In case you haven’t heard, BlizzCon tickets go on sale May 16th and the event is August 21-22. Like last year, you can buy the Direct TV package so that you can watch the event on TV, really helpful for those that can’t make it to California. But what about that vast majority that doesn’t have DirectTV? Fear not! this year you can also buy the high definition stream over the Internet for the same price as the DirectTV package, which is $39.95! Both the DirectTV package and the Internet stream will also give the buyer the same in-game item that the people that attend the event will get! Here are some of the highlights of the package:

• Over 16 hours of crystal clear high definition coverage
• Live internet streaming footage
• Exclusive interviews and commentary
• Main stage presentations including opening ceremony
• Tournament coverage and team highlights
• BlizzCon 2009 World of Warcraft in-game item

You can keep up with the purchase dates and information on the official page, and hopefully stay tuned here for in-game item give aways.

There are several upgrades in the works for the site today, plan for small outages, weird templates and all kinds of bugs. Stay tuned.

Our resident M.V.D.K. futhark finally got DKiRunes updated with the new DKiDiseases mod, from the most recent graphics contest, added in! Below are a list of new features and SS’s:

Download directly from Curse.com!

First Death Knight disease tracker to display pestilence effects on nearby targets!

• Zeke’s contest winning bar concept with second place Nat’s icon concept together in one package.
• Icons, rings, blades and bars all optional and can be configured to tracks diseases, pestilence, or nothing at all. See layout images below for a small sample of configurations.
• Movable, rotatable, and sizable.
• Crypt Fever / Ebon Plague tracking automatically shows or hides itself based on your talent allocation.
• Optional numerical timers for diseases and pestilence.
• Option to fade out when out of combat.
• DKiDiseases can be run with or without DKiRunes. Enable or disable them as you wish from your Addons menu at login .

DeathKnight.Info Runes has been in production since WotLK Beta and has had nearly 100,000 downloads! Get your copy at Curse.com or check our the support thread here in our forums.

Related Posts

Patch 3.3.5 released

Day 10 of Project Lore’s Death Knight series was released today and we get to see Bigwang compete his 10 day Death Knight Journey though the DK starting area!

A World Event has started today for the release of Wrath of the Lich King. It come in the form of a Zombie attack! What’s cool though is the zombies aren’t NPC’s, they are YOU! There are a couple of ways to get infect, but once you have the infections if you go uncured for 10 minutes you turn into a zombie. As a zombie you will be hostile to everyone including your own home city.

The source of the disease are crates located in Booty Bay as seen in the image below (courtesy of WotLKwiki)

As a zombie you gain the a few skills that you can use to help spread the infection:

• Lurch!
• Retch!
• Beckoning Groan
• Mangle!
• Zombie Explosion!

If you die you will return to your normal self or if you get too close to a Argent Healer. You can also, of course, be cured by normal disease cleansing player spells. If you don’t die or get cured as a Zombie there is rumor of a debuff that is automatically added called Impending Doom that will kill you off.

Here are a couple video I added real fast to show the infection and zombie conversion of the event:

Getting Infected in Booty Bay

The Zombie conversion!

Bornakk posted a FAQ about the origins and a Q&A about zombie life:

Bornakk
Found in the rotting diary of Eric Farrington in the dead city of Andorhal…

Wednesday

My beloved home, Andorhal, has fallen victim to an evil plague. I have witnessed the horrors of the Scourge firsthand, and seen unimaginable things. Death was not granted to my loved ones. Instead, everyone I’ve ever known has turned into monsters. Monsters of unfathomable, relentless viciousness!

I thought naught of a few illnesses, a few fevers. We continued to ship out crates of grain to Lordaeron, and we weren’t fearful of this new sickness — we were confident our healers could handle it. I know now that was foolish, blind.

The denizens of Andorhal turned into vile zombies of the Scourge. These monstrosities no longer held any thoughts or abilities from their mortal lives. Most certain of all, they readily used new powers we had never seen before to further spread the disease and hasten the destruction of the city.

I have been hiding for two days in the sewers, but I must venture out soon to find supplies or possibly a way out of the city to the forests.

