BlizzCon: What we know about the new Death Knight class
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Aug 3rd 2007 at 5:15PM }
The most asked question seems to be, "Can he summon minions to fight with him?" because in the video, they show him reviving corpses or something to that effect. The answer is yes, you'll be able to summon minions, a la Overlord, to help you fight. However, according to Tom Chilton, one of the lead designers for World of Warcraft, "We don't want the Death Knight to be a sort of minion-based fighter. He's focused towards bladed weapons and smashing your head in."
They did at least let us know that they plan on bringing the Death Knight to all character classes, which caused someone to shout out "GNOME DEATH KNIGHTS FOR THE WIN!" Check out the official Death Knight FAQ from Blizzard by follwing that Read link. There's no release date yet, so you'll have plenty of time to dissect, complain, and drool in the intervening months.
Q: What are the features of the new expansion?
A: Wrath of the Lich King builds on the rich foundation established in World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade, providing a wealth of new content for players to explore. The harsh, forbidding continent of Northrend, home of the Lich King and his undead minions, will be uncovered on the world map, and to contend with the new challenges found there, players will be able to advance to level 80, acquiring potent new abilities and talents along the way.
In addition, Wrath of the Lich King will introduce the death knight hero class to World of Warcraft. Once certain criteria are met, players will be able to create a new death knight character, which will start at a high level. Furthermore, player-vs.-player battles will reach a new level of intensity with the addition of siege weapons and destructible buildings, not to mention a new battleground. There will also be an abundance of new quests, dungeons, monsters, items, and recipes -- as well as a new profession, inscription -- for players to try out. The expansion will include some additional character-customization options for players as well. We'll be going into more detail on all of these features in the months ahead.
Q: How will the death knight class fit into the game?
A: 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 Frozen Throne expansion, the former paladin Arthas became a death knight and wreaked havoc across Azeroth and Northrend before fusing with the spirit of Ner'zhul to become the Lich King. The death knight is the first hero class in World of Warcraft; once certain criteria are met, players will unlock the ability to create a new death knight character, which will begin play at a high experience level. We're currently exploring various options for how the death knight will play and the types of abilities at its disposal, and we'll be revealing more information about this new class as we get further along in development.
Q: Will the death knight have any abilities from previously released Warcraft games?
A: The way we portrayed death knights in past Warcraft games is certainly a source of inspiration, but we 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.
Q: What role will the death knight play in groups and raids?
A: In general terms, the death knight can be considered a type of class that combines damage dealing and tanking, but naturally it will have an array of unique abilities as well.
Q: What races will be allowed to play death knights?
A: We haven't yet made a final determination about which races can be death knights. However, the class will be available to both the Alliance and the Horde.
Q: Will there be additional hero classes in the future?
A: Yes, we do intend to add more hero classes in the future, but right now our focus is on the current expansion.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jouten @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:26PM
First Post FTW! =P
Sceren @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:26PM
They forgot to mention that the class is only available for end game content, and that you don't turn yourself into a Death Knight, it allows you to make a new character as a Death Knight.
I will give them props for starting you out at level 60-70 as a Death Knight, since it is apparently a raid bitch, but the concept is still lame. Why didn't Blizzard give us the Hero Classes they promised us years ago?
Same shit different day, I'll pass this time.
Level, level, level, level, raid, raid, raid, raid, raid, raid, raid, raid, raid.
Jouten @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:28PM
But on a serious note, I have been trying to decide on playing either WoW or LoTRO but would like more feedback on the two. Let me know which you think is the better 15 bucks spent. This is not an open invitation to snide or dumb remarks either =P
Sceren @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:30PM
Wow will keep you occupied for longer than Lotro in my experience.
I hate both, but I hate WoW the least.
deslock @ Aug 6th 2007 2:14PM
This is obviously just my opinion.
Wow is spectacular at dangling the carrot for leveling up. The WoW expansion was really well done but ironically it pointed out quickly how single dimensional WoW was for me: leveling up and getting better loot.
Lotro: For the first time in a long time I really cared about the storyline. There is a “main quest” storyline that is excellent since you become completely involved in the books. Just thinking about the future and the opening of Moria, Rohan, and eventually Mordor… Lotro has way more long play potential for me.
WiNG @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:31PM
Jouten: Play Guild Wars for $0 a month.
Also, expect to see hundreds of thousands of death knights within 3 days of launch
Sceren @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:32PM
Yeah, two days to get level 80, one day to do the quest.
Sounds about right.
Jouten @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:35PM
Awesome, thanks. I will have to look into whether or not I can run GW in X or not too. What attracts me to wow is it's ability to be installed on a Mac.
