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Wrath of the Lich King also adds World of Warcraft's first new class, the Death Knight. Denoted as a "hero class," you can only create a Death Knight if you have a character that is already level 55. Death Knights start at level 55 and come equipped with a full set of rare gear. While forcing players to have a level 55 character establishes a decent barrier to entry, it hasn't completely stopped the "new-class-itis" that typically infects an MMO when a new character class is added to the game. Expect to see a lot of DKs running around until the newness factor wears off.
Expect to see a ton of newly made Death Knights pillaging the frozen north. Death Knights are in the service of the Lich King himself, and start in the floating city of Ebon Hold. A rather entertaining series of beginning quests will quickly elevate you from the starting level of 55 up to around 58 or so, providing a steady stream of talent points that will expose you to the class' new abilities faster than a traditional new character would. Still, the additional abilities come at a gradual and manageable pace. The final quest in this starting line contains a satisfying in-game cinematic that also serves as the severance of the bond between the Lich King Arthas and your Death Knight. At this point, you're free to travel to other areas in the world.
As far as abilities are concerned, Death Knights focus their power through runes which are embedded onto their weapons. There are three types of runes: Blood, Frost and Unholy. Each of these match up to a corresponding talent tree. Death Knights have two of each rune type, which are consumed by their special abilities. For example, the Death Strike ability costs one Unholy rune and one Frost rune. Runes restore their power 10 seconds after being used, so playing a Death Knight requires some micromanagement of which abilities you want to use in which order. Given that only seasoned players can even create a Death Knight, this setup is a skill-based way to make the class fun and unique.
Inscription is the new profession featured in Wrath of the Lich King. Inscribers can create glyphs that enhance the skills and spells of other players. Each player can have three major and three minor glyphs. Major glyphs enhance a skill or spell by increasing its potency, such as increasing the damage it causes, the healing it does, or the duration of the effect. Minor glyphs add smaller gains to less-used spells, or provide novelty effects to existing abilities. Mages with the minor glyph of polymorph, for example, will now transform their target into a penguin instead of a sheep.
Blizzard has overhauled the other professions quite a bit, providing a direct benefit to the players who've leveled up their professions. For example, enchanters receive item enhancements that can be used only on their items, and blacksmiths receive the ability to add sockets to their existing armor. Even gathering professions have benefited from these changes. Miners receive a buff to hit points for all the sweat they've put in, herbalists receive an area-of-effect healing wave where flowers grow from the ground, and experienced skinners receive an added chance to critically strike opponents in combat.{wow gold here}
There are a lot of unique scripted missions that add variety to the questing. Although not a unique idea, Wrath of the Lich King has introduced an achievement system that is incredibly fleshed out with nearly a thousand achievements available for players to unlock. All achievements are worth points that contribute to a player's overall total, while some harder-to-obtain achievements also provide special mounts or status titles. One example involves killing all four opposing NPC faction leaders (no easy feat), which rewards you with a pretty bitchin' black war bear to use as a mount. Players can compare their achievements with other players at any time. The only issue with the achievement system is that it isn't retroactive for anything other than quests, so you might find yourself doing a lot of stuff over again just for the sake of achievements. Really want that war bear? You better get yourself and 50 others to the Undercity at 4am...again.
