Vampire Counts: Death Knight (Unholy)
Vampire Counts: Unholy Death Knight
"Undeath perfected; these elite wights show a unique talent for summoning and empowering undead minions to assist them in combat."
1, Introduction
Inspired by the (in)famous hero class from the Warcraft universe, this mod will let you bring an approximation of their power into Warhammer. Each Death Knight unit (only 1 individual per unit) is not only powerful enough to defeat nearly any unit in a 1v1 melee battle, they also bring some solid magic and passive abilities to the table (more on that below). This power comes with a pretty steep price tag, as well as the requirement of needing a 3rd tier building and a 4th tier building (Reliquary + Lodestone of Darkness) in order to recruit them. Because of this, they should be considered an end-game unit (though a strong economy in the mid-game could get you enough money to pick up a few, from time to time). Each Death Knight costs 2,500 (not including cost reduction effects), with an upkeep of 250 per turn. Personally, I like seeing single units stand against huge numbers and still come out on top, which is why each unit only comes with 1 of these guys.
Lets get into the unit info…
2, Unit Stat/Ability/Spell Overview
Unholy Death Knights operate best when standing back a bit, letting their minions do the work while they attack at their leisure. Each Unholy Death Knight has access to "Ghosts of the Past", which lets them summon a regiment of ghostly lance-cavalry (2 charges per battle). They can use "Undeath Resurgent" to provide their minions (and any other units nearby) with an increase in leadership and melee defense. However, if you’re not using a mod that removes the degradation of summoned units, these undead summons will likely die before the battle is over. That’s when the—not very tough—Unholy DK has to make use of their other abilities. "Claws of Mourkain" gives a large armor-penetration bonus that will add on to the DK’s already decent melee damage. Using "The Shadows Coil" can help you last until your summon is off cooldown, and "Neuroparasites" can provide a solid emergency heal, if needed. Unlike the other DK units I’ve made, these should be considered more of a support unit than one to keep in direct melee. They have the most powerful melee attacks of all the Death Knights, but the weakest defense. Fortunately, they can still be useful during their summon downtime by making use of "Wraith Storm", which comes with 3 charges.
3, Detailed Stats (Without Buffs)
Health: 4,008
Armor: 60
Leadership: 100
Speed: 36
Melee Attack: 235
Melee Defense: 50
Weapon Strength: 425 (Bonus vs. Large and Infantry)
Charge Bonus: 175
4, Detailed Abilities
Fear: Reduces enemy leadership to those susceptible to this effect.
Terror: Reduces enemy leadership to those susceptible to this effect.
Perfect Vigor: This unit never tires during battle.
Hide in Forest: Unit can hide from enemy sight in forests (unit also has reduced spot distance, making them more difficult to see even when outside forests).
Unbreakable: This unit never flees.
Undead: No added effects since other abilities on this list do the same thing (without stacking). Only added for lore accuracy.
Strider: Unit ignores speed penalties.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: unit reduces the leadership of enemy units near it.
Unholy Power: Unit has reduced spell cooldowns.
Soul Eater: Adds 50% miscast chance for opponent when casting spells. Protects from magic similar to Warcraft spell "Anti-Magic Zone" or "Mind Freeze".
BONUS: If unit takes damage during a battle, but survives, they will heal to full at the end of the battle. Dead Death Knights do not heal; once you lose one, they’re gone. This also makes them (and only them) totally immune to any form of attrition. Bear in mind that your other units will still have to replenish to heal after a fight, and every non-DK unit will suffer normal attrition.
5, Detailed Spells
Wraith Storm: Moderate magic damage, in the form of a bombardment from the sky. Good against single targets, and armor. 3 charges per battle; costs no winds of magic.
Undeath Resurgent: Increases the leadership and melee defense of units within the area of effect.
Ghosts of the Past: Summons a regiment of ghostly lance-cavalry, with a formation ability that increases their charge power.
Neuroparasites: Heals for approx 50% of the unit’s health over 21 secs.
Claws of Mourkain: Gives a large increase to armor-penetration damage.
The Shadows Coil: Activate to sacrifice melee attack for a bonus to melee defense. Can be toggled on/off.
6, Weaknesses
These guys are highly susceptible to charges and other knockback effects. They have been balanced in such a way that they can win despite being thrown around a bit, but if you get knocked back repeatedly…you’re not going to be able to do much with them. Best not to have them be the centerpiece of your army, as they do best when the enemy is distracted by bigger (seemingly) deadlier units. The good news is that their summoned minions make an excellent distraction, and they can deal heavy damage when they’re up. They have the weakest defense of all the death knights, but the highest melee damage. This means you may need to be strategic in your avoidance of knockbacks, but you’ll get a lot out of these units if you can do that.
IMPORTANT: While the AI is able to recruit these units in campaign, they will be unable to make full use of their abilities. They will cast Wraith Storm and Undeath Resurgent when they can, but that’s it. This likely has something to do with these units having access to spells that no unit on the Vampire Count roster is supposed to have access to. There’s nothing I can do about that; sorry.
Thank you for downloading; have fun!
Other Death Knight Units
Blood – https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2684674030
Frost – https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2700292909
***Check out my other units***
Vampire Counts: Untamable Necro-Dragon – https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2690690946
Vampire Counts: The Black Archers – https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2687840980
