Unholy Death Knight DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.2

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.

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. Generally too steep of a loss for me personally and 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!

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 instead of Morbidity. The difference between these talents is not huge , but Morbidity is generally just better in all scenarios. You can also swap the Morbidity points to Pestilence for more passive Festering Wounds, or Reaping and Summon Gargoyle for more Single Target burst. However, neither of these choices is very common , and I do not recommend them as a general rule.

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!

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 and Pestilence to build a large number of Wounds on our target, bursting them in droves with cleaving Scourge Strike in Defile. This build embodies the "Quadratic Scaling" that Unholy is famous for, dealing insane amounts of damage in big pulls.

The choice in the spec tree comes down to Pestilence being allocated elsewhere. Both Morbidity and Ghoulish Frenzy helps your Single Target at the expense of slightly lower Festering Wounds generation.

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!