Death Knight
by Charis

Class: Pal, Nec, Dru (Picture Gorash in D1, or Izual)
Tag: DK

Introduction

The depths of hell have spawned not only those who seek to serve the three prime evils, but also those who seek to replace them - the unholy Death Knights. They are characterized by their darkness, fearlessness, and a (sometimes brutal) no-retreat rule.

The antithesis of the Holy Avenger, the Death Knight is a proud figure who seeks to rule the pits of the Abyss. Unlike others who 'shun' Holy items and spells, the Death Knight seeks to corrupt them. And unlike their little nature loving friends, the DK Druid seeks to subjugate nature to his will.

The DK is more a mindset that a rule set, so take as guidelines.

Rules

They are Strong and Tough (Str and Vit emphasis). Dex is typically enough only to wield their chosen weapon, but no more. Blocking is for cowards. A shield, if worn, is chosen for its damage, its look, or a bonus, not the block rate.

No retreat! How could you expect to subjugate the legions of hell by fear if you flee from battle?? The DK must NEVER retreat from battle ('emergency TP' is not in his vocabulary). However, the basis of this is more appearance than honor, bravado rather than Bushido. You can choose which onscreen opponent to go for, just not hit-and-run because the crowd is too big, or run back to a choke point because you feel overwhelmed. If this leads to death, so be it... they would rather die than be considered a coward. (Some comments on tactics given below). If by accident the no-retreat rule is broken, the atonement is to sacrifice a rare item and half your gold at the next monster shrine you see, then slay the summoned boss or champion.

Items

Armor
Heavy duty armor preferred (due to no retreat)

Helms
Something to inspire fear, bone helms certainly work well.

Shield
For those that use one, bone, spiked, grim, open-wounds are well liked

Weapons
Preference for Scythes (The Grim Reaper look), Swords (what Doom Knights, D1 Death Knights and their other brethren use)

Color
Black is their favorite, a dark look much preferred over a shiny tin can.

Sets & Uniques
For sets, only "Angelic" and Milabrega are disallowed.
For uniques, Heavenly Garb is not allowed.

Skills & Styles

There are three types of Death Knights, as there are three knight adorn the Chaos Sanctuary, Oblivion, Abyss, and Doom. These three have spawned the Paladin, Necro, and Druid forms of the Death Knights, although cross breeding has lost the direct correspondence with skills. The fiercest hatred and competition thus exists between Pal-OK, Nec-AK, Druid-Doomie.

Paladin
They don't 'avoid' Holy spells but rather love to 'corrupt' them, though certain ones are disallowed: Salvation, Prayer, Meditation, and Cleansing.

Unholy Bolt, Corrupt Hammer, and Spiked Fist of Hell are examples of corrupting good skills. Defiance and Unholy Shield are very helpful for DR, especially given that you can't retreat. Vengeance and Sacrifice are allowed, as are Concentration and Might, Conviction, and Redemption of Souls.

The individual resists are fine, as are Unholy Freeze/Fire/Shock. (D2X Holy Shock is much improved.) Unholy Freeze is the same as used by Duriel a dark and soulsapping power. Smite and Thorns may see situational use but should not be pumped as a main skill. Deception (Conversion) gets good situational use vs "packs" (Boss packs, champion packs, those that heal each other, shamans, unravellers, etc. - but not used vs rank and file monsters/mobs).

Zeal brings an odd love/hate relationship. It is seen typically as an inefficient tool of the light, dealing puny damage to many foes, rather than the DK's desire - serial killing! However, if Zeal is used with a powerful enough weapon (2H), killing things faster than one at a time, it may be used. The skill should not be pushed where it takes on more than five opponents (in D2X that's the cutoff anyway, so pumping higher there is fine).

Charge will likely be in the repertoire, if not the main skill, for its ability to move quickly and to shift from a mob to a straggler, or chase a foe that is fleeing. And vengeance is handy for slowing the opponents, good elemental damage. In D2X will be even more handy, for phys immunes and in conjunction with Conviction.

Necromancer
A specialist in manipulation and pain.

No mindless skels or mages, only revives. No golems (except as below). Bone Prison (like Diablo), Bone Spirit (like OK), Bone Armor (like AK), and all Poison are allowed. Corpse Explosion is allowed if and only if no revived are around.

Confuse/Attract and ones thrown by OK's are favored (Decrepify, Iron Maiden, Weaken, Lower Resist). You can bet lack of retreat will make Terror a favorite.

The DK Necro will be heavily armored compared to most Necs, for the no-retreat policy and lack of golems will mean alot of abuse. In the manipulation vein, terror, confuse, attract and revive are highly valued. The inanimate Golem and mindless undead offer no appeal to the DKNec.

