Blood Death Knight Tank Spell List and Glossary - Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0) - World of Warcraft

On this page, we present you with all spells and procs that you need to understand as a Blood Death Knight in World of Warcraft — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0).

If you were looking for Mists of Pandaria Classic content, please refer to our Mists of Pandaria Classic Blood Death Knight spells.

Blood Death Knight Guide

Midnight Leveling Easy Mode Builds and Talents Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities Stat Priority Gems, Enchants, and Consumables Gear and Best in Slot Mythic+ Tips Spell List and Glossary Additional Resources

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

Introduction

If you are new to Blood, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Blood and are comfortable with it in the current expansion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

Main Resource of Blood Death Knights

Runes and Runic Power are your main resources. You have 6 Runes, which are used for several of your abilities. Runes regenerate passively over 10 seconds, with the regeneration time reduced by Haste. You can have 3 Runes regenerating simultaneously, so you should be spending runes fast enough to always keep 3 Runes on cooldown. Each Rune spent generates 10 Runic Power, which is used primarily to power Death Strike Icon Death Strike, your main source of mitigation. Additionally, Heart Strike Icon Heart Strike generates 5 bonus Runic Power.

Baseline Blood Death Knight Abilities

These are the abilities that you obtain without selecting anything in the talent trees.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Death Coil	Coil	Death Coil exists in your spellbook and should remain there, as it is more inefficient than Death Strike at everything Death Strike does. It has very situational uses where you need to burn Runic Power while standing at range for a large amount of time, but this is extremely rare (and, in most cases, a sign of misplay).
Death and Decay	DnD	Death and Decay costs 1 Rune and places a damaging area at the target location, which persists for 10 seconds. A lot of the Blood Death Knights toolkit centers around staying inside of Death and Decay.
Death's Advance	DA	Provides you with a small speed boost and prevents you from being slowed below 100% of your movement speed for 10 seconds. It also grants you immunity from knockbacks and pushbacks. Additionally, it has a passive effect that prevents your movement speed from being reduced below 70%
Rune Strike	-	Rune Strike costs 1 Rune and deals moderate damage. Is replaced once we choose a specialisation ( Heart Strike for Blood).
On a Pale Horse	-	A passive that increases your mounted movement speed by 20%. This does not stack with other movement speed abilities, such as Crusader Aura.
Death Grip	Grip	Death Grip allows you to grip an enemy to you and also taunts it. Just like Dark Command, this taunt comes with a 3s fixate and 300% threat boost.
Raise Ally	Combat Res/CR	Raise Ally costs 30 Runic Power and battle resses a targeted dead ally, bringing them back to life (even in combat).
Lichborne	LB	Lichborne turns you undead for 10 seconds. This makes you immune to charm, fear, and sleep, and grants you 10% leech. You can also activate this ability to break any of these CCs, making it a useful tool if you are accidentally hit a mechanic that applies such a CC.
Chains of Ice	Chains	Chains of Ice functions as a costly but very potent ranged snare on your target. At the cost of one Rune, you can apply a 70% slow for 8 seconds.
Anti-Magic Shell	AMS	Anti-Magic Shell grants you a magic absorption shield equal to 40% of your maximum health for 5 seconds. While it holds, you are immune to most magical debuffs and each 1% of the shield consumed grants you 0.873 Runic Power.
Death's Caress	DC/Caress	Death's Caress has received changes in The War Within and now grants 2 Bone Shield charges when used. It also picked up a 6-second cooldown to compensate.
Crimson Scourge	-	This allows each auto-attack hit on a plagued target a 25% chance to reset the cooldown of Death and Decay. This can only happen if Death and Decay is not active (i.e., not on the floor)!
Dark Command	Taunt	Dark Command is your taunt; this puts you at the top of an enemy's threat table and forces it to fixate on you for 3 seconds. During those three seconds, you generate 300% bonus threat - the ideal time to hit it with Death Strike for a guaranteed threat lead!
Runeforging	-	Runeforging allows you to apply a powerful Runeforge to your weapon, acting as (usually) better enchant. You do this in the Acherus Hold at the Runeforges.
Death Gate	-	Death Gate summons a gate that will teleport you to Acherus. Here you can Runeforge your weapon and practice your rotation on target dummies. Using the Death Gate again will bring you back to your original location.
Path of Frost	-	Path of Frost costs 1 Rune and grants everyone in your group the ability to walk on water. Breaks on any damage taken.
Mastery: Blood Shield	-	Mastery: Blood Shield is our mastery; every time you use Death Strike, a percentage of the raw healing done by Death Strike is duplicated as an absorption shield on yourself. It also increases your attack power, which in turn feeds into all offensive abilities.
Riposte	-	Riposte, a passive ability currently invisible in your spellbook automatically grants you 100% of your critical strike rating as parry rating. This is designed to make critical strike rating appealing defensively and hits the mark pretty well.

