In the previous part of my Death Knight preview, we went through some of the lore behind the Death Knights and their presence in other games that Blizzard has put out. So, in this part, we will go through the special abilities that players will have with their Death Knight, the talent trees, and how players will be able to create a Death Knight – as they don't start out from level 1 like other classes.
When it comes to the Death Knights, their main talent trees will be split into Blood, Frost, and Unholy - all of which sound like awesome ways to become a Death Knight. Here is the breakdown of how these different trees will affect the class and what advantages they will offer:
1. Blood - This talent tree will vastly improve the Knight's melee abilities, which include weapons and spells that will help them in combat. (I have heard through the grapevine that this is the way to go for those who are looking to play a Death Knight when the expansion comes out as it provides the most enhancements and the best melee buffs.)
2. Frost - This one enhances the Death Knight's defensive abilities as well as their melee and tanking. It will also give special spells for the Knight who chooses this class.
3. Unholy - This one is supposed to have special talents that will allow the Death Knight to summon diseases and minions.
Like was mentioned earlier, the Death Knights will use Runes instead of mana to deal the most of their damage. This new and unique system will help to govern the abilities and spells as well as the talents that you choose to place your points in. These runes will have to be actually carved into their weapons when they are not in combat, and then they will have to choose which runes to put their talent points in as they decide which talent spec to go with. The Knights will be able to use the spells that they have to turn a rune they need into a Death Rune as well. These Death Runes can be use as any type of talent tree spec point. Also, when the knight uses an ability that requires a rune against an enemy, they will build up their level of Runic power. In turn, this power helps the knight use other abilities that will start to drain this power (just like rage on a warrior). As you restore your Runic power, you'll be able to use more abilities.
Now, players will not be able to start from level 1 and create a Death Knight. Instead, they will have to have a character that is level 55 or above on their account. When all the criteria is met, then the player can have 1 Death Knight class per realm (server). The good thing about this is that you can choose any server - it doesn't have to be one where you already have toons. This is great for Alliance players who do not want to be fighting their friends and guild members on their main server. This new Death Knight will be a completely seperate toon from your toon that was level 55+.
When you make a Death Knight with the expansion, you won't actually lose the access for any of your other toons; instead, the new Knight will start in Acherus, the Ebon Hold in Eastern Plaguelands. You'll start out with a mass of spells and abilties as well as uncommon gear - all ready to go. When you leave here, you'll be able to start mastering the power of the Death Knight and use it for the power of the Lich King. The quests that the Death Knights will have will take them mostly to the area in the Scarlet Enclave to begin with.