Unholy Death Knight Mythic+ Guide
Unholy Death Knight Mythic+ Guide
11.0.5 - The War Within
Welcome to the Unholy Death Knight Mythic+ guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.0.5! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!
Overview
Unholy Death Knight
Unholy Death KnightMythic+
Hero Talents
Unholy Death Knight
- On Single-Target and Multi-Target Rider of the Apocalypse is currently the best. While San'layn is close in damage, it lacks utility and complicates your gameplay to an extreme amount so from this point forward the guide assumes you are playing Rider of the Apocalypse.
Rider of the Apocalypse
San'layn
Offensive Nodes
- Rider's Champion - Each Rune spent gives you a 10% chance to summon one of the following Four Horsemen:
- Mograine
- Puts up a Death and Decay that follows him.
- You gain the benefit of Mograine's Might and Unholy Ground if you are standing in this.
- Puts up a Death and Decay that follows him.
- Whitemane
- Undeath is a disease with a 24 second duration that spreads and gains 1 stack every time you use Scourge Strike on the infected target.
- Trollbane
- Repeatedly casts Chains of Ice over his duration that gets shattered by Scourge Strike with Trollbane's Icy Fury.
- Nazgrim
- Grants you 5% Strength, increasing by 1% for every Rune spent while Nazgrim is active.
- Mograine
- Apocalypse Now
- Summons all 4 Horsemen for 20 seconds after casting Raise Abomination. This lines up with every other use of Dark Transformation and Apocalypse making for extremely large burst windows especially when combined with on-use trinkets.
- If a Horsemen is already out, it extends the current duration by 20 seconds instead.
- Mograine does not recast his Death and Decay but all other Horsemen recast their abilities.
- If a Horsemen is already out, it extends the current duration by 20 seconds instead.
- Summons all 4 Horsemen for 20 seconds after casting Raise Abomination. This lines up with every other use of Dark Transformation and Apocalypse making for extremely large burst windows especially when combined with on-use trinkets.
- Fury of the Horsemen or A Feast of Souls
- Fury of the Horsemen increases the duration of your Horsemen when spending Runic Power which has incredible value for Unholy due to Mastery interactions with the Horsemen's abilities. A Feast of Souls enables larger Death Coils and Epidemics but is not strong enough on single-target to make it worth it.
- Hungering Thirst
- Passively increases the damage of your diseases, Virulent Plague as well as Frost Fever and Blood Plague while playing Superstrain, and Death Coil damage.
- Mawsworn Menace
- Increases Scourge Strike and Clawing Shadows damage by 10% as well as reducing the cooldown of Death and Decay by 10 seconds allowing you to use 2 charges of Death and Decay during Dark Transformation in AoE without being punished.
- This reduces the cooldown of Defile by 5 seconds if you are playing it instead.
- Increases Scourge Strike and Clawing Shadows damage by 10% as well as reducing the cooldown of Death and Decay by 10 seconds allowing you to use 2 charges of Death and Decay during Dark Transformation in AoE without being punished.
Defensive Choice Nodes
- Death Charge or On a Paler Horse
- On a Paler Horse does not work at all in this raid so you always choose Death Charge which is not a bad thing as this greatly increases your mobility and allows you to break roots and slows.
- Horsemen's Aid or Pact of the Apocalypse
- Horsemen's Aid depends on the value of Anti-Magic Shell during the fight as this can be incredibly potent allowing you to pre-immune debuffs or randomly absorb high amounts of magic damage. On the other hand, Pact of the Apocalypse grants you a 5% damage reduction per Horsemen out or 20% damage reduction during your cooldowns with Apocalypse Now. Due to the situational value of both of these, there is no auto pick for this as it just depends on the fight.
Offensive Nodes
- Vampiric Strike
- Death Coil, Epidemic, and Death Strike have a 10% chance to transform your next Scourge Strike in to Vampiric Strike.
- Vampiric Strike heals you for 1% of your max HP, triggers Infliction of Sorrow, and grants you 1 stack of Essence of the Blood Queen.
- Infliction of Sorrow
- Causes Vampiric Strike to add 3 seconds to the duration of Virulent Plague and deal 10% of its' remaining damage on the target.
- After Gift of the San'layn expires you get a buff causing the next Scourge Strike to consume Virulent Plague and deal its' remaining damage immediately.
- This damage is affected by Plaguebringer, Ebon Fever, Foul Infections, and other damage modifiers making them incredibly important talents while playing San'layn as this becomes a massive amount of burst every 1m30s.
- Gift of the San'layn
- Dark Transformation now grants you Gift of the San'layn which replaces Scourge Strike with Vampiric Strike for its' duration.