Again, inanimate mindless subjects are not what the DK Necro wants. However, when a boss is killed, his spirit lingers in the area for a few brief seconds. This may be ensnared within a golem - yet this golem has a finite life span and may NOT be healed (or brought to town healer, etc). If a boss drops a rare or unique, it may be used to forge an Iron Golem that CAN be healed in town. Also, by casting Bone Prison on the object as soon as it falls, the soul is captured, and the item may be carried around and saved for a later time. (NOTE: As I recall, Bone Prison requires a monster to target in order to be cast. Perhaps cast Bone Prison on the monster when its health is down to a sliver, so that the object is trapped as it falls. -Lem)

Bone Armor should be the very first skill learned, and it should be used often. Pushing it is recommended, but not required. Poison Dagger is used by most toxic necromancers as a decidedly hit-and-run skill, if used at all by the DK it will be with a serious damage weapon, exceptional or better (for example, Stiletto). Their large dex requirements will mean this DK will either ignore dex (and PD) completely or pump it high.

Druid
The main focus of the DK Druid is to warp nature and to unleash the powers of the fiery nether planes at the feet of his foes. Skills will be needed from all three trees.

Werebear is used as defensive stance when swarmed, and Werewolf is used as a special boss killer mode. The fire based skills and cyclone armor are used (not wind or cold). For summoning, Hell Hounds (Dire Wolves) are the companions to the DK All vines are allowed, but the spirit must match his form. Oak Sage for the Bear, Wolverine for the Wolf, and Barbs in human form.

Elemental skills are not allowed by the game itself when in shapeshifter form, so if used, Armageddon would need to be pre-cast. Volcano will see use not just on ranged attackers, but also on foes right in front of you in melee.

[Note: The above needs testing; I've not got to try DK with Druid yet, and no Druid at high lvls. Unsure on whether bear form, human, or wolf is the right 'boss' form, and which for normal foes. Also, will want to keep it from being cookie cutter same as other druids.]

Skill Summary
Closest name for the styles described above Pal- 2H Zealot (Zeal w/Fanat/HF), Avenger(Veng/Conv), Charger w/HF/Conc, Defiant. Nec- Revivalist, PD melee nec, Corpse Exploder, Mind Game curser. Dru- Fire elementalist but all trees used. These are by no means exhaustive or even recommended styles, just some examples.

Special Tactics v. Special Foes

Unlike D1, situations will arise where a virtual stalemate occurs. With healers present, or the much faster regen, it may not be possible to kill a foe before your potion supply is gone (or your weapon breaks!). Drasca, the early D2 DK player, has encountered major problems with 'healing' packs. The Death Knight recognizes that these types of foes will be of great benefit to him later, when he has conquered the prime evils and is amassing his own 'army'. So in a situation where his opponents are 'worthy' (tough to kill, almost a stalemate), and not a case of fear or severe danger, the following options become available.

1) Tactical Reassessment
Taunt the creatures ("I must attend to more urgent matters, but shall return to slay to presently" or whatever you like). Throw a portal, and to convincingly show lack of fear, stand still 5 secs before leaving. You must return via the same portal.

2) Alliance Pact
Make a unilateral pact with this group of monster, essentially that you recognize their potential as future minions and will be graceful in sparing their life. The DK should leave them a 'gift' to help their kind, then leave them in peace. Such an alliance should not be made without thought, for the other half of the pact is that after the title is received for that difficulty, three bosses packs of that monster type must be slain to subjugate them, before going on to the next difficulty. Before the completion of that difficulty, the pact is known and remembered by both the DK and the future minion, and he may freely and without cowardice spare their lives and avoid them.

3) Shrine Sacrifice
The proud DK issues these foes a direct order "I command you to follow me to a shrine so that I may sacrifice your wretched lives there." (or something along those lines) He must WALK, not run, to the nearest shrine, and may not attack any foe at all until the shrine is reached. (Depending on the type of creatures, this may or may not have the desired effect! But it's an option.)

Titles

Titles for killing Diablo are Steel Knight (Normal), Doom Knight (Nightmare), Death Knight (Hell).

Tips and Tactics

The Lightning Enchanted Boss (LEB), and Stone Skin and Multishot varieties, will be rather rough. Resist Lightning skill, Resist Ltning items, and Charge or Smitelock will be helpful.

Terror is your friend! If a foe flees from the spell or from Howl on a weapon, you're free to follow him, conveniently AWAY from the huge mob descending on you. Proudly chasing after a coward to slay him is MUCH different from turning tail and just running in fear. If your main weapon doesn't have howl, consider keeping a backup which does (or better, in D2X, use swap setup). Or with Blind Enemy worn (Coif of Glory) to counteract fleeing, remove your cap and let them run away.

If you do manage to get away from the crowd chasing that one, and there are no more (yet) on screen, now it's not cowardly to portal to town for some potions.

Pal: Redemption, Smite, and Conversion are great situational skills

Nec: Terror and Dim Vision for rough spots, Attract as key skill to not get into trouble in the first place.

Dru: Less special skills to help out, better focus on not getting INTO trouble Howl and pursue may in some cases be the only choice. Druids can do well with hit points, so plan ahead for situations where you're in trouble.