The Death Knight is a plate wearer built on runes and Runic Power, who starts the game at level 55 right away and always carries strong defensive buttons. He is easy to pick up, and the hard part of improving comes down to rune management: you must not leave runes sitting idle, but running yourself down to zero right before a burst window is just as bad.
Specializations
| Spec | Role | Artifact | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blood | Tank | Maw of the Damned | Stamina → Haste → Versatility → Critical Strike → Mastery |
| Frost | Melee, damage | Blades of the Fallen Prince | Strength → Critical Strike ≈ Haste → Versatility → Mastery |
| Unholy | Melee, damage | Apocalypse | Strength → Haste → Critical Strike → Mastery → Versatility |
The stat priority is a guideline for 7.3.5. The exact order depends on your talents and legendaries, so check the final answer with a sim.
Blood
- The most self-sufficient tank in Legion: it heals itself and barely needs a healer on trash.
- Key buttons: Marrowrend for Bone Shield stacks, Death Strike as your main self-healing, Blood Boil for area threat.
- Watch your Bone Shield stacks: once they hit zero you are standing there with no armour and no rune regeneration.
- Major cooldowns: Vampiric Blood and Dancing Rune Weapon.
Frost
- Two-hander or dual wield: this spec is about big Obliterate crits and the windows under Pillar of Frost.
- Key buttons: Obliterate, Frost Strike to dump Runic Power, Howling Blast and Remorseless Winter on packs.
- Watch for the Killing Machine proc: under it Obliterate always crits, and wasting the proc is not allowed.
- Talents change the playstyle a lot: a Breath of Sindragosa build plays off Haste and keeping the ability running without a break.
Unholy
- Damage through diseases and pets: you stack Festering Wounds on the target and burst them open while keeping an army of undead out at the same time.
- Key buttons: Festering Strike and Scourge Strike, Death Coil to dump Runic Power, Dark Transformation on your ghoul.
- Watch Outbreak: Virulent Plague has to be on every target at all times, it is the foundation of your damage.
- The class's best AoE spec and very strong burst under Army of the Dead.
Legendary items
- Cold Heart — chest: it builds a charge every 2 seconds and makes Chains of Ice hit with Shadowfrost damage, up to 20 stacks. Mandatory for Frost, useful for everyone.
- Koltira's Newfound Will — belt for Frost: Obliterate hits 10% harder and can refund a rune.
- Tak'theritrix's Shoulderpads — shoulders for Unholy: Dark Transformation empowers your summoned minions by 40%.
- The Instructor's Fourth Lesson — bracers for Unholy, Scourge Strike bursts extra Festering Wounds.
- Shackles of Bryndaor — bracers for Blood: a large Death Strike refunds part of its Runic Power.
- Soul of the Deathlord — a ring, it grants a free talent for your own specialization.
Class Order Hall
The Death Knight order hall is Acherus: The Ebon Hold, the flying necropolis of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Throughout Legion it hangs over the Broken Shore; inside are the artifact forge, the champion mission table, Artifact Power turn-ins and a teleport back to the Broken Isles.
Tips for newcomers
- Do not bank runes "just in case": capping runes and letting them idle is the biggest damage loss a new player makes.
- Keep Mind Freeze and Anti-Magic Shell on comfortable keybinds: in Mythic+ an interrupt and a way to shrug off magic damage are worth more than a few extra percent of DPS.
- Push one artifact all the way: on 7.3.5 Artifact Knowledge is so high that a second spec catches up in a single evening.