So you've selected a Race to roll as a Death Knight, and you're ready to wreak havoc. But what skills to use to farm that honor, to climb the Arena ladder? What abilities can make the lowbies nerd rage? Make no mistake; the Death Knight is not just a guy with a huge sword or axe. There is alot of micro-management and tactical thinking involved. In this article we'll look at our choices.Part Two: Tools of the TradeI can see the arguements beginning and the battlelines being drawn. So first lets tackle this major issue...
Presences 
Blood PresenceStrengthens the Death Knight with the presence of blood, increasing damage by 15% and healing the Death Knight by 2% of damage dealt. Only damage dealt to targets that grant experience or honor can trigger this heal. This is the brute choice surely, and is drawing alot of attention. Who wouldn't want increased DPS to burn down people faster? The Talent
Blood Aura spreads the healing buff to party members within 45 yards, which makes this not a great Arena choice, but a decent one for Battlegrounds and large scale PvP.
The healing isn't great, but can be better than nothing. Ultimately I'd probably push this presence against a light armored foe to end the fight quicker.
Unholy Presence Infuses the death knight with unholy fury, increasing attack speed by 15%, movement speed by 15% and reducing the global cooldown on all abilities by 0.5 sec.People seem baffled by this Presence. I'm not sure why. Two-handed weapons have sick high end damage and the possibility to cause massive crits. Swinging a weapon like this
faster than other classes seems dandy to me. The movement speed increase will assist in combat mobility while saving you enchant and gem choices. While not stackable with other movement increasing consumables, it's still hard to beat the speed this Presence gives.
I don't think many folks realize how much of a role Global Cooldown has in things. The global cooldown affects the wait for the next ability, so using an item or ability with the standard 1.5 second cooldown will require waiting that long before a 1 second global cooldown ability can be used. With that understanding a lowered GCD may be within the realm of a second and half a second, allowing you quicker response time. All in all this is a must use PvP Presence.
Frost PresenceThe death knight takes on the presence of frost, increasing total health by 10%, armor contribution from cloth, leather, mail and plate items by 80%, and reducing damage taken by 5%. Increases threat generated.There was a time I didn't even include this Presence in this Guide, it was that Tank oriented. Now? Not so much.
While Unholy still beats Frost in terms of primary choices, one can't forget how easy it is to switch Presences on the fly for a DK version of Stance Dancing. Feel free to hop to this Presence when you're health is dwindling rapidly; doubly so if you have
Bladed Armor.
AbilitiesObliterateA brutal instant attack that deals 80% weapon damage plus 467.2, total damage increased 12.5% per each of your diseases on the target, but consumes the diseases.A finisher that requires no Runic Power. This ability just screams big numbers and offers late burst potential. However depending on your Spec you may think twice about it. The consumpion of the Diseases is BAD. If you really want to work this in, make sure you grab
Annihilation from the Frost Tree and the glyph.
Rune StrikeStrike the target for 150% weapon damage plus [200 * AP * 10 / 10000]. Only usable after an attack is dodged or parried. Can't be dodged, blocked, or parried.Oh...oh my. This nifty lil reactive ability is nice. So nice. Very much a bargain at 10 RP as well. I personally have it macroed to all my heavy hitters to get the most out of it.
-Blood Abilities-Blood-based Abilities are our heavy hitters for the most part, and the source of quite a few of our diseases.
StrangulateStrangulates an enemy, silencing them for 5 sec. This is the Caster killer here, and makes for a great starter on casters as you close the gap. That Silence will keep a Pally from Flash Healing and a Mage from Blinking away. The options are endless, especiaaly when chained with other interrupts.
Blood StrikeInstantly strike the enemy, causing 40% weapon damage plus 305.6, total damage increased by 12.5% for each of your diseases on the target.
This is where the science takes place. The more Diseases active = The harder abilities like this hit. Consider this a bread and butter move in your action bar.
Blood TapImmediately activates a Blood Rune and temporarily converts it into a Death Rune. This Rune counts as a Blood, Unholy or Frost Rune. Lasts 20 secondsA must have on your Hotbar. Death Runes take the learning curve of the Rune System and the unknown variables of combat and make them easier to deal with.
Death PactSacrifice an Undead minion, healing the Death Knight for 20% of his/her max health.Ah Ghouls...what would we do without you? When you've taken enough abuse from a horrified enemy we can kill you and heal ourselves. Another great way to keep the bloodshed flowing with little breaks.
PestilenceSpreads existing Blood Plague and Frost Fever infections from your target to all other enemies within 10 yards.Designed for tanking but don't let that decieve you. Great for dealing with Classes with pets or large groups of enemy players. Glyphed it becomes a quick and efficient way to keep diseases on a target. Moreso with...
Blood BoilBoils the blood of all enemies within 20 yards, dealing 180 to 220 Shadow damage. Deals additional damage to targets infected with Blood Plague or Frost Fever.BB has, in my opinion, replaced D&D as the premiere stealther-catcher. Where as Death and Decay is visible and avoidable, Blood Boil is silent and insidious. Keep moving and find critters if you think you're being hunted; you may just put them at a disadvantage.
-Frost Abilities-Crowd Control and survivability. Frost Abilities are not just for Tanking.
Chains of IceShackles the target with frozen chains, reducing their movement to zero. The target regains 10% of their movement each second for 10 sec.Good Hunters, Mages and Locks are Kite Masters. This nasty debuff keeps them where they don't want to be; in beheading range. Even with recent nerfs this is invaluable. Coupled with our Gladiator Glove on equip bonus, we have increased chances to keep these going while still applying FF, a big plus for Blood and Unholy builds.
