While I lean towards the Death Knight possibly being more powerful, and I like both classes and have played both, I’m not sure. Thoughts?
eyes this thread suspiciously
Wanna duel Thad and find out?
In all seriousness, though, Paladins have special abilities to neutralize undead. i think paladins historically have the advantage because the Light also causes excruciating pain to undead. Look at the Death Knights infiltrating Light’s Hope Chapel, in one on one fights maybe Death knights have more power, but they are no match for the Light.
3 Likes
While I’d be down for that, that wouldn’t answer in regards to the lore.
1 Like
I think Blizz undercut the concept of DKs when it shifted from corrupted paladins to general admission. They work so much better imo as twisted mockeries of “the best of us.”
Pre-WotLK my answer would have been Death Knights, hands down, but I think they’re probably pretty well matched by now.
2 Likes
Death Knights have a lot more successes. Less hostile possessions. Etc.
Like the first paladin I knew about was the scarlet crusade guy who was balnazar than his buddies son stabs his pally dad and it’s all down hill from there. Uther got got by Arthas. Turalyon is like omgosh Illidain plz no.
A succesful pally arch would be pretty sweeet )
3 Likes
True. Tirion had an awesome moment when he broke Frostmourne and helped defeat the Lich King 
… then he got burned and tortured to death by demons in a later expac 
. With Yrel villain-batted in BfA, most of my hope rests on Arator and Liadrin.
I’d like to see a successful pally arch, though given all the “Lightbound” and “TuRaLyOn iS A fAnAtIC” claptrap going around, I sometimes worry it won’t happen.
1 Like
I think if we are keeping it to basic trooper type units - below named NPCs and the Player Champion - the differences in power levels would be slim.
Death Knights are considered a Hero Class and have a unique origin, while Paladins start out like everyone else in their race. I dont know if that would make them more powerful, but it would make them different than the other classes of the same race.
If we are talking about the Player Class, I remember in WotLK, I would duel my DK buddy, and beat him almost every time. I only had trouble when AotD was up - other wise it was easy enough. That would depend on balance, tuning, gear, and skill.
1 Like
The lore doesn’t do Versus comparisons between classes.
The context of the classes is important.
But especially for Death Knights. are we talking Arthas-raised or Bolivar?
Arthas chose from the best he could find and even those once chosen he put through a meat grinder that culled the weak.
Bolivan Death Knights did not go through anywhere near that kind of hell.
So the former will be on the average much more ruthless and powerful than the latter.
Paladins on the other hand will be more numerous but not as battle-hardened when commissioned.
2 Likes
Indeed.
Like, if we pit them against each other in a Graveyard, the DK might have more powers to flex. While fighting a Paladin at their favored Holy Place could be a similar example.
For Balance Reasons, Player DKs can access corpses even without corpses nearby, or even meat wagons near by. In WC 3, meat wagons carried corpses for necromancers - and that makes more sense (and is a funny thing to find myself typing.)
How would that corpse mechanic work? WoW DKs can use AotD without actual corpses. In WC 3, the DKs had to use the corpses near by.
Meanwhile, a Paladin can summon the Light to them almost anywhere. If they have faith and the Light answers… or something.
Hard to say, since the Lore is not exactly concrete.
3 Likes
IMO prob Dk
DK and DH appear to be the most powerful classes lorewise. Evoker might give them a run for their money tho
1 Like
Considering how easy it was for Illidan to calm him down after he was ready to kill the former over the destruction of Fascist Chandelier, he’s not much as fanatics go.
My answer is: “It’s a definite 'maybe.”
Like others mentioned, it’s really not discussed in lore which Average Joe of their class would be more powerful.
If I had to speculate, I’d say Paladin solely because they have specific abilities to deal with the undead which would be a fairly large boon against the powerhouse that is Death Knight. I’d argue it’s one of the few classes (lorewise) that could go toe-to-toe. Obviously it’s going to vary greatly on skill, experience, location, etc. though.
While I found that whole cinematic edgelord cringe, what you said proves my point that all this slapping the “fanatic” label on Turalyon is inaccurate. Though I thought it was Velen’s words that calmed him down, not fel junkie Illidork’s one-liners (though edgydan’s plot armor helped). But that’s a subject for another thread or discussion.
I wonder, who would win if Turalyon and Darion fought one-on-one?
1 Like
My money would be on Mograine.
Paladins have a higher pantheon to call upon when the need is dire but on the other hand a Death Knights will would be harder to break under dire circumstances.
I’d side with using a Death Knight over a Paladins in general. I just wouldn’t use them on holy ground.
Death Knights have a longer, more robust history of beating paladins.
2 Likes
It depends on which type of Death Knight you’re referring to, generally. There have been three different types in lore, arguably four now with the allied race ones, and three different ways of making them. Equipment also matters in this case, as Death Knights canonically have/had access to some pretty overpowered gear.
-
Original Death Knights. These were the souls of Orc Warlocks plunked into the corpses of Stormwind knights, the most famous being Teron Gorefiend. Paladins were originally made, in part, to counter them, and they first met in battle at the Battle of Hillsbrad. Against these types, Paladins would logically have the upper hand, though it’s arguable if you can call the bulk of the original Paladins ‘average’ compared to the larger Silver Hand.
-
Third War Death Knights. These are corrupted and twisted Paladins wielding runeblades that eventually convert them to undeath. There are more famous/prominent members of this generation, such as the Four Horsemen and Baron Rivendare, and of course the first Ashbringer. Pitted against the average Paladin, these cursed runeblade Death Knights would have the upper hand to an extent, they seem to have a much wider variety of magic at their disposal, and know the same tactics as Paladins and how to counter them. Moreover, their very presence might shake the resolve of the average Paladin.
-
Knights of the Ebon Blade/Wrath era. These are all true undead, ergo killed and raised, but in the case of the former they were never intended to survive their assault on Light’s Hope, so their power might have been deliberately limited to ‘just enough’. Logically, Paladins would have the advantage here unless the Death Knights are equipped with saronite, which is hugely overpowered in lore, though that power is in question now since Yogg-Saron is Yogg-so gone.
-
Legion onward. No clue, though I’d assume the Paladins would have a marked advantage, since we don’t have much indicator of the Bolvar era Death Knights barring the new Four Horsemen. It’s not even confirmed that the allied race ones are actually… undead.
In terms of not fighting each other, it would depend on what they’re fighting. A Death Knight on average is more powerful against a majority of enemy types, but slap a bunch of unholy beings in front of a Paladin, like demons or undead, and they’ll have way more to draw on and will outstrip a Death Knight.
Edit: I’m going off the assumption that the comparison is between Knights of the Silver Hand (Human/Dwarf/High Elf) and Death Knights. Prelates, Sunwalkers, Blood Knights, Vindicators, and Sisters of the Moon either draw their power from alternate sources, have different methods, or both.
1 Like
You really hate this guy, don’t you? 
Your nicknames are quite creative, I love it.
I only break out the nicknames when Illidan-stans/edgelords/both get snarky about it or I call him that in my head when seeing his worst moments (in fact, I came up with Illidork, Edgydan and Edgydork in response to that cinematic).
I hate that cinematic, not Illidan as a whole. Overall, I find Illidan overrated, so-so, has some decent moments, has some some Sue-ish/Stu-ish moments, and am annoyed by how his backstory was retconned twice.
I’m not sure myself. I like them both, Turalyon has more combat experience, Darion has the advantage of being undead and able to call in aid, but I think it would be a big fight.
1 Like