Death Knight Leveling Guide - Cataclysm Classic - Warcraft Tavern (2024)

Death Knights are a hybrid class, capable of dealing high amounts of Physical and Magical damage by spreading DoT effects and dealing direct damage while also possessing high survivability through self-sustain and powerful defensive cooldowns. Death Knights can fill both the Tank and DPS roles, with two talent trees dedicated to the DPS role, and one to the Tank role.

Death Knights are one of the few classes that can efficiently level in three different talent trees, allowing players to choose whichever playstyle feels more appropriate and fun. The Blood Specialization is mainly used for Tanking and Soloing hard Elites due to its amazing survivability while also being capable of heavy AoE farming. The Frost specialization is also known for its efficient direct damage tools, especially in the case of AoE farming thanks to Howling Blast while the Unholy specialization focuses on spreading DoT effects and controlling Undead minions.

In this guide, we’ll go over helpful tips, where to spend your talent points, what to look for when gearing, effective use of your abilities, and other general advice to make the leveling process as smooth and easy as possible!

Pros

• The character starts at level 55.
• High Single-Target damage with spells such as Frost Strike, Obliterate, Scourge Strike, and Heart Strike.
• High AoE damage by spreading diseases with Pestilence, defiling the ground with Death and Decay, or freezing enemies with Howling Blasts.
• Extremely high self-sustain on each specialization with Rune Tap, Vampiric Blood, Death Strike, Death Pact, and Lichborne.
• High armor and powerful defensive cooldowns such as Icebound Fortitude and Anti-Magic Shell.
• Highly engaging play style.

Cons

• The requirement of an existent level 55 character is a pre-requisite before you’re able to create a Death Knight.
• High skill ceiling; the Runic Power & Runes Resource System can lead to many gameplay mistakes.

General Leveling Tips

Blood Death Knights are known as one of the extremely durable Tanking specializations with a very high amount of self-sustain. Due to their consistent self-healing, they are the preferred method for AoE farming or soloing Elite quests. Blood is the safest option for players who wish to easily grind mobs or spam dungeons.

Frost is the fastest specialization to level in if you only choose to do quests and mob grinding as it has the highest amount of burst. While it may not have the survivability of the Blood specialization, it is the second strongest AoE farming spec thanks to Howling Blast.

Lastly, Unholy is the most versatile spec, having access to pets, DoTs, decently-high Single-Target & AoE damage. Unholy is much more complicated as a specialization when compared to the other two available Death Knight specializations, however, once mastered, its playstyle is extremely rewarding.

In terms of end-game content, both Unholy and Frost are very similar, with both specializations having a high damage output while Blood is one of the most powerful Tanking specializations in the current meta.

Stat Priority

Blood

• Stamina
• Strength
• Mastery
• Dodge Rating
• Parry Rating
• Haste Rating
• Critical Strike Chance

Frost

• Strength
• Critical Strike Chance
• Haste Rating
• Mastery
• Stamina

Unholy

• Strength
• Haste Rating
• Critical Strike Chance
• Mastery
• Stamina

Rotation

Lower Levels

Blood

At low levels, Heart Strike, Blood Boil, and Death and Decay will make quick work of your enemies.

• Cast Icy Touch to Apply Frost Fever
• Cast Plague Strike to apply Blood Plague
• Cast Pestilence to spread diseases
• Cast Blood Boil if more than 3 enemies
• Cast Death and Decay if more than 3 enemies
• Use Death Strike and Rune Tap when low on health
• Cast Rune Strike to spend Runic Power
• Spam Heart Strike whenever possible after applying diseases

Frost

At low levels, you will mainly spam Frost Strike and Obliterate until you get to Howling Blast.

• Cast Icy Touch to apply Frost Fever
• Cast Plague Strike to apply Blood Plague
• Cast Pestilence to spread diseases
• Cast Death and Decay if more than 3 enemies
• Cast Death Strike when low on health
• Cast Frost Strike to spend Runic Power
• Spam Obliterate

Unholy

At low levels, you will mainly spam Scourge Strike alongside spreading your diseases while your pet does most of the job.

• Cast Icy Touch to Apply Frost Fever
• Cast Plague Strike to apply Blood Plague
• Cast Pestilence to spread diseases
• Cast Death and Decay if more than 3 enemies
• Cast Death Strike when low on health
• Cast Death Coil to spend Runic Power
• Spam Scourge Strike

Higher Levels

Blood

At higher levels, you will be able to pull large amounts of mobs at once as a Blood Death Knight. Prioritize spreading your diseases quickly, especially once you gain Outbreak, and focus on placing Death and Decay while spamming Blood Boil as much as possible. Use Death Strike and Rune Tap to heal yourself, and spend your Runic Power on Rune Strike.

• Gather a large number of enemies
• Apply diseases with Outbreak or Icy Touch plus Plague Strike
• Spread diseases as soon as possible with Pestilence
• Place Death and Decay as soon as possible after spreading diseases
• Spam Blood Boil
• Use Death Strike and Rune Tap to heal
• Cast Rune Strike to spend Runic Power
• Cast Heart Strike once a few enemies remain

Frost

At higher levels, Howling Blast spam alongside Death Strike and Frost Strike will make quick work of your enemies. In case you deal with resilient foes, switch to an Obliterate, Death Strike, Frost Strike spam rotation. Howling Blast will be useful in both Single-Target and AoE situations.

