by Deathfoe
Here it goes. A guide with some nice items, gems, glyphs etc. All for improving Your Death Knight!
First update on a long while, Changed and updated for patch 3.2.2. I did spot another guide that is dual-wield too, i havent looked it though but i want to update this guide anyway:) Well, i did this update in less then 15minutes, im pretty sure i did miss something, then please leave a comment or two and i’ll fix it when i see the comment.
In this guide you will find:
To get this started we need the specc.
(0/53/18)
Click here for the link to the specc. “WoWhead.com” Specc is updated!
Stats:
- Hit-rating: Is important because if you critt much it’s still not good if you don’t hit with your critts. Hit “cap” for level 80 is 8% what would mean 263 Hit-rating. If u have that there’s like 0.01% that you miss. 7% Hit is absolutely okay too. You have Virulence that increases you hit with 3%.
- Expertise: The expertise cap for level 80 is 214 expertise rating. And that is 24 expertise. That should decrease the chance for dodges by 6,5%. Remember to stand behind the boss and he will be unable to parry and block.
You have Tundra stalker ability as well. This is pretty hard to get the cap. Just get as close as possible. - Strength: Strength gives 2 attack power (AP) per Strength point. Buffs like Blessing Of Kings raises your Strength but not AP and therefore Strength is better. I really don’t know the AP cap for level 80 but guess on 2500+ at least for naxx-10man
- Critt-chance: To get a good flow on your dps you have to critt much. So focus a little bit on that. You should have 25% but you have many extra abilitys and 20% critt chance should be okay. and that should be very easy to get. 63 agility is 1% critt chance and 46 Critical Strike Rating is 1% critt chance.
Don’t take too much though since you have many talents wich increases you’re critical strike chance, in example…
Rime talent witch gives you 15% more critt chance on Icy Touch and Obliterate. You have killing machine as well that comes more often than you believe.
Glyphs:
Okay, not so much to mention here just writing down the glyph and why.
PS. These are my recommended glyphs. But the option is up to you on what glyphs you want.
Glyph of Frost Strike: Reduces the runic power (RP) cost of frost strike by 8 RP. Because the most of your damage done will be out of Frost Strike. This Attack isnt so good unless you critt with it though.
Major Glyph.
Glyph of Icy Touch: Icy touch generates an additional 10 RP. Because it gives more RP to Frost Strike.
Major Glyph.
Glyph of Obliterate: Obliterate damage 20% more. This attack damage second most on your recount list. With this great glyph it damaging even more.
Major Glyph.
Minor glyph can you choose yourself. The ones that feels most comfortable for you. This is my choice.
Glyph of Raise Dead: Raise Dead requires no reagents. Most for PvP sake. To sacrifice it for 40% of your health.
Minor Glyph.
Glyph of Pestilence: Refreshes your diseases to it maximal duration. Feels nice to have when you dps’ing, would recommend This for unholy though.
Minor Glyph.
Glyph of Horn of Winter: Increases duration of Horn Of Winter by 1 min. Well… feels nice to have a glyph on all spots =]
Minor Glyph.
How to play your Deathknight!
IT = Icy Touch. PS = Plague Strike. BS = Bloodstrike. OT = Obliterate. FSx = Frost strike until your RP is empty.
Dps’ing.
Presence: Blood. You damage 15% more in this Presence.
How to attack for maximum dps: Enter with IT, PS, BSx2, OT, FSx. do that over and over again. If Obliterate triggers Rimes other effect (witch is a free Howling Blast)
Then use it after the line.
Of course you can do other spells like Runic strike that damaging much etc. Do pestilence if 3 or more mobs to spread diseases, and your howling blast damaging more with targets infected with frost fever.
Also do Horn of Winter as much as possible. It generates 10 RP for use of Frost Strike.
Gearing for Raids:
This gear list IS NOT updated for patch 3.2.0. Wich means it’s many great items from toc hc – normal you can find. Also all the conquest emblems is something you can buy tons of great stuff with
It isn’t much to write on this point so will write Slot, and what items you can choose to have on that slot.
