Death Knight

This article is about the hero class in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. For other uses, see Death Knight (disambiguation).

"DK" redirects here. For the old PvP mechanic, see Dishonorable Kill.

See also: Starting a death knight

This article concerns content exclusive to Wrath of the Lich King.

“

When the Lich King's control of his death knights was broken, his former champions sought revenge for the horrors committed under his command. After their vengeance was won, the death knights found themselves without a cause and without a home. One by one they trickled into the land of the living in search of a new purpose. - Official site

”

Death knights (introduced in Wrath of the Lich King) boast powerful melee abilities as well as plate armor. These warriors supplement their strength with dark magic. Calling upon a rune system of magic, the death knight may summon unholy, blood, and frost spells. The criterion for creating a death knight previously required the existence of a level 55+ character on the player's account on any realm. However, as of December 2014, that requirement has been removed.

The death knight is the first hero class in World of Warcraft. Death knights start at level 55 in Acherus: The Ebon Hold over the Eastern Plaguelands, with multiple spells and abilities ready to use, and a set of uncommon gear. When departing Ebon Hold, they have a full set of rare gear ready for Outland. Through the death knight-specific quests in this necropolis and the surrounding areas, they learn to master the power of the death knight and learn to use this new power for the will of the Lich King. Quests take them outside the necropolis and into an area within the Scarlet Enclave.

Before Patch 5.3.0, players could only create one death knight per realm, so long as they had a level 55 character already and Wrath of the Lich King on their account. Now players are able to create multiple death knights on one realm. As of patch 8.3, the Pandaren and the recently introduced Allied races are now able to become death knights.

Lore

Main article: Death knight (lore)

Death knight is a name shared by several organizations of powerful necromancers. These orders share a few things in common, including riding horses with horned skulls and many of the same abilities. Playable death knights, however, are specifically death knights of the Scourge.

Immortal Soldiers

Dwarf death knight

Human death knight

Death knight as depicted in a teaser (very early concept).

Main article: Death knight (Warcraft II)

The original death knights were created for Orgrim Doomhammer by Gul'dan as powerful soldiers of the Horde. These death knights were created by placing the souls of slain Shadow Council warlocks into the corpses of fallen Stormwind knights, the first of whom was Teron Gorefiend. Unlike modern death knights of the Scourge, these ghoulish fiends were not battle-hardened warriors; they were insidious necromancers who possessed superior intellect and tremendous magical power. They often favored the use of terror tactics and reanimated the corpses of enemy soldiers who fell in battle to serve them as mindless undead minions.

Most of these death knights were destroyed during and after the Second War, either killed by the Alliance or transformed into liches by Kil'jaeden.

Champions of the Lich King

Years after the destruction of Draenor, the immensely powerful Lich King created a new breed of death knights: malevolent, rune-wielding warriors of the Scourge. The first and greatest of these was the Lich King's chosen champion, Prince Arthas Menethil, once a mighty paladin of the Silver Hand who sacrificed his soul to claim the runeblade Frostmourne in a desperate bid to save his people. The rest are primarily made up of other fallen paladins whose souls were twisted and bound to the will of the Frozen Throne .

Unlike Gul'dan's death knights, these dark champions possess unholy strength; however, they do not possess free will and their minds are inexorably entwined with and dominated by the Lich King's vast consciousness. Despite the potential loss of free will, some powerful mortals are intrigued by the promise of immortality and pledge their souls freely into the Lich King's service to achieve it. Baron Rivendare is an example of this.

In the years since Arthas shattered the Frozen Throne and merged with the Lich King, the power and fury of the death knights has only grown. Now these unrelenting crusaders of the damned eagerly await the Lich King's command to unleash their fury on Azeroth once again. Unlike death knights of the Old Horde, the Scourge's death knights are not limited to their use of ranged spell casting abilities. In addition, these tireless death knights are considerably stronger, faster, and more agile than they were in life. However, both generations are equally destructive and terrifying to engage in the field of battle.

The Ebon Blade

A new group of death knights, the Death knights of Acherus, was later created by the Lich King to garrison the necropolis of Acherus: The Ebon Hold for the ultimate purpose of assaulting Light's Hope Chapel and destroying the Argent Dawn. In the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, these death knights are freed from the will of the Lich King and ally themselves with their former factions. Working closely under the guiding blade of Highlord Darion Mograine and the bolstered Argent Crusade, the newly-freed death knights have begun their march to Northrend.

