Bornakk posts on Death Knight level and creation
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 23rd 2008 at 4:30PM
Bornakk has clarified some information about the Death Knight class today. The two key pieces of information he tells us are:- Death Knights will start at a level less than 70, but Blizzard wants them to be able to get into Northrend "a little faster".
- Converting a preexisting character to a Death Knight has been ruled out.
Bornakk also waxes philosophical about the decision to not have a character convert into a Death Knight. He says that "Leveling a character just to throw it away doesn't really fit [fun game play] very well." He also expects that Death Knights will "find their way" into raid groups just as the Paladins and Shamans did on the Horde and Alliance with the release of Burning Crusade.
While this news on the Death Knight is really just clarification of some previously released information, it does provide a good insight into what Blizzard is thinking about the class. WoW Insider will have all the latest on the Death Knight and Wrath of the Lich King, so stay tuned!
Filed under: News items, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
fLUx Apr 23rd 2008 4:36PM
"He also expects that Death Knights will "find their way" into raid groups just as the Paladins and Shamans did on the Horde and Alliance with the release of Burning Crusade."
haha, I hope DKs are good healers, tanks, dps and cc, because everyone and their grandmas will want a DK when they are released!
deviationer Apr 23rd 2008 4:42PM
at blizzcon they said that converting a preexisting character to a Death Knight just would not work. That it will be a quest chain that will unlock a new death knight slot to start at a "high" level.
So not much new news others than the starting level will be in the 60's.
blizzard, please STOP regurgitating old and already reported info, we want completely NEW info about wrath.
Suzaku Apr 23rd 2008 5:22PM
This isn't "Blizzard" trying to "give news". It's just Bornakk replying to a question on the forums from someone who was obviously too lazy to look up the information on their own, because this isn't anything new.
Ikarus Apr 23rd 2008 5:01PM
They didn't say it would be in the 60's just that it would be below 70 and still make it easier for them to get into Northrend easier. I think the previous estimates cant be ruled out. Starting out at 50-55 would definitely still get you to Northrend a lot faster/easier than starting anywhere lower than that
Ikarus Apr 23rd 2008 5:42PM
actually, I just went and read the original post and it says:
'We didn't have Draenei or Blood Elves start at a higher level when they first entered the game so we are aiming to make this Hero Class at a good level to learn abilities but also get to Northrend a little faster.'
starting them at 60 would get them there a lot faster. heck, they could start them at 40 and that would still start you off half way to 80, and only 28 lvls to Northrend. (assuming entry at 68, like outland was at 58)
I think starting them at 60 would result in a fairly amature level 80 player with only 20 lvls under their belt.
Nick S Apr 23rd 2008 6:17PM
40 is not halfway to 80, imo.
50 is about the halfway point to 70 for most of my chars, and i think it'd be a decent level to start a DK at.
jrb Apr 24th 2008 7:57AM
they could easily start them at 40, or 50, but make the xp requirements easier, or even give them 20 levels of rest xp. There's always a way to work it.
i think it's important people learn how to play their classes, especially a brand new class that is fresh for everyone the world over. the early part of game is all about getting to grips with how a class works, and then slowly improving and learning through talent points. Dropping in at the deep end will never work as well as someone who's developed their character over a few months.
it always annoyed me that blizz work so long on these new bits of game content, and then let people beat them so quickly. although i'm not 70 on any of my chars yet, it was somewhat sad to hear that certain realms had already gotten to the last phase in a matter of weeks. This stuff should last much longer imo, and i'd like to see people spend longer working out the true possibilities of DKs.
Treima Apr 23rd 2008 4:48PM
Death Knights starting at 60 makes sense, especially if new ones are supposed to spawn in the middle of Stratholme.
And we've known for months that Death Knights will be new characters. Don't see why Blizz saw the need to repeat that one.
Candina@WH Apr 23rd 2008 5:50PM
Hmmm... where did you hear this (not that I doubt you, but this is the first I heard of this).
UD Straat as your starting zone.
You are not prepared!
Treima Apr 24th 2008 4:28AM
It was said by Tom Chilton at BlizzCon, although now he has said that he was only mentioning it as a possibility.
zappo Apr 24th 2008 9:30AM
This would be my guess as well. The plaguelands are mostly abandoned now. All they need to do is retool the zones a bit and it should be fine. Less work for blizzard, and better for anyone in their 50s.
tripp Apr 23rd 2008 4:59PM
Does this mean that as soon as WotLK drops I can make a death knight being that already have a 70? Or at least do the quest to unlock them?
Jewbanks Apr 25th 2008 1:19AM
the idea i believe is you will have to do a quest...
which i assume will requiring being 80ish
Jewbanks Apr 25th 2008 1:19AM
the idea i believe is you will have to do a quest...
which i assume will requiring being 80ish
Fergus Apr 23rd 2008 5:01PM
Will Death Knight be a Horde (Forsaken) or a new 'Faction' all on to their own? Because, remembering my Warcraft III lore, the Death Knight was a Scourge only class.
Charlie Taylor Apr 23rd 2008 5:04PM
It will be like any other class, useable by both factions.
Silverrealm Apr 24th 2008 1:07PM
Uh aren't Death Knights a class of their own? They are for the LK not for any pre-exsisting faction.
ShafeNutS Apr 23rd 2008 5:13PM
Well blizzard has already made it clear that they will be a tanking class. Let's see how many DKs we can find that refuse to tank (Blizzard's Intention) because "its not fun" or "I like to dps" (so does everyone else)or whatever stupid reason they come up with as to why they chose a tanking class for non tanking when they clearly knew they only wanted to dps.
I personally will be leveling adn focusing on my other toons. Deathknights will be OP for 2 weeks QQ commences and boom mega nerf and they are just another hybrid that half says OP the other half useless. People need to start listening to what Blizz says they do not seem to understand as much as they can "Do whatever I want" Blizz owns the World of Warcraft.
Eternalpayn Apr 23rd 2008 5:46PM
Um... Blizzard said DKs will be Tank/DPS hybrids. As are warriors, seeing as they have Fury and Arms specs. As are druids, who have resto, balance, and cat DPS feral specs. As are paladins, who have holy and ret specs. Ret offers a different kind of DPS that some people find more enjoyable than other classes. Fury and Arms provide a different kind of DPS that some people find more enjoyable than other classes.
Just because somebody's class CAN tank, doesn't mean they have to. Why should somebody tank a PuG so that YOU can have a good time, while they are miserable?
Knucker Apr 23rd 2008 5:14PM
So, I'm wondering. When they throw you into the world in your mid 60s, do they just give you all your abilities and say "Figure it out, we don't care if you die a couple of times getting the hang of it." Or are they going to pull something tricky and make them so incredibly OP in those lvls that they don't have a chance to die. >.>