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Taking a look at Runeforging
Death Knights certainly feel like a Hero class in every sense of the word. Aside from their impressive abilities, they also have a brand new resource system called Runes and Runic Power. These coupled with the fact that they jumpstart to Level 55 ensure that Death Knights feel epic. They are also unique in that they have a special bond with their weapon, called Runeweapons, and Blizzard wanted to give them a different mechanic here, too.Death Knights have a class-specific profession called Runeforging, similar to the Rogue-specific Poisons and to a lesser degree, Lockpicking. However, unlike Rogue poisons, Runeforging a weapon supercedes weapon enchantments. Inscribing Runes onto the Death Knight's weapon also requires a Rune Forge, kind of like a Moonwell for making Mooncloth or a Forge for smelting metals. Currently, Rune Forges can only be found in Ebon Hold, the Death Knights' exclusive clubhouse.There are currently six runes available for Death Knights to inscribe into their weapons -- Rune of Cinderglacier, Rune of Frostfever, Rune of Lichbane, Rune of Spellbreaking, Rune of Swordbreaking, and Rune of the Fallen Crusader. Some runes mimic existing enchantments, such as Crusader, while others seem very task-specific such as Spellbreaking for taking on caster-type mobs. Death Knights can change the rune on their weapon as often as they like, provided they have access to a Rune Forge. Inscribing weapons with runes also endow the weapon with an animation similar to enchants (Swordbreaking looks like Savagery, for example). Check out the gallery for screenshots of the Rune Forge and the different runes. %Gallery-28602%
More Runeforging weapon enchantments unveiled
We've already shown you screenshots of some of the new Runeforging abilities for Death Knights. Now, we have them all via MMO-Champion. As expected, they should let you customize your weapon for whatever role you expect to play, whether it be tanking or DPS, and what type of enemy you expect to go up again, be they undead, spellcasters, or melee. It looks to be an exciting system. Read on for a full list of the Runeforging Enchantments.
Death Knights get new starting zone, Runeforging skill
No more spawning at Tirion Fordring for new Death Knights, it looks like the Death Knight Citadel of Acherus, The Ebon Hold, is now implemented on the Beta servers, reports beta tester Jayde. The Ebon Hold, which is located on the eastern edge of the Eastern Plaguelands, will be where all new Death Knights start. What's more interesting is that some of the first new quest text seems to imply that new Death Knights are still under the control of the Lich King, as the quest "The Eye of Acherus" sends you to a beacon on top of the hold to report to the Lich King himself. So apparently, you will in fact have to quest to break free of the Lich King -- but you start the quests on the Death Knight. Of course, we'll know as soon as we can get more information from the servers. Another mechanic of the Death Knight that seems to have popped up for the first time is the concept of Runeforged Weapons. However, this is not the switching of Blood, Unholy, and Frost runes that has been previously discussed-- rather, it appears that the forging instead applies buffs to your weapons. The two examples shown by Jayde's screenshots are as follows: Rune of the Fallen Crusader: Affixes your Rune Weapon with a rune that has a chance to heal you for 3% and increase Strength by 30% for 15 seconds. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold. Rune of Lichbane: Affixes your Rune Weapon with a rune that has a chance to strike the undead for extra fire damage and stun them for 5 seconds. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold.
