Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide from 8 to 80 — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0.1)

Unholy Death Knight is a fast leveler, both being able to multi-dot and burst down large packs of enemies quickly, as well as being the most mobile leveling class via On a Paler Horse once you reach level 71. Furthermore, this spec has great self-sustain via procs of Dark Succor and Death Strike, staying healthy as you AoE down pack after pack.

When you get the option to Runeforge, make sure you apply Rune of the Fallen Crusader, as it speeds up the leveling process the most! You can also use Rune of Unending Thirst for some nice speed boost after killing mobs. Rune of the Apocalypse is also relevant but is primarily used at higher levels when you fight mobs for longer.

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level.

Your first talent row unlocks at Level 10.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

Starting, you will only have two main attack abilities: Rune Strike and Death Coil.

1. Rune Strike is your main Rune Spending ability.
2. Army of the Dead should be used as much as possible, ideally on more difficult mobs, as the cooldown brings a lot of Single Target burst.
3. Outbreak should be used to apply Virulent Plague to all targets and Dread Plague on your main target.
4. Putrefy when available.
5. Dark Transformation can be used off cooldown. However, you should also make sure you have it available for larger packs of mobs or more difficult packs.
6. Death Coil to spend your Runic Power.
7. Death Coil to spend Runic Power at 1-3 targets.
8. Use Epidemic when there are 3+ targets.
9. Use Festering Strike to build stacks of Lesser Ghoul.
10. Use Scourge Strike when you have at least one stack of Lesser Ghoul.
11. Use Festering Strike as your Rune spender.

There are some passive abilities that you unlock through the leveling process that can change your play style and rotation.

• Sudden Doom affects both Death Coil and Epidemic, empowering them significantly. These procs should be used quickly to ensure that you do not override your current proc!
• Dark Succor is incredible for leveling, allowing you to easily heal and stay at high health while chain-pulling packs and mobs.

• Anti-Magic Shell is a very strong magic shield that also generates Runic Power when it absorbs magic damage. This should be used whenever magic damage is present to take advantage of the Runic Power generation.
• Lichborne is a relatively powerful ability for leveling, as it provides you with a good chunk of Leech. Use this cooldown to take advantage of the healing and try to pair it with high AoE or burst combinations.
• Icebound Fortitude is an amazing defensive cooldown that should be used whenever necessary in order to keep you moving from pack to pack.
• Raise Ally cannot be used when solo leveling, however, it is fantastic in dungeon groups if you decide to level that way.
• Death's Advance is one of your only movement speed cooldowns making it incredibly useful when leveling. The secondary effects of this are not too useful in leveling scenarios, except for the passive that prevents you from being slowed past a certain point.
• Death Grip grips your target towards you, allowing you to start fighting it straight away. Really useful to speed up the leveling process.
• Mind Freeze is your interrupt which is great to use against casting mobs, significantly reducing the damage they deal to you!

This section will go over the PvP talents for leveling content for Unholy Death Knights.

1. Doomburst is the only PvP talent that provides extra DPS throughput.
2. Bloodforged Armor gives some nice defensive benefit.