Talented Abilities

As part of the Dragonflight overhaul to the talent system, every specialization has received numerous new passive effects and active abilities. To attempt to break the list of every possible effect down into manageable chunks, we have grouped these abilities into active and passive effects, organized by the rows you will come across them from top to bottom in each tree.

If you would like to know more about which of these talents to select for your own Blood Death Knight, please see the builds and talents section of our guide.

Blood Death Knight Talents Page

4.1.

Talent Tree Rows 1-4

4.1.1.

Active Abilities

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Icebound Fortitude	IBF	Icebound Fortitude is available on the class tree for all Death Knights. When used, for the next 8 seconds, you take 30% less damage and are completely immune to Stun effects. It can also be used while you are stunned to remove the Stun effect.
Death Strike	DS	Death Strike deals damage to the target and heals you for 25% of the damage taken in the previous 5 seconds. Moreover, due to your Mastery ( Mastery: Blood Shield), a percentage of the healing is also applied to you as a physical damage absorption shield. Death Strike costs Runic Power to use, and is almost the only use of Runic Power for Blood Death Knights.
Raise Dead	Ghoul	Raise Dead allows you to summon a Ghoul for one minute. This ghoul will auto-attack your current target and frequently cast Gnaw, a 1-second stun.
Heart Strike	HS	Heart Strike damages the target as well as another nearby target and costs 1 Rune to cast. When standing in your Death and Decay, if Cleaving Strikes is talented; it will strike up to 5 targets. It is the most efficient Runic Power generator in your toolkit due to the bonus 5 Runic Power it generates and should be your Rune spender of choice when you do not need charges of Bone Shield. This is copied by Dancing Rune Weapon if it is active and grants you 5 bonus Runic Power per Dancing Rune Weapon active through Blood Strike. It also applies a 20% snare to affected targets, though this does not have a meaningful impact on your gameplay decisions.
Marrowrend	MR	Marrowrend hits the target for a light amount of physical damage and grants you 3 charges of Bone Shield. This spell is copied by Dancing Rune Weapon if it is active and grants you 3 additional Bone Shield charges per Dancing Rune Weapon when cast.
Blood Boil	BB	Blood Boil deals damage to all enemies within 10 yards and applies Blood Plague to them. Beyond applying your disease, it is generally used as a filler in your rotation when you do not need to spend Runes or Runic Power.
Mind Freeze	Interrupt	Mind Freeze interrupts your target if they are casting. This also causes them to be locked out of that school of magic for three seconds.
Blinding Sleet	Sleet	Blinding Sleet disorients all targets in a 12yd cone in front of you for up to 5 seconds. When they take damage, the disorient fades, and they instead are slowed by 50% for 6 seconds.
Control Undead	MC	Control Undead allows you to take control over any non-CC-immune undead enemy. This turns this enemy into your pet and may grant you access to some of their abilities.
Wraith Walk	WW	Wraith Walk breaks all roots currently on you, renders you immune to any subsequent root effects while channelling Wraith Walk, and increases your movement speed by up to 4 seconds. Casting any other ability during this will cancel Wraith Walk.
Vampiric Blood	VB	Vampiric Blood increases your maximum health and healing received by 30% for 10 seconds.
Death Pact	Pact	Death Pact heals you for 50% and applies a 30% healing absorption effect; while this effect holds, all of your received healing is absorbed by it. Both effects (the healing and healing absorption) snapshot your maximum HP at the time of cast.

4.1.2.

