Unholy Death Knight DPS Mythic+ Tips — Shadowlands 9.0.2

Unholy Death Knight is a very powerful melee in Mythic+ offering high AoE damage, it can be competitive with the top Mythic+ melee DPS. Unholy Death Knights do not have strong damage mitigation making it difficult to survive certain encounters in high Mythic+ keystones.

If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our dedicated Mythic+ page below.

The single target and multi-target rotations do not change in Mythic+ content. For more information about the Unholy Death Knight rotation, refer to the link below.

1. Unholy Blight
2. Dark Transformation
3. Abomination Limb ( Swarming Mist if Venthyr, Shackle the Unworthy if Kyrian)
4. Festering Strike
5. Festering Strike
6. Apocalypse
7. Epidemic
8. Epidemic
9. Death and Decay (or Death's Due if Night Fae)
10. Scourge Strike/ Clawing Shadows
11. Scourge Strike/ Clawing Shadows

1. Unholy Blight + Dark Transformation (always sync these 2 together)
2. Epidemic, if you are about to cap Runic Power or have a Sudden Doom proc.
3. Death and Decay
4. Scourge Strike, if you are standing in your Death and Decay ( Clawing Shadows if you have it talented).
5. Epidemic
6. Scourge Strike, if you have 1 or more Festering Wounds.
7. Festering Strike to build Festering Wounds.

• Death Grip is an iconic Death Knight spell that pulls an enemy that you are targeting to you. Use this to stack enemies that are far apart together to maximize cleave damage. This can also be used as an extra interrupt or to interrupt casts that cannot be interrupted by Mind Freeze. Another great application of this ability is to pull mobs out of Sanguine pools.
• Mind Freeze is Death Knights interrupt ability. This should be used to interrupt near the end of the targets cast time as they do not attack while casting a spell so it will minimize damage on the tanks. It is recommended you communicate your interrupts with the rest of your group so you do not end up overlapping interrupts.
• Anti-Magic Shell is your magic soaking ability. This ability can be used to generate Runic Power by soaking magic damage. If you cast Anti-Magic Shell before a magical debuff would be applied to you such as Bursting, the Anti-Magic Shell will prevent the application of the debuff.
• Wraith Walk is a movement talent ability that increases your movement speed by 70% for 4 seconds and removes all root effects. This talent should be taken if you are expecting to be slowed or rooted multiple times in a short period of time.
• Dark Succor is a proc that occurs whenever you kill an enemy, and grants you a free cast of Death Strike and heal for an additional 10% of your maximum health. This can be very useful if your group is taking high amounts of AoE damage.
• Death Pact is an utility talent that provides you a heal for 50% of your maximum health. This is incredibly useful in Grievous or Bursting where sometimes the damage your group is taking can overwhelm your healer.
• Anti-Magic Zone is one of our most useful utility cooldowns. It is very powerful against Prideful to minimize the magic damage your group takes. Anti-Magic Zone should be available for every instance of Prideful.
• Gnaw is an ability that your pet has. Gnaw is off the global cooldown and stuns the target for 2 seconds. It is recommended that you keybind this ability so you have control over when your pet casts it.

Please note that the talents that we recommend below are specific for Mythic+. If you want to see a talent overview for Unholy Death Knights, then you can check out our main talent page linked below.

Below are the suggested talents for Mythic+. These talents are recommended for all affixes and keystone levels. For more information on particular talents and when to use them, refer to the Builds and Talents page.

Level	Choices
15	✓ Infected Claws	✓ All Will Serve	✓ Clawing Shadows
25	? Bursting Sores	✗ Ebon Fever	✓ Unholy Blight
30	? Grip of the Dead	? Death's Reach	? Asphyxiate
35	? Pestilent Pustules	✗ Harbinger of Doom	✓ Soul Reaper
40	? Spell Eater	? Wraith Walk	? Death Pact
45	✗ Pestilence	✓ Unholy Pact	✗ Defile
50	✓ Army of the Damned	✗ Summon Gargoyle	✗ Unholy Assault

• Level 15: Infected Claws/ Clawing Shadows
• Level 25: Unholy Blight
• Level 30: Player Choice
• Level 35: Soul Reaper
• Level 40: Player Choice
• Level 45: Unholy Pact
• Level 50: Army of the Damned

• Level 15: All Will Serve
• Level 25: Unholy Blight
• Level 30: Player Choice
• Level 35: Soul Reaper
• Level 40: Player Choice
• Level 45: Unholy Pact
• Level 50: Army of the Damned

For a more in-depth look at all the Unholy Death Knight talents, visit the link below.

The Unholy Covenants are very balanced for single-target, however for AoE/Cleave there are 2 clear choices, either Necrolord or Venthyr. Necrolord Emeni provides a group primary stat buff, so not only does it provide fantastic damage for you, but also your entire team. Theotar is the go to option if you are the Venthyr covenant. Venthyr has the Swarming Mist ability, which will provide more Runic Power the more targets there are, which allows for more Epidemic casts.

If you want a more in-depth look into covenants for Unholy Death Knight, then check out our full covenant page below.

Currently, Frenzied Monstrosity is by far the best and most balanced option for Mythic+, as it provides the highest AoE damage with the second highest single-target damage. Deadliest Coil provides significant single-target damage, making it a competitive option, however among high-tier Unholy Death Knights, you will mostly see Frenzied Monstrosity.

For more information on Unholy Death Knight Legendaries, then check out our page below.