In the new expansion for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, you will be able to play as a hero class who is hands down one of the best WoW characters to play. With a combination of melee combat skills and spells, the Death Knights will be a formidable addition to WoW’s already impressive roster of characters. Blizzard Entertainment has even upped the ante on the Death Knights, really wanting to set them apart from the other classes. One of the ways 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 only applies to or can be used by the Death Knights. Although not much is known about the rune system and information about it may change at any time 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 runes. There are three types of runes, each corresponding to each talent tree or talent progression available to Death Knights. The runes are as follows:
Blood
Frost
Impious
The runes have 2 main types for each, so the Death Knights have a total of 6 runes. The runes can be used in combination, and the abilities and spells used by the Death Knights will consume the powers of the runes. Then a 10 second countdown will follow. However, remember that some abilities can be used to immediately upgrade some runes.
A fourth main rune type is also available for the Death Knight. Known as Death Rune, this one is special because it can be created using Blood Tap or through Death Rune Mastery or even through the Blood of the North talent.
To the runic power of the Death Knight:
This brief look at the death knight rune system won’t be complete without telling you about the runic power of the death knights. If you know the Fury of a Warrior, it is the same as the Runic Power of the Death Knight. The more the Death Knight uses his runes, the more the Runic Power bar fills. There are special abilities, spells, or abilities that can only be performed with runic power. When not used, runic power will decrease over time. Also remember that the more runic power you use for a spell, for example, the more powerful it will be and vice versa.
This ends my review of what is already known about the death knight rune system. Knowing the Death Knight’s melee and throwing abilities, they are likely to become the most sought after characters in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. As early as now, you’d better plan your game so that you can get to level 55 first before other players and get a Death Knight. Good luck!