Passive Effects

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Runic Attenuation	RA	Runic Attenuation grants a very high chance to generate 5 Runic Power each time you successfully auto-attack a target. In practice, this works out to an average of 50 RP per minute, increased by your Haste.
Improved Death Strike	Improved DS	Improved Death Strike reduces the cost of Death Strike by 5 Runic Power and increases its healing done by 5%.
Cleaving Strikes	-	Increases the maximum amount of targets Heart Strike will hit from 2 to 5 targets while you are standing in your Death and Decay. It also buffs Vampiric Strike specifically by 10% due to a bug.
Gloom Ward	GW	This increases all absorption effects cast on you by 15%. This includes effects cast by you, as well as other effects (for example, it increases Life Cocoon as well as Anti-Magic Shell).
March of Darkness	-	March of Darkness grants you an additional 25% movement speed (60% total) for the first three seconds of Death's Advance.
Unholy Momentum	UG	Grants you 2% (rank 1) / 4% (rank 2) additional haste.
Enfeeble	-	Enfeeble grants a chance for your ghoul's auto-attacks to reduce the damage the target deals to you by 12% for 6 seconds, and to snare them by 30%.
Bone Collector	-	Bone Collector will give you a charge of Bone Shield when you attempt to grip an enemy with Death Grip or Gorefiend's Grasp.
Coldthirst	-	Reduces the cooldown of Mind Freeze by 3 seconds and if you successfully manage to interrupt a spell, you gain 10 Runic Power.
Proliferating Chill	-	Causes Chains of Ice to cleave to the nearest enemy target
Permafrost	-	Permafrost grants you a shield equal to 40% of all auto-attack damage you deal. This stacks and refreshes on each auto-attack, but is capped at 20% of your maximum health.
Veteran of the Third War	Veteran	Increases your stamina by 20%.
Brittle	-	Brittle causes your ticks of Blood Plague to have a chance to weaken them, increasing all your damage dealt to them by 6% for 5 seconds.
Blood Bond	-	While you are below 50% and your ghoul is active, you deal 4% of its health in damage to heal yourself for 1% of yours every second.
Ossuary	-	Passively increases your maximum Runic Power by 10 at all times. Additionally, it rewards you for staying at or above 5 Bone Shield charges. When this is the case, the cost of Death Strike is reduced by 5 Runic Power.
Improved Vampiric Blood	Improved VB	Increases the duration of Vampiric Blood by 2 seconds and its healing amplification and maximum HP increase by 5% per rank.
Improved Heart Strike	Improved HS	Increases the damage dealt by Heart Strike by up to 15% per rank.
Relish in Blood	RiB	Grants you a small heal and 10 Runic Power when you consume a Crimson Scourge proc.

4.2.

Talent Tree Rows 5-7

4.2.1.

Active Abilities

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Anti-Magic Zone	AMZ	Anti-Magic Zone places a shadowy zone on the floor for 8 seconds; this zone absorbs 20% of the magic damage taken by any friendly target within it until it has reached its cap of 150% of your maximum health.
Dancing Rune Weapon	DRW	Dancing Rune Weapon spawns a non-targetable entity to fight by your side for 8 seconds. While it is active, you gain 20% additional parry and some of your spells are copied with additional effects: Each active Dancing Rune Weapon causes any Heart Strike cast by you to be replicated at 33% effectiveness and to grant you 3 bonus Runic Power per active Dancing Rune Weapon through Blood Strike. Each active Dancing Rune Weapon mirrors your casts of Blood Boil, applying their own Blood Plague on a target. These deal damage at 33% effectiveness. As of 2022-10-16, a bug exists where only one of the two Dancing Rune Weapon will copy Blood Boil twice, thus robbing you of one Blood Plague. Each active Dancing Rune Weapon duplicates your casts of Marrowrend at 33% effectiveness. This also grants you 3 bonus Bone Shield charges for each active Dancing Rune Weapon. Finally, each active Dancing Rune Weapon casts its own copy of the following spells at 33% effectiveness: Death Strike (does not heal you), Death's Caress, Consumption
Asphyxiate	-	Stuns your target for 5 seconds.
Gorefiend's Grasp	GG/Mass Grip	Gorefiend's Grasp grips all enemies within 15 yards to your target. The target of this spell can be you, an ally, an enemy, or any other entity that can be attacked by anything.

