Paladins and Death Knights
by Amanda Rivera 
Aug 7th 2007 at 10:55AM
Now that Wrath of the Lich King and its first hero class is in the works, I've been thinking on the shifts the paladin has made in Warcraft of late. I'm not so much talking about how the class plays, but more what the class is about, its roots and changing story. Originally paladins are the holy warriors of Azeroth, wielding the power of the light of some divine entity, able to heal and to harm with its touch.
When The Burning Crusade was released, the paladin class was added to the Horde faction, and we learned that this type of Paladin was a very different breed. The Blood Elf pally was a warrior who drew on the light as well, but funneled from a holy being. This parasitic nature of the paladin was definitely a dark twist on what was considered a decidedly good-goody class. Now the paladin was sucking the power they used from a captive Naaru.
Darker still is the Death Knight, who despite being a separate class still maintains several similarities to the paladin. The Death Knight is a caster warrior as well, although their energy is derived through necromancy. With the specific source of their power still unclear (Metzen is still working on that one), but they are definitely drawing upon the darker forces of Azeroth to perform their spells.
Many questions are raised when you think about the dramatic changes to the paladin and his/her belief system that have been set in motion. You personally might not see any connection between the paladin and the Death Knight. But from what I saw from the video we were shown at BlizzCon, it appears to me as if the Death Knight is a paladin corrupted by darkness and evil; in essence, the anti-paladin. Is it strange, therefore, that the hero class for a holy warrior be dealing in the powers that control death itself?
Filed under: Paladin, BlizzCon, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
michael Aug 7th 2007 11:11AM
My theory:
To have a Death Knight you must "Sacrifice" your Pally. Isn't this being marketed as the FIRST hero class? I would think there is more to come.
Angael Aug 7th 2007 11:34AM
I predict the Paladin vs Death Knight feud will be worst than the Alliance vs Horde Paladin feud. Since many "dps" wannabe Paladins may end up rolling a Death Knight as their main. It will certainly dramalicious.
Pandoire Aug 7th 2007 11:10AM
K
Znodis Aug 9th 2007 4:01PM
That's the biggest problem for me. I'm not a huge RPer, but I do get into the game. I have a hard time enjoying myself when I play a warlock or shadow priest as I just don't enjoy pretending to be evil. I really can't see playing a death knight at all...
Gharr Aug 7th 2007 3:28PM
You don't have to have ever played a paladin to get a death knight. Any class when they hit 80 does a quest. And then you create a 'new' character at the character creation screen.
We need to stop thinking of 'heroic classes' as upgrades to current classes. They are not going to be that. We've already been told they will be new classes. And they will be available to every race and faction. Will there be more? Yes .. will they bare any resemblance to anything? Who knows.
And in response to the Metzen needing to write up the Lore still - what it should say is he's still figuring out what he's going to choose to 'forget' so that the half-baked lore that comes out will fit his new memories. As others put it when BC came out. LORE LOL!!!
-Gharr
Matthew Rossi Aug 7th 2007 11:26AM
The danger in moral certainty is always corruption. Some of the most awful men and women who have ever lived believed themselves to be good, moral people who were doing what had to be done. Arthas shines as an example of this in game: he fell when he began to countenance awful crimes in the name of a greater good, not realizing that you can't build a castle on sand, and you can't be good if you're constantly doing evil things, even if it's in the name of good.
Similarly, some of the Draenei freak me out a little. Even Velen is obviously getting a hard edge to him: his "Wipe them out" comment in the early starter zone quests is creepy.
Skrilla Aug 7th 2007 11:28AM
Blizz has already said that you do not have to get rid of any of your characters, plus anybody can make one. You may need to sacrifice a Paladin in the quest chain, but not yours.
I will never sacrifice my Paladin!
Sylythn Aug 7th 2007 11:37AM
Where is this assumption coming from that the Death Knight is solely the Hero Class of the Paladin? I've had several people come to me with this idea that it'll only be available to Warriors and Paladins, or that it's the Paladin's Hero Class, and yet in all the info you guys reported on at Blizzcon, I saw nothing that suggested these limitations at all. It seemed that you'd be able to take ANY character to 80 and do the quest and then unlock a totally NEW class to play. Am I missing something here?
