So, Death Knights.
Death Knights are a little odd in how they work. Unlike every other class, you cannot create a Death Knight until level 55. I’m not real sure why this is exactly, I guess it makes slightly more sense for a harbinger of doom to be an experienced powerful warrior, not some crummy level 1 nobody. Also, according to the plot, Death Knights seem to be fallen or corrupted warriors, so maybe the idea is, you would “recreate” your character as a Death Knight. As a Death Knight, you work for the Lich King Arthas. This pleases me some because of all of the Warcraft Lore previous to playing WoW, Arthas is the only name I immediately remember. I THINK I recall Sylvanas Windrunner, leader of the undead, but Arthas I remember for sure. I get the impression he’s not exactly the main baddie of the world anymore. That is some huge Dragon or something.
Maybe.
I’m not real sure of the over arching narrative yet actually. It doesn’t even really seem to be Horde vs Alliance.
I actually really like this model. I really wish that you could just assign any new character a starting level below your highest character. Maybe do it in levels of 5 so it’s easier to sort out what starting equipment is needed. You get some spottiness with how to start their questing from there, except chances are, you’ve already done the lower quests anyway, so the player would just dump in and start picking up yellow !s.
Dark Knight is an interesting class to play. You are a pretty bad ass Melee class, but you also get a host of magical skills to throw around as well. It’s designed to be a combination class like this of course. Probably the closest class would be a Paladin, except the Paladin spreads buffs and heals with magic while a Dark Knight spreads diseases and negative effects. At least that the impression I’ve gotten.
Also, it’s kind of curious how things pan out for the starting zone, as you essentially start out against everyone, Alliance and Horde. This would sort of make it difficult to travel the world for sure. Finding quests could be tricky as well. I actually almost thought maybe Death Knights simply didn’t progress beyond this little mini story line they get for their starting zone, except I’ve seen DKs wandering the world. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you essentially fall out of favor with the Lich King and set out into the world.
There are some nice little touches attached to this though. As I first entered Orgrimmer, NPCs were jeering me as I walked past. The whole “Piss off, you killed people and we hate you still” mindset. It’s neat. I kind of wonder if the pseudo redemption of your character is ever expanded on more. There are touches in the starting zone, I met with a non corrupted Tauren who urged me to head to Thunder Bluffs for example.
I’m still preferring my main character, but I plan to revisit the world through this Death Knight Tauren at some point. Oh yes, on Taurens. I’ve noticed that it’spretty much a requirement that Tauren names have to be a play on Cows, somehow, so I named my dark Tauren, Angus Black, which is both Cowish and Dark Knightish.
