The Death Knight: Back to Basics

I've been wanting to write one of these for a while, now. A night or so ago, a fellow DK in a friends guild asked for a bit of help improving his dps--after a few other random whispers from others on the realm, it finally pushed me to delve into this thing, head first.

So let's begin at the beginning.

Runic System: The Basics
Unlike other classes that use mana, or generate rage, DK's have Runes. 6 to be exact:
2-Frost, 2-Unholy, and 2-Blood. Each of these runes has its own specific cool down, and each of our abilities (strikes) needs one rune, or a combination of runes to work. Upon using these abilities, we are filled with Runic Power (which is used to power other abilities).

Because our runes have an ICD (internal cooldown), the consensus is that in order to maximize our potential for damage, we need utilize our runes in a way that makes use of all of them in a determined amount of time.


Diseases
Another staple mechanic of DK damage is disease. Diseases, when applied act as a DoT (damage over time) effect on the target. When applied to one target, the damage done by diseases is nice. However, when facing multiple targets, the spreading of these DoT's will help maximize dps (and threat if you're a tank).

The two main diseases are Blood Plague and Frost Fever. Blood Plague is applied using Plague Strike, and Frost Fever is applied using Icy Touch.


Talent Tree Independant Abilities
All Deathknights have abilities that are independant of the talent tree they choose to spec themselves into. These abilites are single rune abilities (with the exception of Death and Decay), and I generally categorize them into two groups: Single Target Abilities, and AoE(Area of Effect, or multiple mob) Abilites.

Single Target Abilities: Icy Touch*, Plague Strike*, Blood Strike

Multiple Mob Abilities: Pestilence, Blood Boil, Death and decay

***Icy Touch and Plague Strike, while single abilities, may be spread to
multiple targets using Pestilence***

Talent Tree Dependant Abilities
So you've got down the basic Death Knight abilities up top, now let's talk about what makes each tree unique. The talent trees are broken down and categorized just like the runes we have: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. The talents in each tree are designed so that they boost stats, or damage, or develop synergy between certain abilities. However, each Tree also utilizes a specific Strike, native to that particular tree.

Blood has Death Strike
Frost has Obliterate
Unholy has Scourge Strike

If you notice, all of these abilites have one thing in common: they all require a frost and unholy rune to use...


Rotation Rotation Rotation
A rotation is basically a list of abilities that can be used sequentially to produce the maximum amount of damage (or from a tanks perspective, produce the max amount of threat)
Rotations are created while keeping a number of factors in mind: applying diseases, using our hardest hitting abilities, and making use of all of our runes in such a way that when the rotation is finished, our runes are available again to use. A rotation may also potentially fill us with enough runic power to open up some of our other abilities to use.


Runic Powered Abilities
Some of our abilities don't require the use of our runes. These abilities are instead, fueled by runic power (RP). Some are designed to deal damage, and others to mitigate it. RP damage dealing abilities are generally used at the completion of a rotation, when it is at its max level, however they can be used at any time you have enough RP to fire off an RP ability. The basic DK damage dealing RP ability is Death Coil, however there are others that are talent tree dependant, such as Frost Strike, Gargoyle, and Dancing Rune Weapon.


Putting it All Together
Putting it all together can be daunting, so I'll simplify it the best I can.

1. Spec
2. Rotation
3. Stat Weighting
4. Practice

The first thing you need to do is decide which tree you like playing, and create a spec that fits your needs. You'll find cookie cutter dps specs here on my blog, and in the DK threads over at the EJ forums. I always recommend looking at these first, due to the extent at which they have been tested. The links you'll find should come complete with optimal glyph choices as well. I like to compare sticking to a widely accepted Spec and glyph combo with building a solid foundation to a house: its not just the ingredients that make a foundation strong. It's the synergy between the ingredients...

Along with the spec/glyph combo, you'll find a rotation of abilities that has been optimized either for single target dps, or multiple mob (AoE) dps. Again, these abilities have been proven to do the maximum amount of damage, and should be learned inside and out. Completing a rotation is very easy on stagnant fights, but you'll need to know your abilities inside and out on movement fights, and fights when you'll need to pop damage mitigating cool downs to survive. Spend some time on a practice dummy practicing your rotation--run around, get a feel for it. Run out by Ebon Watch and practice on one of those gigantic skeletons...knowing a rotation like the back of your hand, and how your abilities work together, will allow you to get back on track if something gets borked for some reason.

Now that you've got your spec and rotation mapped out. Let's take a look at your stats. More importantly, are you hit capped? Expertise capped? Hit cap ensures that you can hit your target, and expertise ensures that your opponent doesn't dodge or parry them.

Hit Cap is currently 8% (on mouse hover) or 262.3 Rating
Expertise Cap is 26

If you've already obtained these stats, then you really want to fill your gem slots with Strength gems...

You'll notice other stats on your gear though: critical strike rating, haste, armor penetration, etc. To learn more about those, and how they affect your spec click HERE. =) You'll find that each tree benefits from stats differently, so I highly recommend you give it a glance. Oh, and if you're looking for a list of gems and gear enchants: HERE.

***Note: the previous page hasn't been updated to reflect epic gems***

Wheeeeeew!!!

Now that you've got the basics down, time to put them to practice. Run some heroics, some 10 mans, some 25 mans, and then evaluate yourself. What are you doing well? What can you do better? Is the stat weighting on your gear optimized for the spec your playing? Or has it shifted to benefit another? When you think you're ready to explore the finer details and nuances of the Death Knight, head on over to elitistjerks and delve into the class forums there. I promise you won't be disappointed.