Unholy Death Knight DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.0.7

Last updated on Mar 20, 2023 at 14:16 by Bicepspump 63 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Unholy Death Knight guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7. Here, you will learn how to play as an Unholy Death Knight in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons: from the very beginning to maximizing your DPS.

1.

Unholy Death Knight Overview

The Unholy specialization currently provides high single-target burst as well as good AoE scaling. We are also one of the tankiest classes in the game, something that is very useful in all PvE content!

2.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +High single-target and AoE burst potential.
  • +Great add control with Death Grip Icon Death Grip.
  • +Knockback prevention with Death's Advance Icon Death's Advance.
  • +Anti-Magic Zone Icon Anti-Magic Zone as a magic damage raid cooldown.
  • +Effective at range.
  • +One of the tankiest specs.
X Weaknesses
  • -Limited mobility.
  • -Limited spread add cleave.
  • -Limited raid and mythic+ utility.
3.

Dragonflight Changes for Death Knights

We are maintaining a list of changes for Death Knights, so you can see what changes with every patch of Dragonflight.

3.1.

Mage Tower Challenge

From Patch 9.1.5 onward, both Legion Timewalking and the Mage Tower have returned. As such we have created a separate guide detailing what you can expect from the Mage Tower challenge available to Unholy Death Knights.

4.

Unholy Death Knight Changes for 10.0.7

The Unholy Death Knight has seen multiple changes for Patch 10.0.7. Please find a list below with added discussion.

A lot of changes overall, but only a few significant ones. Many underperforming talents have been buffed, but only really Defile Icon Defile sees play. Commander of the Dead Icon Commander of the Dead update will make players much less likely to miss buffing their pets and will change our opener slightly. Epidemic Icon Epidemic swapping places with Unholy Blight Icon Unholy Blight opens up for better hybrid AoE/ST raid builds. Overall solid changes!

5.

Significant Unholy Death Knight Changes in Dragonflight

The Unholy Death Knight sees some changes that will affect how it plays. We generally have more resources, allowing for a smoother rotation with significantly less downtime overall. Furthermore, our AoE scaling has been buffed through the target cap increase on Cleaving Strikes Icon Cleaving Strikes as well as the new Vile Contagion Icon Vile Contagion talent. This makes the classic Bursting Sores Icon Bursting Sores build far more powerful in Mythic+.

We have also received a large number of new talents, both from the arsenals of Frost and Blood Death Knight, but also completely new ones. Some notable examples are Empower Rune Weapon Icon Empower Rune Weapon, Will of the Necropolis Icon Will of the Necropolis, Vile Contagion Icon Vile Contagion and Commander of the Dead Icon Commander of the Dead. Furthermore, Summon Gargoyle Icon Summon Gargoyle has received significant buffs and will be a staple part of many of our builds.

Overall, Unholy has retained its gameplay from Shadowlands with a smoother overall feeling and more rewarding cooldowns.

6.

Leveling an Unholy Death Knight

If you want to level an Unholy Death Knight, you can check out our leveling guide for tips and tricks for your journey.

Once you reach max level, a great way to customize your game to fit the way you want to play, but also to help you play better, is with AddOns. We recommend using some of the basic AddOns that are on our Addons page below while you are leveling, to not only get used to AddOns but to also help speed up your leveling. Since Unholy is a fairly complicated spec to play, it is heavily recommended that you use AddOns to clean up your screen and make your rotation easier.

7.

Basics of Unholy Death Knight Gameplay

Unholy Death Knight is a spec that is all about managing your resources and maximizing your burst potential with correct cooldown management.

If you are new to Unholy Death Knight and would like to learn the basics of the class, we recommend looking at the Spell Summary, as well as the Easy Mode page that is linked below.

We also have a guide for the Unholy Death Knight talents and rotations below.

8.

How to Gear Up as an Unholy Death Knight

Gear, enchants, consumables and gems also play a big part in increasing your character's DPS. Linked below is a page to show you which enchants, consumables, and gems to use, as well as a stats page, where you can find more information on each stat and how they interact with your character.

9.

Unholy Death Knight Viablity in Dragonflight

The Unholy Death Knight is 100% viable in Dragonflight. We have an incredible burst, making us useful in all situations of the game! We are also incredibly tanky, something great as you progress through hard content. Dying is the number one factor for not killing a boss.

10.

End-Game as an Unholy Death Knight

The end-game of an Unholy Death Knight is very exciting since your burst is incredibly high and your AoE potential is also very high. Linked below are our Raiding, Mythic+ and PvP guides!

11.

Improving as an Unholy Death Knight

If, after reading all these guides you still find your performance lackluster, then check out the pages linked below for some tips and tricks that may answer any question you have. This is fairly common with Unholy Death Knight, as it is a very clunky spec.

12.

Changelog

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