Nobody could ever accuse me of being focused when it comes to World of Warcraft. It’s a game with a mountain of distractions, and I’ve got a stable full of alts that I can’t stop playing. Sure, sometimes I just use them to run legacy raids after my main has been locked out (gotta get those transmogs), but there are so many appealing classes and specs that I’ve never been able to settle on 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. Instead of just expanding each spec’s existing talent tree, Blizz has introduced more discrete—and smaller—trees with talents that you can really build a character around. One of the common threads within these trees is the emphasis on the class fantasy, and that is no more apparent than with the edgelord Death Knight.
While both of the DK hero talent trees offer tantalising treats, the moment it was unveiled I knew I’d be hitching my horse to the Rider of the Apocalypse. And the moment I unlocked my first talent, I was smitten. The start of a new expansion is always a heady time, but never before have I had so much fun levelling up a character.
The headline attraction here is the equine focus. This is the spec for horse girls and boys. One of the first talents you can pick is On a Paler Horse, which lets you mount your Archeus Deathcharger in combat, as long as you’re outdoors. Until now, only Paladins have been able to enjoy the thrill of summoning a horse mid-battle, and even then only briefly—a mere 3 seconds. With On a Paler Horse, though, you can stay mounted for as long as you want, blessing you with exceptional mobility. And you just look ridiculously cool, towering over foes and hacking them up with your scythe (or your weapon of choice, but c’mon, why are you not using a scythe?).
While on your Deathcharger, you can also loot and harvest, removing all the downtime you normally rack up when you’re switching from being on-foot to mounted. It’s exclusively a ground mount, but I’ve not found that to be much of an obstacle: I fly to an area where I’ve got some quests, then immediately switch to my horse until I’m ready to leave.
The Deathcharger has also received a welcome glow up. It’s a striking change, upgrading the now very old model for that of the sexy Mawsworn Charger—a spectral steed previously only obtainable through Shadowlands’ infinite Torghast dungeon. I bounced off Shadowlands pretty early and haven’t spent much time in the dungeon, and now I feel vindicated. For those who worked hard for their horsie: I respect your dedication, but my laziness has once again been vindicated.
On a Paler Horse shares its talent slot with Death Charge, which has a less wide-ranging impact but is definitely a better pick for when you’re indoors. It summons your Deathcharger for 10 seconds, during which you’re immune to movement effects and knockbacks, as well as getting a 100% movement speed buff.
Summoning the squad
The cavalry theme persists throughout. The moment you hit level 71 you get Rider’s Champion, which gives you a chance to summon one of your NPC Death Knight horsemen whenever you spend a rune, each of which assists you in different ways. Mograine casts a mobile Death and Decay that follows him around; Whitemane casts Undeath on your target, gaining a stack each time it deals damage; Trollbane slows down your target with Chains of Ice, which also increases damage taken; and Nazgrim increases your strength by 3% through Apocalyptic Conquest.
Within the tree are more talents that augment your horsemen, like 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 a further 3% when an enemy dies, as well as letting you buff it by 1% for each rune you spend.
Thanks to my pals, my Unholy DK properly feels like a battlefield commander. I don’t just have pets, I have a whole squad of badasses. The rotting cherry on top is Apocalypse Now—the final talent in the tree. This allows you to 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’ve got a veritable army at your disposal.
With Apocalypse Now, you have incredible 90-second burst damage. Every three minutes you just become an absolute beast. The utility and damage potential is immense, but the class fantasy side of things is just as important. I’ve never felt more like a Death Knight, and riding off with my crew after another victory in a V formation brings me so much joy. I feel terrifying and unstoppable—an undead monstrosity only ever a few minutes from unleashing a WMD, always sitting astride my trusty Deathcharger.
Thanks to Mists of Pandaria Remix’s speedy levelling experience, I have more alts now than I’ve ever had before—a warband that covers every class and nearly every spec—but I’m barely thinking about them at all. Sure, there are quite a few very fancy hero talent trees that I will inevitably want to dig into, eventually, but for now I’m a Rider of the Apocalypse, spreading plagues with my wonderful BFFs.
