Unholy Death Knight DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.0.7
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Unholy Death Knight in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7.
Unholy Death Knight Rotation
Welcome to our Rotation page for Unholy Death Knights. Here, we will go over everything you will need to know to optimally play your spec for Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.
Mythic+ Rotation
Unholy is a very interesting Mythic+ spec because it has fantastic single-target and AoE burst potential. For more information about Mythic+ as an Unholy Death Knight, please check out our Mythic+ guide linked below.
Easy Mode
Unholy can be a very complicated spec. If these rotations seem fairly complicated, then you may want to check out our Easy Mode page, which gives you a much more simplistic build and rotation to play.
PvP
The guides on this page are for PvE content, so if you are looking for a PvP rotation guide, then please visit our PvP page linked below.
Single-Target Opener for Unholy Death Knights
I have opted to include the core rotation in these sections, leaving everything that is considered a cooldown to be explained separately further down!
Army of the Dead Talented
Apocalypse Talented
Empower Rune Weapon Talented
Abomination Limb Talented
Unholy Assault Talented
Unholy Blight Talented
Summon Gargoyle Talented
Defile Talented
- Use
Army of the Dead.
- Use
Outbreak.
- Use
Festering Strike.
- Use
Dark Transformation.
- Use
Apocalypse.
- Use Potion + Trinket.
- Use
Blood Fury (if Orc),
Berserking (if Troll).
Single-Target Rotation for Unholy Death Knights
Soul Reaper Talented
Plaguebringer Talented
- Cast
Outbreak or
Unholy Blight to apply
Virulent Plague on the target. Try to maintain 100% uptime on the disease.
- Use
Death Coil when you have 80+ Runic Power, a
Sudden Doom proc or
Summon Gargoyle is active.
- Use
Festering Strike to apply
Festering Wounds on the target. Do this if the target has 2 or fewer
Festering Wounds.
- Use
Scourge Strike when there are at least 3
Festering Wounds on the target.
- Use
Death Coil.
Now, we will take this priority list and put it into a wordier description!
- Cast
Soul Reaper whenever you can make the secondary effect trigger. In execute, Soul Reaper is your highest priority and you should save Runes so that you can use it as much as possible! It is however not worth casting
Soul Reaper if the target dies before the explosion!
- Use
Defile if you have taken this talent to leverage the mastery buff. Make sure to use it once you have accumulated two charges so that you can chain the buff window.
- Ensure 100%
Virulent Plague uptime with
Outbreak and
Unholy Blight.
- Use
Death Coil to avoid capping Runic Power.
Death Coil is your hardest-hitting button and you should avoid wasting any Runic Power that could have been spent on the ability!
- Use
Festering Strike to build up
Festering Wounds on the target. We want to aim for 3+ wounds at all times! This means casting Festering Strike whenever you dip below 4 wounds, but never when above 3! If you use Festering Strike at 4+ wounds, you risk going above the ceiling of 6, wasting resources! We stay high on wounds to help set up for our
Apocalypse naturally. If you sit at a low wound count you risk starving before your CDs come up, forcing you to delay them (we do not want that!).
- Use
Scourge Strike/
Clawing Shadows to burst your wounds. This is used in sync with
Festering Strike to keep your wound count at a healthy level. You go up to 4+ and then use Scourge Strike/ Clawing Shadows to drop down to 3 again. You do want to go down to 0 if a mob is close to dying! You use
Scourge Strike as a high-priority to keep up your
Plaguebringer buff as well!
- Use
Death Coil as your filler spell when you have nothing else to do!
This priority does not include any Cooldowns. Instead, that is something we cover further down in this guide. Any cooldown will come at the top of the priority list!
With the Unholy Death Knight 2pc, we get another maintenance buff
to care about. This will have high uptime by just doing your rotation normally.
However, if you want to optimise it, we recommend getting a good tracker and making
sure to spend your
Scourge Strikes to optimise it. If you are running
Plaguebringer, this will happen naturally as you keep up both buffs
at the same time (as long as you make sure to burst wounds with your
Scourge Strikes!).
Multiple Target Rotation for Unholy Death Knights
Unholy's AoE rotation revolves heavily around the application and bursting
of large quantities of Festering Wounds with the
Bursting Sores
talent. We can use cooldown (
Unholy Assault,
Vile Contagion and
Dark Transformation with
Infected Claws) or manually tab
through targets with
Festering Strike to apply the wounds. We then
burst the wounds by popping down our
Death and Decay and spamming
Scourge Strike/
Clawing Shadows.
