Gnome Death Knight as imagined by Arturis
So, by request I am starting our Wrath of the Lich King beta coverage with an introduction to the Death Knight class, and what better way to experience the first Hero class in WoW than creating one? So first thing I did when loading into the game was create what I had been waiting for all these months: a gnome Death Knight. In the interest of Spoiler protection, I'll put all my infoz after the jump, but suffice it to say the class is fun to play and much darker than anything I encountered playing the Forsaken.
Diary of a Death Knight after the jump.
so cute, so evil
Meet omgrpg, the gnome Death Knight. What she lacks in stature she makes up for in evil energy. The first surprise that met me when I loaded into the Acherus, the Death Knight starting area, was that new Death Knights are greeted by the Lich King himself.
He sends you down into the ziggurat proper and its about that time you realize that while you are starting in Eastern Plaguelands, you are actually in a building floating above EPL. For a little gnome that's a long way down to the ground.
Is it creepy in here, or is it just me?
This is where we come to the second surprise: you are in an instance. Much like the starting area for Lord of the Rings Online, Death Knights begin their tale at their rebirth into the world of pure evil, not, as I had expected, at the moment of their turning away from the thrall of the Lich King. You are a member of the Scourge, and are working to corrupt all who live below Acherus. I said it was dark, right? I meant it. So this is an instance a bit like the Caverns of Time, only instead of being a dungeon designed to have you correct a wrong in the past, it is an instance created in order for you to be able to experience the entire timeline of your Death Knight's dark history.
am I forging or flossing?
Taking the teleporter (a la Star Trek) down into the interior of the ziggurat, you are sent on a quest to scavenge any discarded sword because a Death Knight cannot be without her Runeblade. I found a sword lying in the corner, sparkling with dark intent, and brought it to the Master Siegesmith Corvus for reworking. With the scavenged piece of metal tempered into a blade, I was set forging it into bowls of evil, and then voila, my trusty blade was done.
Runeblade, don't leave home without it.
Blinky eat your heart out
Next came some spy work. I was sent to use the Eye of Acherus to swoop down over Havenshire to find the weak points in their defenses. The huge Eye of Kilrogg caught a few arrows in the iris, but in the end got the job done. Once we learned about the Scarlet defenses, I was sent down to the front lines to spread my particular brand of evil with the other recruits.
My little Pony
Down in a little gem of a place known as Death's Breach, Prince Valanar was leading the siege of Havenshire, with a small contingent of soldiers including skelly archers, Death Knights, and my personal favorite, valkyrie. Salanar the Horseman, one of the Prince's lieutenants, sent little omgrpg to steal a horse in order to convert her very own Deathcharger. Omgrpg being the petite little thing she is chose a colt from the herd, and then after facing the Death Rider of Acherus converted the little pony into a demon steed of war.
So at the end of about five quests, omgrpg is decked out with her Runeblade and her Deathcharger, with a handful of blues to boot. But what's in store for her once the ravaging of Havenshire is complete? Find out in our next installment of the DK Diaries.
