"The single most important piece of equipment to a death knight is the runeblade. It is through the runeblade that a death knight commands the powers of frost, blood and the unholy. The runeblade also acts as a vessel to store the death knight's runic power." -Instructor Razuvious
So I decided to make a death knight. In the quest, [quest]12619[/quest], we are given the above quote. Does this mean death knights are powerless without a runeblade?
Mmmm, yup. Unless it's a spell that doesn't require anything, like a Death Grip. Or a punch, that don't require a rune.
I'd say that they're weakened, severely, without them, but definitely not powerless. They can throw punches still, but they can't really summon a ghoul, use Death coil, runes, etc.
It just confuses me because it says that the only reason DKs have their power is because of the runes on their runeblade, so by association wouldn't a death grip also be impossible? I'm wondering for future IC reference because I'm thinking about having him not have a runeblade, but I'm not sure. :P
A Death Knight without a runeblade is like Shivala without a bow.
But, they do have minor runic energy in them. Enough to allow a Death's Grip to get your blade, but not enough to use runic spells, like Howling Blast or Plague Strike.
I think that the power will be at its fullest when the Death Knights in question have their runeblades. But that doesn't mean they're unable to use -anything- without them.
There isn't much by way of lore to support either position conclusively. But think of the potential for abuse - if all you have to do to render a Death Knight almost useless is knock a runeblade out of their hand or steal it while they're not paying attention, then you can bet there'll be people who suddenly know to do that. Or do it preemptively.
Well, I can see warriors and rogue types going for a disarm.
But that's simply because melee combatants would rather not get hit by a massive sword.
Even then, I can see them being unable to use the spells that require the base runes, as all stated above.
However, things like death coil and runic energy spells, not so much.
Don't know about the ghoul thing though.
Well, without their runeblade they are EXTREMELY skilled casual fighters. Even a disarmed Death Knight could fight her way against one or two foes.
Now, they can't cast nothing, can't use runes, and can't use the power than makes them so powerful and awesome.
My interpretation has been that DKs are just your average combatants without their runeblades, and wouldn't be able to do any of their special abilities without them. However, I also don't think that a mere disarm would completely remove their ability to fight...nothing says the runeblades have to be in their hands in order for them to do anything. I would reckon that so long as the blade is within a relatively close proximity, the DK could at the very least use powers that don't directly require the blade itself (things like Death Coil).
This is also probably the best interpretation if you feel the in-game mechanics mean anything, since that's how disarm works on DKs in-game.