Death Knight Primer

by
Annika Backstrom
in Games, on 15 November 2008. It is tagged #death knight and #world of warcraft.

Hi, my name is Annika, and I have a Death Knight. I'm writing this post as a helpful guide to starting out with the Death Knight class, for others going into it blind like I did. It's not about spoilers or walkthroughs, just those little things that were not immediately obvious.

Some miscellaneous points of interest:

  • You are confined to the Death Knight starting area until you complete the initial quest line.
  • You will replace all your green starter gear with blue gear by the time you finish. This can be a nice gauge of progress. ("Two items left, almost done!")
  • You will get an epic (100% speed increase) ground mount as a quest reward.
  • You will always have access to the Runeforges in Ebon Hold through Death Gate. During specific quest line events, the Runeforges will not function. Don't worry about it, they'll be back.
  • When you finish the last quest in your faction's capital city, go to Outland. You should be level 58, and you're going to destroy anything you come across in Hellfire Peninsula.
  • Professions
    • You will get First Aid level 270 for free, with Heavy Runecloth Bandage as an orange skill.
    • You will have the Journeyman riding skill.
    • Everything else has to start from Level 1. Enjoy grinding skillups!
  • You get all the Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor flight paths for free.
  • You start with 10 Black Mushrooms, and these cannot be purchased from vendors. Send them to other characters for Tastes Like Chicken and the ilk.

And finally, notes about specific quests:

Quest: Grand Theft Palomino

Bring the horse back to Salanar, then look for a button in your new vehicle action bar for turning in the horse.

Quest: Into the Realm of Shadows

The Dark Riders were hotly contested when I did this, but they do spawn in the town. I just hung out where I initially picked up my horse.

Quest: A Special Surprise

Dialog is a big part of this quest. When you enter the prison house, you're looking for an NPC of your race. Listen to what he has to say. You'll know when to head back to Plaguefist.

Quest: An End to All Things…

When you're done destroying stuff, return to The Lich King and dismount using the "Leave Vehicle" button in your toolbar.

Quests: The Lich King's Command and The Light of Dawn

During this quest you'll see two NPC counters and a timer at the top of your screen. If the event is already in progress, or seems to have stopped, just hang out by Browman's Mill (or maybe even further back, I'm not sure how big the completion radius is) and wait for it to reset. It really is epic, do yourself a favor and experience the whole thing.

Several of us grouped which turned out to be unnecessary, and another Death Knight showed up after all the dialog and got quest credit for the whole thing. Nice time saver, but wait for the reset if you care about lore.

That's It

Have fun. I am.