- Essence of the Blood Queen effectiveness is also increased by 100% during Dark Transformation.
- Blood-Soaked Ground
- While standing in your Death and Decay the proc chance of Vampiric Strike is increased to 15%.
- Frenzied Bloodthirst
- Allows Essence of the Blood Queen to stack up to 7 and increases your Death Coil damage by 3% per stack.
- Visceral Strength
- Consuming Sudden Doom procs grants you 6% strength for 8 seconds.
- Pact of the San'layn or Sanguine Scent
- Pact of the San'layn simply deals more damage overall as Sanguine Scent only increases the chance to gain Vampiric Strike in execute which you can already get the majority of the time.
Your damage is maximized by using Dark Transformation to gain Gift of the San'layn on cooldown to stack and maintain Essence of the Blood Queen as well as increasing the duration of Virulent Plague and taking advantage of Infliction of Sorrow during your cooldowns. This happens every 45 seconds, but is especially powerful every 90 seconds as this lines up with Raise Abomination, Unholy Assault, and your on-use trinkets. Check out the Deep Dive section below to understand how you play this properly!
Defensive Choice Nodes
- Vampiric Speed or Newly Turned
- Newly Turned has the potential to be nice but overall you are not normally the person combat rezzing while Vampiric Speed increases your movement speed and that of nearby allies slightly which is always good.
- Bloody Fortitude or Vampiric Aura
- In Dungeons, Bloody Fortitude increasing the potency of Icebound Fortitude is simply too good to give up as 2% Leech sometimes increasing to 4% even for 4 allies is just not good enough.
Talents
Unholy Death Knight
Low to Mid Keys 2-9
Shattered Frost
Shattered Frost
High Keys 10-12+
Festering Scythe
Festering Scythe
Spec Tree
- Bursting Sores
- When you pop your Festering Wounds, they now do increased damage and do damage in an area around them.
- Defile
- Replaces Death and Decay making it deal increased damage and reducing the cooldown to 20 seconds.
- Vile Contagion
- On a 45 second cooldown, this allows you to spread your current target's Festering Wounds to 7 nearby enemies.
- Superstrain
- Outbreak and any other disease application spell now applies Frost Fever and Blood Plague at 75% effectiveness.
- Morbidity
- Increases damage taken per disease applied meaning you always want your diseases up before hitting anything.
- Ebon Fever
- Causes all diseases to deal 12% more damage in half the duration. This effectively increases all of your disease damage by 130%.
- Infected Claws
- A major factor in why you don't constantly press Festering Strike as this gives roughly 8 Festering Wounds per minute.
- Every hit in multi-target situations from Sweeping Claws has a separate chance of applying a Festering Wound, meaning you don't have to constantly Festering Strike multiple targets.
- Apocalypse
- Bursts up to 4 Festering Wounds on the target, summoning 4 ghouls that deal damage for 15 seconds.
- Raise Abomination
- Replaces Army of the Dead, instead summoning an abomination that applies all diseases when it spawns in a small radius around it and applies a Festering Wound on each of its' auto attacks for 30 seconds.
- Unholy Assault
- Puts 4 Festering Wounds on your target and Increases your damage by 20% for 20 seconds.
Class Tree
- Soul Reaper
- Used rotationally when hitting single target enemies under 35% health.
- Cleaving Strikes
- Cleaving Strikes allows your Scourge Strike to hit up to 7 additional enemies while you are standing in Death and Decay or when you have the buff from recently standing in your Death and Decay
- Abomination Limb
- Grips enemies to you for 12 seconds with a minimum range of 8 yards and a max range of 20 yards as well as dealing a decent amount of damage over the duration.
- Anti-Magic Zone and Assimilation
- Your group cooldown that lasts for either 8 seconds or until 150% of your maximum health has been absorbed in total by everyone standing in the zone.
- Talenting into Assimilation makes this absorb 10% stronger, 165% of your maximum health, and reduces the cooldown by 30 seconds.
- Null Magic
- Reduces your magic damage taken by 8% and reduces the duration of harmful magic effects by 35%. While the reduced magic damage portion of Null Magic works against all magic damage, the reduced duration of harmful magic effects does not work on the vast majority of amount debuffs in from bosses as that could simply break too many things but will work on the majority of magic debuffs applied from regular trash mobs.
- Vestigial Shell or Unyielding Will
- Unyielding Will increases Anti-Magic Shell's cooldown by 20 seconds but removes all harmful magic effects when cast. While this says all, it doesn't mean all as removing certain debuffs could potentially break encounters if some debuffs were removed early. Make sure to check the Dungeons section in this guide to see what you can and can't remove on a fight by fight basis.