Helm:
Spiked Titansteel Helm: Can be created from a high skilled blacksmither.
Chitin Shell Greathelm: Drops from Anub’arak in Azjol-Nerub. 20% drop chance.
Planetary Helm: Drops from Loken in Halls of Lightning. Drop chance 19%
Neck:
Pendant of the Outcast Hero: 25 emblems of heroism. Cant find many good necks though.
Emerald Choker: Made by an high skilled jewel crafter.
Shoulder:
Spaulders of the Giant Lords: Best pre. naxx shoulder. Requires Sons of Hodir – revered. Thanks to eric, he showed me this shoulder
Iron Dwarf Smith Pauldrons: It’s tanking I know. But it’s hard to find better outside raids. Please let me know if you find a better dps shoulder =] Found in Halls of Lightning. Drops from General Bjarngrim, 25% drop.
Back:
Ice Striker’s Cloak: Made by an High skilled leather worker.
Cloak of Bloodied Waters: Random drop in Gundrak. Around 1% drop chance on several mobs in there.
Chest:
Bonegrinder Breastplate: Drops in Ahn’Kahet: The old kingdom. Around 30% drop chance. From Prince Taldaram.
Breastplate of Undeath: Drops in Drak’Tharon Keep by Novos the summoner. 30% drop chance.
Wrist:
Bands of the Stoneforge: Drops in Halls of Stones from Sjonnir The Ironshaper. 18% drop chance.
Cast Iron Shackles: Random drop in Violet hold (VH) from the most mobs, 1% drop. Can also be looted from Prisoners Footlocker outside VH. Requires the key Rusty Prison, that can be fished up outside the Hold.
Weapon:
Titansteel destroyer: Made by an High skilled blacksmith. Costs about 1500g on my server. It will be much cheaper if you are buying mats instead. (at least on my server)
Runeblade of Demonstrable Power: Can be bought by Ebon blade quartermaster. 100g i think. Cheaper alternative.
Hand:
Gauntlets of Dragon Wrath: Dropped from Ley-Guardian Eregos found in the Oculus. 26% drop.
Gauntlets of Capture: Drops from Cyanigosa in VH. 25% drop chance.
Waist:
Flame-Bathed Steel Girdle: Drops from Keristrasza in The nexus. 19% drop chance.
Clinch of Savage Fury: Is bought from one of the quartermasters in argent tournament. Costs 10 
Legs:
Staggering Legplates: Drops from Ingvar the Plunderer in Utgarde Keep. Around 19% drop chance.
Legplates of Steel Implants: Drops from Meathook in the culling of stratholme. 23% drop chance.
Feet:
Death-Inured Sabatons: You are buying this from Ebon blade quarter master for 50g. Requires exalted.
Echoing Stompers: Drops from Svala Sorrowgrave in Utgarde Pinnacle. 22% drop chance.
Finger:
Hemorrhaging Circle: Drops from Gal’darah in Gundrak. 18% drop chance.
Titanium Impact Band: Created by an high skilled jewel crafter.
Band of Frosted Thorns: Drops from Ormorok the Tree-Shaper in the nexus 22% drop chance.
Trinket:
Mirror OF Truth: Costs 40 Emblems of Heroisms.
Darkmoon card: Berserker! Cost around 300g-500g on AH.
Sphere of Red Dragon’s Blood: Drops in the nexus from Keristrasza. 20% drop chance.
Incisor Fragment: Drops from King Dred in Drak’Tharon Keep. 22% drop chance.
Gems:
This gem list is not updated, just buy the epic version of this gems, pretty expnsive but you can buy the material for 10k honor so it should be no problems 😉
What gems that are good to use.
Red
Bold Scarlet Ruby The best red gem for dk’s, palas and warriors out there.
Blue
Balanced Twilight Opal It isn’t any good blue dps gems what I can find. This is probably the best, not sure though.
Yellow
Rigid Autumn’s Glow A nice yellow gem for you hit-rating. =)
Meta
- Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
- Persistent Earthsiege Diamond A cheap and good meta socket.
