Dread knight

The dread knight is a new monster which occurs in Doom Eternal. It is a cybernetic version of the Hell knight, with two energy blades attached to its arms.

Tactical analysis
The dread knight shares most of its attack pattern with its unaugmented cousin, but with a few key differences. The dread knight's energy blades grant it a longer reach than the Hell knight, and when it performs its ground slam a field of damaging energy lingers at the point where it lands. The dread knight can also fire an energy wave at long range, though it is not difficult to dodge if there is enough room to maneuver.

Although the dread knight has higher health than the Hell knight, it remains vulnerable to all techniques that are effective against its counterpart. In general, it should be viewed as the "middle" of the Hell nobles in terms of the threat that it poses.

Lore
In addition to the more obvious cybernetics installed by the UAC cultists, dread knights have their pleasure hormone emission tied to the use of their arm blades. Combined with endocrine modifications to amplify adrenaline production, this locks them into a permanent state of bloodlust that can only be relieved by killing.

Pre-release
The dread knight first appeared, unnamed and without elaboration, in the Doom Eternal cover art which was revealed in the immediate wake of the BE3 2019 presentation. The monster's name was rumored after release of a Slayers Club exclusive piece of art which referred to it as such, but this was not officially confirmed until the QuakeCon 2019 keynote presentation on.

Glory kills

 * The Doom Slayer punches the dread knight in the face to the right, grabs his left shoulder and stabs him through the jaw and into his skull.

Trivia
Their artificial bloodlust makes them similar to Grunts from Quake.