The Runeblade from the end of the DK starting zone is, in my opinion, one of the best looking weapons this expansion. Having gone through Ulduar, my guild suffered from a lack of choices in weapons. I’ve been stuck with Stormedge because it’s pretty much all that has dropped for us. It got me thinking about the starting zone weapon.

I thought to myself wouldn’t it be really cool if blizzard added more Runeblades to the game? They could set up a whole questline and make it an epic weapon in the image of the hunter bow or priest staff from MC. Make it a raid-level quest and make the graphic wicked sick. I know that a lot of people were asking for this before the expansion launched.

Since that time, Blizzard has made little attempt to follow through on any further Runeblades and sadly it’s not going to happen and here’s why:

Blizzard doesn’t like shifting an entire class or role to a single item. Making a high level raiding quest for an epic two-hander would make every DK run out and get it, like the Unfired Ancient Blade questline. I think pretty much every warrior in my guild had one of those back in MC days.

Blizzard isn’t going to take the time to make models and quests for something trivial, but they’re also not going to create an item that’s going to seem like a “must have” for any class or role; it upsets the game balance and changes competition for raid drops.

The second reason this will never happen is because of the hoopla created by other classes over the DK starting zones and quests. Other classes were unhappy that they didn’t also receive specialized quests. For this reason, blizzard won’t make a quest for one class without feeling they have to make something for everyone and stop the QQ’ing. QQ’ing sucks and has hurt our class since launch.

The final reason why other Runeblades will not be realized is because Blizzard already created for us the DK starting zone and blue gearset. Each subsequent patch after WotLK launch has served to further trivialize Death Knights, strip us of the things that originally made us heroic. The term Hero Class has now been dumbed down to “a class that has a unique starting experience and starts at a higher level with a blue armor set to help leveling”. Sadly, Blizzard has maybe listened to too much of the QQ and instead of being a true Hero Class, we’re just Hybrid Melee\Tanks. Ghostcrawler made it a point in a recent post to say that Death Knight damage should now be a lot lower overall in the current patch and more in line with “hybrid damage”. You’ve heard me while about falling lower on the dps list even though I’m upgrading gear and am obviously a skilled player. One would expect dps to go UP over time and upgrades.

A new expansion is on the horizon, probably the Malestrom or whatever, so we’ll be moving out of Northrend. Blizzard is now less dedicated to making Death Knights look good and is more concerned with creating the next hero class to keep people interested in the grind.; because what is there left to keep people interested when the lackluster badge system alienates raiders from caring about heroics and one everyone already has an 80 in every class (I really don’t, but I have friends that have an 80 in each and every class).

Runeblades would definitely fit into the lore of our class. I think, for the reasons I’ve stated, that this ever happening is a long shot sadly, especially this far after the launch of the class; Blizzard has other things on their mind. It was however, fun to ponder for a few.

Baron Rivendare is a master of mounted combat. He wields a powerful two-handed named The Runeblade of Baron Rivendare. It was an ultra-rare epic drop in Wow 1.0. In addition to his fearsome melee prowess, Baron Rivendare has a number of Death Knight abilities which augment his evil powers. He has the ability to raise skeletons, and to consume them to regenerate his own health. He also has an Unholy Aura that passively eat away at his opponent’s health.

In World of Warcraft, Baron Rivendare can be encountered in Stratholme, then again in Acharus, and finally as a member of the Four Horsemen in Naxxramas. Many veteran wow players will remember the countless runs into Undead Stratholme to retrieve their Tier 0 (Dungeon Set) pants. At the time, I played a warlock, and it took me many many runs before I finally acquired my Dreadmist Leggings. I would estimate I made at least 50 runs into Stratholme to get them, I know other people who made even more than that.

Soon, Baron Rivendare would be destined to make yet another appearance before wow players. To aid in the transition from 5-man dungeons to 20 and 40-man raids, blizzard introduced an upgraded set of dungeon gear, commonly known as Tier 0.5. Arguably the hardest parts of the quest chain was an event commonly known as “the 45-minute Baron”. The event involved entering Stratholme and killing the Baron before he could sacrifice his hostage after 45 minutes had elapsed. This step blocked many valiant raiders who were unable to join a sufficiently geared and skilled band of adventurers to complete this difficult quest. The legacy of The Baron continued.

With the addition of the achievement system, newer players were struck with the urge to fight the Baron at level 70 and higher. One of Baron’s rarest drops is his Deathcharger, which can be used in the various mount-related achievements. I had several friends who spent pre-WOTLK farming Baron for his mount. This introduced a new generation of wow players to the hatred of the Baron.

Currently, as a member of the Four Horsemen, Baron has taken over the position once occupied by Alexandros Mograine, the father of High Lord Darion Mograine, the leader of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. The former’s death led to the Lich King losing control over the Death Knight player-characters.

Baron Rivendare has a large history in World of Warcraft. Appreciate him even in your loathing; for his is one of the most recurring characters in wow. The question you should ask is, will Naxxramas be the end of Baron Rivendare, or are you destined to meet him yet again?