World of Warcraft/Death Knight

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The Death Knight is a new hero class for the World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Death Knights are expected to fill a DPS/Tank role. They can wear plate armor but cannot use shields.

Death Knight will be the first of the new hero classes. These classes are to be based around specific Warcraft lore.

Creating a Death Knight

The starting gear for a Death Knight. Characters acquire a weapon in their first few quests.

Any player that has a level 55 character will be able to create a Death Knight. The Death Knight begins the game at level 55 in the Eastern Plaguelands. Once created, they must complete a chain of quests to unlock their abilities. Death Knights can be of any race. You are limited to one Death Knight per realm per account. Creating a Death Knight is done through the character menu, just like creating other classes.

Once you've completed the starting quests, your new character will be level 58, with level appropriate gear, four 12-slot bags, and an epic mount. All fightpaths in Azeroth will be unlocked.

Talent Trees

For a full list see Death Knight Talents.

Death knight talent trees are complemented by Presences -- self-only auras that benefit the death knight. Selecting the matching Presence for each tree augments the class abilities for that school of magic.

• Blood: Talents in this tree focus on damage-dealing abilities. Blood Presence increases damage output by a percentage.
• Frost: Talents in this tree focus on tanking abilities. Frost Presence increases threat and lowers damage taken by a percentage.
• Unholy: Talents in this tree have a variety of functions including summons, diseases, and PvP-focused abilities. Unholy Presence increases attack speed and reduces the global cooldown on death knight abilities.

The Rune System

Death Knights will use a rune system instead of rage/mana/energy. This system seems to be a slightly more robust form of energy. Death knights have access to 3 types of runes: unholy, blood, and frost. The death knight has access to two of each rune. These runes are drained when the DK uses abilities and spells. The runes then regenerate over time.

The resource mechanics for Death Knights are runes and runic power. A skilled death knight makes efficient, timely use of runes and runic power to maximize his or her damage-dealing or tanking abilities.

• Runes: Every death knight ability requires runes, which come in three varieties: blood, frost, and unholy. Depending on the ability, it may require runes of a single type or a combination of types. When a rune is used, it has a cooldown period before it can be used again. Death knights can customize which array of six runes to have available at a given time, which can aid their ability to perform certain roles. For example, a tanking death knight may wish to load his or her rune array with more Frost runes.
• Runic Power: As rune abilities are used, the death knight also generates another resource called runic power. The death knight will have certain abilities that consume all available runic power, with varying levels of effectiveness based on total runic power spent. Similar to a warrior’s rage, runic power decays over time if not spent.

Rune Forging

This Death Knight profession allows them to augment their rune blade with various runes that provide bonus effects. Modifying a rune weapon requires the Rune Forge in Ebon Hold. Rune forging take the place of weapon enchants.

• Rune of Cinderglacier - Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to increase your Frost and Shadow spell damage by 10% for 15 sec.
• Rune of Frostfever - Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to inflict a disease that causes Frost damage and lowers attack power by 10% for 20 sec.
• Rune of Lichbane - Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to strike undead for extra Fire damage and stun them for 5 sec.
• Rune of Spellbreaking - Affixes your two-handed rune weapon with a rune that deflects 5% of all spell damage.
• Rune of Swordbreaking - Affixes your two-handed rune weapon with a rune that increases Parry chance by 3%.
• Rune of the Fallen Crusader - Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to heal you for 3% and increase total Strength by 30% for 15 sec.

Summoned Creatures

Creating minions from the ranks of the unliving is a core ability of the death knight.

• Raise Dead: The death knight can raise a ghoul companion from the corpses of fallen creatures, as well as those of both friendly and enemy players. If cast on a friendly player, that player will have the opportunity to actually play as the ghoul, controlling its movements and actions.
• Army of the Dead: This channeled spell raises a group of undead followers who will attack the death knight’s enemies but only exist very briefly before disintegrating.
• Summon Deathcharger: Every death knight can summon the level-40 version of a deathcharger land mount. At higher levels, they can complete a quest to learn the epic version.

Attack Rotations

Given the rune and runic power system, the death knight becomes a very sequenced play style. Maximizing rune usage is key.

