In the new World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion, you will be able to play a Hero Class that is indisputably one of WoW’s best characters to play. With a mix of melee combat skills and casting spells, the Death Knights will be a formidable addition to the WoW’s already impressive lineup of characters. Blizzard Entertainment has even upped the ante on the Death Knights, wishing to really set them apart from the other classes. One of the ways that they made the Death Knights different is by giving them a different resource system, the death knight rune system. The system is totally different from the Mana, Rage, and Energy systems of other classes and are only applied or can be used by the Death Knights. Although there is not much that is known about the rune system and the information about it can change anytime before the game is finally released, below are some of the things we do know about the rune system.
The Runes:
The key elements of the death knight rune system are the runes. There are three kinds of runes, each one corresponding to each the talent trees or talent progression available for the Death Knights. The runes are the following:
Blood
Frost
Unholy
The runes have 2 main types for each one, thus Death Knights have a total of 6 runes. The runes can be used in combination, and skills and spells used by Death Knights will consume the runes’ powers. A 10 second countdown will then follow. Do remember though that some abilities can be used to immediately refresh some runes.
A fourth type of main rune is also available for the Death Knight. Known as the Death Rune, this one is special in that if can be created using Blood Tap or through Death Rune Mastery or even through the Blood of the North talent.
A Death Knight’s Runic Power:
This brief look at the death knight rune system will not be complete without telling you about the Runic Power of Death Knights. If you know about a Warrior’s Rage, it is the same thing as the Death Knight’s Runic Power. The more that the Death Knight uses his runes, the more that the bar of Runic Power fills up. There are special skills, spells, or abilities that can only be done using Runic Power. When not used, the Runic Power will diminish over time. Also remember that the more Runic Power you utilize for a spell, for example, the more powerful it would be and vice versa.
This ends my review of what is already known about the death knight rune system. Knowing about the Death Knight’s melee and casting abilities, they might likely become the most sought after characters in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. As early as now, it would be best that you plan your game so that you can get to level 55 first before other players and get a Death Knight. Good luck!