Note: Some aspects of this guide may not apply to your character until higher level. If are interested in getting your character to max level quickly, take a look at this leveling guide.
Glyphs come in three varieties, Prime, Major and Minor. Prime glyphs enhance core aspects of your class and generally provide the greatest benefit of the three types.
Major Glyphs, while not quite as powerful as Prime Glyphs, are still useful and continue to provide a myriad of benefits.
Minor Glyphs often times provide small quality of life improvements or visual changes, such as the Glyph of Shadow Form for priests which makes the character more visible through Shadow Form. However, a few are known to provide more significant benefits such as the warrior glyph of Berserker Rage.
Prime Glyphs:
Major Glyphs:
Minor Glyphs:
Here are your highest priority abilities.
You should begin pulls by using outbreak to apply diseases, followed by using Heart Strike to cement control over the mob. Death Strike is our survivability mechanic and should be used only after you’ve taken damage due to it scaling with damage taken in the last 5 seconds.
Maintain your diseases at all times, refreshing them using Outbreak unless it’s on Cooldown in which case you can use Plague Strike and Icy Touch.
As the fight progresses use Death Strike whenever possible as well as Heart Strike. Rune Strike should be used whenever your runes are depleted or when you’re nearly runic power capped.
Heart Strike and Rune Strike offer threat and damage, but Death Strike is a must use if you’re taking a large amount of damage. Finally, Horn of Winter can be used to immediately generate Runic Power.
AoE Rotation
In multi-target situations Death and Decay should be dropped to start the fight. Diseases should be then applied by using Outbreak followed by Pestilence. Use Heart Strike to maintain agro if you’re fighting 4 – 5 mobs, or Blood Boil if fighting a larger group.
Otherwise use Death Strike and Rune Strike as part of your regular rotation.
Cooldowns
As a tank, your cooldowns largely relate to your own survival. Determining when and how many to use depends on a number of factors from fight mechanics to how much mana your healers have left, making it a sometimes difficult and important personal judgement call.
In smaller 5-man situations cooldowns make things easier on healers, but are generally not mandatory, whereas in raid settings there are mechanics that demand the tank use his cooldowns or die. Proper use of cooldowns requires anticipation of, or quick reaction to damage levels that your healers can’t keep up with or are incapable of handling at that moment due to being dead, mind controlled, etc.
Generally speaking if you feel threatened it’s better to blow a cooldown or two rather than potentially die, because if you do die your team will more likely than not follow soon after.
Mastery > Stamina > Dodge = Parry > Expertise 26/26 => 8% Melee Hit
Mastery – Blood Shield:
Blood Death Knight Mastery increases the amount of damage absorbed by Blood Shield.
Stamina:
Stamina increases maximum health and the effectiveness of Vengeance.
Dodge:
Dodge rating increases your chance to dodge attacks, a method of damage avoidance. Due to diminishing returns, it’s best to try and equalize your Dodge and Parry as much as possible.
Parry:
Parry rating increases your chance to parry attacks, another method of damage avoidance. Due to diminishing returns, it’s best to try and equalize your Dodge and Parry as much as possible.
Expertise:
Expertise reduces the chance for your attacks to be dodged or parried by enemies.
8% Melee Hit:
Melee hit reduces the chance for your attacks to miss, 8% makes it so that your special attacks will never miss on an enemy.
Reforging
When reforging gear, it’s important that you look to reforge from your least effective stat into the most effective for whatever gear goal you are currently aiming for. See our stat priority list for more information.
Mastery > Dodge = Parry
Reforge your gear to possess as much mastery as possible. If a piece of gear already possesses Mastery, reforge the weakest stat to Parry or Dodge depending on how much you already have of either value, as you want to try and balance your Parry and Dodge ratings as much as possible.
Gems:
- Red – Fine Ember Topaz
- Blue – Puissant Dream Emerald
- Yellow – Puissant Dream Emerald – Fractured Amberjewel
- Meta – Austere Shadowspirit Diamond
Unless a socket bonus offers Mastery, it’s more effective to gem for pure mastery and ignore the bonus.
Enchantments:
- Weapon: Swordshattering (Runeforging)
- Helm: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring
- Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz
- Cloak: Enchant Cloak – Protection
- Chest: Enchant Chest – Greater Stamina
- Bracers: Enchant Bracer – Superior Dodge
- Gloves: Enchant Gloves – Greater Mastery
- Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
- Leggings: Drakehide Leg Armor
- Boots: Enchant Boots – Mastery
Our class guides for whichever class you’re playing:
Death Knights – Druid – Hunter – Mage – Paladin
Priest – Rogue – Shaman – Warlock – Warrior
The GotWarcraft Gold Guide
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