The Knights of the Ebon Blade is a faction consisting of the renegade death knights that broke free of the Lich King's control after the battle of Light's Hope Chapel (in other words, player-created death knights). Led by Highlord Darion Mograine, the Knights of the Ebon Blade have allied themselves with the Alliance and the Horde with the help of Highlord Tirion Fordring of the Knights of the Silver Hand, and have pledged to do their part in defeating their former master, the Lich King. Their main base is Acherus: The Ebon Hold, taken from the Scourge after breaking free. It should be noted that the Knights of the Ebon Blade are not a separate player faction such as the Alliance and Horde. For the purposes of gameplay, player-created death knights still belong to either the Alliance or Horde depending on their race/faction.

Notable death knights

Horde   Teron Gorefiend   Ragnok Bloodreaver   Gaz Soulripper

Scourge   Arthas Menethil   Alexandros Mograine   Baron Rivendare   Lord Alexei Barov   Trag Highmountain   Deathbringer Saurfang

Ebon Blade   Darion Mograine   Koltira Deathweaver   Thassarian

Shadowfang Keep   Commander Springvale

Races

Main article: Death knight races

• Races
• TCG images

The death knight class can be played by the following races, with the following stats:

Sortable table

Race		Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health**	New Health
		109	70	99	29	44*	140	2169	2939
		113*	69	100*	28	41	138	2179	2979*
		103	75	99	33*	42	159	2169	2939
		108	73	99	29	43	146	2169	2949
		104	77*	99	29	42	154	2169	2939
		111	75	99	25	41	0	2169	2949
		105	75*	99	32*	40	150	2169	2929
		107	71	99	27	47*	142	2169	2959
		105	75*	99	32*	40	0	2169	2949
		111	70	100*	26	44	140	2179	2969
		113*	69	100*	25	44	138	2246	3117***
		109	75*	99	25	43	150	2169	2959

Draenei

Dwarf

Forsaken

Goblin

Human

Orc

Tauren

Troll

Role

In general, the death knight can be considered a hybrid melee class that combines damage dealing and tanking, somewhat akin to warriors. They wear plate armor and are able to dual-wield or use two-handed blade weapons (and maces, as revealed later). Like druids and monks, they tank without shields. Their tanking mechanics involve high armor and a high chance to parry. Death knight tanks depend on a combination of high damage abilities, in addition to high threat abilities.

The death knight has three different specializations; the differences between them are not as clear-cut as those of other classes, both for PvP and PvE environments. Notably, death knights can tank or deal damage regardless of specialization, although a careful selection is still required to bolster their preferred role. In Patch 4.0.1, the roles became more defined, with Blood becoming the Tank specialization tree, and the others being DPS.

Blood enhances the death knight's melee abilities and damage and vastly improves the ability to heal itself. Blood also provides healing utility to party and raids and has some very useful buffs and debuffs that the death knight can cast on others. Blood is considered the tree for soloing and should be given a thought when it comes time to level your death knight.

Frost enhances melee abilities and focuses on increasing both AoE and single target damage. It provides some very powerful direct damage abilities.

Unholy enhances the death knight's diseases and damage over time spells, making them effective at AoE DPS. It also provides the death knight with a ghoul who is a permanent pet, a gargoyle guardian he or she can summon, and stronger diseases.

The Rune System

BlizzCon 2007

Early beta

Pre-Legion version

Death knights use a unique rune-based resource system to govern their spells and abilities. Using certain abilities exhausts one or more runes, starting a cooldown of 10 seconds. After the cooldown, the runes refresh. The haste stat reduces the cooldown of runes.

In addition, whenever they use a rune ability against a foe, it builds up a certain amount of Runic Power. Runic Power is consumed by certain abilities, which the death knight can use while his/her runes are on cooldown. All abilities that use Runic Power use a set amount.

The original player frame for death knights shown at BlizzCon was changed as feedback showed it was not ideal for displaying rune power for players.

