Death Knight (Warcraft III)

Death Knights were once virtuous defenders of Humanity. However, once the Paladin ranks were disbanded by the failing Alliance, many of these holy warriors traveled to the quarantined lands to ease the suffering of those left within the plague-ridden colonies. Though the Paladins were immune to disease of any kind, they were persecuted by the general populace who believed that they had been infected by the foul plague. A small band of Paladins, embittered by society's cruelty, traveled north to find the plague's source. These renegade Paladins succumbed to bitter hatred over the course of their grueling quest. When they finally reached Ner'zhul's icy fortress in Northrend they had become dark and brooding. The Lich King offered them untold power in exchange for their services and loyalty. The weary, vengeful warriors accepted his dark pact, and although they retained their humanity, their twisted souls were bound to his evil will for all time. Bestowed with black, vampiric Runeblades and shadowy steeds, Death Knights serve as the Scourge's mightiest generals.

Hero names
Lord Nightsorrow, Lord Soulrender, Lord Dethstorm, Lord Maldazzar, Lord Darkhallow, Lord Lightstalker, Baron Bloodbane, Baron Felblade, Duke Dreadmoore, Duke Ragereaver, Baron Frostfel, Lord Darkscythe, Duke Wintermaul, Baron Perenolde, Baron Morte.

Lady Nightsorrow, Lady Soulrender, Lady Dethstorm, Lady Maldazzar, Lady Darkhallow, Lady Lightstalker, Baroness Bloodbane, Baroness Felblade, Dutchess Dreadmoore, Dutchess Ragereaver, Baroness Frostfel, Lady Darkscythe, Dutchess Wintermaul, Baroness Perenolde, Baroness Morte

Information
The Death Knight is a melee Hero but attacks very slowly making him one of the lesser melee Heroes. The Death Knight is typically the second Hero built by Undead players, though he's generally the first if playing alone. He is absolutely required for any Undead player because of his massive support capabilities.

He's often jokingly referred to as the Healing Knight, because all of his spells tend to heal him in some way.

Death Coil is the Undead's version of Holy Light, meaning that a player can either use it to heal a wounded Undead unit, or use it against a living opponent. Death Coil is excellent at taking down fleeing enemies, especially at level 3 where it can both heal and damage a lot. This is generally one of the more invested skills due to its dual role as healing and unit killing, especially when an enemy tries to focus on one of your units early/mid-game.

Death Pact allows the Death Knight to restore his health in return for killing an Undead unit. At level 3, it heals 300% of the target's health; it generally has no purpose in a short match, but in longer matches, a player could simply use it on a skeleton or reanimated minion to restore most if not all of his health.

Unholy Aura is an extremely useful aura, especially in team matches. This aura provides increased movement and health regeneration to all friendly units, which stacks with the bonus from Endurance Aura. Try to invest in this skill first, since the support it provides is extremely valuable.

Reanimate Dead allows him to bring back the six most powerful corpses on the field under his control. Though temporary, the Death Knight's minions are invulnerable (creep versions can be attacked). However, if they had mana while living, they will not have any when reanimated.

Death oil

 * A coil of death that can damage an enemy living unit or heal a friendly undead unit.

The Death Knight's Death Coil ability is a great healer for Undead units and even for the Neutral Heroes Dark Ranger and Pit Lord. Death Coil can also be used to heal friendly Undead heroes. It also allows the player to deal with harder creep camps with a smaller army.

Death Coil is also good against early rushes where the enemy targets your units. Death Coil can heal Necromancers and other "living" members of the Scourge, and is helpful to heal Acolytes that are under attack.

Death Coil is especially useful to finish off running enemy units that are near death.

Use Death Coil with the Lich's Frost Nova to make a powerful living unit killer - though not as effective as the Mountain King's Storm Bolt and Paladin's Holy Light combo, it does deal a significant amount of damage regardless. Skilled micro players can also add the Dreadlord's Carrion Swarm or Crypt Lord's Impale if they somehow survive the first two spells.

Unlike Holy Light, Death Coil is a projectile-based spell and not instant. This means it's possible for the targeted unit to escape or be killed before the coil actually does what it was intending to do.

Dath Pact

 * Kills a target friendly unit, giving a percentage of its hit points to the Death Knight.

Death Pact can be cast on invulnerable undead units, like those raised by Animate Dead. Use it only on weak Undead units, such as skeletons. For this reason investment into this skill means Necromancers should be brought along, as it is a waste to use it on other units with higher levels as overhealing is not factored into the Death Knight's health pool (e.g a Frost Wyrm has 1,300 health, and level 3 Death Pact coverts it into 3,900 health). An untouched skeleton would heal the Death Knight for roughly half of his health if he doesn't have health boosting items, and won't harm your army's strength.

nholy Aura (Passive)

 * Increases the movement speed and life regeneration rate of nearby friendly units.

Unholy Aura also causes hitpoint regeneration for mechanical units, and allows Undead units to heal outside of blighted ground, fountains, wards and other items. This effect takes priority over the Legion Doom Horn item. It also allows the Death Knight and his allies to chase down fleeing units.

Animate ead (Ultimate)

 * Raises 6 dead units in an area to fight for the Death Knight. Animated units are invulnerable.

The Death Knight automatically selects the six most powerful corpses in the nearby vicinity and raises them to fight for him. Reanimated units are invulnerable, but lack mana. It is important to try avoid reanimating spellcasters (though powerful creeps are the lone exception) to make the most use of this spell. The units can be targeted by Death Pact and the Lich's Dark Ritual.

Manual description
Death knights were once heroic, virtuous defenders of humanity. However, they were corrupted by the subtle machinations of the Lich King and lured to his dark standard. These former heroes were given untold power and the promise of immortality in exchange for their loyalties. Although they retained their humanity, their twisted souls were bound to the Lich King's will for all time. Bestowed with black, vampiric runeblades and shadowy steeds, death knights now serve as the Scourge's mightiest generals.

Quotes

 * See Warcraft III Death Knight quotes