4.2.2.

Passive Effects

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Icy Talons	Talons	Icy Talons grants you 3% melee auto-attack speed for 6 seconds each time you spend Runic Power (no matter how much you spent or what you spent it with). This stacks up to 3 times.
Death Notes	-	Significantly reduces the cost of Raise Ally.
Death Defiance	-	Reduces the cooldown of Death Pact by 30 seconds and increases all healing received while its healing absorption effect is active.
Unholy Bond	-	Unholy Bond modifies your Runeforges in the following way: Rune of the Fallen Crusader: Strength gain increases to 16.5% (rank 1) / 18% (rank 2). Healing amount granted when Rune of the Fallen Crusader procs increased to 6.6% (rank 1) / 7.2% (rank 2). Rune of Hysteria: Runic Power Generation while Rune of Hysteria is active increased to 22% (rank 1) / 24% (rank 2). Maximum RP increases by 22 (rank 1) / 23 (rank 2). Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle: Stamina, Armor, and Strength gained increased to 5.5% (rank 1) / 6% (rank 2)
Leeching Strike	-	Causes each Heart Strike damage event to heal you for 0.5% of your max HP.
Heartbreaker	HB	Causes each hit of Heart Strike from you (the copies cast by Dancing Rune Weapon do not count) to grant you an additional 1 Runic Power (per point).
Foul Bulwark	FB	Increases your maximum HP by 1% for each charge of Bone Shield you currently have.
Hemostasis	Hemo	Causes each target hit by Blood Boil to grant you a buff, up to 5 stacks. Casting Death Strike consumes all stacks of this buff to increase the damage and healing done by Death Strike (but not the blood shield generated through Mastery: Blood Shield)
Perseverance of the Ebon Blade	-	Grants you 6% versatility for 6 seconds when you consume a Crimson Scourge proc.
Bloodworms	BW	Bloodworms grant you a chance to spawn Bloodworms. These deal light physical damage to their target, and burst after 15 seconds or when you drop below 50% HP. When they burst, they heal you for 15% of your missing HP.5
Ice Prison	-	Turns Chains of Ice into a 4-second root (this also roots the nearest enemy as well with Proliferating Chill) but adds a 12-second cooldown to Chains of Ice.
Death's Reach	-	Increases the range of Death Grip to 35 yards, and causes its cooldown to reset each time you deal a killing blow to a target that yields experience or honor.
Assimilation	-	Reduces the cooldown of Anti-Magic Zone to 3 minutes and increases its duration to 8 seconds.
Anti-Magic Barrier	AMB	Anti-Magic Barrier reduces the cooldown of Anti-Magic Shell to 40 seconds, increases its duration to 7 seconds, and its size by 40%.
Grip of the Dead	GotD	Snares enemies by 90% when they enter Death and Decay. Every second from the time they first take damage from Death and Decay, this snare is reduced by 10%.
Improved Bone Shield	Improved BS	Increases your Haste by 10% while at least one charge of Bone Shield is active.
Insatiable Blade	-	Causes Dancing Rune Weapon to instantly grant 5 Bone Shield charges, and reduces its cooldown by 30 seconds.
Deadly Reach	-	Death Strike cleaves two additional enemies for 75% of its normal damage, and generates one more Coagulopathy per additional enemy hit.
Rapid Decomposition	-	Causes Blood Plague and Death and Decay to tick 15% faster. Additionally, Blood Plague leeches 50% more health from enemies.
Suppression	-	Increases your avoidance by 3%. When you are impacted by a crowd-control effect you gain an additional 6% avoidance for 6 seconds.
Blood Scent	-	Increases your leech by 3%.
Unholy Endurance	-	Causes Lichborne to last 2 seconds longer.
Boiling Point	-	Heart Strike has a chance to cause your next Blood Boil to deal 50% bonus damage and cast again 3 seconds later. These echoes trigger all effects a regular Blood Boil would.
Lifeblood	-	Casting Death Strike heals you for 20% of the value of its original healing, ticking instantly and lasting five seconds.
Everlasting Bond	-	Causes Dancing Rune Weapon to summon a second Dancing Rune Weapon to mirror all your abilities and increases its duration by 6 seconds.
Voracious	Vora	Increases the healing done by Death Strike by 20%, increases its minimum healing to 10.5% of your max HP and grants you 15% leech for 8 seconds after using Death Strike.
Blood Feast	-	When Anti-Magic Shell absorbs damage, it also duplicates the amount absorbed as a direct heal on you.

