Wrath of the Lich King – Death Knight Class

OK, I said I'd blog about my new Death Knight (and to save typing, DK from here on out), so here we go.

 

As I said earlier, I started my DK last Friday (before Thanksgiving). Uknowuwanna is an undead DK. And I've gotten her up to level 60 already, and I've made the run to Shattrath already, so that's where my hearthstone is set. Now I can pop out to Ebon Hold when I need to train, and just hearth back to Outland. Not a bad deal. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

 

I'm trying to understand the thought processes behind the DK. So, Arthas supposedly re-animated the dead body of some "Hero of Azeroth" to make this level 55 DK that I am. Does that mean that DK's don't have a soul? Why can I rez, then? Ok, not that I really care, just let me go out and kill stuff! And a DK can kill LOTS of stuff. When Uknowuwanna was level 58, she was wandering through Silithus to get her World Explorer achievement (merit badge, as my daughter calls it) and got attacked by 3 Orcs; one level 58, one level 59 and a level 60 elite. Had it been any other level 58, it would have been bad news. However, since she had some of Noth's Special Brew, and all those wonderful DK abilities, she proceeded to whack them about the head and shoulders until they all died, with about 50% health left over. (No, DKs aren't over powered!). Garden would have gotten his butt handed to him at level 58 in the same situation.

 

DK is definitely a hero class. You can do much more with a solo DK than with any other race / class combination. Is this a bad thing? Does this make DKs over powered and dangerous? Yes and no. Stay with me here. Yes, they are somewhat over powered, but that's the intention of the class. I think they should limit folks to 1 DK per server per account, on top of the "must have a level 55 on that server" limitation. Keep the population down, but don't restrict people who are altaholics like me from playing, too. Also, I don't think a DK could solo an instance that would give any experience or reputation, so I don't think that will be a problem, either. People will still have to LFG (sorry Ariel, I couldn't resist) as a DK tank.

 

One thing I did with Uknowuwanna was make her a scribe. I know, real original. Make the new class use the new profession. Don't you try to tell me you didn't make a Draenei Shaman jewelcrafter; and don't you lie to me! Inscription is an interesting profession. It allows the user to create new items called Glyphs that add to your class abilities. You can add major or minor glyphs based on what level you have reached. Nice idea and it adds to the customization of the character. Also, you can make scrolls, cards, books, etc. Lots of cool things that add to the game (or have been in the game and you always wondered where they came from). The obvious parallel profession for scribe is herbalist (since you make your pigments from herbs).

 

Now, here's where I start to have a problem with the DK. When I'm level 55, I know all the flight paths, I have learned First Aid up to 275, I have all these wonderful abilities, but I don't have any knowledge of a profession, and I don't know how to fish? How can I not know how to fish? I'm level 55, for goodness sake (I know, bad choice of words)! Did I not go fishing as a kid? Wait, I know. When Arthas reanimated me from the dead hero of Azeroth I was, I was dead long enough to have TOTAL AMNESIA of my previous life. OK, it's a little inconvenient, but not completely a game killer. However, lots of lower level characters are plenty ticked off when they see these level 58 DKs out there mining copper. Both my wife and I have heard more than a few "@&* *$%+ Death Knights!" comments while going around trying to get our profession skills up to where they should be. I've compared being a DK with being a doctor from South America somewhere. When you move to the US, you either have to start as an intern somewhere and go through all that crap again, or start a new career. Either way it stinks. So, if you're out there playing your little level 8 gnome warlock and see this level 58 human DK wandering around picking your flowers, don't cuss at him. Just understand he had to start at the bottom in his new profession, so he's more like you than you thought!

 

DK play is fast and furious. The first three levels (and I'll try not to spoil anything if you haven't played one yet) are full of interesting quests that expand the story line, teach you how to use your new skills, show you some of new in-game abilities (like siege engines, etc), and get you really beat up in the process. Some of the quests are more like raids or PvP – very fast, just hit what's around you and hope you do enough damage to make a dent. Some of the quests, like the ones that introduce the siege engine abilities, can be really fun and I wanted to do them over again, but unfortunately you can't (or at least I haven't found a way to do that).

 

As I said before, I really like the way the DK class expands the story line. My son said "That's not what DKs are supposed to be like." Well, sorry, but I guess they had to take some liberties, and what do you care anyway, you've given up Warcraft for playing Warhammer Online anyway! The Story line flows nicely and has some nice foreshadowing, leaving you knowing how it has to end, but not really sure how you're going to get there. There are no real surprises, but some nice little twists to how I thought I understood the lore of World of Warcraft. Not so much that I can't deal with the differences, and not so much that it doesn't make any sense from the past games.

 

Also, Blizzard added achievements into the game (like I alluded to earlier). Some of them are funny, some of them are simply annoying, and some of them are real challenges (especially for opposing factions!). Cool feature to add into the game, too bad Warhammer Online already has it and now it looks like you are desperately copying them to keep subscribers.

 

On a side note, my ENT visit went very well on Monday. They diagnosed me with BPPV, and treated me for it the next day. Aside from the fact I had to sleep in an easy chair for Tuesday and Wednesday nights and not move my head much for 48 hours, the treatment wasn't too bad and seems to have worked. I'm only having vertigo for a few seconds first thing in the morning. Also, I think having to go off my medicines for last weekend made me realize I didn't need the Flexaril and only needed the Motrin when the pain got bad. I feel much better, and my neurosurgeon has released me to go back to work full time starting tomorrow. That may mean there'll be less of these little notes (ok, huge tomes of drivel), but at least I'm recovered!