III, not those of Orcish origin as seen in WarCraft II.

Death Knight as depicted in the Wrath of the Lich King trailer (note that this is probably not the final look)

The Death Knight is the first hero class in World of Warcraft. At a high, undetermined level, a player will be able to create a Death Knight. This is a second and separate character from your original character. The Death Knight starts at a high level somewhere around 60 or 70 with multiple spells and abilities ready to use. Within this quest chain the character learns to master the power of the Death Knight and learns to use this new power for their will. Blizzard is currently exploring various options as to how the Death Knight will play and the types of abilities at its disposal, and they will reveal more information about this new class as they get further along in development.

There is no restriction to how many Death Knights you can create, and you can create a new character on any realm, as any other class.

The trailer depicts a cinematic of a character being surrounded by the undead minions of the Lich King, and waking up as a Death Knight. However, official information indicates that a Death Knight is created as a new character after being unlocked by an existing character (exact procedure and required level are still being decided, though Tom Chilton has revealed that one of the possibilities would be starting off in Stratholme and having to break your way out of there) and the player does not lose access to the unlocking character.

The way death knights were portrayed in past Warcraft games is certainly a source of inspiration for Blizzard, but they are still determining how best to capture that feel within the mechanics of World of Warcraft, and haven't made any final determinations on specific abilities. But in general, the death knight can be considered a hybrid class that combines damage dealing and tanking. They will wear plate armor, but naturally will have an array of unique abilities as well.
The death knight uses a unique rune-based resource system to govern his spells and abilities. Three rune types: blood, frost, and unholy, each with an attached color and symbol. Death Knight players will have to carve these runes into their weapons anytime outside combat, so they'll have to choose which sort of runes to emphasize in their spec. As they use their abilities, the runes will be exhausted. After a period of time the runes will refresh.

Last edited by Apox (2008-05-21 00:24:18)