4.3.

Talent Tree Rows 8-10

4.3.1.

Active Abilities

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Consumption	-	Consumption can be empowered up to rank 3, lasting a total of 2.5 seconds reduced by haste. It deals a large burst of shadow damage to every enemy in a cone in front of you, and for each rank, it consumes 25% of the remaining duration of Blood Plague on each enemy to deal damage to them, healing you for 125% of its damage. It also grants a small amount of damage reduction while empowering and for up to 8 seconds after it, reduced by the rank at which you empowered it. You can cast defensive abilities, move, parry and dodge while empowering.

4.3.2.

Passive Effects

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Osmosis	-	Increases all healing received (does not include absorbs) while Anti-Magic Shell is active by 15%.
Insidious Chill	Chill	This is our new raid utility debuff. Each auto-attack you deal applies a debuff that lasts 30 seconds and stacks to 4 times on your target. For each stack, their auto-attack speed is reduced by 5%. You are strongly recommended to tab-target to all available targets and keep these stacks rolling.
Runic Protection	-	Increases armor by 6%. The critical strike reduction is irrelevant for tank specialisations as this is already a passive for all tanks.
Blood Draw	-	Blood Draw will trigger once every 2 minutes when you drop below 30% health. It will trigger three effects: Deals damage to enemies within 8 yards and heal you for the damage dealt. You will take 10% less damage for 8 seconds after triggering it. Reduces the cost of Death Strike by 10 Runic Power for 8 seconds.
Plague Infusion	-	Critically striking with Blood Plague has a chance to reduce the remaining cooldown on a charge of Blood Boil by 0.25 seconds.
Bloody Reflection	-	Up to once every three seconds while Blood Shield is active, you have a chance to deal a small amount of damage to the next enemy that deals damage to you. In addition, the cap on Mastery: Blood Shield is increased to 65% of your maximum health.
Iron Heart	-	You generate 20% more Mastery: Blood Shield and it lasts 2 seconds longer. The cap on Mastery: Blood Shield is not increased by this talent.
Bloodied Blade	-	Your strength is be increased by 0.5% for 15 seconds each time you parry; this can stack up to 8 times (with a 0.5 second cooldown between stacks). When you parry on 8 stacks of Bloodied Blade, you automatically cast Heart Strike for free and it deals 100% increased damage. After this, Heart Strike has been cast, you gain 10% base Strength for 6 seconds and cannot gain any stacks of Bloodied Blade while the buff is active.
Coagulopathy	-	You deal 5% more damage to enemies afflicted by Blood Plague. Each enemy hit by Death Strike grants you a buff that increases the damage of all Blood Plagues on any enemy by 10%, stacking up to 4 times.
Rune Mastery	-	Rune Mastery can occasionally cause you to gain 3% strength (per rank) for 8 seconds when you spend a rune. The number of runes you spent per ability does not affect this; the chance to trigger this is the same whether you have used Heart Strike or Marrowrend for example.
