Unholy Death Knight DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.2.5
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Unholy Death Knight in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5. We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.
Best Dragonflight Talents for Unholy Death Knight
Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+, check out the dedicated pages below.
Best Talents for Unholy Death Knight
Best Raid Talents for Unholy Death Knight
This build is optimal for the majority of raid encounters, providing the best balance between raw Single-target damage and flexibility. For the spec tree, there are not that many options, primarily presenting themselves in the choice between Rotten Touch and Unholy Pact. Picking Unholy Pact is a minor DPS downgrade (0.5% or so) with a nice AoE boost.
For the class tree, there's a lot more realistic choice. We are generally locked into Anti-Magic Barrier, Anti-Magic Zone and Assimilation on any encounter with some magic damage (very rare that there's no magic damage). In the case where there isn't any magic damage, these points can be allocated to March of Darkness, Improved Death Strike and Acclimation. Another flex point we have is Permafrost, which can be allocated to Coldthirst or Blinding Sleet. Still, it's rare to do this since the defensive value of Permafrost is so nice. Swapping Unholy Endurance for Death's Reach or Grip of the Dead provides some nice utility at the loss of a solid defensive, only do it if your raid need that extra utility!
The bottom of the tree presents some more choice. Insidious Chill is a nice defensive boost for your tank, and Will of the Necropolis is a huge personal defensive buff. However, to take these talents, we need to give up Death's Echo, which is a 0.5% DPS downgrade, and Blood Draw, but that does not matter too much. It's generally a solid choice for progression, but it's important to weigh the defensive benefits from the DPS disadvantage.
Finally, we pick up Abomination Limb whenever we can get value from the grip part of the ability. It's also better in AoE scenarios, but it's a questionable swap due to the good priority damage from Soul Reaper.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
The recommended talents do not account for specific raid encounters (but you can just run it everywhere and be completely fine), which can require a specific talent or build. For a boss-by-boss breakdown of the talent choices for specific encounters, you should check out our dedicated raid page.
Alternative Raid Talents for Unholy Death Knight
This build is very similar to our default raid talents with the primary exception of picking up Defile. This is actually more raw Single Target in static scenarios, beating the default build by 1% or so. Furthermore, it scales significantly better in AoE, outperforming the default build at 3+ targets due to the AoE from Epidemic, Unholy Blight and the raw damage plus added cleave from Defile!
The reason this build isn't the default recommended one is because of the liability of Defile. This spell requires both the boss and you to stand in it to gain full value, making any boss movement diminish its value. Furthermore, it is completely terrible when it comes to covering up mechanics. Be careful as soon as you choose it, as you will not see what is going on around the boss!
When it comes to spec tree choices here, Unholy Pact can be picked up instead of Rotten Touch for a small 0.5% Single Target sacrifice and a nice AoE gain.
The class tree has similar choices compared to the default build at the start of the tree. Permafrost for Coldthirst or Blinding Sleet. If you need faster interrupt or hard CC. Acclimation, Improved Death Strike and March of Darkness when you can spec out of Anti-Magic Zone, Assimilation, and Anti-Magic Barrier. Death's Reach and Grip of the Dead as an alternative to Unholy Endurance.
At the bottom of the tree, things are different compared to the default build. Death's Echo synergises really well with Defile, allowing us to use it back-to-back for an extended Mastery buff during our Apocalypse windows. You end up having to choose between Rune Mastery or Death's Echo at around 2% DPS loss from either. This, in addition to Blood Draw, allows you to allocate the points to Insidious Chill and Will of the Necropolis. It is generally too steep of a loss for me personally, and it makes more sense to run the default build if you need to swap these talents.
Finally, you can allocate the Soul Reaper point to Abomination Limb whenever you can get value from the grip utility.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Mythic+ Talents for Unholy Death Knight
This is our recommended build for Mythic+. It works really well for all weeks and all affixes!
This is your go-to Mythic+ build for all dungeons and affixes. It leverages disease damage via Superstrain, Ebon Fever, and Plaguebringer, spamming of Epidemic, as well as almost constant cleave via Defile to do damage.
There is not much choice in the spec tree, primarily that of Ghoulish Frenzy vs Morbidity. The difference between these talents is less than 0.5% with Ghoulish generally winning the overall. Putting one point into Improved Death Coil is a 1% loss that will bring some extra cleave and Single Target as well.
For the class tree, we are pretty locked for the most part. Blinding Sleet is great Mythic+ utility, and Permafrost, Improved Death Strike and Anti-Magic Barrier are defensives we do not want to give up. The true choice comes at the bottom of the tree where we can give up Blood Draw and the one point in Death's Echo to spec into Insidious Chill and Will of the Necropolis. This is a 1-2% damage loss for a significant defensive gain! Still, with perfect play, you are unlikely to actually need this extra defensive power, but that does not stop me from running it most of the time!
