Death-Knight
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Breakfast Topic: Runes and hero classes
As we look forward to the release of Wrath of the Lich King, I've been thinking on the new resource system they are introducing with the Death Knight. The runes carved into the Death Knight's blade are not necessarily unique amongst MMOs, but they are certainly new to WoW. I wonder though, as more hero classes are added to the game, will they use the new runic system? And how exactly would that work?I can see many classes as defined by their weapons, the Blade Master and his sword, the Archmage and his staff, so it's not too far off to expect that when we have access to new hero classes they might use this system, but they might not. Adding new novel ways that we play the game we love is one of the reasons I do love WoW so much. I admit more than a little curiosity as to how this might play out. What sort of resource system do you see being used by, say, the Demon Hunter? Would they use mana, energy, rage, runes, or something completely different? Are there any advantages to the runic system over the others?
WoW Moviewatch: Death Knight Spree
If you've enjoyed Nyhm's previous music videos ("Just So OP" and "Can't PuG KZ"), then you'll enjoy his latest effort in which he addresses the impending flood of Death Knights upon the World of Warcraft. And if you haven't heard of Nyhm before, you should give this one a try -- trust me, he's gotten much better at the machinima-making game since posting his first movie in July!Previously on Moviewatch...
Breakfast Topic: Future Death Knights in the audience?
So we've heard all about the new hero class, the Death Knight. They're going to be plate-wearing tanks (but without shields) wielding heavy weaponry to dish out the melee DPS while throwing around shadow & frost damage and summoning their own army of the dead. What's not to love about this class?! While we still don't have specifics on how the Death Knight will function in the game, today I'm asking how many of you are already planning on rolling one. (By which, of course, I mean rolling one as soon as the expansion is released, you level to 80, and complete an epic quest line.) Planning on being the first Death Knight on your realm? The first Death Knight in the world? Let us know!
Know Your Lore: Death Knights
With all the hubbub about the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, Know Your Lore is going to cover some of the lore behind our frozen neighbor to the north. (No, not Canada. They have no history. Also, I fully expect to get gkicked for that statement.) We already took care of Arthas and Sylvanas, but we still have Ner'zhul, Anub'arak, and others to cover. But for starters, let's check out the lore behind one of the new additions to World of Warcraft: the Death Knight class! There's already been quite a stir about them on the forums, with people complaining that they should only be humans and undead, should only come out of sacrificing your previous character, and shouldn't be in the Alliance because it would conflict with the wonderful art of roleplaying a talking paladin cat. But I've always believed that people should know what they're complaining about, so here's a guide to the current basis of the Death Knight hero class, as we know it. Name: Death Knights. Race: Undead orcs, humans, other things. History: The Death Knights actually have two separate histories: one from the Second War, and one from the Third. We'll start with the former, because doing things in chronological order is awesome. Once upon a time, a very bad demon named Kil'jaeden corrupted the native orcs of Draenor and convinced them to forsake their shamanistic culture for the power of black magic. The orcs invaded the world of Azeroth, led by Gul'dan and the warlocks of the demon-influenced Shadow Council. But when Gul'dan overstepped his power and fell into a coma, the orc Orgrim Doomhammer took advantage of the situation, launching a palace coup and killing as many warlocks as he could find. Doomhammer hated warlocks and intended to kill Gul'dan as well. When Gul'dan awoke, he begged for Doomhammer to spare his life, and promised him that he could use shadow magic to create a caste of powerful warriors loyal to the Horde. Doomhammer was suspicious, but agreed to hear Gul'dan out.
Some Death Knight details from the EU forums
This isn't groundbreaking new information, but over on the European forums, CM Vaneras has provided a summery of information on the new Death Knight hero class. However, while not groundbreaking, it does clarify a few things and drop tiny fragments of new information. First up, the Death Knight's 6-rune resource system:Imagine it [the runes] being three different energy pools which you can change the size of before you get into combat. These runes, we know, will be etched on to the Death Knight's weapons and can be changed at any time out of combat. But it sounds like the details on weapons etching are still up in the air:There's no final decision or announcement on how multiple weapons would be etched, or how weapon switching may affect the etched runes. What has been discussed to some degree is that the main-hand weapon would be etched and that's it, but it's too early to say what would be allowed in the final game. What level the Death Knight will start at is still unknown but what races may play them is up in the air. Though during our liveblog of the WotLK demo, we were told that Blizzard's plan was to have the class available for all races (to cheers of "Gnome Death Knights ftw!" from the crowd), Vaneras expresses less certainty... more quotes and info after the jump!