A basic attack rotation: Icy Touch (IT) -> Plague Strike (PS) -> Blood Strike (BS) -> Blood Strike (BS) -> 1 Frost Rune (1F) and 1 Unholy Rune (1U) Finisher -> Runic Power (RP) dump

This basic rotation, IT->PS->BS->BS->1F1U->RP, maximizes rune efficiency by using all 6 runes every rotation.

The 1F1U finisher will typically be death strike or obliterate. Early on, the only RP dump available will be death coil. Depending on spec and level, new RP uses will be available.

There are variations to the rotation depending on your talent spec.

Blood spec with death rune mastery uses death strike (DS) or obliterate to generate more blood runes for heart strike (HS). This spec uses two rotations to maximize the usage of death runes.

IT->PS->HS->HS->DS/Oblit->Dancing Rune Weapon(DRW) or Death Coil(DC) IT->PS->HS->HS->HS->HS->Death Coil

An alternative "lazy" death knight to this blood spec forgoes using diseases to generate even more death runes for HS.

DS/Oblit->DS/Oblit->HS->HS->DRW or DC
HS->HS->HS->HS->HS->HS->DC

Unholy spec can also make use of a death rune generating spec with the reaping talent. This spec generates death runes from blood boil(BB) and blood strike. The death runes are then used for additional scourge strikes (SS).

IT->PS->BS->BS->SS->Gargoyle or Unholy Blight or Death Coil
SS->SS->SS->DC

Frost specs utilize the blood of the north talent to convert death runes using blood strike. Runic power is then used to spam off as many frost strikes as possible.

IT->PS->BS->BS->Howling Blast or Oblit or Death Strike->Frost Strike(FS) or Hungering Cold (HC)
IT->PS->HB/Oblit/DS->HB/Oblit/DS->FS

Spells

Death Knights use a variety of spells. Most of these spells are cast by hitting the enemy with a melee weapon.

You can sort this table by clicking on the "" button.

