http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/872730p1.htmlInteresting read. Notable that they mention that the Death Knight's tanking niche will be dealing with caster damage.
Some abilities -
� Death Coil -- Depletes all Runic Power, dealing 600 damage to a non-Undead target, or healing 900 damage on a friendly target.
� Death Grip -- This is the Death Knight's "taunt" ability. It also pulls the target to the Death Knight, forcing them to attack the Death Knight for a short amount of time. Yes, I said pulls the target; Blizzard is going to allow players to move mobs in the expansion both with Death Grip, and other knockback/pull abilities. This works on players too, so PvP balance ahoy!
� Chains of Ice -- Roots the target in place. When the spell fades, it places a snare on the target that reduces in potency as the duration runs out.
� Raise Dead -- Raises a nearby corpse to fight for the Death Knight for 2 minutes. If used on a player corpse, the player has the option to play as the ghoul for the duration -- gaining access to the ghoul's abilities.
- The ghoul has the ability to do the following:
-- Leap to the target
-- Rend for decent damage-over-time
-- Stun target, and of course more
� Death Pact -- Sacrifices the raised ghouls to heal the Death Knight.
� Death and Decay -- Targeted, AoE Damage-over-time which pulses similar to the Paladin spell Consecration. Anyone affected by Death and Decay has a chance to be feared.
� Frost Presence -- Increases Armor by 45% and allows the Death Knight to generate 25% more threat. Only one presence can be active at any time.
� Unholy Presence -- Increases Attack Speed and Movement speed by 15%. Only one presence can be active at any time. This was described by Tom Chilton as the "PvP" presence.
� Anti-magic Shield -- Reduces the damage of the next magical spell cast on the Death Knight by 75%. It also converts the damage reduced into Runic Power.
� Strangulate -- Depletes all Runic Power, dealing minor damage and silencing the target for up to 5 seconds.
� Summon Deathcharger -- Allows the Death Knight to summon a Deathcharger mount. This mount is acquired through quests, similar to the Paladin and Warlock land mounts.
A quick recap of the information they were told about the Death Knight:
� Death knights will be available to all players with level 55 characters
� Players can create one death knight per realm, per account
� Death knights can be any of the races
� Once created, death knights can undertake a series of quests to introduce the player to the new class and its associated lore
� Death knights utilize a rune system as their resource mechanic
- Three different rune types are available: Unholy, Frost, and Blood
- These runes allow death knights to cast spells and abilities; spells can cost any combination of these runes
- Spent runes automatically refresh after a set period of time, similar to a rogue�s energy bar
- The death knight will have the ability to customize which array of six runes is currently available
� As rune abilities are used, the death knight also generates another resource called Runic Power
- The death knight will have several abilities that cost all available Runic Power, with varying levels of effectiveness based on total Runic Power spent
- Runic Power decays over time if it�s not spent, similar to a warrior�s rage bar
� The death knight has three different presences to use: Blood, Frost, and Unholy; each presence grants the death knight a unique buff that will allow him or her to fulfill different roles in combat
� The death knight can serve either as a tank or as a melee-based damage-dealing class
� Death knights are designed to be highly viable tanking, magic-using characters
� Death knights will have the ability to summon undead guardians to fight by their side
� Death knights will have the ability to summon a Deathcharger mount.
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