Paladins and Death Knights
Now that Wrath of the Lich King and its first hero class is in the works, I've been thinking on the shifts the paladin has made in Warcraft of late. I'm not so much talking about how the class plays, but more what the class is about, its roots and changing story. Originally paladins are the holy warriors of Azeroth, wielding the power of the light of some divine entity, able to heal and to harm with its touch. When The Burning Crusade was released, the paladin class was added to the Horde faction, and we learned that this type of Paladin was a very different breed. The Blood Elf pally was a warrior who drew on the light as well, but funneled from a holy being. This parasitic nature of the paladin was definitely a dark twist on what was considered a decidedly good-goody class. Now the paladin was sucking the power they used from a captive Naaru.
Wrath of the Lich King concept art
More eye candy for you -- this gallery contains concept art from Wrath of the Lich King. We're pretty sure the Tuskar Chief is moonlighting from Grant Theft Walrus.%Gallery-5526%
Liveblogging the BlizzCon WoW Class Panel
We're still live on the BlizzCon floor, and now we're liveblogging the WoW Class Panel after the break. Stay tuned for news about classes, talents, and everything you need to know about how Blizzard developed the class you chose for your character.
BlizzCon: What we know about the new Death Knight class
With the now announced and confirmed World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion comes a new Hero Class character, the Death Knight. But what do we know about it? The short answer is "not very much." The longer answer is, "a few things, but still not very much." The most asked question seems to be, "Can he summon minions to fight with him?" because in the video, they show him reviving corpses or something to that effect. The answer is yes, you'll be able to summon minions, a la Overlord, to help you fight. However, according to Tom Chilton, one of the lead designers for World of Warcraft, "We don't want the Death Knight to be a sort of minion-based fighter. He's focused towards bladed weapons and smashing your head in." They did at least let us know that they plan on bringing the Death Knight to all character classes, which caused someone to shout out "GNOME DEATH KNIGHTS FOR THE WIN!" Check out the official Death Knight FAQ from Blizzard by follwing that Read link. There's no release date yet, so you'll have plenty of time to dissect, complain, and drool in the intervening months. %Gallery-5511%
WoW Future-Vision: Express train to the level cap
The year is 2012. WoW fans are excitedly awaiting the game's 5th expansion, Revenge of the Gnomes, which brings two new races to the game (Sporeggar and Goblins, at last!), as well as a new class (the Tinker), and a slew of other features. As everyone knows, this is the expansion where the gnomes finally take back Gnomeregan from the troggs, pushing them back all the way into the "Undergloom," a vast and ancient network of caverns beneath Azeroth. Of course, the gnomes also accidentally stumble upon the long-buried prison of the Old Gods and unleash unbridled havoc on the World of Warcraft, but that's where the fun is, right?I could go on and on about the new features included in Revenge of the Gnomes, but I'm sure you've heard about most of them already (like the subterranean hovercraft group-mounts and blue-pill, red-pill potions for alchemy). Suffice it to say that the feature everyone is most excited about is that the level cap is once again being raised another 10 levels, to a grand total of 110. Like everyone else, you're probably wondering how in the world (of Warcraft) are you going to level your new Goblin Tinker character all the way through those tedious levels of 1 to 100? Everyone wants to try out the new content, but no one wants to slave away through Stranglethorn Vale for the 48th time. To complicate things further, Blizzard still doesn't want to add any more 1-60 quests in the lower-level zones (not to mention any of the Outland, Northrend, Emerald Dream, or Great Sea Expansion zones)! Fortunately, though, Blizzard's got what you need! Are you prepared for the "/level" command?