Icon	Spell Name	Tree	Description	Level
	Blood Boil	Blood	Causes any of the Death Knight's diseases on the target and all enemies within 30 yards of the target, to painfully erupt, dealing shadow damage.	58
	Blood Presence	Blood	Strengthens the Death Knight with the presence of blood, increasing damage by 15% and healing the Death Knight by 2% of damage dealt by abilities.	55
	Blood Strike	Blood	Instantly strike the enemy, causing 50% weapon damage plus X. Each disease on the target causes an additional X.	?
	Blood Tap	Blood	Immediately activeates a Blood Rune and temporarily converts it into a Death Rune. This rune counts as a Blood, Unholy, or Frost Rune. Lasts 20 sec.	64
	Dark Command	Blood	Commands the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.	65
	Death Pact	Blood	Sacrifices an undead minion, healing the Death Knight for 20% of his max health.	66
	Heart Strike	Blood	Instantly strike the enemy, causing 50% weapon damage plus X, and preventing the target from using haste effects for 10 sec. Each disease on the target causes an additional X damage.	?
	Pestilence	Blood	Causes Shadow damage to the target and all targets within 10 yards and spreads any diseases on the target to the additional targets.	56
	Strangulate	Blood	Strangulates an enemy, silencing them for 5 sec. and deals X Shadow damage at the end of the effect.	59
	Chains of Ice	Frost	Shackles the target with heavy chains, reducing their movement to zero. The target regains 5% of their movement each sec. Lasts for 20 sec.	58
	Empower Rune Weapon	Frost	Empower your rune weapon, immediately activating all your runes and generating 25 runic power.	75
	Frost Fever	Frost	A disease dealing X frost damage every 3 sec and reducing the target's melee and ranged attack speed by 14% for 12 sec. Caused by Icy Touch and other spells.	55
	Frost Presence	Frost	The Death Knight takes on the presence of Frost, increasing total health by 10%, armor contribution from items by 45%, and magic resistance by 1 per level. Increases threat generated.	57
	Frost Strike	Frost	Instantly strike the enemy, causing 30% weapon damage plus X as Frost damage.	55
	Horn of Winter	Frost	The Death Knight blows the Horn of Winter, increasing total strength and agility of all party or raid members within 30 yards by X. Lasts 2 min.	65
	Howling Blast	Frost	Blast the target with a frigid wind dealing X to X frost damage to all enemies withing 10 yards. Deals double damage to targets infected with Frost Fever.	55
	Icebound Fortitude	Frost	The Death Knight freezes his blood to become immune to stun effects and reduce all damage taken by 50% for 12 sec. Does not remove existing stun effects.	62
	Icy Touch	Frost	Chills the target for X to X frost damage and infects them with Frost Fever, a disease that reduces melee and ranged attack speed by X% for X sec.	55
	Mind Freeze	Frost	Smash the target's mind with cold, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.	57
	Obliterate	Frost	A brutal instant attack that deals 100% weapon damage plus X to X additional damage for each the Death Knight's diseases on the target, but consumes the diseases.	61
	Path of Frost	Frost	The Death Knight's freezing aura creates ice beneath his feet, allowing him and his party or raid to walk on water for 10 min. Works while mounted. Any damage will cancel the effect.	61
	Rune Strike	Frost	Instantly strike the target for 60% weapon damage. Only usable after the Death Knight performs a critical hit with an ability that causes a disease.	67
	Rune of Lichbane	Runeforging	Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that adds 2% extra weapon damage as fire damage or 4% vs. Undead targets.	60
	Rune of Spellbreaking	Runeforging	Affixes your one-handed rune weapon with a rune that deflects 2% of all spell damaeg and reduces the duration of Silence effects by 50%.	57
	Rune of Spellshattering	Runeforging	Affixes your two-handed rune weapon with a rune that deflects 4% of all spell damage and reduces the duration of Silence effects by 50%	57
	Rune of Swordbreaking	Runeforging	Affixes your one-handed rune weapon with a rune that increases Parry chance by 2% and reduces the duration of Disarm effects by 50%.	63
	Rune of Swordshattering	Runeforging	Affixes your two-handed rune weapon with a rune that increases Parry chance by 4% and reduces the duration of disarm effects by 50%.	63
	Rune of the Fallen Crusader	Runeforging	Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to heal you for 3% and increase total strength by 30% for 15 sec.	70
	Anti-Magic Shell	Unholy	Surrounds the Death Knight in an Anti-Magic Shell, absorbing 75% of the damage dealt by harmful spells and preventing application of harmful magical effects. Lasts 5 sec.	68
	Army of the Dead	Unholy	Summons an entire legion of Ghouls to fight for the Death Knight. The Ghouls will swarm the area, taunting and fighting anything they can.	80
	Blood Plague	Unholy	A disease dealing X shadow damage every 3 sec for 12 sec. Has a 50% chance to remove one heal over time effect whenever it does damage.	55
	Corpse Explosion	Unholy	Cause a corpse to explode for X shadow damage to all enemies within 20 yards. Will use a nearby corpse if the target is not a corpse. Does not affect mechanical or elemental corpses.	55
	Death and Decay	Unholy	Corrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight causing X shadow damage every sec that targets remain in the area for 10 sec. This ability produces a high amount of threat.	60
	Death Coil	Unholy	Fire a blast of unholy energy, causing Xshadow damage to an enemy target or healing X damage from a friendly target.	55
	Death Grip	Unholy	Harness the unholy energy, drawing the target toward the Death Knight and forcing the enemy to attack for 3 sec.	55
	Death Strike	Unholy	A deadly attack that deals 60% weapon damage plus X and heals the Death Knight for 100% of the damage done for each of his diseases on the target.	56
	Scourge Strike	Unholy	An unholy strike that deals 65% of weapon damage as shadow damage plus X and X additional damage for each of the Death Knight's diseases on the target.	55
	Plague Strike	Unholy	A vicious strike that deals 30% weapon damage plus X and infects the target with Blood Plague, a disease dealing shadow damage over time. The strike removes one heal over time effect from the target.	55
	Raise Dead	Unholy	Raises a Ghoul to fight by your side.	56
	Unholy Blight	Unholy	A vile swarm of unholy insects surrounds the Death Knight for a 10 yard radius. Enemies caught in the area take X shadow damage per sec and are considered diseased. Lasts 20 sec.	?
	Unholy Presence	Unholy	Infuses the death knight with unholy fury, increasing attack speed by 15%, movement speed by 15%, and reducing the global cooldown on all abilities by 0.5 sec.	70