- Vestigial Shell puts a Lesser Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearby allies that absorbs a small amount of damage and reduces the duration of some harmful magic effects. This does not have any immune capabilities and just acts as a shield on your allies that can reduce the duration of some harmful magic effects.
- Death's Echo
- Gives you 1 extra charge of Death and Decay, Death's Advance, and Death Grip.
- Gives you 2 charges of Defile instead of Death and Decay.
- Gives you 1 extra charge of Death and Decay, Death's Advance, and Death Grip.
- Will of the Necropolis
- Reduces all damage taken by 35% while below 30% health, including the portion of the hit that takes you below 30%. For example, if you take a hit that takes you from 60% to 10%, the portion of the hit below 30% of your health is reduced by 35%.
- Unholy Endurance
- Transforms Lichborne into a defensive cooldown and increases its' duration.
When to Play This Build
This is mainly a build to play in higher keys as pulls have enough health to make it worth playing a mass AoE build instead of one that focuses on hybrid damage. It is advised to build your comp around having one as the boss damage this spec deals is not high but the trash damage is immense.
Talent Adjustments
Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.
Spec Tree
- Added
- Festering Scythe
- Ghoulish Frenzy
- Pestilence
- Reaping
- Harbinger of Doom
- Rotten Touch
- Removed
- Vile Contagion
- Apocalypse
- Magus of the Dead
- Menacing Magus
- Coil of Devastation
- Improved Festering Strike 1 Point
Rotation
Unholy Death Knight
Tier Set
Single-Target
- 2-Set: Your minions deal 8% increased damage.
- 4-Set: When you summon a minion, your Haste is increased by 2%, up to 8% for 8 sec.
Rider of the Apocalypse
Opener
- Your goal in the opener is to get your high value casts out of the way so you can get your cooldowns started immediately as you want to get into your normal rotation and begin taking advantage of your cooldowns. Below, you see an example of how your opener looks like using the recommended Rider of the Apocalypse Multi-Target build.
Make sure your Ghoul is summoned at least 5 seconds before combat.
- While this is a Single-Target opener, there are no fights in Nerub-ar Palace with immediate AoE on pull.
Single-Target Priority List
- Cast Dark Transformation and Apocalypse on 45 second cooldown windows, they should always be paired together. Raise Abomination and Unholy Assault should be used in combination with the others on 1m30s windows.
- Cooldowns can be held for AoE scenarios if they are up within a reasonable amount of time.
- Cast Outbreak to refresh your diseases if you are not about to cast Dark Transformation or Raise Abomination.
- Cast Soul Reaper if the enemy is below 35% health or will be when this expires.
- Cast Death Coil when you have more than 80 Runic Power or when Sudden Doom is active.
- Cast Scourge Strike when you have 1 or more Festering Wounds and Rotten Touch is on the target.
- Cast Festering Strike when you have 2 or less Festering Wounds.
- While Raise Abomination is active, you only cast Festering Strike when you are at 0 Festering Wounds.
- Cast Death Coil if Death Rot is about to fall off.
- Cast Scourge Strike when you have 4 or more Festering Wounds.
- Cast Death Coil.
AoE
Rider of the Apocalypse
Opener
- Your goal in the opener is to get your cooldowns going immediately and spread as many Festering Wounds as you can so you can start dealing devastating amounts of damage to all nearby enemies. Below, you see an example of how your opener looks like using the Mythic+ Build.
- If your Raise Abomination is hitting a different target than you are, you will have to cast Festering Strike to get 6 Festering Wounds on your target so you can spread them with Vile Contagion.
- Ideally, this is not the case, however, it can and does happen so be sure to watch out for what your Raise Abomination is hitting as you can also swap to it immediately to take advantage of the Festering Wounds it is applying.
Burst Phase Priority
This phase is exclusively used while Death and Decay or Defile are placed.
- Cast Scourge Strike if Plaguebringer will soon expire or is not up.
- Cast Outbreak when any target is missing your diseases.
- Cast Epidemic when Sudden Doom procs.
- Cast Scourge Strike if any targets have Festering Wounds.
- Cast Epidemic if you have no Festering Wounds to burst.
Building Phase Priority
This phase is used while Death and Decay or Defile are either on cooldown or you are recovering from a non 45 second burst window.
- Cast Scourge Strike if Plaguebringer will soon expire or is not up or if Trollbane casts Chains of Ice on a target.
- You must hit the target with Chains of Ice for it to shatter.
- Cast Raise Abomination.
- Cast Abomination Limb.
- Cast Apocalypse.
- Cast Dark Transformation.
- Cast Epidemic when Sudden Doom is active.