Subduing Grasp	-	When you attempt to grip an enemy, it will deal 6% less damage to you for 6 seconds. It is worth noting that using Death Grip to trigger this effect may lead to enemies becoming taunt immune as Death Grip taunts the enemy.
Will of the Necropolis	WotN	Will of the Necropolis causes a portion of all damage taken while below 30% or that would bring you below 30%, to be reduced by a percentage. The behavior of this ability is non-trivial, and as a result, its specific nuances are explained on a separate page.
Blood Mist	-	When you cast Dancing Rune Weapon, you gain 5% more parry rating for 8 seconds and pulse damage instantly and every second while this effect is active. Every time it pulses, it grants you 2 Runic Power per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 10 Runic Power per second.
Sanguine Ground	SG	Sanguine Ground causes you to deal 5% more damage and receive 5% more healing and absorption effects from all sources while you are in your Death and Decay.
Bloodshot	-	Increases all damage you deal by 8% while Mastery: Blood Shield is active. Death Strike always benefits from this.
Red Thirst	RT	Red Thirst reduces the cooldown of Vampiric Blood by 2 seconds for every 10 Runic Power you spend.
Null Magic	-	Reduces magic damage taken by 10% and makes most magic debuffs on you fade 35% faster.
Unyielding Will	-	Makes Anti-Magic Shell remove harmful magic debuffs on you but increases the cooldown of it by 20 seconds.
Death's Echo	Echo	Death's Echo grants you a second charge of Death's Advance, Death Grip, and Death and Decay. Additionally, it causes all effects that would reset the cooldown of those abilities (such as Crimson Scourge) to grant you a full charge instead.
Vestigial Shell	-	When you cast Anti-Magic Shell, the two nearest friendly targets (this can target pets) get a Lesser Anti-Magic Shell. This lesser shell is just a magic absorb shield and does not give any of the benefits of Anti-Magic Shell, such as debuff immunity or cleanse from Unyielding Will.
Sanguinary Burst	-	When Blood Mist expires, it deals damage and heals you for 15% of the damage it deals. This burst of damage is increased by 2% for every point of Runic Power spent during it.
Purgatory	Purg	Purgatory causes any damage that would kill you (while it is not on cooldown) to afflict you with two debuffs: Shroud of Purgatory indicates the remaining cooldown of Purgatory. Perdition is a healing absorb with a 3s duration whose value is the damage that you would otherwise have been killed by. While it holds, all healing done to you is absorbed to "pay off" this debuff, and any additional damage taken is added to it. If, 3 seconds after Perdition is applied, Perdition is still on you, you die. For real, this time.
Carnage	-	This talent was non-functional on Beta, and we cannot tell if the conversion to Mastery: Blood Shield applies only to the direct damage of Consumption, or also to the plague leech effect. It also has a small chance to reset the remaining cooldown of Consumption when you take any damage while Blood Shield is up.
Umbilicus Eternus	UE	Umbilicus Eternus tallies up all damage dealt by Blood Plague while Vampiric Blood is active. When Vampiric Blood fades, the total is quintupled and applies to you as a shield, capped at your maximum HP before any additional amplification effect.

