At last weekend's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris Byron "Messiah" Mudry was able to sit down and get some hands on play time with the Death Knight in the latest test build of Wrath of the Lich King. While not yet complete, as they did not have a proper starting area, seemed to be missing the class starting quests, and did not start with talent points, it did allow some real playing with the class. While the class could still change a lot before release, this first look provides a feel of the class as it stands currently.

The first thing you notice when you play a Death Knight is the health bar area. It's different. Next to your characters image there is a large sword blade that contains your health bar, runes, and runic power information. The default was 2 Blood runes, 2 Unholy runes, and 2 Frost runes. While it has been mentioned that you will be able to change your runes to suit your play style, it appears to not be an option yet (or I just couldn't find it).

You can read all of Byron "Messiah" Mudry's take on the class here: Death Knight - First Play Impressions.