Outside these build and spend cycles, we pretty much play our normal single
target rotation, swapping out Death Coil for
Epidemic as our
Runic Power spender.
To make it hopefully easy to understand, this is a simplified version of what your multiple target opener should look like.
- Use
Outbreak or
Unholy Blight to apply
Virulent Plague on all targets.
- Use
Dark Transformation.
- Use
Festering Strike.
- Use
Unholy Assault.
- Use
Vile Contagion (on the target that now has 6
Festering Wounds).
- Use
Apocalypse on the target with the most
Festering Wounds (ideally 4).
- Spam
Epidemic until you are out of Runic Power.
- Use
Death and Decay.
- Spam
Scourge Strike and use
Epidemic if you are about to cap on Runic Power.
- After
Death and Decay finishes, go to single-target rotation with
Epidemic instead of
Death Coil.
If Unholy Assault and
Vile Contagion are on cooldown,
use 1-2 extra
Festering Strikes instead. After you have executed this
opener, the pack is hopefully dead. If not, either pop down a second
Death and Decay
or move to your normal single-target rotation with
Epidemic.
If the pack lives for up to 40 seconds your priority will change slightly.
When you have your Unholy Assault and
Vile Contagion
combination,
you want to delay your
Dark Transformation until 2-3 GCDs inside your
first
Death and Decay window. This will prevent any overcapping on
Festering Wounds, as well as set up for your second
Death and Decay
window (with
Death's Echo). After you have finished with your first window,
dump your Runic Power with
Epidemic and then move straight into your
next window!
Keeping Track of your Resources
Since Death Knights have multiple resources that they need to track, it is very helpful to customize your UI, to easily track your resources. Unholy Death Knights have a very clunky opener, so being able to easily focus on your rotation and resources can help you maximize your damage and positioning.
Dark Transformation should be used off cooldown and as an opener on packs of multiple mobs.
Sacrificial Pact should only be used to save yourself from death.
Summon Gargoyle should be used on cooldown. Once used, prioritize
Death Coil above everything else.
Cooldown Usage for Unholy Death Knights
As an Unholy Death Knight, you have potentially 14 unique cooldowns to keep track of, depending on what you choose from your talents and get from your covenant.
Defile
Defile sees play in Mythic+ and becomes an ability you use everywhere
once you pick it up. We want to aim for maximum buff duration here which means the following.
Accumulate two charges of
Defile. Cast
Defile on Cooldown 4
times, waiting 3.5 seconds between each re-cast. This will keep up the buff
for 40+ seconds if done properly! For AoE, we recommend waiting until your
first
Plaguebringer refresh before initialising this long buff window.
Empower Rune Weapon
Empower Rune Weapon provides a 20 seconds buff, granting one Rune
and 5 Runic Power every 5 seconds, as well as 15% haste. The first Rune and
Runic Power
are granted on-use and the ability is off the global cooldown.
Always combine Empower Rune Weapon with your other powerful
cooldowns. Save it for
Summon Gargoyle if you are using that, otherwise
use with your
Apocalypse and
Dark Transformation.
Abomination Limb
Abomination Limb provides you with an extra limb for 12 seconds,
pulling targets towards you every second and dealing damage around you. Also
grants
a proc of
Runic Corruption every 4 seconds.
Abomination Limb should be used on cooldown to gain the most benefit
from its higher damage. Do save it if there are add waves that you can time it
with,
especially if gripping these adds helps your group to kill them!
Unholy Blight
Unholy Blight infects nearby targets with
Virulent Plague
every
second for 6 seconds. Additionally, applies the
Unholy Blight disease
that lasts for 14 seconds and stacks up to 4 times, dealing increased damage for
each
stack.
Unholy Blight is primarily an efficient way of applying
Virulent Plague,
with the added benefit of some extra disease damage. Use this ability on
cooldown
in all situations. It is especially good at applying
Virulent Plague
whenever
adds enter a pull during some time, like when the tank runs around to
pick up all the mobs!
Unholy Assault
Unholy Assault instantly applies 4
Festering Wounds to your
target,
deals some moderate damage and provides 20% haste for 20 seconds.
Unholy Assault is a strong haste buff as well as a very efficient way
of applying
Festering Wounds. It should be used on cooldown in
single-target,
ideally timed with your other cooldowns to leverage the haste buff. In AoE, it
should
be used early in a pull to help stack up 6
Festering Wounds on a
single-target.