Icy TouchChills the target for 227 to 245 Frost damage and infects them with Frost Fever, a disease that deals periodic damage and reduces melee and ranged attack speed by 14% for 15 sec.One of our essential starter attacks. Dmg + Attack Speed reduction + A disease for the pile = Win.
Mind FreezeSmash the target's mind with cold, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.Part of a viable Silence-Lock, but not overtly reliable. When facing Casters try to keep this open in your RP budget. For those of you that are Frost specced, congrats.
Empower Rune WeaponEmpower your rune weapon, immediately activating all your runes and generating 25 runic power.A nice simple time saver, best utilized in the middle of elaborate combos. It can also assist with the horror of "Cold Starts", a Death Knight's worst nightmare.
Icebound FortitudeThe Death Knight freezes his or her blood to become immune to Stun effects and reduce all damage taken by 20% plus additional damage reduction based on Defense for 12 sec.Ahh...poor IF. Not quite as good as it once was, but still certainly helpful with stun-happy classes.
-Unholy Abilities-This is your Shipment from Acme; your Bag of Tricks. While the Unholy abilities help dish out disease, they also will dish out maniacal laughter.
Death GripPulls the target to the Death Knight, forcing them to attack the Death Knight for a short amount of time.Now nevermind Tanking, this is THE Anti-Kite tool. Blinkers will find themselves just wasting the Cooldown on you thanks to this. There's no-where to hide.
Please...I know you feel cool grabbing everyone you see. You are not cool. You are lazy and will get killed.
Learn to use this as a counter-step as opposed to an opening step; Blinkers, sprinters, healers who have feared you away to heal, etc. You'll be grateful if you do.
Death StrikeA deadly attack that deals 75% weapon damage plus 222.75 and heals the Death Knight for an amount based on the damage done and the number of his or her diseases on the target.It's been nerfed badly, but is still a winner. Doubly so if you grab a Glyph that increases the damage inflicted.
Death CoilFire a blast of unholy energy, causing 443 Shadow damage to an enemy target or healing 664.5 damage from a friendly Undead target.The healing effect sounds stupid doesn't it? But what if you or your Death Knight arena partner activated the Talent
Lichborne beforehand? Not so stupid now huh?
For the most part though, this is a nice burst damage finisher to use on victims near death. More than likely you'll find your Runic Power better spent elsewhere.
Death & DecayCorrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight, causing 62 Shadow damage every sec that targets remain in the area for 10 sec. This ability produces a high amount of threat.Evil concecration...desecration?
Pally's know concecration is a great way to break a foe's Stealth, and now we'll know too. This AoE was....OMFG for a long time. It now is only useful for Stealth breaking, and barely that(see Blood Boil).
Plague StrikeA vicious strike that deals 50% weapon damage plus 189 and infects the target with Blood Plague, a disease dealing Shadow damage over time.Here is the ability that toppled Warrior or Rogue/Druid comps. Here is the ability that made Druids cry in general. How the mighty have fallen. It still retains a nice punch, but the HoT removal element it once had is sadly missed.
Fact is this ability is still the bees knees, despite the changes it has gone through, and stands as the second part of the essential starter moves.
Anti-Magic ShellSurrounds the Death Knight in an Anti-Magic Shell, absorbing 75% of the damage dealt by harmful spells (up to a maximum of 50% of the Death Knight's health) and preventing application of harmful magical effects. Damage absorbed by Anti-Magic Shell energizes the Death Knight with additional runic power. Lasts 5 sec.Another thing for casters to fear. I almost feel sorry for them. Pop one of these when you see that cast bar about half way to ensure they don't see your plan and cancel it.
Raise DeadRaises a Ghoul from a corpse to fight by your side. If the target corpse is not humanoid, Corpse Dust must be supplied to complete the ritual. Those who ignore a rampaging Ghoul will know better. Just watch its Health bar and the clock(they got a 2 min duration without talents). When either gets low have Death Pact handy. Make no mistake though, Ghouls are infinately more useful for an Unholy DK.
Army of the DeadSummons a Legion of your best Ghouls to fight by your side.I'd be terribad if I did not include a certain talent here that compliments
Army of the Dead perfectly...
Corpse ExplosionTarget a corpse, causing it to explode for 12 dmg per 10 Runic Power to all enemies within x yards.Now let's be serious here; Niether of these abilities are worth a damn in Arena or Battle Grounds. Not really. AotD may have some uses akin to a Snake Trap but let's really put a finger on who is gonna use these, in conjuction, and often.
You.
Yes, you. You, with the shifty eyes and crooked grin. I'm talking to you.
The Gankers, the Grievers and the Campers.
Don't feed me that "
I'm just RPing my class" excuse either you sadist. Going after Lowbies and torturing them; you do it for the kicks.
There are usually two Goups that have this mentality. The Rogues stalking towns of the other Faction, picking off a guy then Vanishing just for his friends to say "
Why is Bob on the ground? Bob?", and the testosterone fuelled raids on poor lil' Southshore and Tarren Mill.
But now with Death Knights both groups can attain what they always wanted; a One-man raid on a town. Between the Army of the Dead and the corpse Explosions, Lowbies will be in shock.
Be the first guy on your Server to do it at 80. You'll be glad you did.
That's all for now. Check in the next few days for the next installment, where we'll look at the Talents and put it all together into efficient combos.
