Riddle me this, Death Knight......

So I have been playing a Frost specced Death Knight all day. Yowzers! What an AWESOME storyline! All I can say is Fordring must be Ret specced. Anyway, there have been a lot of questions thrown at me especially when I was running around Stormwind. Here are some of my favorites.

Warlock: Where do I go for Death Knight training?
Me: Cathedral District, in the basement.
Warlock: TYVM!!!

Death Knight: Why can't I equip a shield?
Me: Death Knights have to kill Hogger to equip shields.
Death Knight: In Elwynn?
Me: Yup, but you have to get the bait from that guy in Feralas. Then you give it to Hogger and he becomes a level 80 elite. Its the only way.
Me: Ok thanks!

Death Knight: What is the best spec?
Me: Ret, far right tree, needs to be unlocked.
Death Knight: Awesome!

Death Knight: Where can I find the best walkthrough for this new start zone
Me: Try reading your quest log.

Yeah, OK, I can be a bit of a dick. But really, for serious. I can understand some questions, but you should have somewhat of a grasp on this game if your rolling a Death Knight. You need what, a minimum of 55 levels on one character before you can make a Death Knight. If you stop at 60 and make a Death Knight, you might not know every there is to know, but you should know enough that you can manage to work your way through the easiest starting zone ever. At that, what ever happened to figuring things out for yourself, either through experimentation or research?

In general though, I do try and be helpful. Usually I will respond to questions that seem really basic, because we have all been there. I don't really think making a public spectacle of someone in Trade Chat is the most effective way of helping them. Hell, I was chatting with a 64 Pally in Shatt the other day. He was smothered in healing gear, specced with some half ass Ret build, and was looking to tank an instance. So I had a chat with him, turns out he was a nice guy, its just that no one has ever helped him figure out what to do. I went over some basic Pally stuff, advised on how to gear, how to spec etc, and added him to my friends list. I saw him later at level 69, and he looked to be doing much better. Of course he was trying to get in as a tank on a heroic UB without a key, but whatever. I walked him over to the quartermaster and got him setup.

A little feedback on the Death Knight. The starting area is just awesome. Those were some of the best quests I have done yet. If all of Northerend is just like the DK start zone, then leveling will be a lot of fun! The story itself was great. I really recommend taking the time to read everything, even the documents that end up in your inventory. Very interesting stuff, and it really immerses you into the whole Death Knight thing. The best part is walking through Stormwind at the end of the questline. Good stuff!

Actually playing the DK is equally awesome. There is a good bit of thinking that you have to do to get max DPS and there are a lot of tools at your disposal, even at the base level with no talents. It reminds a lot of the my Affliction Warlock in that you have to have as many DoTs up on the target as possible to get max benefit from your other spells and abilities. In this case, there are only two diseases that I have seen available for the DK, so its pretty easy to get those off and then really start laying into them. So it is actually kinda the reverse of the Warlock since you would want Haunt up first, and then apply the rest of your DoTs. For the DK you want your two diseases up first, and then you start using your other abilities.

The Runes and Runic Power system is very fluid too. I was expecting it to be wonky, but its actually very smooth and almost combines Rage and Energy. I am impressed. The other impressive thing is how you can tweak it up through talents. You can increase your max Runic Power from 100 to 130 through talents, and you can get talents to help make your normal Runes into Death Runes, which can be used for either Frost, Unholy, or Blood Runes. It really makes things more flexible if you find that it would be helpful for you.

Currently, I am specced full Frost, and I will probably stay that way as a main spec. I plan and playing with the other ones via the dual spec system, whenever that comes out. It just seems like Frost gives the most control for different situations. It also seems like there is a bunch of good tanking stuff in there compared to the other two trees. However, I understand that all three trees are supposed to be capable of tanking, so I will have to re-examine that statement later.

The last thing I would like to touch on is the look. To say that a DK looks like a badass would be an understatement. You look scary and powerful. Its awesome. You start out looking like an armored Sith lord when you first enter Ebon Hold. Eventually you start to look like a plate armored behemoth. The new set of gear you end up with is all blues and its fairly well itemized to boot. The downside is that I have yet to see a real upgrade from any of the quested stuff in HFP. Most of the plate seems geared toward Paladins. All of the Warrior plate is a downgrade so far as well. Its really not a big deal though since I am in no hurry to lose the look I have now, I would just like some better stats.

Related to the looks is the mount. It really completes the whole "I will kill you" persona that DKs tote around. My brother and I really love the sound that the Charger makes when you summon it. I can see how it would irritate some people, and who knows, it may grow old. But that blood curdling scream just sends a shiver down my spine every time. I can't wait to see what the flying mount looks like!

I am having a lot of fun with the DK. I don't think I will be stopping at 60 like I previously stated. I will probably have Amadis into Northrend before Dradis. I will have to see how it goes from there. Once again, another alt project is getting shelved. My newly minted Level 8 Human Warrior is going to be spending an awfully long time in the Lions Pride Inn. Man I suck at alts. And there is a reason behind this name!

Oh yeah.... I killed Mayor Quimby, it was great!