Unholy DPS – The default Unholy DPS build, leaves 4 free points.
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.
Extra points are recommended to be placed into Runic Power Mastery and Magic Suppression
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.
Keep your diseases active at all times on your target, extend their duration with Festering Strike when necessary, or otherwise re-apply them with Icy Touch and Plague Strike.
Make certain to use Death and Decay as often as possible, along with Scourge Strike. Death Coil is to be used as a way of dumping runic power for extra damage and to charge your ghoul with Shadow Infusion so that you can use Dark Transformation.
AoE Rotation
Apply diseases with Outbreak to start before spreading them using Pestilence. Continue your regular rotation otherwise.
Cooldowns
The most important aspect of managing your cooldowns as a damage dealer is making certain to use them whenever they’re avaliable. Don’t be afraid to use them during any fight, even against trash mobs, as the higher the uptime you have with them, the greater your overall damage will be so long as you aren’t using them when a fight is about to end.
The only time to hold off on using your cooldowns is when you’ll be unable to attack the boss due to fight mechanics, such as during Morchok’s Black Blood of the Earth ability or when Hagara is about to cast Water Shield and become immune to all damage.
Melee DPS will have to watch out for this more than ranged, as they are far more vulnerable to situations where an encounter requires constant movement or the boss is utilizing some form of AoE attack that makes fighting in melee range impossible.
Strength > 8% Melee Hit > Haste > Critical > Mastery > (26) Expertise
Strength:
Strength increases your attack power, and thus damage, making it your most effective stat.
(8%) Melee Hit:
Hit rating reduces you chance to miss with attacks. A hit rating of 8% makes it so that your special abilities will no longer miss on bosses, thereby avoiding loss of DPS.
Haste:
Haste increases attack speed and rune regeneration speed.
Mastery – Dreadblade:
Unholy Death Knight Mastery increases all shadow damage done.
Critical Strike:
Critical Strike rating increases your chance to critically hit with attacks.
(26) Expertise:
Expertise reduces the chance for an enemy to dodge or parry your attacks. At an expertise rating of 26, the ‘soft’ cap, your attacks will no longer be dodged when behind your target.
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.
8% Hit > Haste > Critical
(8%) Melee Hit:
First check that you have 8% melee hit, and if not, reforge until you reach it.
Haste > Critical:
Once you’ve reached the 8% melee hit cap, optimize the amount of haste on your gear. If a piece of gear already has Haste on it, reforge the weakest stat into Critical instead.
Gems
- Red – Bold Inferno Ruby
- Blue – Etched Demonseye
- Yellow – Fierce Ember Topaz
- Meta – Reverberating Shadowspirit Diamond
Enchantments
- Weapon: Rune of Fallen Crusader
- Helm: Arcanum of the Dragonmaw – Arcanum of the Wildhammer
- Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Jagged Stone
- Cloak: Enchant Cloak – Greater Critical Strike
- Chest: Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats
- Bracers: Enchant Bracer – Major Strength
- Gloves: Enchant Gloves – Mighty Strength
- Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
- Leggings: Dragonscale Leg Armor
- Boots: Enchant Boots – Haste
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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