Forum post of the day: What makes a Death Knight heroic?
The Death Knight has been touted as the first heroic class in World of Warcraft. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future. We've heard some interesting tidbits about this class, and many people are chomping at the bit to play one. Aegulle of Cenarius wants to know what it is about Death Knights that makes them "heroic." To him they appear to be just another class.
Some suggested that the starting level of this class makes them heroic- that nothing more thank skipping 55 levels of grinding is enough to qualify for an elevated status. Unlike existing classes, a player must put some effort into WoW before it can even be rolled. Death Knights can only be created by those who "unlock" the class by leveling at least one character on the server to 55.
Rogun of Hydraxis believes that the lore of the Death Knight is behind the heroic classification. Arthas was a hero of the scourge. Death Knights draw from the spell book of Arthas. This, in turn makes the class heroic. Sascar of Aman'Thul believes the truth lies in previous Warcraft titles:
They're a "hero class" because they're based on lore heroes from the Warcraft RTS games. Technically, Paladins are a hero class as well, they were just in the game from launch.
This is something I've never truly pondered. I've simply accepted that this is what they are. We do not seem to have an existing definition of the adjective "heroic" in reference to modifying the word "class." A heroic instance has the difficulty level turned up and offers greater rewards, but the heroic class will be subject to the same class-balancing act as the rest of us once they become playable. Or will they?
What do you think would make a class heroic?