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Alternative Mythic+ Talents for Unholy Death Knight
The alternative to the Disease build in the previous tab comes in the form of the Wound Build. This build focuses on Festering Wounds in combination with the Bursting Sores talent. We leverage talents such as Infected Claws, Vile Contagion (if talented) and Pestilence to build a large number of Wounds on our target, bursting them in droves with cleaving Clawing Shadows in Defile. This build embodies the "Quadratic Scaling" that Unholy is famous for, dealing insane amounts of damage in big pulls. Furthermore, it involves pressing Clawing Shadows a lot in AoE, making the ability your top damage source in a given run.
The choice in the talent tree revolves around Morbidity. You can allocate one point to Eternal Agony or Vile Contagion. Eternal Agony loses a lot of value in short pulls which is why it's not generally recommended. Even in longer pulls it's really similar to Morbidity but it's personal preference. Vile Contagion allows you to execute those really big burst windows every 1.5 minutes but you do lose a lot of damage in-between. It being entirely useless in Single Target doesn't help either!
The class tree choice is again about Will of the Necropolis. You can sacrifice one point of Unholy Bond and two points of Blood Draw to pick up Insidious Chill and Will of the Necropolis. 1-2% DPS loss for significant defensive boost.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Rotation
Talents can and usually do, change your rotation or add new abilities to your priority. For a more detailed breakdown of how your rotation will look with optimal talents, check out our rotation page linked below.
PvP Talents (War Mode)
In this section, we will rank the PvP talents that are best for leveling and doing open-world content.
- PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
- 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
- 10% more experience gained while leveling.
- Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.
With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.
Unholy Death Knight War Mode Talents
In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of Unholy Death Knight PvP talents.
Unholy Death Knight PvP Talents
- Necrotic Aura causes all enemies within 8 yards to take 4% increased magical damage. This has good synergy with Unholy's damage kit and also helps increase your damage as a group if you are doing content with other players.
- Doomburst causes your Death Coils that consume Sudden Doom to burst up to 2 Festering Wounds on the target, slowing them by 45% per wound burst for 3 seconds. Solid DPS gain in PvE.
- Bloodforged Armor provides 3 seconds of 20% physical damage reduction whenever you press Death Strike. Solid defensive gain!
- Spellwarden lowers the cooldown of Anti-Magic Shell by 10 seconds and allows you to use it on allies. It's just a nice defensive gain due to allowing more AMS usage.
- Strangulate silences your target for 4 seconds. Somewhat useful in PvE as you fight against casters.
- Reanimation reanimates a nearby corpse, summoning a zombie with 5 health for 20 seconds, which slowly moves towards the target. If it reaches your target, it explodes, stunning all enemies within 6 yards for 3 seconds and dealing 10% of the enemy's health in Shadow damage. This ability costs 1 Rune. This can be a powerful talent for both open-world questing and leveling; however, it is difficult to use in World PvP.
- Dark Simulacrum places a debuff on your enemy, activating when they cast a spell that uses mana. It allows you to use that same spell for some time. Not useful in PvE content.
- Necromancer's Bargain reduces the cooldown of your of your Apocalypse by 15 seconds; however, your Apocalypse does not summon ghouls but instead applies Crypt Fever to the target. Crypt fever deals up to 8% of the target's maximum health as Shadow damage over 4 seconds. Healing spells cast on the target refresh the duration of Crypt Fever. This is a strong choice for World PvP.
- Rot and Wither adds an absorption shield to any target hit by Death and Decay for 100% of the damage amount. Useless pretty much.
- Necrotic Wound your Festering Wounds now apply a healing absorption when they burst, absorbing a stacking 5% of healing for 15 seconds. Good for PvP but not usable in PvE content.
Necrotic Aura is by far the best PvP talent in PvE content. 4% gain to a solid proportion of our overall damage throughput! Doomburst is the second solid choice due to its nice DPS gain, helping you to consume Festering Wounds. No other talent does much for us in PvE, and are primarily PvP choices. For a third option, we don't have much to choose from. Bloodforged Armor is generally best due to providing a solid defensive gain in PvE!
Changelog
- 30 Jan. 2024: Updated the wound M+ build.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 12 Dec. 2023: Updated M+ builds.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.7.
- 31 Aug. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.7.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 29 Apr. 2023: Reviewed and Updated for Patch 10.1.
- 12 Apr. 2023: Updated talents after 10.0.7 buffs.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated talents for 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 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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