Slayblaze Aug 8th 2007 7:54PM
The Death Knight will fill a gaping hole in the classes - an offensive Caster/Warrior, which has been needed really since launch. Paladins don't count in my book, since they are Holy and too Light and Good. I want Dark not Light...like a Warlock in plate.
Much like a Warlock is considered a Mage who has gone to the dark side, the DK is perfect when considered as a Paladin who has also become corrupted by dark forces. This is what I've been wanting in WoW for 3 years now so no - I don't think it's a strange addition at all. And there is precedence in lore that goes back pretty far, unlike the Belf Pallies which see a bit 'tacked on'.
E Aug 7th 2007 11:41AM
I don't get too wrapped up lore when it conflicts with game mechanics. if it's Lore v. Game and something's got to give, Lore loses.
That said, I think Blizz is making a mistake here. I don't see how a Death Knight should ever be Alliance. Which means Alliance should have it's own hero class.
This is a mistake born of expedience ("Got to get it out before Warhammer!") and balance ("Both sides must be equal").
Yes, I am a Horde Shaman. And yes I feel that Paladins should have stayed Alliance-side and Shamans should have stayed Horde-side.
Chadwick Aug 7th 2007 11:49AM
@6 That is correct. Any class can do the quest that unlocks access to the Death Knight. They are still unsure what level and gear it will have, but you will have something similar/appropriate for the level.
Chadwick Aug 7th 2007 11:50AM
@7 /agree
Theadrick Aug 7th 2007 12:36PM
Kind of off-topic, but for some reason the death knight in the drawing looks more like an evil clown to me.
Markymark Aug 7th 2007 11:59AM
@ 7. Your reasoning makes no sense seing how arthas was corrupted. The alliance aren't all that goody-good. On the surface it seems like that but many alliance figures have evil plots dwelling. when it comes to plaladins on the horde side and shamans on the alliance side it only makes sense seeing as orcs and the dranei lived on the same planet. as for Blood Elfs them capturing a naaru and using it to gain powers of the light fits perfectly due to their addiction to magic...they will go any lengths to gain magic.
I'm pretty sure Death Knight will fit in to both alliance and horde. I'm also pretty sure more hero classes will come. WOTLK won't be out for another year or so you guys have plety of time to quest and do what ya need to do.
Mercutio Aug 8th 2007 7:30AM
Im not quite sure how Death Knight would be a horde class. To quote wowwiki:
"The death knights of the Second War were powerful undead necromancers created by Gul'dan to replace the warlocks slaughtered by Orgrim Doomhammer."
There goes any horde rights to Death Knights - they were essentially what we call in present day fel horde. I dont remember Thrall being a big fan of them and I seem to recall horde slaughtering fel horde in Hellfire just as readily as the alliance?
To continue:
A new order of death knights emerged during the Third War, in service to the Lich King. They were created from living and undead humans (and occasionally other races) who had been granted unholy runeblades, and most were former paladins who had forsaken the Holy Light.
Now considering you guys have forsaken on your side that HATE the Lich King (probably equally as much as humans) you can't have dibs from that side either.
I dont think they fit either faction particularly well. No doubt there will be a touch of lore bending and some new way Death Knights get to keep their dark powers (much the same as warlocks) but throw off the yolk of the Lich Kings control.
Sindral Aug 7th 2007 12:14PM
I guess it's not too far fetched that the life-giving pally's ultimate achievement would be control over death. Think about it, if humans ever found out the secrets of life and were able to totally master it, what do you think it would ultimately be used for?
Urthona Aug 7th 2007 12:05PM
@10
Night Elves live on Azeroth, as do Trolls and Tauren. Yet they do not practice Shamanism. Yet furbolgs, who live ALL OVER Teldrassil are frequent totem-droppers.
I want my Nelf Shammy. I'll let you have Undead Blood Knights. Cool?
Don Aug 7th 2007 12:07PM
Is this just a way to have another tank available to everyone with a maxed class toon without leveling a warrior or feral druid?
DarkStar Aug 7th 2007 12:13PM
NERF DK, Buff Ret..
Murdamook Aug 8th 2007 6:15PM
@11. Trolls, and Taurens practice shamanism. Night Elves would never practice it due to their hatred toward darker magics. I could care less about a UD DK lol its probably gonna be like UD rogues...but hey power to the Horde lol.