Jouten @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:37PM
I would say more than a Guhbuhjillian DK's running around heheh
Roxinos @ Aug 3rd 2007 7:00PM
WiNG:
Setting aside the fact that Guild Wars is completely unstable and unbalanced, and that it severely limits player interaction, it's a failed sequel to Diablo 2. Frankly, I'd rather play Diablo 2 then Guild Wars.
Well, that's not exactly the worst insult to Guild Wars, considering Diablo 2 is an amazing game.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:35PM
Yeah bottom line is it's the same thing all over again, different area. They throw a few minor distractions in like death knights (heard there will be a few more too), but really it's just quest/instance grind till 80 then rep grind to attune to raid, then raid your ass off till your either ready for the next raid or you just get sick of the game like I did and quit
AvidAbey @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:56PM
But what the hell else is their to do in an MMO? All of them are the same, so there's no use bitching about the "lack of innovation." There's no way to innovate.
deslock @ Aug 6th 2007 2:05PM
True enough that grind is what an MMO is by design which is why I recently became disenchanted by WoW and found myself more interested by Lotro. It's definitely a grind but the storyline and "main quest" execution is great. And the thought of future expansions, for the first time, seems really exciting. Walking through the back gate of Moria (and avoiding the kraken)! Hell yeah! Lothlorien, Rohan, and eventually Minas Tirith and Mordor... just my opinion of course.
tentaclesex @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:35PM
I think you meant "available to all races," not classes.
Sceren @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:36PM
No, it's all classes.
You do a quest to have the ability to MAKE a Death Knight character. You don't turn your existing toon into a Death Knight.
Which is why the whole idea is stupid.
tentaclesex @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:40PM
Right, your class is irrelevant because it's a separate character. The interesting thing to note is that every race can be a Death Knight. Also, the comment that followed that information was in reference to gnomes, which is a race.
Buckshot @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:50PM
12 year olds around the globe must be overjoyed. Play a damn game with real FFA PvP. Vanguard FTW, Warhammer FTW, Conan FTW.
Daeowan @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:58PM
Sceren, where are you getting this information?
Sceren @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:05PM
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161725
Nick @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:18PM
So, Blizzard just really doesn't care about the lore at all anymore, do they?
Gavin @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:18PM
I've played the vast majority of the major MMO titles out there and even though I tried to stay away from WoW I ended up getting sucked in and played for a few months. They patched the game at one point and none of my plugins worked so I stopped playing and never looked back. Yeah it has a great interface and the gameplay is fairly solid but getting into groups is awkward the the grind is just absurd. I got really bored with it quickly but I still think about trying it again. Screw that game...
Emceay @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:50PM
Oh! Can you hear the lament of lowbies being pwnt by the new class in Stranglethorn already? It really seals the deal that experienced players will have no problem whatsoever keeping new players from having a happy PvP server experience.
When will they let horde and alliance speak so I can say "Stop fucking camping my corpse, you 36-year-old-living-in-your-mom's-basement ass clown!"
Christopher7xii @ Aug 3rd 2007 11:46PM
Back in my day (EverQuest), we had Shadow Knights available at launch. We din't have to do any fancy findangled quests to unlock a class we paid for, it was available when you made your character.
Final Fantasy 4 also starts you as a Death Knight.
Blizzard has things all backwards it seems!
Emceay @ Aug 3rd 2007 11:50PM
Eh, I had to wait for an expansion before I could make an Erudian shadowknight - which I wanted from the start since they had necromancers and paladins.
...Then I got my wish and realized that all the magic in the world can't help a frail body take a hit.
Chiablo @ Aug 4th 2007 1:37PM
I think it's funny that blizzard admits that the low level content is stale and worthless...
"players will be able to create a new death knight character, which will start at a high level."
Horray, they successfully avoided fixing the broken level 20-50 content for another two years.
harrison_schaerr @ Aug 4th 2007 5:03PM
i wish they had kept it a paladin only ability... you choose to permanently swap into a death knight...
that way they could create different hero classes for different races and really make some interesting choices for players to make, and really make classes feel even more unique...
this is just the easy way to implement hero classes imo... less work for them...
the game is still great... wow is without a doubt the best mmo ever made... let's hope a better game will one day release... sometime in the next 10 years.
burrrrr @ Aug 18th 2007 4:56PM
The class won't be available to all races, it says so in the article, they're still deciding what races the class will be for. Yes the "GNOME DEATH KNIGHTS FOR THE WIN" is misleading it doesn't mean the class will be available for all races. The class is apparently either a dps class or a tanking class...which means its a cooler paladin :D
~Chris