4.4.

San'layn Hero Talents

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Vampiric Strike	VS	Death Strike has a 35% chance to change Heart Strike into Vampiric Strike. Vampiric Strike will deal Shadow damage instead of Physical (meaning that you gain no value from Bloodshot), heal you for 1% of your maximum health, and give you 1 stack of Essence of the Blood Queen. Essence of the Blood Queen is the central focus of the San'layn tree. Every time you gain a stack of Essence of the Blood Queen you will get 1% Haste for 20 seconds, and each stack refreshes the duration (up to 5 stacks, 7 with Frenzied Bloodthirst). The Haste gained from this effect is multiplicative, so the more Haste you have, the better this buff will be.
Newly Turned (Choice Node 1)	-	When you use Raise Ally, both you and the person resurrected will gain a 20% health absorption shield.
Vampiric Speed (Choice Node 1)	-	The movement speed of Death's Advance and Wraith Walk are increased by 10%. Casting either spell will give the four nearest friendly players a 20% movement speed buff for 5 seconds.
Blood-Soaked Ground (Choice Node 2)	-	While you are standing in your Death and Decay, you will take 5% less Physical damage and have a 5% increased chance to trigger Vampiric Strike.
Desecrate (Choice Node 2)	-	Every time Death and Decay ticks on an enemy affected by Blood Plague, it has a chance to collapse, dealing 150% of its remaining damage to all enemies inside it. This proc chance is per target, does not fall off based on target count, and contributes to both a small amount of damage and a slightly higher uptime on Visceral Strength through more frequent Crimson Scourge procs. It is worth noting that when Death and Decay collapses like this, it grants you all of the buffs it normally would have for the entire duration, including Cleaving Strikes' extension. It also instantly clears any Grip of the Dead debuff on any of the targets inside it.
Vampiric Aura (Choice Node 3)	-	Your leech is increased by 2%. When you cast Lichborne, it doubles, and the 4% bonus will be given to the four nearest friendly players.
Bloody Fortitude (Choice Node 3)	-	Increases the damage reduction of Icebound Fortitude by up to 20%, snapshotting its value depending on your current HP at time of hit. This bonus is at full value at 0% health. Additionally, if you get the killing blow on an enemy the cooldown of Icebound Fortitude is reduced by 3 seconds.
Thrill of Blood	-	Essence of the Blood Queen also grants you 0.2% Blood Shield mastery and 0.1% bonus AP per stack. This is tripled during Gift of the San'layn.
Infliction of Sorrow	-	When Vampiric Strike hits an enemy with Blood Plague the duration of Blood Plague is increased by 3 seconds and instantly deals 20% of the damage of Blood Plague.
Frenzied Bloodthirst	-	Increases the maximum amount of stacks of Essence of the Blood Queen by 2. You will also deal 6% more damage per stack with Death Strike.
The Blood is Life	-	Vampiric Strike has a chance to spawn a Blood Beast. The Blood Beast will attack your target for 10 seconds and explode for a potion of the damage it dealt. This explosion will also heal you.
Visceral Strength	-	When you consume a Crimson Scourge proc, you are given 12% Strength for 12 seconds.
Inevitable	-	Blood Plague deals up to 30% bonus damage based on the target's missing health.
Incite Terror	-	This debuff increases shadow damage taken by the enemy by 1% per stack for 15 seconds (up to 5 stacks, and each stack refreshes the duration of the debuff). Incite Terror is applied from casting Vampiric Strike or Heart Strike on the target. Vampiric Strike itself will deal 4% more damage per stack.
Pact of the San'layn (Choice Node 4)	-	Blood Beasts will now store 10% of the Shadow damage you deal.
Sanguine Scent (Choice Node 4)	-	The chance to trigger Vampiric Strike is increased by 15% if the target is below 35% health.
Transfusion	-	Casting Vampiric Strike increases the damage of any active Dancing Rune Weapon by 20% for 8 seconds. Individual applications can overlap, and this is a buff on the Dancing Rune Weapon unit itself.
Gift of the San'layn	-	While Dancing Rune Weapon is active Heart Strike is replaced with Vampiric Strike. The Haste bonus of Essence of the Blood Queen, the damage bonus of Frenzied Bloodthirst and the mastery bonus of the Patch 11.2 tier set are increased by 200% whilst Dancing Rune Weapon is active.

4.5.

