Death Knight

'''Death Knight''' is a hero class in Wrath of the Lich King that uses runes, runic power and dark melee abilities.

Death Knights can serve as tanks or melee damage dealers depending on specialization.

Overview

Death Knights are known for:

dark rune-based combat
plate armor
self-sustain
strong melee pressure
undead-themed abilities

They were introduced as a hero class and begin with a unique starting experience.

Armor and Weapons

Death Knights use:

Plate armor
One-handed weapons
Two-handed weapons

Some builds may dual wield, while others use a two-handed weapon.

Resource

Death Knights use:

'''Runes'''
'''Runic Power'''

This makes them different from rage, mana and energy classes.

Roles

Death Knights can serve as:

Tank
melee damage dealer

Death Knight Specializations

Blood

Blood is commonly associated with tanking and survivability.

It is often known for:

self-healing
durability
sustained survival
tank-focused performance

Frost

Frost focuses on melee damage and icy rune abilities.

It is often associated with:

weapon pressure
burst damage
controlled melee combat

Unholy

Unholy focuses on disease-based damage and dark offensive pressure.

It is often associated with:

disease effects
pets or undead-themed abilities
sustained damage
pressure over time

Death Knight Tanking

Death Knights are one of the tank-capable classes in Wrath of the Lich King.

A Death Knight tank typically focuses on:

generating Threat
surviving heavy damage
controlling enemies
using defensive cooldowns
supporting the group through durable front-line play

Death Knight tanks are often valued for:

self-sustain
cooldown-based survival
flexible toolkits
strong control over dangerous pulls

Death Knight Utility

Death Knights often bring:

debuffs
pulls and positioning tools
interrupts
anti-magic tools
self-healing

Death Knight in Groups

Death Knights are useful in:

Their role depends on specialization and setup.

Death Knight and Playerbots

On the Shadowmourne Realm, Playerbots may use Death Knight classes as tanks or melee damage dealers.

A Death Knight bot may depend heavily on:

role strategy
spec
gear quality
maintenance
autogear

See:

Strengths

Death Knights are commonly valued for:

survivability
self-healing
strong melee presence
flexible tanking tools
strong thematic identity

Weaknesses

Death Knights may be limited by:

resource complexity
cooldown dependence
needing good timing for defensive tools
role performance tied closely to gear and setup