- Cast Festering Strike on the target with the highest Festering Wounds.
- Cast Unholy Assault.
- Cast Vile Contagion on the target with 6 Festering Wounds.
- Cast Epidemic if you have 2 or less Runes.
- Cast Defile once all of your Festering Wounds are spread.
- Cast Epidemic.
- Go to the Burst Phase rotation once Defile is placed.
Deep Dive
Unholy Death Knight
Casting Death Coil vs Epidemic
- When you are in an AoE situation, you should swap to using Epidemic when there are 3 or more stacked targets.
Build and Burst Phases
- In the Mythic+ talent build, you have 2 distinct damage phases that you play in and they are dictated by when you use Death and Decay or Defile charges. The burst phase is where you are focused on bursting all Festering Wounds. Secondly, you have a different building phase when you have neither Death and Decay or Defile available that focuses on maintaining your important buffs and dealing damage with Epidemic while preparing to spread as many Festering Wounds as you can to all targets for the burst phase.
- Wasting Runic Power is regular in this build, specifically during Burst Phases, so do not worry about it unless you are about to be running low on Festering Wounds. As long as you are bursting all of your Festering Wounds during the Defile window it never hurts to throw in an Epidemic to try and get Runic Corruption procs for more casts of Scourge Strike.
- Dealing a lot of damage when you are not bursting is not really a thing in the Mythic+ Build but you still want to spread diseases with Outbreak, maintain Plaguebringer with Scourge Strike, spread Festering Wounds with Festering Strike and not overcap Runic Power with Epidemic.
Pet Positioning
- When you empower your ghoul with Dark Transformation, it is essential to manage where your pet is at all times due to the interaction between Sweeping Claws and Infected Claws as this can put Festering Wounds on all targets hit by Sweeping Claws. This increases your power dramatically in any multi-target situation as you gain a ton of additional Festermight stacks from this interaction when you start bursting them with Death and Decay and Scourge Strike.
Anti-Magic Shell Runic Power
- Anti-Magic Shell grants you up to 40 Runic Power based on the amount it absorbs. This is incredibly powerful as this build can get starved of Runic Power on single target so you want to use this to your advantage as often as possible on bosses where Anti-Magic Shell isn't needed for purely defensive purposes.
Understanding Mechanics
Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.
Dungeons
Unholy Death Knight
← Scroll for more Dungeons →
Ara-Kara, City of Echoes
City of Threads
The Stonevault
The Dawnbreaker
Mists of Tirna Scithe
The Necrotic Wake
Siege of Boralus
Grim Batol
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Avanoxx
- Use Icebound Fortitude or Lichborne on Alerting Shrill.
- You can also Death Strike between hits if necessary.
- Alerting Shrill is physical damage don't waste your Anti-Magic Shell on it.
- Use Anti-Magic Shell on Gossamer Onslaught.
- If Blinding Sleet is available, you can use it on the Starved Crawlers and they will refixate so you can do damage to them. This can also cause the fixates to be worse than before so be careful!
- Avoid kiting Starved Crawlers into the boss else the boss receives Insatiable.
- AoE them down if you are not fixated by them.
Anub'zekt
- You can use Anti-Magic Shell before every other cast of Infestation expires so it does not spawn a Ceaseless Swarm.
- Throughout the fight Bloodstained Webmage spawn and cast Web Wrap at someone random during the fight.
- Use Death Grip to get them under the boss to cleave them down easily.
Ki'katal the Harvester
- Use a Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude, or Lichborne while affected by Cultivated Poisons since it hits like a truck.
- You can also Death Strike between ticks if necessary.
- Death's Advance allows you to not go in to the blood that roots you and not get gripped, just be out of melee when the cast completes.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Resonant Barrage from Trilling Attendant.
- Horrifying Shrill from Ixin.
- Revolting Volley from Bloodstained Webmage.
- Venom Volley from Blood Overseer.
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Alarm Shrill from Sentry Stagshell.
- A really long cast that needs to get disrupted.
- Massive Slam from Nerubian Hauler and Hulking Bloodguard.
- A short stun that ramps in damage done per cast.
- Alarm Shrill from Sentry Stagshell.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Orator Krix'vizk
- Use your defensives during Vociferous Indoctrination.
- Make sure to be on top of the tank when the boss casts Vociferous Indoctrination to not get cut off from the group.
- If you pre Anti-Magic Shell Shadows of Doubt, it removes a set of balls to dodge.
- Angle your camera so you can see the people with Shadows of Doubt to be able to dodge their orbs easily when removed.
- If you are playing Null Magic, your Shadows of Doubt expires before the rest of your group's debuffs.