• Apply diseases with Outbreak or Howling Blast plus Plague Strike
• Spread diseases with Pestilence in AoE situations
• Cast Death Strike to heal
• Spam Obliterate on powerful Single-Target foes
• Spam Frost Strike to consume Runic Power
• Spam Howling Blast against weaker foes in AoE and Single Target scenarios

Unholy

At higher levels, you can choose to AoE grind powerful mobs with your diseases, Death and Decay, and Blood Boil or rely on Scourge Strike spam for powerful Single-Target enemies while your pets whittle down the target.

• Apply diseases with Outbreak or Icy Touch plus Plague Strike
• Spread diseases with Pestilence
• Cast Death Strike to heal
• Spam Blood Boil in AoE situations
• Cast Death and Decay in AoE situations
• Cast Dark Transformation to empower your pet
• Use Summon Gargoyle against powerful Single-Target foes.
• Spam Death Coil to spend your Runic Power
• Spam Scourge Strike in Single-Target

Talents

Blood

This is a variation of the standard talent tree that is optimized for AoE gameplay. There is some flexibility here when it comes to initial talents such as Butchery, Blade Barrier, and Scent of Blood, with the talent points being interchangeable.

Frost

Frost Death Knights have the option of using two different builds, depending on which playstyle they prefer. They can either opt for a Dual-Wield Build or a Two-Handed Build. In terms of flexibility, you may choose to drop Lichborne for an additional point in Butchery.

Unholy

This is the standard Unholy Build that can also be used during end-game content. There is little flexibility here, with the only option being to remove Runic Power Mastery in favor of Magic Suppression.

Glyphs

Primary

Blood

• Glyph of Heart Strike
  This glyph gives you a buff to one of your core abilities.
• Glyph of Death Strike
  Another glyph that offers a damage buff to one of your core abilities.
• Glyph of Death and Decay
  A great glyph that aids with AoE scenarios.

Frost

• Glyph of Obliterate
  A simple but effective buff to one of your core abilities.
• Glyph of Frost Strike
  This glyph reduces the Runic Power cost of Frost Strike, being a potent buff!
• Glyph of Howling Blast
  This glyph now allows you to apply Frost Fever AoE with Howling Blast!

Unholy

• Glyph of Scourge Strike
  A powerful buff to one of your core abilities!
• Glyph of Raise Dead
  Empower your minion even further, granting it 40% of all your Stamina and Strength!
• Glyph of Death Coil
  Another powerful buff to one of the most iconic abilities in your kit.

Major

Blood

• Glyph of Bone Shield
  This glyph increases your movement speed considerably while Bone Shield is active.
• Glyph of Dancing Rune Weapon
  This glyph offers a massive boost to your threat!
• Glyph of Rune Tap
  This glyph allows you to heal your allies as well.

Frost

• Glyph of Hungering Cold
  Yet another great glyph to reduce the cost of one of your core abilities!
• Glyph of Dark Succor
  An amazing glyph for self-sustain!
• Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell
  Extends the duration of Anti-Magic Shell by 2 seconds.

Unholy

• Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell
  Extends the duration of Anti-Magic Shell by 2 seconds.
• Glyph of Pestilence
  This glyph increases the radius of Pestilence by a small amount.
• Glyph of Dark Succor
  An amazing glyph for self-sustain!

Minor

• Glyph of Horn of Winter
  This glyph increases the duration of your Horn of Winter duration.
• Glyph of Resilient Grip
  This glyph is a great addition in case you face foes immune to Death Grip.
• Glyph of Blood Tap
  This glyph allows you to use Blood Tap efficiently.

Equipment

Death Knights are able to use One-Handed and Two-Handed Maces, Axes, Swords while also being able to use Polearms. You should always try to use whichever weapon gives you the best stats, with the best weapon usually being a Two-Handed Weapon. The only case in which you will want to Dual-Wield is in the case of the Frost Two-Handed Build.

Weapon upgrades will often be the biggest damage increase while leveling. Since most of your abilities scale off Weapon Damage, every upgrade will be a big boost!

Death Knights are able to use any kind of armor but they primarily prefer Plate Armor. Their heavy Plate Armor and defensive cooldowns means that they are extremely resilient, making it hard to for mobs to kill them! However, even though they are very sturdy, Death Knights are still not immortal, meaning that you need to exercise caution when dealing with a large number of mobs.

Professions

Professions don’t impact the leveling process, however, some professions are easier to grind while you are leveling up your character. Professions such as Mining, Herbalism, or Skinning grant you passive bonuses while also being easily leveled up while venturing throughout the world.

Crafting professions are much harder to level up during your leveling journey, albeit, they can provide powerful items. Blacksmithing is one of the more potent professions for Death Knights, especially if paired with Mining. While Blacksmithing and Mining are great for Blood Death Knight Tanks, Tailoring and Engineering will be the best professions for end-game content if you plan on min-maxing your character as an Unholy or Frost Death Knight.

Useful Macros

There are not many useful macros for leveling, apart from the essential ones. The only exception is for Unholy Death Knights when it comes to their pet, with one macro being particularly useful for healing your pet without swapping the target.

Startattack Macro

This macro is useful to make sure that your character always uses Auto-Attacks! You can replace Obliterate with any other ability from your kit and the macro will work all the same.

#showtooltip/startattack/cast Obliterate

Pet Healing Macro

This macro can be used to heal your pet without losing your current target! You can replace Shift with Control or any other key of your choice. By holding the specific key and using the keybind which u binded this macro to, you will automatically cast Death Coil on your pet without losing your target. However, before using this macro, you will need to remove the action bar specific keybinds from your options menu in case you choose to use either Shift or Control.

#showtooltip Death Coil/cast [mod:shift,@pet][]Death Coil