Unholy Death Knight DPS Gems, Enchants, and Consumables — Dragonflight 10.2.6
On this page, we list the best gems, enchants, flasks, potions, and food you can get for your Unholy Death Knight, based on your stat priority. We also give budget alternatives. This page is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.6.
Best Gems for Unholy
We want to equip one Epic Quality gem as our first priority, and then follow up with Mastery and Haste gems everywhere else. This means picking up one Skillful Illimited Diamond and then putting Keen Neltharite everywhere else! The exact gems that are optimal for any given character depends entirely on their current gear, use Top Gear to sim yourself for best gem combinations!
Best Enchants for Unholy Death Knights
I recommend a lot of speed enchants here. If you are pushing higher Mythic+ (25+), use avoidance instead.
Slot | Enchantment |
---|---|
Weapon | Rune of the Fallen Crusader |
Head | Incandescent Essence |
Neck |
|
Chest |
|
Belt |
|
Rings |
|
Boots |
|
Cloak |
|
Bracers |
|
Legs |
|
For your Ring enchant Enchant Ring - Tenet of Mastery is the most commonly used and will usually be your best choice. It is still recommended that you sim your character to see which enchant is the best for your gear.
Consumables for Unholy Death Knights
Best Flasks, Oils, Potions for Unholy
Flasks and potions come in ranks 1 to 3 in Dragonflight, increasing in power with increasing ranks. Please find an explanation of the ranks below:
Profession Consumable Ranks
As part of Dragonflight's overhaul of Professions, many crafted items and consumables may have multiple ranks of quality that impact their effects. For consumables, there are potentially three ranks of an item that may be used, with Rank 3 items (shown as item level 415 in-game and with three gold stars) providing the most powerful bonuses. However, higher quality consumables will generally be more expensive and not always necessary depending on the content you are doing. You should be willing to use whatever rank of an item is most within your budget, and save higher-quality consumables for content where you will really need the extra boost!
If you would like to learn more about quality ranks on profession items, or the overhaul to professions as a whole, please see our overview below.
Iced Phial of Corrupting Rage should be used for Raids and Mythic+ encounters. Phial of Tepid Versatility is a more defensive option, both providing Versatility and coming without the self-damage aspect of Corrupting Rage. Phial of Tepid Versatility can also be an upgrade in Mythic+ depending on your stats, sim your character to make sure!
Hissing Rune should be placed on your weapon to provide passive stats.
- Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power should be used for both single-target and AoE scenarios.
Warlock Healthstones and Dreamwalker's Healing Potion should be used when at low health. Potion of Withering Dreams is also a great alternative, especially when you are an alchemist with Decayology, which reduces the negative effect. Also, make sure to have Delicate Suspension of Spores and Residual Neural Channeling Agent for when you potentially die.
Best Food for Unholy
Use Sizzling Seafood Medley should be used everywhere.
Augment Runes for Unholy
In addition, if you can afford it, you should use Draconic Augment Runes to increase your primary stat. Since there is a finite amount of the consumable runes available, you should make sure to use them wisely and to stock up on them for when you need them.
Through the new Emerald Dream Zone and its Dream Wardens Faction, you can also obtain the Dreambound Augment Rune, which is permanent!
For a more detailed breakdown of Unholy Death Knight stats and how gems, enchants, and consumables interact with your stats, and please check out our dedicated stat page linked below.
Tome for Unholy
With Dragonflight, you no longer need to use a Tome to change your talents. As long as you are outside of combat and not in an active Mythic+ run, you can change your talents at no cost!
Death Knight Runeforges for Unholy
- Rune of the Fallen Crusader: the staple Runeforge for Unholy Death Knights, you will always see this Runeforge used in both Mythic+ and Raid content.
- Rune of Hysteria: a new Runeforge in Shadowlands that does not provide as much damage as Rune of the Fallen Crusader.
- Rune of Razorice: this Runeforge has more of a place with Frost Death Knights since Unholy does no frost damage.
- Rune of Sanguination: Provides a small execute effect for Death Strike and a small cheat death mechanic. This Runeforge has more of a place in PvP as opposed to PvE content and is a viable Runeforge for Torghast.
- Rune of Spellwarding: Provides small defense towards casters, making it more geared towards PvP situations.
- Rune of the Apocalypse: Currently very weak compared to other options especially Rune of the Fallen Crusader.
- Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle: this Runeforge is a defensive option that does not see play for Unholy.
- Rune of Unending Thirst: Commonly used for leveling since it provides movement speed, Haste, and heals when you kill an enemy.
Changelog
- 20 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 12 Nov. 2023: Updated food recommendation.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2. Added new head enchant and swapped all stat enchants to Mastery.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 30 Apr. 2023: Reviewed and Updated for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Added Primordial Stone Gems recommenation.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Death Knight Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Bicepspump, a semi-hardcore player raiding with Pescorus on Kazzak. He is heavily involved in the DK DPS theorycrafting community, testing hyoptheses and investigating the correct priority to use. He is also a moderator in the Acherus Death Knight Discord, frequently answering questions and discussing optimisations (do not hesitate to reach out). He produces guide content on YouTube and frequently streams on Twitch.
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