Unholy Death Knight Frequently Asked Questions — The War Within (11.2)
On this page, we go over several of the most frequently asked questions regarding Unholy Death Knight in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.2). This will be updated as more common repeated questions surface over the course of the expansion.
How should Soul Reaper be used in the rotation when you hit 35% on the target?
Soul Reaper should be used off cooldown if the target's health is
35% or below. You can also use Soul Reaper before the target hits 35%,
as long as the target will be 35% or below when the Soul Reaper debuff
expires. It is important to save a Rune for Soul Reaper so that you can
use it as soon as it comes off cooldown!
When running 
San'layn, you do not press Soul Reaper during
Dark Transformation at all!
Do I need to play around procs of Runic Corruption?
No. The procs stack on top of each other. Any remaining duration is simply added to the new one if you get another proc.
Do I need a specific amount of Haste?
There are not any real breakpoints to aim for, generally get as much Haste as you can for single target, but also trust your simulations!
Should I run Festering Scythe in Mythic+?
Festering Scythe scales extremely well with large pulls,
significantly increasing your AoE DPS. The main negative aspect
is that it falls rather flat on smaller pulls, and it generally
costs you Single Target DPS to pick it. It is up to you what
you like to play, but we generally recommend using it.
Changelog
- 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
- 15 Jun. 2025: Added Blood Beast rotation question.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Reviewed and updated for Patch 11.1.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed and update for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within.
- 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.
- 20 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated 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.
- 30 Apr. 2023: Reviewed and Updated 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.
More Death Knight Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Bicepspump, a semi-hardcore player raiding with Pixelbased Lifeforms on Kazzak. He is heavily involved in the DK DPS theorycrafting community, testing hyoptheses and investigating the correct priority to use. He produces guide content on YouTube and frequently streams on Twitch.
- Only Two Guilds Beat Heroic Nexus-King on Day 1 of Manaforge: Omega’s RWF
- Class and Dungeon Tuning: War Within Season 3 Hotfixes, August 12th
- Finish 1 Tier 11 Delve in Season 3 and This Happens
- First Look at the EPIC Final War Within Boss Fight, Dimensius
- The Best Manaforge: Omega Raid Specs for Season 3 Launch
- Legion Remix Brings Back Artifact Weapons — And They’ve Changed
- Skip the Grind: 1 Easy Piece of 684+ Champion Gear in 30 Mins
- Season 3 Launch Week: Do These First or Fall Behind