Fangs of the Queen
- Watch out for Knife Throw. Use Icebound Fortitude or Lichborne if you're targeted by this ability.
- You can pre-immune Ice Sickles with Anti-Magic Shell.
- Your tank will get afflicted by Freezing Blood, be close to the tank so he can drop his stacks quickly.
The Coaglamation
- Anti-Magic Shell allows you to soak multiple orbs that spawn from Viscous Darkness.
- If you have taken any damage recently, use Death Strike to heal off the absorb on yourself if you have nothing better to do.
Izo, the Grand Splicer
- Use Anti-Magic Shell for every other cast of Splice and rotate between Icebound Fortitude, Lichborne, and using Death Strike to heal yourself for this since it's the highest damage event during this fight.
- Use Anti-Magic Zone on the overlap between Splice and Tremor Slam.
- Tremor Slam looks like a physical effect but is actually nature damage.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Web Bolt from Sureki Silkbinder.
- Grimweave Blast from Covert Webmancer.
- Mending Web from Covert Webmancer.
- Twist Thoughts from Herald of Anurek.
- Void Wave from Sureki Unnaturaler.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
E.D.N.A.
- Always stack in a line to spawn Volatile Spikes close together to ensure you can detonate them all with 1 Refracting Beam.
- Use Anti-Magic Shell to pre-immune the stacks before they are cleared with Refracting Beam.
- Use Icebound Fortitude, Lichborne, or Anti-Magic Zone for Earth Shatterer.
Skarmorak
- Use Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude, Lichborne, or Anti-Magic Zone before Unstable Crash happens or while you have multiple stacks of Unstable Energy.
- You can Death Strike between ticks of Unstable Energy as well.
Master Machinists Brokk and Dorlita
- Put Speaker Brokk in focus, so you can use Mind Freeze easily.
- During Exhaust Vents, 3 out of the 4 vents in the intercardinal directions are active. Look around and locate the safe vent, go there quickly to not get cut off by puddles on the ground.
- The Magma Wave from the cube will always traverse in the cardinal directions so as long as you are on a vent you are in a safespot.
- Use your defensives during Exhaust Vents and Blazing Crescendo.
- Killing both bosses at the same time is a must to avoid Silenced Speaker.
Void Speaker Eirich
- Void Corruption applies a debuff to you that you need to clear with Void Rift.
- Immune the application of it with Anti-Magic Shell whenever possible.
- Use defensives on Entropic Reckoning to allow you to drop it on top of another zone.
Trash Tips
- Focus down Earth Burst Totem from Cursedforge Stoneshaper. They have a low amount of health but are not affected by AoE abilities.
- It is very important to focus the Rock Smashers before the group has too many Smash Rock stacks.
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Howling Fear from Ghastly Voidsoul.
- Censoring Gear from Turned Speaker.
- Piercing Wail from Void Bound Howler.
- Restoring Metals from Forgebound Mender and Cursedforge Mender.
- Arcing Void from Cursedheart Invader.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Speaker Shadowcrown
- Consider using a defensive if you're affected by Collapsing Night.
- As a melee, unless you are playing with less than 2 ranged or people are dead, you should not get this.
- InterruptShadow Bolt whenever cast.
Anub'ikkaj
- Use Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude, Lichborne, or Anti-Magic Zone for the Dark Orb and Shadowy Decay.
Rasha'nan
- Erosive Spray applies Lingering Erosion which can be immuned with Anti-Magic Shell.
- If Arathi Bomb is about to explode, its damage can be immuned with Anti-Magic Shell.
- Use Death's Advance to quickly break Spinneret's Strands.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Night Bolt from Nightfall Shadowmage.
- Ensnaring Shadows from Nightfall Shadowmage.
- Tormenting Beam from Nightfall Darkcaster.
- Umbral Barrier from Nightfall Darkcaster.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Ingra Maloch
- Interrupt Spirit Bolt every time a non-tank player is targeted unless it is a warrior that has Spell Reflect ready.
- Use Anti-Magic Shell or Lichborne on Repulsive Visage to immune the fear.
- Try to line up your big cooldowns with Droman Oulfarran's Droman's Wrath to gain a huge DPS boost. This happens when Droman Oulfarran reaches 20% health.
Mistcaller
- Chains of Ice the Illusionary Vulpins to prevent them from reaching their target.
- If you or your group has nothing for Illusionary Vulpins, you can Death Grip and Anti-Magic Shell it. Careful as it still does the aoe stun and will hit other people, but you will not get stunned!
- Use defensives during the Guessing Game as it is the only time damage is dealt during this fight.
