They may be slower than all the fan sites to release info, but when they do put up pages, my do they make them pretty. Blizzard has updated their official Wrath of the Lich King page with some more information on the Death Knight class, including discussion of their class role and some sketches of their capabilities. This is nothing we haven't already seen, from that time a week or so ago when every site except us got invited to Blizzard HQ a few weeks back, but if you missed that, here's the highlights:

• All you need to be able to create a DK is to have a character of level 55. This allows you to create one DK per realm, on any realm(s) you choose. If you're on a PvP realm, the DK must be the same faction that you're already playing.
• DKs start at level 55, and can be made in any race you want (subject to PvP realm faction restrictions).
• The DK can tank for 5-mans and raids; Blizz claims that "his or her damage output while tanking will be respectable."
• DKs can also spec for DPS, using both melee and magic.

• Like every other class, they have three talent trees. Each tree has an associated presence -- presences are like auras that only affect the DK; they give a buff, and you can only have one on at a time, but they don't limit ability choice like warrior stances.
  • Blood: the DPS tree. Blood Presence increases DPS by a percentage.
  • Frost: the tanking tree. Frost Presence increases threat and raises damage mitigation by a percentage.
  • Unholy: the grab-bag/PvP tree. Covers diseases and summons, like the DK's ability to raise ghouls. Unholy Presence increases attack speed and, allegedly, lowers GCD.
• The DK runs on a unique ability system. He has six runes that he can inscribe into his weapon, in any chosen combination of Blood, Frost, and Unholy. Many abilities have a rune cost, which deactives the given runes. They refresh after a cooldown period.
• Using runes builds Runic Power, which is similar to a warrior's rage, and decays over time. Many abilities draw on Runic Power to function, or are enhanced by the amount of Runic Power available.
• The DK can summon various creatures. Ghouls can be raised from the corpses of mobs and players, and if you make a friendly player into a ghoul, that player can choose to control the ghoul and use its skills. The DK can also raise an Army of the Dead, which sounds like a swarm of weak, uncontrollable creatures. Finally, DKs come with the ability to summon a regular-speed deathcharger, with a quest for the epic version available later.

The only information there that I don't remember from before is that Unholy Presence lowers the GCD, and that the summoned mount is a deathcharger. Hopefully, it looks something like the deathcharger, or else many frustrated DKs are going to be running Strat a lot. Also, although we've seen the armor set pictured on leak sites, this is the first official confirmation we have of it. I like the style, no question about it, even if he does look like a walrus man.

Tags: blizzard, death-knight, dk, lk, official-site, wotlk, wrath, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Filed under: Blizzard, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King