The unholy talent tree 2hand weapon surely look good again, i’ll test it when i have time and might update this guide again! Thats all, thank you for having patience to read this guide through again!x)
PS. If you find something better or something that’s wrong then please tell me.
4.0 Update NeededThis is currently outdated for the new specs and abilities introduced in 4.0. I’m moving it to the archive section, since it’s high quality and could be updated to incorporate the new changes.
thanksI’m not 80 yet, lvl73. But with this specc and rotation i’m always top dps in instances 😛
Around 1.5k all the time. That’s insane for only a lvl73 😀
About Hit you said: “HitAbout Hit you said: “Hit “cap” for level 80 is 8% what would mean 263 Hit-rating.” and ” You have Virulence that increases you hit with 3%.” It’s not that simple. Dk frost (Dual-wielding) has 3 hit-cap:
– First, your main hand cap, 8%. With [url=http://www.wowhead.com/spell=50138]”Nerves of Cold Steel”[/url] you just need 5% (163.95 hit-rating).
– Second, your Offhand hit-cap, 27% (885.33), don’t try to get it… it’s insane… Just realize that you’ll miss with your offhand sometimes. That talent “Nerves of cold steel” work on offhand too, so “just” 24% (=P).
– Third, your spell hit-cap, 17% (445.94). Dk frost REALLY need this cap. Why? First for your Icy touch, you don’t want to miss it. You need this and it’s dot for a lot talents and dps, like: “Obliteration”, “Icy talons”, “Improved icy touch”, “Glacier rot”, “rime”, “merciless combat”, “tundra stalker” and for pvp too “chilblains”. So miss IT is unacceptable. Second reason is your Howling Blast, that is a spell too. Other spells are Death Coil, Blood Boil and Death and Decay.
So how to get that hit? 17% is alot! First you need [url=http://www.wowhead.com/spell=49568]”Virulence”[/url], it “Increases your chance to hit with your spells by 3%”. So you just need 14% now. Second, you have to remmember that on raid you need 17%, but in Heroic Dungeons you just need 14%. Also in raid you’ll always try to get one Druid Balance or Shadow priest, both have a aura/talent that increase your spell hit in 3%. So in raid you just need 17%-3%-3%, and for Heroics 14%-3%, so you just need 11% for everything.
Another thing, you need to remmeber that melee hit and spell hit isn’t the same.
For melee hit: 32.79 hit rating reduces your chance to miss by 1%.
For spell hit: 26.232 hit rating is equivalent to 1% hit.
conclusion:
You need 5% melee hit for MH = 163.95
Your OH need 24% melee hit = 885.33 (IGNORE IT)
your spells need 11% spell hit = 288.55
So your TRUE hit-cap is 288.55 (11% spell hit and 8,8% melee hit). And you NEED it.
Last thing, the reason that you get [url=http://www.wowhead.com/spell=50138]”Nerves of Cold Steel”[/url] isn’t your Main Hand, it’s for your Offhand only.
So “7% Hit is absolutely okay too” isn’t true.
Alright…So I just made a post over at
https://www.wow-pro.com/class_guides/dual_wield_shinke039s_guide_death_knight_dual_wield_dps
I suggest you refer to that for the majority of my comments concerning the accuracy of some information, gemming and weapons, etc.
But… I also noted that in your “How to play your Death Knight” section that you didn’t list the most optimal rotation for damage nor do you suggest the use of Howling Blast and when you should use it over Obliterate:
Your rotation should look like this for single target:
IT > PS > OB > BS > BS > Runic Power Dump (which is most likely Frost Strike)
Then after your first rotation and your runes become active again, the rotation becomes
OB > OB > OB > Runic Power Dump
And then restart your rotation from the beginning, also a word to the wise, typically at the end of your first rotation following the Frost Strikes you usually have an extra GC (Global Cooldown) where you should use to summon your ghoul as it adds a significant amount of DPS. When your Raise Ghoul Ability is on CD you should replace Raising your ghoul at the end of your first rotation with Horn of Winter.
Aside from that, I noticed a few grammatical errors that should be addressed.