Vile Contagion is then an excellent follow-up cooldown to quickly spread
up to 42
Festering Wounds!
Vile Contagion
Vile Contagion spreads the
Festering Wounds of your primary
target to up to 7 nearby enemies.
Vile Contagion is a huge AoE DPS cooldown that helps to set up an
AoE pull for a big burst window. It is ideally paired with
Unholy Assault
(both are 1.5m cooldown) where you do
Festering Strike ->
Unholy Assault
->
Vile Contagion for a 3 GCD 48
Festering Wounds infection. You
then follow up with Runic Power dumping,
Death and Decay and
Scourge Strike/
Clawing Shadows spam.
Apocalypse
Apocalypse summons a member of the
Army of the Dead for
each stack of
Festering Wounds, up to 4. Also generates 2 Runes on use.
Apocalypse should be used when you have at least 4 stacks of
Festering Wounds. It will only consume 4 stacks, even when you have
5 or 6.
Apocalypse should be used on Cooldown as much as possible.
Convocation of the Dead and
Army of the Damned will bring the
cooldown
down to below 30 seconds, allowing for a larger number of minions to be spawned!
If you are not running
Convocation of the Dead, always align
Apocalypse
with
Dark Transformation every 45 seconds.
Army of the Dead
Army of the Dead summons several ghouls to fight at your side for
30 seconds. It is a major cooldown that will end up being a significant part of
our overall damage in any situation.
Use Army of the Dead as you run into any engagement,
allowing the ghouls to spawn (they spawn over 4 seconds and are stunned an
additional
4 seconds before starting combat). The baseline 8-minute cooldown is reduced
to around 3 minutes with the
Army of the Damned talent, allowing you to
use
it multiple times in a fight. Ensure to time it with any other cooldown that
increases
its damage, such as
Dark Transformation with
Commander of the Dead,
Unholy Assault and
Empower Rune Weapon. Always use
Army of the Dead
at least 5 seconds before using any other cooldown to buff it (except
Dark Transformation that can be used immediately).
Dark Transformation
Dark Transformation transforms your ghoul for 15 seconds, causing
its
Claw to cleave all enemies near your pet. The conduit
Eternal Hunger extends this duration to 18 seconds.
Deadliest Coil causes your
Death Coil to extend the duration of
Dark Transformation by 1 second each time it is cast.
You should use this ability on cooldown. If you have talented into
Commander of the Dead, always ensure you time
Dark Transformation
with
Summon Gargoyle,
Army of the Dead and
Apocalypse.
There is a 4 seconds
grace period when pressing the cooldown, allowing the buff to apply to your
other
pets that are summoned after this point. It is generally safest to use Dark
Transformation
after the other cooldowns.
For Mythic+, it is important to use this cooldown early in a pull, allowing
the
lots of time to apply Festering Wounds, that you can then burst in your
Death and Decay window. Ideally, it should be your second button press
after applying diseases.
Summon Gargoyle
Summon Gargoyle calls down a Gargoyle to hit your target for 25
seconds. Every 1 Runic Power spent when this cooldown is active increases its
damage by 1%. Also generates 50 Runic Power on use.
Once you have activated Summon Gargoyle, your highest priority above
all will be pressing
Death Coil to ramp up its damage. Ideally,
you should be full on Runic Power already as you press the cooldown (remember
that
it provides 50 Runic Power so you only need to aim for maximum minus 50). You
also want to ensure that you leverage all your other cooldowns that synergize
with
Summon Gargoyle when you use it. This includes
Dark Transformation
with
Commander of the Dead,
Unholy Assault and
Empower Rune Weapon.
In reality, you will get these big 3-minute burst windows where you use
Summon Gargoyle
and
Army of the Dead in combination with everything else!
It is very important to note that even Death Coils that benefit
from
Sudden Doom procs (and which, therefore, do not consume Runic
Power) increase the damage of the Gargoyle, so it is important to make sure to
use these procs right away during Summon Gargoyle and not have them wasted.
Soul Reaper
Soul Reaper initially strikes the target for ~70% of a naked
Scourge Strike. After 5 seconds, if the target is below 35% health, it
hits against 3.5
Scourge Strikes worth of damage. It is crucial as
an Unholy Death Knight to trigger as many of these extra hits as possible. Use
Soul Reaper whenever your target will reach 35% HP within the next 5
seconds. This means using it at ~36% Raid Boss HP. For adds, it generally means
using it earlier. Timing it properly is very rewarding!
