Death Knight Abilities (Part 2)
Following our last preview of the Death Knight abilities covering the basics, this time we will cover more advanced moves, this time focusing on those earned with talents, and adding their visuals as well as their actual effects on the enemies! We will go over abilities such as corpse explosion, anti-magic shield, summon gargoyle, and bone shield in this part of our preview, which are all part of the Unholy tree.
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Anti-Magic Shell in action!
Talented Abilities
Remember, these abilities, at the time of this writing, are only obtainable through talent specialization - you will only be able to use them if you spend points on the talent tree specified and fulfill the requirements (if any) the special ability asks of you!
Anti-Magic Shell - Touted as one of THE best abilities a Death Knight can have to support a group against a spellcasting force, this spell is currently at Tier 7 of the Unholy Tree, so it's a little bit unaccessible for those aiming to tank as well. Regardless, it's a very impressive ability resembling the Sunblade Mage Guards' own anti-magic shell, as seen in our screenshot!
Places a large, stationary Anti-Magic Zone that reduces spell damage done to party members inside it by 75%. The Anti-Magic Zone lasts for 30 sec or until it absorbs 10000 spell damage." - keep in mind this zone is spawned at the center of the Death Knight when it's cast!
The ability to absorb 10000 spell damage makes it a worthwhile addition to any PvP or PvE setting where you can sit in one place and fight an enemy!
To obtain this ability, you must go all the way down to Tier 7, and spend 5 points into Magic Suppression, meaning you will need to spend atleast 36 points into the Unholy Tree to obtain this.
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Bone Shield should always be up unless it's on a cooldown!
Bone Shield - This ability should be used by everyone leveling as Unholy every single time it's up - for a mere 10 Runic Power and a 30-second cooldown, you gain the ability to reduce all damage by 40% from ALL sources and deal 2% more damage, all in one buff! As you take damage, each time you do, you lose 1 bone out of 4. Once all 4 are gone, you just have to recast it again!
The Death Knight is surrounded by 4 whirling bones. While at least 1 bone remains, he/she takes 40% less damage from all sources and deals 2% more damage with all attacks, spells and abilities. Each spell or attack that lands consumes 1 bone. Lasts 5 min.
To obtain this ability, you must go all the way down to Tier 8 on the Unholy Tree, and spend one point into it, meaning you will need to use atleast 41 points into Unholy to have this talent working for you.
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Corpse Explosion, while situational, can be a nasty surprise to a bunch of enemies
Corpse Explosion
A throwback to the old Necromancer Diablo2 move, that acts more like Poison Nova from the same game, this ability allows you to have an enemy's corpse explode into some nature damage (modified by your attack power) to all enemies nearby. This won't affect elemental or mechanical corpses.
A great move to use in a pinch when grinding, but highly ineffective unless clearing a big zone, or a gauntlet of sorts, as you need corpses of enemies to be able to use this ability. Thankfully, it's only in the third tier of the Unholy Tree and will only cost you 11 points to learn if you want to use it.
Cause a corpse to explode for 216 Nature damage modified by attack power to all enemies within 20 yards. Will use a nearby corpse if the target is not a corpse. Does not affect mechanical or elemental corpses.
Ranks:
1 - Nature Damage: 292
2 - Nature Damage: 328
3 - Nature Damage: 352
4 - Nature Damage: 400
5 - Nature Damage: 440
6 - Nature Damage: 544
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A Gargoyle Friend is always welcome in your harder fights!
Finally, one of the more appealing abilities the Death Knight that's specced Unholy has, is yet another minion, in the form of a Gargoyle!
Summon Gargoyle
One of the most useful spells, a fellow Gargoyle comes in and attacks your enemies for nature damage per second, and can stay quite awhile as one more of your pets, outside of enemy range yet doing a decent amount of damage!
Recommended grab, it is in Tier 5 of the Unholy Tree, which means only 21 points into Unholy are needed for you to have a Gargoyle buddy help you out against the tougher enemies. This ability is on a 5 minute cooldown.
A Gargoyle flies into the area and bombards the target with Nature damage modified by the Death Knight's attack power. Persists for 1 sec per 8 runic power up to 1 min.
Tune in next time as we go over more Death Knight abilities and their visuals! Expect constant updates to this preview series.
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