Specializations/stats

“

A dark guardian who manipulates and corrupts life energy to sustain himself in the face of an enemy onslaught. - Official description

”

Stat priority

• Strength
• Bonus Armor
• Multistrike
• Mastery
• Versatility
• Haste

Dark Command

Ability	Min Level
Asphyxiate	Starts with
Heart Strike	Starts with
Marrowrend	55
Veteran of the Third War	55
Blood Boil	56
Death and Decay	56
Dancing Rune Weapon	57

Ability	Min Level
Vampiric Blood	57
Death's Caress	58
Crimson Scourge	63
Gorefiend's Grasp	64
Mastery: Blood Shield	78

“

An icy harbinger of doom, channeling runic power and delivering vicious weapon strikes. - Official description

”

Stat priority

• Strength
• Mastery (dual-wield) / Haste (until 600, two-handed)
• Critical Strike
• Haste (dual-wield) / Mastery (two-handed)
• Multistrike
• Versatility

Frost Strike Obliterate

Ability	Min Level
Dual Wield	Starts with
Runic Empowerment	Starts with
Frost Fever	55
Frost Strike	55
Howling Blast	55
Obliterate	55
Killing Machine	56
Empower Rune Weapon	57

Ability	Min Level
Pillar of Frost	57
Remorseless Winter	57
Dark Succor	58
Rime	59
Chains of Ice	63
Mastery: Frozen Heart	78

“

A master of death and decay, spreading disease and controlling undead minions to do her bidding. - Official description

”

Stat priority

• Strength
• Mastery
• Critical Strike
• Haste
• Multistrike
• Versatility

Ability	Min Level
Festering Wound	Starts with
Runic Corruption	Starts with
Death Coil	55
Festering Strike	55
Outbreak	55
Raise Dead	55
Scourge Strike	55
Death and Decay	56

Ability	Min Level
Dark Succor	58
Chains of Ice	63
Sudden Doom	64
Dark Transformation	74
Summon Gargoyle	75
Mastery: Dreadblade	78
Army of the Dead	82

Skills/Glyphs

Death Grip

^* Quest rewarded abilities.

^† New with pre-patch systems Patch 7.0.3.

Ability	Min Level
Corpse Explosion†	40
Death Gate	55*
Death Grip	55
Death Strike	55
Runeforging	55
Acherus Deathcharger	55*
Anti-Magic Shell	57
Dark Command	58

Ability	Min Level
Wraith Walk	60
On a Pale Horse	61
Mind Freeze	62
Icebound Fortitude	65
Path of Frost	66
Control Undead	69
Raise Ally	72

Blood Plague

Ability
Blood Plague
Frost Fever

Ability
Parry
Plate Specialization

Main article: Runeforging

Runeforge

Runeforging allows the death knight to permanently enchant their weapon with enchants that are typically more powerful than enchants available to other classes. The enchants work just like the permanent weapon enchants provided by Enchanting, but are self-only and are designed specifically to benefit the death knight class. These are independent of the rune resource system.

A weapon can have an enchant from either runeforging or from Enchanting, but not both. A player will have to be near a runeforge in order to forge a rune onto their weapon. Once a weapon has been engraved with a rune it is impossible for the rune to be removed, though it can be changed at a runeforge. Also, even if it is not soulbound, once a weapon has been engraved with a rune it is impossible for that weapon to be traded.

Runeforges can be found in Acherus: The Ebon Hold or in some of the Icecrown questing areas inside of the metal dams.

Rune	Type	Level	Weapon Type
Rune of Razorice	Frost	55	Any
Rune of the Fallen Crusader	Heal	70	Any
Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle	Armor, Stamina	72	Two-handed

Level	Abilities (choose one)
56	Bloodworms Shattering Strikes All Will Serve	Heartbreaker Icy Talons Bursting Spores	Blooddrinker Murderous Efficiency Ebon Fever
57	Rapid Decomposition Freezing Fog Epidemic	Soulgorge Frozen Pulse Pestilent Pustules	Spectral Deflection Horn of Winter Blighted Rune Weapon
58	Ossuary Icecap Unholy Frenzy	Blood Tap Hungering Rune Weapon Castigator	Anti-Magic Barrier Avalanche Clawing Shadows
60	Mark of Blood Abomination's Might Sludge Belcher	Red Thirst Blinding Sleet Asphyxiate	Tombstone Winter is Coming Debilitating Infestation
75	Tightening Grasp Volatile Shielding Spell Eater	Tremble Before Me Permafrost Corpse Shield	March of the Damned White Walker Lingering Apparition
90	Will of the Necropolis Frostscythe Shadow Infusion	Rune Tap Runic Attenuation Necrosis	Foul Bulwark Gathering Storm Infected Claws
100	Bonestorm Obliteration Dark Arbiter	Blood Mirror Breath of Sindragosa Defile	Purgatory Glacial Advance Soul Reaper

