I agree somewhat. Deathbringer already is the Shadow/Frost spec, and San’layn is Blood/Vampire one. I don’t think that the third one should be about Plague Lords, but Rider of the Apocalypse should definitely not be about summoning Four Horsemen. The name indicates that the Death Knight IS the rider, not their summoner.
- Currently even there is a funny bug (?) where using Dark Transformation and Army of the Dead summons two Whitemanes, which is ridiculous.
Instead, Rider of the Apocalypse should be about embodying the four aspects of the apocalypse, so all the effects should be individual procs.
Knight of the Apocalypse (renamed Rider’s Champion)
Spending Runes has a chance to grant you an aspect of the Apocalypse for 10 sec.
Conquest
Your next Scourge Strike/Obliterate grants you Apocalyptic Conquest, increasing your Strength by 5% for 10 seconds.War
Your next Frost Strike/Death Coil applies Vision of the Apocalypse on your target, slowing their movement speed by 40% and increasing the damage they take from you by 5% for 8 sec.Famine
Your next Outbreak/Howling Blast also casts Undeath on your target dealing Shadowfrost damage per stack every 3 sec, for 24 sec. Each time Undeath deals damage it gains a stack. Cannot be refreshed.Death
Your next Death and Decay deals 150% increased damage, follows your position and extends the duration of your diseases by 1.0 sec whenever it deals damage.
Rider of Conquest (renamed Nazgrim’s Conquest)
If an enemy dies while Apocalyptic Conquest is active, its strength is increased by 3%.
Additionally, each Rune you spend increase its value by 1%.
Rider of War (renamed Trollbane’s Icy Fury)
Obliterate and Frostscythe/Scourge Strike unleashes Vision of the Apocalypse around the affected target, dealing Shadowfrost damage to nearby enemies, and slowing them by 40% for 4 sec. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
Rider of Famine (renamed Whitemane’s Famine)
When Frost Strike or Glacial Advance/Death Coil or Epidemic damages an enemy affected by Undeath it gains 1 stack and infects another nearby enemy.
Rider of Death (renamed Mograine’s Might)
Your diseases, Frost Strike and Glacial Advance/Death Coil and Epidemic deal 50% increased damage to enemies affected by your Apocalyptic Death and Decay.
This would result in no need for tracking which horseman was summoned, just seeing which ability on action bars/cooldown manager glows. Each aspect would be a buff that lasts 10 seconds in order to work with remaining talents (and could give an aura/glow around the character).
That said, I doubt we can see any rework like this at this stage of Beta. There are more hero specs across all classes that could use a touch up like that (looking at you, Aldrachi Reaver)… One can hope that the feedback doesn’t fall on deaf ears and might be beneficial if not now, then for later patches…