Tred'ova
- The Mind Link is always cast on the tank, make sure you are on the opposite side of the boss and run away with Death's Advance to break it as fast as possible.
- Immune the pull in of Coalescing Poison with Death's Advance.
- Kill the Gormling Larva if you are not the Marked Prey target.
Trash Tips
- Focusing down one of the two Drust Boughbreaker desyncs Furious Thrashing, they start casting it when they reach 50% hp.
- Make sure to hit the Overgrowth from the Tirnenn Villager's as it stuns a party member for 6 seconds if they can not get out.
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Spirit Bolt from Drust Harvester.
- Harvest Essence from Drust Harvester.
- Nourish the Forest from Mistveil Tender.
- Bramblethorn Coat from Mistveil Shaper.
- Stimulate Regeneration from Spinemaw Staghorn.
- Stimulate Resistance from Spinemaw Staghorn.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Blightbone
- Use Anti-Magic Shell on Heaving Retch or other defensives if you are targeted back to back.
- Cleave down the Carrion Worms if you are not being targeted.
Amarth, The Harvester
- Use both charges of Death Grip and Abomination Limb to bring in the Reanimated Crosbowman or Reanimated Mages.
- Interrupt Necrotic Bolt as much as possible.
Surgeon Stitchflesh
- Make sure you always have a charge of Death's Advance to easily get to the center of the room for the Meat Hooks.
Nalthor the Rimebinder
- If you are targeted by Frozen Binds, you can use Anti-Magic Shell before the cast ends to not get rooted.
- While Icebound Aegis is up use Icebound Fortitude, Lichborne, or Anti-Magic Zone to prevent damage.
- Drop Frigid Cold in a corner to ensure you have enough space on the boss.
- For Dark Exile when you have an Evoker or Priest in your group, you can be Rescued or Leap of Faith out of being sent down. If you Anti-Magic Shell up, you will not receive the debuff that kills you at the end of the duration.
- To know when to Anti-Magic Shell, the boss targets you as he is casting. It is a 1 second cast so you need to be quick but this is an extremely high damage gain if you are able to be grabbed out of the animation.
Trash Tips
- You can stop the Drain Fluids from Corpse Harvester and Corpse Collectors with Death Grip and other cc's.
- Be wary of the Skeletal Marauder's Gruesome Cleave as it is a fast frontal.
- It is very important to aim the Throw Cleaver from the Flesh Crafter's on the high health targets in the pack to kill them faster.
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Drain Fluids from Corpse Harvester and Corpse Collector.
- Necrotic Bolt from Zolramus Sorceror & Zolarmus Necromancer.
- Rasping Scream from Skeletal Marauder.
- Frostbolt Volley from Reanimted Mage.
- Goresplatter from Corpse Collector.
- Repair Flesh from Flesh Crafter.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
Chopper Redhook
- Line up your cooldowns with the boss walking over Bombs which afflict him with Heavy Ordnance.
- Irontide Powdershots are standing still in range and the majority of the time are casting Molten Slug, use Death Grip or Abomination Limb to bring them in.
- Use Anti-Magic Shell if you are targeted by Molten Slug.
- Always watch where the tank is facing the Irontide Cleavers to dodge the Heavy Slash especially when kiting the boss.
Dread Captain Lockwood
- You can pre Anti-Magic Shell Mass Bombardment to not drop any Sighted Artillery.
- Focus down the Ashvane Cannoneer during the phase change to quickly use Unstable Ordnance to get the boss down from the ship.
- Always be standing behind Dread Captain Lockwood as Clear the Deck is a very fast frontal cone.
- The Ashvane Canoneer casts Broadside which is another frontal cone to dodge.
Hadal Darkfathom
- Always use a charge of Death's Advance when Tidal Surge happens to dodge the waves and be in a decent position for Break Water.
- Use Anti-Magic Shell on every other Break Water and rotate a defensive for the other one.
Viq'Goth
- You can pre Anti-Magic Shell on Putrid Waters but it is never a 100% immune since only 2 people get affected by this debuff.
- If you are standing in a different position than anyone else you can see the animation come from the boss towards you and use use Anti-Magic Shell well before it hits you but it is quite fast and affects you from farther away than you expect.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Brackish Bolt from Irontide Waveshaper.
- Watertight Shell from Irontide Waveshaper.
- Water Bolt from Bilge Rat Tempest.
- Choking Waters from Bilge Rat Tempest.
- Bolstering Shout from Ashvane Commander.
If you are playing High Keys, copy the 10+ build instead!
Boss Tips
General Umbriss
- Death's Advance is useful for helping you dodge Shadowflame Breath.
- Rotate Icebound Fortitude and Lichborne on Commanding Roar.
