No one could ever blame me for focusing on World of Warcraft. It’s a game with a mountain of distractions, and I have a whole stable of alts that I can’t stop playing. Sure, sometimes I just use them to run legacy raids after my main gets locked (gotta get those transmogs), but there are so many appealing classes and specializations that I could never choose one. The War Within may have just changed that.
Hero talents are Blizzard’s latest attempt to spice up the extra 10 levels added with an expansion. Rather than simply expanding each specialization’s existing talent tree, Blizzard has introduced more discrete – and smaller – trees with talents that you can really build a character around. A common denominator among these trees is an emphasis on class fantasy, and nowhere is that more evident than with the Edgelord Death Knight.
While both of the DK Hero’s talent trees offer tantalizing treats, I knew the moment he was revealed that I would hitch my horse to the Horseman of the Apocalypse. And when I unlocked my first talent, I was hooked. The start of a new expansion is always an exciting time, but never before have I had so much fun leveling up a character.
The main attraction here is the focus on horses. This is the specialization for horse girls and guys. One of the first talents you can select is Mounted on a Pale Horse, which lets you mount your Archeus Deathstrike in battle as long as you’re outdoors. Previously, only Paladins could enjoy the thrill of summoning a horse in the middle of battle, and even then only briefly – just 3 seconds. However, Mounted on a Pale Horse lets you stay on your horse for as long as you want, giving you exceptional mobility. And you just look incredibly cool towering over your enemies and tearing them to shreds with your scythe (or your weapon of choice, but let’s be honest, why not use a scythe?).
While on your Death Charger, you can also loot and harvest, eliminating all the downtime that normally occurs when switching from foot to mount mode. It’s strictly a ground mount, but I haven’t found that to be a major hindrance: I fly to an area where I have some tasks to complete, then immediately switch to my horse until I’m ready to go.
The Deathstriker has also received a welcome new look. It’s a notable change, replacing the now very old model with the sexy Mawsworn Charger – a ghostly steed that was previously only available in Shadowlands’ infinite Torghast dungeon. I left Shadowlands fairly early and didn’t spend much time in the dungeon, and now I feel vindicated. To all of you who worked hard for your steed: I respect your dedication, but my laziness has been vindicated once again.
On a Paler Horse shares its talent slot with Death Charge, which has less wide-ranging effects but is definitely the better choice if you’re indoors. It summons your Deathcharger for 10 seconds, during which you’re immune to movement effects and knockback, and also gain a 100% movement speed increase.
Calling up the squad
The cavalry theme runs throughout the game. Once you reach level 71, you get the Rider’s Champion, which gives you a chance to summon one of your NPC Death Knights whenever you spend a rune, each of which helps you in different ways. Mograine summons a moving Death and Decay that follows him; Whitemane summons Undeath on your target, gaining a stack every time he deals damage; Trollbane slows your target with chains of ice, which also increases damage taken; and Nazgrim increases your strength from Apocalyptic Conquest by 3%.
There are other talents within the tree that will buff your riders, such as Horsemen’s Aid, which gives them the ability to cast Anti-Magic Shell on both you and them, and Nazgrim’s Conquest, which buffs Apocalyptic Conquest by an additional 3% when an enemy dies and allows you to buff it by 1% for each rune spent.
Thanks to my buddies, my Unholy DK really feels like a battlefield commander. I have not just pets, but a whole squad of badasses. The rotting cherry on top is Apocalypse Now – the last talent in the tree. It lets you summon all four Horsemen at once when you use Army of the Dead/Raise Abomination or Frostwyrm’s Fury. Between them and your undead pets, you have a veritable army at your disposal.
With Apocalypse Now you have incredible 90 second burst of damage. Every three minutes you become an absolute beast. The utility and damage potential is immense, but the class fantasy is just as important. I’ve never felt more like a Death Knight, and I get so much joy from riding away in a V formation with my crew after another victory. I feel fearsome and unstoppable – an undead monstrosity that is always minutes away from unleashing a weapon of mass destruction, always astride my trusty Death Charger.
Thanks to Mists of Pandaria Remix’s rapid leveling experience, I now have more alts than ever before—a warband that covers every class and nearly every spec—but I barely think about them. Sure, there are some very fancy hero talent trees that I’ll inevitably want to delve into at some point, but for now, I’m a Horseman of the Apocalypse, spreading plagues with my wonderful BFFs.