Deathbringer Hero Talents

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Reaper's Mark	RM	Reaper's Mark is a DoT placed on an enemy that lasts 12 seconds. Each time Shadow or Frost damage is dealt to the target it gains a stack, stacking up to 40 times (55 times with the Patch 11.2 tier set). If it reaches 40 stacks or times out on the target it will explode, dealing damage based on the number of stacks it had. If the target affected by Reaper's Mark dies, it is re-applied to the nearest enemy; if there are not enemies left alive, it instead fizzles (but still grants Exterminate stacks).
Wave of Souls	-	Applying Reaper's Mark to a target will fire Wave of Souls from you to your target and then back to you. Enemies hit will take 5% increased damage (per stack, stacking up to 2 times) to enemies if they are critically hit by this ability, when the wave returns to you, it will always critically strike.
Wither Away	-	Blood Plague will deal damage every 1.5 seconds instead of every 3 seconds, and the second scythe from Exterminate will apply Blood Plague to all enemies it hits.
Bind in Darkness	-	Blood Boil's damage is now Shadowfrost and is recoloured to be Blue (in line with the asthetic of the tree). Any Shadowfrost damage source grants two stacks to Reaper's Mark, four if it crits
Frigid Resolve	-	Permafrost stacks twice as fast (but its cap is not increased), and also tallies up 10% of any damage dealt by Exterminate.
Soul Rupture	-	When Reaper's Mark explodes, 10% of the damage dealt to the target will be dealt to nearby enemies.
Grim Reaper	-	Applying Reaper's Mark grants 3 stacks of Bone Shield. When Reaper's Mark explodes, it will deal up to 30% additional damage based on the missing health of the target.
Pact of the Deathbringer (Choice Node 1)	-	Once every 2 minutes you can trigger Death Pact at 50% effectiveness. When Reaper's Mark the cooldown of this effect (and Death Pact) is reduced by 5 seconds.
Rune Carved Plates (Choice Node 1)	-	Gain up to 7.5% damage reduction against Physical and Magic damage (1.5% per stack). Spending a rune will give a stack of magic damage reduction for 5 seconds and regenerating a rune will give a stack of physical damage reduction. Obtaining a stack of either effect will refresh the duration. With optimal play, you can maintain 5 stacks of this effect at all times as long as you do not get forced off a target.
Deathly Blows	-	Death Strike deals 5% bonus damage.
Swift and Painful	-	In single target, Reaper's Mark grants you 10% strength for 8 seconds when it detonates. Wave of Souls is 100% more effective against the target Reaper's Mark was cast on.
Dark Talons (Choice Node 3)	-	Marrowrend and Heart Strike randomly cause you to gain 3 more Icy Talons stacks. Death Strike now grants 2 stacks of Reaper's Mark, 4 if it critically strikes, as long as Icy Talons is active.
Reaper's Onslaught (Choice Node 3)	-	Reduces the cooldown of Reaper's Mark to 30 seconds, but causes it to only grant one Exterminate stack.
Death's Messenger (Choice Node 4)	-	The cooldown of Lichborne and Raise Dead is reduced by 30 seconds.
Expelling Shield (Choice Node 4)	-	If an enemy directly hits you with a Magic spell (no DoTs, no AoE) while Anti-Magic Shell is active, their casting speed will be reduced by 10% for 6 seconds.
Echoing Fury	-	Casting Dancing Rune Weapon grants you one Exterminate charge. This is currently bugged and grants two. Apex talent procs do not trigger this talent.
Exterminate	-	When Reaper's Mark explodes, your next two Marrowrend (one with Reaper's Onslaught) are empowered by Exterminate. Each Marrowrend costs 1 rune and triggers two scythes — the first deals very heavy damage to your target, while the second cleaves all enemies in front of you for a moderate amount of shadowfrost damage, and applies Blood Plague to them.

Changelog

19 Jan. 2026: Updated for the Midnight pre-patch.
30 Nov. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.2.7.
05 Oct. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.2.5.
04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
15 Jun. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.7.
21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5.
24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
21 Oct. 2024: Updated to account for the entire Deathbringer rework of 11.0.5.
09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within Launch. Added Hero Talents.
23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2
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.
20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.

Show less

For help, theorycrafting, and more please visit our Death Knight Forum 45 comments

Blood Death Knight Guide

More Death Knight Guides

Frost Death Knight The War Within

Unholy Death Knight Patch 9.1 Analysis

Unholy Death Knight Macros and Addons

Frost Death Knight Ny'alotha

Guides from Other Classes

Assassination Rogue Guide

Retribution Paladin Guide

Devourer Demon Hunter Guide

Preservation Evoker Guide

Raid Guides

Raszageth Guide

Eranog Guide

Broodkeeper Diurna Guide

Sennarth, the Cold Breath Guide

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This guide has been written by Mandl and Panthea.

Mandl is one of Acherus' Useful Minions and an avid Blood Death Knight theorycrafter.

Panthea raids in the Hall of Fame guild Catalyst. He plays all tanks and is a "Useful Minion" for the Acherus Death Knight Discord. You can follow him on Twitter.

SUPPORT OUR WRITERS

IN THE SAME CATEGORY

Sign In

Blood Death Knight Tank Spell List and Glossary — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

Introduction

Main Resource of Blood Death Knights

Baseline Blood Death Knight Abilities

Talented Abilities

Talent Tree Rows 1-4

Active Abilities

Passive Effects

Talent Tree Rows 5-7

Active Abilities

Passive Effects

Talent Tree Rows 8-10

Active Abilities

Passive Effects

San'layn Hero Talents

Deathbringer Hero Talents

Changelog

More Death Knight Guides

Guides from Other Classes

Raid Guides