Forgemaster Throngus
- Use Anti-Magic Shell during Blistering Heat.
- Bait Fiery Cleave close towards the edge to save as much space as possible.
Drahga Shadowburner
- Use Death's Advance and Anti-Magic Shell for Twilight Buffet to immune the knockback and prevent damage.
- Help slow the Shadowflame Spirits with Chains of Ice, especially once they are under the boss.
- You can Death Grip the Shadowflame Spirits if they are not on you to help with kiting, this does not cause them to refixate.
Erudax, the Duke of Below
- Anti-Magic Shell allows you to clear multiple Void Tendrils. Careful as this does damage still so you need to watch the amount of Anti-Magic Shell absorb you have remaining!
- Icebound Fortitude also allows you to clear Void Tendrils but is not up for every wave.
- Rotate Lichborne and Anti-Magic Zone for Abyssal Corruption.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Earth Bolt from Twilight Earthcaller.
- Mass Tremor from Twilight Earthcaller.
- Shadowflame Bolt from Twilight Beguiler.
- Sear Mind from Twilight Beguiler.
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Umbral Wind from Twilight Destroyer
- You can LoS this cast.
- If you are not hiding from it, make sure you use Death Charge or you are not facing towards the edge to not fall down.
- Reckless Tactic from Twilight Overseer
- Molten Wake from Molten Giant
- Ascension and Dark Eruption from Twilight Lavabender
- Ascension triggers at 50% HP and starts pulsing Scorching Heat group damage, make sure to focus it as it does an immense amount of damage.
- Corrupt and Mind Piercer from Faceless Corruptor
- Be aware especially when you have stacks of Shadow Wound from Mutated Hatchlings.
- Umbral Wind from Twilight Destroyer
Affixes
The Affix system got revamped going into The War Within Season 1 retiring most Affixes as well as introducing new kiss-curse ones while also changing on which key level these appear.
- +2 Affixes -- Rotates on a weekly basis
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Oblivion
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour
- +4 Affixes -- Alternates between each other on a weekly basis
- Tyrannical
- Fortified
- +7 Affix
- Challenger's Peril
- +10 Affixes -- Alternates between each other on a weekly basis, is always the opposite of the +4 Affix
- Tyrannical
- Fortified
- +12 Affix
- Xal'atath's Guile -- Replaces the +2 Affix
Following you get some useful tips for handling different Mythic+ Affixes as an Unholy Death Knight
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant
- Hit as many orbs as possible with Blinding Sleet
- Death Grip the far orbs if they are by themselves.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound
- Focus and cleave off of this target as mobs take reduced damage while it is alive.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Oblivion
- Soak any orbs that are close in melee.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour
- Dispel this with Unyielding Will if you are playing it.
- If you have taken a considerable amount of damage in the last few seconds, you can use 1 Death Strike to help out your healer.
Stat Priority
Unholy Death Knight
Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Mythic+ dungeons as an Unholy Death Knight. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.
!
Higher Item Level Items are Better in Most ScenariosFor an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft!
A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your current gear.
All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!
Tertiary
- Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
- Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing. The damage of your pets does not heal you thus Leech is an okay tertiary for you since you have a mix of damage from yourself and pets but in AoE is mostly your damage.
- Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.
Gear
Unholy Death Knight
Best in Slot
Rider of the Apocalypse
Rider of the Apocalypse
Farmable Alternatives
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Wrathbark Greathelm | The Great Vault |
| Neck | Sureki Zealot's Insignia | Sikran |
| Shoulder | Exhumed Centurion's Spikes | Tier/Catalyst |
| Cloak | Consecrated Cloak | Crafted |
| Chest | Exhumed Centurion's Breastplate | Tier/Catalyst |
| Wrist | Bracers of Umbral Mending | The Great Vault |
| Gloves | Exhumed Centurion's Gauntlets | Tier/Catalyst |
| Belt | Girdle of Somber Ploys | The Great Vault |
| Legs | Exhumed Centurion's Chausses | Tier/Catalyst |
| Boots | Boots of the Black Bulwark | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Ring 1 | Key to the Unseeming | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Ring 2 | Writhing Ringworm | Broodtwister Ovi'nax |
| Trinket 1 | Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Treacherous Transmitter | Nexus-Princess Ky'veza |
| Weapon | Charged Claymore | Crafted |
Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Wrathbark Greathelm | Mists of Tirna Scithe |
| Neck | "Emergency Stop" Keychain | The Stonevault |
| Shoulder | Earthshape Pauldrons | Grim Batol |
| Cloak | Anvilhide Cape | The Stonevault |
| Chest | Experimental Goresilk Chestguard | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Wrist | Bracers of Umbral Mending | Grim Batol |
| Gloves | Fogweaver Gauntlets | Mists of Tirna Scithe |
| Belt | Girdle of Somber Ploys | The Dawnbreaker |
| Legs | Legplates of Duality | City of Threads |
| Boots | Ballast Sinkers | Siege of Boralus |
| Ring 1 | Circle of Bone | Grim Batol |
| Ring 2 | Umbriss Band | Grim Batol |
| Trinket 1 | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Mark of Khardros | Grim Batol |
| Weapon | Wild Hammer | Grim Batol |
Trinkets
Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the mythic+ dungeon.