Abomination Limb
Abomination Limb summons arms around you for 8 seconds, pulling
targets
toward you, dealing heavy AoE damage and generating 3 procs of
Runic Corruption.
You will either time this ability with add spawns, helping to group up any
enemies
that spawn, or with your major cooldowns every 3 minutes.
Optional Read: Mastering Your Unholy Death Knight
To help you better understand how to play the Unholy specialization, we will explain some concepts in more detail below.
Runes and Runic Power
Death Knights use a dual resource system of runes and Runic Power. While it is quite straightforward in how it works, we will explain it here for the sake of completion.
Runes
You have a total of 6 Runes, which are available by default. Some of your abilities have Rune costs, and whenever you use an ability that consumes one or more Runes, those Runes will immediately begin recharging. The exact amount of time it takes a Rune to recharge depends on how much Haste you have.
Whenever a Rune is consumed, you gain 10 Runic Power (more on that below).
At most, 3 of your runes can be charging up at the same time. It is therefore optimal to keep at least 3 runes on cooldown to maximise the recharge rate over the course of the fight.
Runic Power
Runic Power is a resource that resembles Rage, in the sense that it decays when out of combat, but does not decay during combat. As mentioned above, consuming Runes generates 10 Runic Power per Rune spent, and this is the primary means of generating Runic Power, although some abilities also help with this. You can have a maximum of 100 Runic Power.
In general, spending Runic Power should only be done when 3 Runes or more
are charging up, or when you are about to cap Runic Power. This is not the
case when Summon Gargoyle is active (when using this talent), during
which time you should try to maximize your Runic Power expenditure.
Runic Corruption
Runic Corruption has a chance of proccing whenever we spend Runic
Power.
It can also proc when we consume
Sudden Doom and
Dark Succor.
The proc will always return a total of 0.9 Runes, regardless of haste. The
proc also stacks on itself, adding any new duration to the previous remaining
one.
All this means you do not need to pay attention to this proc.
Virulent Plague
Virulent Plague is a Shadow damage DoT that is applied to targets
using
Outbreak or
Unholy Blight. If the target dies while
afflicted with
Virulent Plague, it erupts for Shadow damage to all
nearby enemies. If you are talented into
Unholy Blight, this will be
the only method of applying
Virulent Plague in a single-target
encounter.
Festering Wounds
Each time you use Festering Strike, between 2 and 3 stacks of a
debuff called
Festering Wound is applied to the target. The debuff
lasts for 30 seconds (and each added stack refreshes its duration) and does
nothing if left alone. However, using
Scourge Strike/
Clawing Shadows on a target that has
Festering Wounds on them consumes a stack, causing the target to take
Shadow damage. All of the stacks are consumed if the target dies.
Bursting Sores will cause any
Festering Wounds that burst
to deal AoE damage around them. This scales well in AoE and is the
primary
source of our damage in Mythic+. We can also talent into
Replenishing Wounds
to generate 3 Runic Power every time a
Festering Wound is burst.
The ideal number of stacks at which to spend Festering Wounds is 4+.
If you have 3 or fewer stacks, you should instead generate some more using
Festering Strike.
Anti-Magic Shell Usage
Anti-Magic Shell absorbs 100% of all magic damage taken, up to 30%
of your maximum health, for 5 seconds and grants you Runic Power based on the
amount of damage that it absorbs.
While this ability has amazing survivability benefits, allowing you to often taken practically no damage from various raid-damaging mechanics, it also has great benefits for your DPS.
Indeed, the amount of Runic Power you gain if you absorb a lot of magic damage is far from negligible. Therefore, you should always try to make use of Anti-Magic Shell to boost your Runic Power generation throughout the fight. The best way to do it is to know when a raid-damaging attack is coming, and to have Anti Magic Shell up for that time. Then, simply enjoy the extra Runic Power (and do not forget to spend it).
That said, for progression content, we fully recommend first and foremost
saving Anti-Magic Shell to mitigate magic damage, before you consider
how to use it to increase your DPS.
Changelog
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated rotation for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated 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 Pescorus on Kazzak. He is heavily involved in the DK DPS theorycrafting community, testing hyoptheses and investigating the correct priority to use. He is also a moderator in the Acherus Death Knight Discord, frequently answering questions and discussing optimisations (do not hesitate to reach out). He produces guide content on YouTube and frequently streams on Twitch.
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