-Zachariah
yeah, thanks for noticed meyeah, thanks for noticed me on the glyph, and i dont have time really to add on gear list, well, as i sayd i will test unholy specc sometime because i’ve seen some dk’s with really great dps and not so good gear in it.
Quote:
Glyph of Pestilence:[quote]
[url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43672]Glyph of Pestilence[/url]: Refreshes your diseases to it maximal duration. Feels nice to have when you dps’ing, would recommend This for unholy though.
[/quote]
Actually, this glyph increases the radius of your pestilence ability by 5 yards. The glyph you are describing is [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45805]Glyph of Disease[/url], and that is a major glyph.
Also, I know you put a note that you didn’t update the gear section, but you [b]SHOULD[/b] at least mention a couple viable one handers that you can use. (In my guide I suggest picking up a [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47508]Aledar’s Battlestar[/url]. It is not unique so getting 2 of them would be optimal. They drop from Heroic 5man ToC.)
Updated for Patch 3.2.2Updated for Patch 3.2.2
Thanks:)Thanks:)
Thx for help my dps isThx for help my dps is bether than befor
i give your guide 10/10
;P
Yeah, I was actually justYeah, I was actually just gonna add the shoulders today. And really thanks for the Vicious strikes tip, actually thought it gave better overall critt 😉
And iaxa already told about the gems 🙂
Thank youThank you, I’ll add the purple and meta gem. And if you are jc they can think out that by themself 🙂
Hi, few words from a FrostHi, few words from a Frost DPS specced DK:
1. Spaulders of Elder’s Square – replace it with [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44195]Spaulders of the Giant Lords[/url], as Eric suggested, probably the Elder’s Square ones were taken out so Sons of Hodir could get a rep reward 😉
2. [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51746]Vicious Strikes[/url] does NOT increase overall crit, only for those 2 strikes. That’s why putting those 2 points in [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=49480]Dark Conviction[/url] gives better results for Frost.
3. Also, as far as gems are concerned:
[url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41285]Chaotic Skyflare Diamond[/url] should be better, especially for crit reliant Frost spec.
For blue gem, [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40022]Sovereign Twilight Opal[/url] is better.
Cheers and nice guide 😀
your gems :)gemming should be raw strength, there is a + 8 strength 12 stamina gem for the meta gems requirement http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=53962
meta gem’s
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41285
that is said to provide the best dps benefit
JCer’s should use
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42142
Thank you for the tips.Hi, thanks for the tips with gear and stats thing. Ill look up more on wowwiki on the caps and so on. The gear list i did in all haste just searched up on thottbot for quick items, was gonna add more alternatives later on!
But ill keep the most of the specc i made. May add 5% more critt from blod-specc but ill keep the rest. 😉
Very good first attempt, butVery good first attempt, but I got some information that is needed:
[list]
[*][b]Stats[/b]: For a freshly dinged Death Knight, you’ll be needing Hit -> Expertise -> Str/ap -> Crit. When you’re hit + expertise capped, you can continue to the next step to inprove your ap/str/crit. When I’m only saying that it’s for freshly dinged, I mean; If you got full naxx25 raiding gear, the gear itself should get you capped, and then you’ll be able to spend into str/ap and crit. The str does actually also stack with Rune of The fallen Crusader.
[*][b]Spec[/b]: You may want to add, that there is more than one powerful Frost spec. Personally I’m using frost DPS myself, and if you’re lacking crit (which I see lots of Death Knights that do) you should pick up 5% crit bonus in the blood tree. This will look like [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMVZG0xxAbckf0Vostc]17/51/3[/url]. I think this spec is way better, cause it give us 5% more crit = 5% more damage.
[*][b]Rotation and Spells[/b]: This section could be inproved with layout. Make a list on what is useful, what is not. Pictures is also a ince addition as a spell icon. You missed Raise Ally, which is pretty handy as a extra ress. Also Deathchill is exellent for a goood Howling Blast crit. In other words, make that section alot more clean.