Active Trinket alternatives
- Mark of Khardros
- Essentially the same trinket as Skarmorak Shard but has more on-use Mastery instead of providing it when adds die.
- Treacherous Transmitter
- This is good but quite annoying to use as it takes your focus away from the pack instead putting it on getting the buff from this trinket.
Passive Trinket alternatives
- Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
- While this is not specifically a passive trinket, it does not share a cooldown with other active trinkets and acts as a passive stat trinket based on whether you are standing still or moving.
- Void Pactstone
- Not a bad option for a passive trinket, unfortunately it is just not as good.
Embellishments
- Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension -- Weapon Only
- This is a strong embellishment that can only go on your weapon. This does mean taking an item level hit on your off-hand as you can only craft up to 636 item level but it is currently the best option.
and
- Writhing Armor Banding -- Armor Only
- This is a strong embellishment as it buffs your Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension effect by 100%.
Remaining Sparks
- Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 639 on max item level, therefore, it is not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.
Remaining Sparks
- Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 639 on max item level therefore it's not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.
Simcraft
To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.
Consumables
Unholy Death Knight
- Phials
- Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- Maximum DPS.
- Food
- Chippy Tea -- Maximum DPS
- Feast of the Divine Day -- Small loss
- Combat Potion
- Tempered Potion
- Health Potion
- Algari Healing Potion -- A big burst of healing
- Weapon Oil
- Algari Mana Oil
- Augment Rune
- Crystallized Augment Rune
- Sockets
- Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique
- Rider of the Apocalypse
- Quick Onyx
Enchantments
| Head | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Neck | Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Cloak | Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace |
| Chest | Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance |
| Wrist | Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Waist | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Legs | Stormbound Armor Kit |
| Boots | Enchant Boots - Scout's March |
| Ring 1 | Enchant Ring - Cursed Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Ring 2 | Enchant Ring - Cursed Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Weapon | Rune of the Fallen Crusader |
You buy Nerubian Gemweaver from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists & Waist.
Races
Unholy Death Knight
For min-maxing an Unholy Death Knight in Mythic+, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your character. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.
- Stoneform -- Dwarf
- One of the most potent racials in Mythic+ currently and historically.
- Dispels Magic and Bleed debuffs.
- Shadowmeld -- Night Elf
- Also one of the most potent racials in Mythic+ historically.
- Use-cases
- Run past basically any mob and then cast Shadowmeld to make them reset. Even works on mobs that have stealth detection if you get enough distance before you Shadowmeld.
- Berserking -- Troll
- The best DPS racial for an Unholy Death Knight in The War Within as this lines up perfectly with your highest points of burst during Army of the Dead or every other use of Raise Abomination.
- Reduce the duration of movement impairing effects by 20%.
Recommendation
If you are serious about pushing Mythic+ as an Unholy Death Knight, you need to play either Dwarf or Night Elf as they are too strong at avoiding damage and removing important mechanics. If you also raid, Troll is by no means a bad decision as it is the best racial for raiding.
Macros
Unholy Death Knight
Discover recommended macros for Unholy Death Knight during Mythic+ dungeons and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.
Cursor Macros
Anti-Magic Zone - Casts Anti-Magic Zone at your Cursor position.
/cast [@cursor] Anti-Magic ZoneDeath and Decay - Casts Death and Decay at your cursor position.
/cast [@cursor] Death and DecayIf you do not like Death and Decay on your cursor you can replace [@cursor] with [@player] and it will instead put it at your feet. Having either of these is important as it removes the targeting reticle and allows you to get it out faster.
/cast [@player] Death and DecayMouseover Macros
Focus Macros
Pet Macros
Addons
Unholy Death Knight
Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Unholy Death Knight, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Mythic+ dungeons to make your life easier.
Addons
WeakAuras
Changes this Patch
Unholy Death Knight
Patch 11.0.2
Patch 11.0
FAQ
Unholy Death Knight
Q: How does the ramping proc chance of Sudden Doom work?
Credits
Written By: Miniaug
Reviewed By: Revvez