Name	Specialization
Glyph of Cracked Ice	All
Glyph of Foul Menagerie	Unholy
Glyph of the Blood Wraith	All
Glyph of the Chilled Shell	All
Glyph of the Crimson Shell	All
Glyph of the Geist	All
Glyph of the Skeleton	All
Glyph of the Unholy Wraith	All
Glyph of the Wraith Walker	All

Honor Level	Talent
1	Gladiator's Medallion
2	Relentless Assault, Hardiness
4	Cadaverous Pallor
6	Decomposing Aura
8	Unholy Command, Deathchill, Crypt Fever
10	Last Dance, Tundra Stalker, Unholy Mutation
13	Adaptation
16	Murderous Intent, Reinforced Armor
19	Dark Simulacrum
22	Heartstop Aura
25	Walking Dead, Frozen Center, Pandemic
28	Blood for Blood, Overpowered Rune Weapon, Reanimation
31	Relentless
34	Softened Blows, Sparring
37	Anti-Magic Zone
40	Necrotic Aura
43	Strangulate, Delirium, Wandering Plague
46	Death Chain, Chill Streak, Necrotic Strike

Suggested professions

Note: This is a generic section stub. You can help expand it by clicking  Edit to the right of the section title.

•  [Skinning] and  [Mining] are logical choices for any Plate armor wearing class. This allows crafting decent armor as one levels and sometimes good weapons. Death knights need to play catch up usually, since they start leveling from the mid 50s. So, they have to visit several low level zones to build up their Mining skill.
•  [Alchemy] and  [Herbalism] can be useful for death knights with non-Blood specialization who need quick potion heals and various buffs from elixirs and flasks. These professions are also good all around for making money and supplying guild runs.
•  [Cooking] is good for any non-healing class for non-combat health regeneration and provides good buff foods.
•  [First Aid] is good for any non-healing class for in-combat health regeneration and low downtime regeneration.
•  [Fishing] is good for leveling cooking.

Notes

• Blizzard's original death knight concept was that of an undead spellcaster unit that made its initial appearance in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. This death knight could be more accurately described as a horseback-mounted lich rather than the traditional undead warrior.
• Years later, Blizzard introduced a new death knight hero unit in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and this second rendition was revised to reflect the general characteristics of the more traditional death knight design.
• The death knight was later adapted as a prestige class within the Warcraft RPG and they were former paladin warriors. ^{(A&HC 24)} It is the Warcraft III version of the death knight that became the first hero class in World of Warcraft and was introduced in the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Media

Art

Official art

Death knight concept art

Death knight concept art

Fan art

Death Knight by Red Knuckle

Death knight art by Raneman

Death knight art by Raneman

Night elf DK

Videos

World of Warcraft - Death Knight intro (Directx 11)

Death knight intro

WoW Pro Lore The Scourge of Lordaeron

Arthas, the first of the Lich King's Death Knights

Crash Course - Death Knight

Crash Course

See also

• Death knight organizations
• List of death knights
• Death Knoob

Patch changes

• Patch 7.0.3 (19-Jul-2016): Runes are more straightforward by removing their division into separate Blood, Frost, and Unholy types. Death Knights now have six unified Runes to spend, with a maximum of three recharging at any one time.; Reducing ability overlap between specializations, giving each a single disease with a unique trait and creating a talent tree that’s largely populated with spec-specific talents to better distinguish them.
  
• / Patch 4.0.1 (12-Oct-2010): See Death Knight/Cataclysm changes.
  
• Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20): All multi-rune abilities generate 15 runic power.
  

External links

Wowhead Death Knight

WoWDB Death Knight

Official

WoW Official Game Site (US) Death Knight

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Death Knight

Info

Deathknight.info DK-only forums.

Elitist Jerks DK forums.

Son of a Lich Unholy & Frost DK builds and guides for PvE.

pwnwear.com DK tanking blog with specs and analysis

Guides

Icy Veins Runes and Runic Power - A Death Knight Resource System Guide (WoW MoP 5.0.5)

Icy Veins Blood Death Knight Tank Guide (WoW MoP 5.0.5)

Icy Veins Frost Death Knight DPS Guide (WoW MoP 5.0.5)

Icy Veins Unholy Death Knight DPS Guide (WoW MoP 5.0.5)