With World of Warcrafts latest expansion - Legion, came a new hero class to the game; Demon Hunter. This is the second hero class to be brought out by Blizzard Entertainment in the game after The Wrath of The Lich King hero class - Death Knight.
But which hero class is better? Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences between them both to decide!
Demon Hunter
| Combat Roles: | DPS, Tank |
| Resource: | Health, Fury/Pain |
| Armor: | Leather |
| Available Weapons: | Warglaives, Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Swords |
| Available Races: | Blood Elf (Horde), Night Elg (Allience) |
World of Warcrafts new hero class - Demon Hunter
In the game, Demon Hunters are disciples of Illidan Stormrage, the once self-proclaimed Lord of the Outland. The Demon Hunters embrace the demonic fel and chaotic magic within them to try to challenge and defeat the Burning Legion.
Demon Hunters will begin at level 98 allowing players to immediately go into the Legion expansion. They have their own unique starting experience like every other class in the game. But unlike all the other classes in the game, the Demon Hunter only has two specializations; instead of 3.
The features Blizzard have implemented on the Demon Hunter allow them to be a very fast and agile wrecking machine in close combat situations. The fel energy that runs through their veins grants them unparalleled durability and strength - extremely useful for tanking. The Demon Hunter has a special melee damage technique that allows them to double jump in and out of combat, unfold their demonic wings and surprise attack enemies from above. This is extremely useful for quick ambush attacks or emergency retreats from battle.
Demon Hunters have a passive ability called “Metamorphosis” which when activated will transform them into a hellish demonic form, that will enhance their chosen role; Tank (Vengeance) or DPS (Havoc).
Blizzard explains their design behind the Demon Hunter.
Death Knight
| Combat Roles: | Tank, DPS |
| Resources: | Health, Runic Power, Runes |
| Armor: | Plate |
| Available Weapons: | Axes, Polearms, Swords, Maces |
| Available Races: | Alliance - Human, Night Elf, Gnome, Dwarf, Draeni, Worgen Horde - Orc, Tauren, Undead, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin |
World of Warcrafts first ever hero class - Death Knight
Death Knights arose when the Lich King, Lord of the Scourge; lost his control over them. They seek revenge from the diabolical disasters committed whilst under his command. Death Knights are powerful necromancer champions, built for deadly combat and slaying enemies with chaotic dark magic.
Death Knights are excellent wielders of weapons, capable of using two handed or one handed weapons in the game. Their expertise in weapon fighting allows them to parry oncoming attacks from enemies, combine this with their enhanced armor plate and you have a force to be reckoned with. They empower their choice of weapon with runeblades - a source to deal dark magic to those they face in combat. Death Knights have a close connection with their wielded weapon and are able to forge runes into them to increase the weapons power stats.
This class has a number of useful abilities that make them one of the best melee combat classes in the game. Their “Grasp” move telepathically grabs fleeing or far away enemies and drags them towards the Death Knight for instant combat initiation. “Death and Decay” is an area of effect move that places corruption on the ground around the Death Knight causing damage to enemies within it.
The Death Knight has 3 specializations to choose from: two DPS specs Frost and Unholy, and one tanking option spec in Blood.
Death Knight explanation and run through
Breakdown
Both hero classes have a tanking and DPS spec, they’re both melee combat specialists and deal damage using darker magic skills.
The Demon Hunter is definitely far superior graphically to the Death Knight and to another other class in the game. Blizzard has implemented a lot of customization features to the Demon Hunter such as horns, blindfolds, tattoos and tattoo colours, as well as the basic hair style and skin colour features etc. The Demon Hunter is also a lot more fun to play than the Death Knight because of their double jumping ability and being able to glide with wings. The Death Knight does have the ability to walk on water and pull enemies towards them, but these are no way near as fun as gliding of the edge of a cliff. The Metamorphosis ability of the Demon Hunter is also an extremely fun graphic aspect to this class, as it enables you to transform your character into a demon freak of nature!
The DPS aspect of the Demon Hunter seems to implement a lot of area-of-effect (AOE) moves but do not have so many single target damages. This means they are very efficient in spreading damage to a lot of enemies at one time, but not so great at single target combat. There is also a slight downside to one of their most powerful AOE moves, Eye Beam, which requires the Demon Hunter to remain stationary whilst it is cast, meaning you must be very smart when using this ability if you want to be a good Demon Hunter. The user must be aware of their surroundings and not use this whilst standing in any enemy AOE damage, or use it at a time when an enemy boss will not move.
The tanking aspect of the Demon Hunter seems to be unique and fun to play. There are a lot of damaging moves that target the surrounding area of the enemy or enemies instead of the actual targets themselves. These same damaging moves can also allow the Demon Hunter to AOE chain, silence and stomp foes. The Demon Hunter has the ability to “shatter” the soul of the enemy creating fragments in which they can collect to restore their own health.
When the Death Knight first came out it was extremely overpowered, stupidly OP. They were a one man wrecking ball but have been nerfed over time to even out the playing field.
In terms of tanking Death Knights have the armor advantage over Demon Hunters, as they wear Plate armor; but we know this isn’t of much importance as other leather wearers like Druid’s also tank and do a splendid job at it. The one thing that sets Death Knight tanking apart from most other tanking is the sheer damage output they can deal. From experience, I’ve seen Death Knight tanks dealing more damage in combat systems than some DPS. Not to mention Death Knight tanks are very well equipped for parrying attacks and building up absorbing layers to mitigate damage.
Having two DPS specs in Unholy and Frost means the Death Knight can be very versatile in damage combat situations. Unholy is a very good AOE damaging spec, equipped for spreading damage and disease. The Unholy spec also grants the Death Knight an undead “pet” that joins the fights and deals damage. Frost specialize in disabling enemy movement and use frozen dark magic to deal significant damage to enemies.
Due to all these qualities, the Death Knight is highly versatile for all combat experiences, whether it is in; PvE, PvP, single or multiple target fights.
Which Hero Class Is Better?
Because the Demon Hunter is the newest class to play in World of Warcraft, you are going to find a lot of them running around; meaning you may find it hard to nail down a spot in a raid if you are playing a Demon Hunter due to the competition. But this was also the same for when the Death Knight first appears on the screen.
In terms of damage output, the Havoc spec from the Demon Hunter just pips the Unholy spec from the Death Knight.
DPS rankings are taken from Noxxic.
The above DPS rankings are taken from Noxxic, for the overall or average damage class spec’s should be doing once at level 110, and with an item level of 840. However, you must remember this does vary from player to player, as some players are better than others.
I think the overall playing style of the Demon Hunter is better, you can have countless hours of fun playing this class. So many new abilities and experiences, a different way of fighting make them a very strong class. But in my opinion, the Death Knights versatility to combat situations and their proven record to be soloing machines mean they are the better class.
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