[*][b]Gear[/b]: Finally, the gear section also needs a lot of work. You could add:
[list=1]
[*]Items from the Argent Tournement. If you have troubles by getting into HC’s and raids, this may be the best alternitive, the twohand sword from there is VERY powerful.
[*]190+ Attack power trinket from Wintergrasp. Bought from 25 marks. Holy Moly this one is cheap and very powerful.
[*]The shoulders from Sons of Hodir revered is one of the best pre-naxx shoulders in WoW, these should be added.
[*] The neck from Violet Hold HC will give you alot of crit, but are far better than the Emerald Choker.
[*]Finally, I’ll add lots more of instance quest rewards. These are well gear untill you get into HC’s.
[/list]
[/list]
Hehe, well i fixed it upHehe, well i fixed it up with an gear list + gem list and made wow-head links.
So all done! 🙂
Awesome, glad you are goingAwesome, glad you are going to continue improving it, some people just write a guide and leave it >_<
Thank you.
I can work on aThank you.
I can work on a gear list later on, don’t have so much time nowadays.
And i downloaded that Text formatting tool bar, it sounds great and I will test it today =D
I will check out more of that “Guide writing Guide” later to pimp my guide up a little bit. 🙂
Hehe, yeah. My EnglishHehe, yeah. My English aren’t that good, and my spelling is worse. 😛
And yes. When I said because after the glyph it mean I recommend it. 🙂
But thanks, the rest of your comment sounded like you thought it was pretty good *I hope* 😀
Pretty good 1st effortI am helping a friend increase her DPS as a DK, and so I was interested in gleaning some information from your article. Much of the article is good, and contains info that I need. I particularly liked the way you described the rotation.
But…
There is a need for proof-reading. There are errors in the English syntax, and a couple of spelling errors (Glaring: “which” not “witch”, the latter rides a broom. and my pet peeve: “than” not “then” when comparing as in “more often THAN you believe”).
Also, you could drop some of the irrelevant conditions: eg “I don’t want to write so long but still share” and “Okay, not so much to mention here just writing down”. There is no need to make excuses, just say: “A brief guide to…”
And, finally, do not assume prior knowledge in the reader. As I do not play a DK, I was baffled by “Then use it after the line”. No idea what this means. After the name of the glyph, you start with “Because”, does this mean “I recommend this glyph because…” or don’t recommend it…Not sure again.
Nevertheless, I will recommend my friend read this as you have some good information in your guide.
P
Needs workYour guide needs a lot of work. DK’s or any form of melee dps don’t stack haste. it only buff’s our auto attack speed (however since latest patch it gives us slightly more attack speed)
stacking order should be hit and exp (till capped) -> strength / Armour pen -> crit
as blood, armour pen come very close to strength and beats stacking raw strength in some fights.
unholy not so much as SS is magical damage ( bypasses all armour)
you should never gem for attack power, pure strength unless you haven’t got the hit cap.
when you dps from behind a boss there still is a chance for them to parry / dodge, you need to have an expertise skill of 70 ish (6.5%), when you attack the boss from the front is when it doubles that’s why it is advisable you dps from behind.
umm that is all i can think of from the top of my head. might want to fix up punctuation and spelling mistakes and wowhead links and whatnot.
great attempt for a first guide.
First of all, thanks forFirst of all, thanks for contributing and congratulations on your first guide!
I don’t have time at the moment to write detailed feedback, but I’m certain some other WoW-Pro users will drop by to critique this soon.
For my part, I recommend you add some formatting to make the guide easier on the eyes. Check out my [url=https://www.wow-pro.com/class_guides/jiyambi_tree_healing_guide]tree healing guide[/url] for an example of what you can do with formatting, and look in the [url=https://www.wow-pro.com/general_guides/guide_writing]guide writing section[/url] on this site for the how-to. Feel free to ask any specific questions you have.
As far as content, I can’t speak much about it since I know nothing about death knights. However, it looks like you’ve at least touched on the major issues (specs, gearing, glyphs, rotation) – though a gear list would be ideal. Overall it could just use some spiffing up and added details, however it looks like a decent guide at first glance, so good job!