Friday

Help me, I’ve been bitten!

I cannot believe I was foolish enough to think I could sneak past all of them on the streets. The zombies are everywhere now, and Andorhal is only a shell of its former glory, a sad and twisted remnant of my beautiful home.

I can already feel the disease taking me. May the light bless me as I go to be with my family and friends once again. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep my sanity. I am weak. I hunger, and must eat…

Eat…

Brains…

The Scourge Invasion is upon us! Prepare yourself for the deadly onslaught of the Scourge, unleashed upon Azeroth and all its denizens.

FAQ

Q: How do I become a zombie?
A: Disease-infected crates are scattered throughout the cities of Azeroth, spreading a sickness that transforms its sufferers into zombies. And of course, when zombies attack, their victims can be afflicted by the disease as well.

Q: How do you stop being a zombie?
A: The disease can be cured by other players who can cast ‘Cure Disease’ or by special healer NPCs in the cities. Once the disease has run its course and a character has become a zombie, the only cure is death.

Q: Can I become a zombie again?
A: Yes.

Q: As a zombie, what are some things I can/cannot do?
A: You can no longer cast the spells/abilities that you had as a normal character, and formerly friendly NPCs now consider you an enemy. You can, however, cast new, unique zombie spells.

Q: Anything else I should know while being a zombie?
A: As a zombie, you are part of a special faction that is friendly with all zombies and can converse with them, regardless of whether they were part of the Horde or Alliance in their mortal existences.

We now know that the honor system will be reset once WotLK goes live, this also includes all of your marks of honor. We were told in the announcement that they would provide us with a means to spend all of our collected honor and marks, and here are those new items:

Eyonix
All of the gems that can be purchased with honor will have the Bind on Pickup and Unique-Equipped tags removed so multiples of them can be equipped and they can be traded (or auctioned). The new items that will be available are:

Cloak of Certain Reprieve
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
42 Stamina
18 Intellect
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 28 (0.71% @ L70).
Equip: Restores 8 mana per 5 sec.
Equip: Increases spell power by 33.

Sergeant’s Reinforced Cape
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
42 Stamina
26 Intellect
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 30 (0.76% @ L70).
Equip: Increases spell power by 33.

The Gladiator’s Resolution
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
42 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 26 (1.18% @ L70).
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 20 (0.51% @ L70).
Equip: Increases attack power by 56.
Equip: Increases your armor penetration rating by 18

Volanthius Shroud
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
42 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 19 (0.86% @ L70).
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 28 (0.71% @ L70).
Equip: Improves haste rating by 18 (1.14% @ L70).
Equip: Increases spell power by 33

Battlemaster’s Resolve
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases attack power by 120.
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Courage
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases spell power by 70.
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Celerity
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves haste rating by 60 (3.8% @ L70).
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Aggression
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 60 (2.72% @ L70).
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

How can you not like this? DK Jesus here I come!

This post is a work in progress. I’d like to note that I am NOT in beta. Any info posted here has a slim chance of being incorrect. All information is gathered from the help of Venia (a beta tester) and Wowhead. All quests and items have direct links to Wowhead as well as tooltips. Check back soon for more. Quests covered as of this post: 18 of 51

This post will continue on the following page. Please check HERE for updates! (link can also be found at the top of the blog)

Once you create your Death Knight and watch the opening cinematic; you are dropped atop Acherus, The Ebon Hold:

Your first quest chain is given to you by the Lich King himself. Below is the full quest chain in order along with rewards and a few screenshots for some of the quests.

In Service Of The Lich King

1. In Service Of The Lich King

2. The Emblazoned Runeblade
rewards: You learn: Runeforging you receive: Runed Soulblade

3. Dominion Over Acherus

4. Company of the Damned
5. The Eye Of Acherus
6. Death Comes From On High

7. The Might Of The Scourge
rewards: You learn: Dominion Over Acherus you receive: Bladed Ebon Amulet

8. The Scarlet Harvest
9. If Chaos Drives, Let Suffering Hold The Reins
rewards: 85 silver and Valanar’s Signet Ring

After returning to Valanar you are sent to see Gothik the Harvester where you begin another 9 quest chain:

Gothik the Harvester

1. Gothik the Harvester

2. The Gift That Keeps On Giving
rewards: 85 silver and Soul Harvester’s Charm

3. An Attack Of Opportunity

4. Massacre At Light’s Point
rewards: 2 gold 85 silver and Plated Saronite Bracers

5. Victory At Death’s Breach!
rewards: 85 silver and Ornate Saronite Legplates

6. The Will Of The Lich King

7. The Crypt of Remembrance

8. Nowhere To Run And Nowhere To Hide
rewards: 85 silver

9. How To Win Friends And Influence Enemies
rewards: 85 silver and Keleseth’s Signet Ring

Here are some random updates regarding Death Knights via blue posts from the official beta forums.

Runeforging

Do Runeforge enchants stack with normal enchants?  

Runeforge enchants do not stack with other weapon enchants. But in most cases the runeforge enchants are better, and they are certainly a lot cheaper.

If you find yourself in a situation where an enchant from an enchanter seems superior, you are still able to do that. Furthermore, enchanters can still provide you with enchants for all your other slots.

Rune Configuration Swapping: What’s the plan?   

Here is the long and the short answer: 

We like the way the death knight plays with 2 of each rune — BBFFUU. Letting players avoid certain runes plays against one of the greatest strengths of the class — that you have to vary your rotations and use different abilities. Although it was our original design, I think it is extremely unlikely you will be able to swap out runes. I know some people will be disappointed with this decision, but we have to do what we think makes the game the most fun.I think you all can imagine situations in which a BBBBBU or BFUUUU configuration would be frighteningly overpowered or hideously underpowered. Theoretically that balances out in the end, but being at 200% effectiveness in some fights and 0% effectiveness in other fights just risks not being a lot of fun in a game where you control a single character.I do want to stress that the spells and talents were designed assuming a 2/2/2 configuration. It was never our intent that you keep say Unbreakable Armor up 100% of the time by playing with 6 frost runes. No single talent choice should be the difference between a good or bad death knight tank. (And to be honest, it really isn’t for druids.) A death knight needs to be able to tank end-game content with their core set of abilities combined with reasonable player skill and gear. Any bonuses from talents should just be gravy.

You are welcome to argue that their current set of tools isn’t yet up to that task. Having those discussions is a great use of a beta. But in the end, we’ll make sure they are up to the task. And that goes for whether the task is tanking, Arenas, soloing, end-game dps or justifying a spot in a raid.

Short version: You may not be able to customize your runeweapon — aside from runeforging enchants, which isn’t a bad perk — but you should be able to customize your talents to a degree that other classes might find startling. 

This isn’t so much Death Knight news as it is leveling characters in general, but as DK’s our trip through Outlands may be easier than we expect. Here is the question raised in the Beta forums from one of the testers:

THERE IS A POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!!!   VOTE!!!!

Due to the lateness of the poll, voting will extend an extra day to give 2 full weeks of voting.

Here are the entries for the Design-a-Rune contest. The response has been overwhelming! When I thought up the contest the main rule I wanted in place before I added a prize was to have at least 5 entries. You guys came through in force! Here is how the voting will work:

1.) Below the entries will be listed in the order in which they came in. Number 1 only means that this person was the first email I received.

2.) Scroll through them all! At the end you will vote based on which number was your favorite.

3.) I will present the runes just as I received them. The only changes that could possibly have been made would be to resize any exceptionally large image file. I will not add any comments or explanation.

4.) VOTE! Anyone and EVERYONE can vote 1 time per IP address and you can only vote for one rune design.

5.) Until there is a winner voted on, the rune designs will only be recognized by their number. This is mainly because not everyone is either registered with the site and/or did not supply their DKinfo screen name. After the winner is notified by email their identity will be announced.

6.) THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE A 60 DAY WORLD OF WARCRAFT GAME CARD! (note, at present I am working on the logistics of purchasing a EU version of the game card. If those arrangements cannot be made, then the winner (if EU) will receive thirty (30) US Dollars via PAYPAL (winner must have Paypal).

1.

Removed at the designers request.

VOTE!