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Unholy Death Knight Raid Boss Tips Guide
By Veissdrachen
Last Updated:
2018/06/21
Changelog
Patch: 7.3.5
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Welcome to the Unholy Death Knight Guide, updated for World of Warcraft Legion Patch 7.3.5! This guide is currently updated and maintained by
Veiss Versa
, who has been a raider in various DPS capacities for 9 years, and is currently 5/11 Mythic Antorus. You can also find him on
YouTube
and
Twitch
, or at his
blog
.
For more Death Knight discussion, visit the Death Knight
Class Discord
, the
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Discord, or ask our guide writers questions on
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Share your own spec guide using our new
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General Mythic+ Tips and Tricks
Anti-Magic Shell
can absorb damage from and negate several effects on many encounters, making
Spell Eater
a very useful talent in nearly many forms of content. Remember that damage
ABSORBED
by
Anti-Magic Shell
will grant you
Runic Power
, so try not to be capped. Effect applications that are
NEGATED
by
Anti-Magic Shell
do not contribute to Runic Power gain.
Being an Unholy Death Knight is pretty straightforward. We have a decent damage mitigation ability in
Icebound Fortitude
, and can heal ourselves from hard hits using
Death Strike
.
Our typical talent builds don't vary much. If you want to use a particular build, you can use various legendary items to bolster your ability to deal damage in differing modes.
Important Note:
If you take the
Clawing Shadows
talent, you will not be able to hit the Fel Explosives spawned during
Explosive
with
Clawing Shadows
, with or without
Death and Decay
active.
Offers the most leeway in combinations of Legendaries and Tier pieces of the three spec options, with no highly recommended Legendary options blocking tier slots (With the exception of
Cold Heart
, which is not mandatory.
This spec is good for either Mythic 10+ Third Affix, offering respectable damage depending on your choice of legendaries in all damage from single target, to multi to cleave.
Blocks the Shoulder slot for Tier when using required Legendary
Tak'theritrix's Shoulderpads
.
This spec is best on
Tyrannical
, but can be modified via legendaries to perform moderately well on
Fortified
as well. Will still be the weakest of the three in general for
Fortified
Blocks access to the Helm slot for Tier, requiring
Death March
This setup is strongest on
Fortified
of the three recommended setups, but performs the poorest of the three on bosses in
Tyrannical
, even with legendaries oriented towards single target damage.
The Instructor's Fourth Lesson
OR
Soul of the Deathlord
. (You can swap Talents to Bursting Sores and use the Bracers to achieve similar, but spikier and less reliable damage to the Ring)
Legendaries, How Do They Work?
Rather than focusing on a standard legendary setup, your choice of legendary can vary greatly depending on the level and type of content you are doing. While optimal raiding legendaries are relatively standard (Even though there are different available setups for a variety of situations), Legendary choice in Mythic+ is variegated in scope.
I'll break the most useful legendaries down into Single Target, Multi-Target and Defensive, as well as which affixes they match well with. The standard legendaries that are necessary for each spec will still apply, but you can use the following breakdown as a helpful guideline into which legendaries will help you to accomplish your goals best in tandem with whichever ones are absolutely necessary to use. Note that as a Death Knight, most of the affixes mean very little to us other than "Do more of this type of damage", so this part of the guide will focus mainly on that.
Single Target
Cold Heart
: Works well with all builds, offering tremendously increased single target damage, as well as a 5 second stun on what is essentially a 40 second cooldown. Extremely strong on
Bolstering
,
Tyrannical
and
Raging
.
The Instructor's Fourth Lesson
: Very strong single-target oriented legendary. Great for
Fortified
, and
Raging
Multi-Target
Soul of the Deathlord
: Excellent AOE oriented Legendary, with powerful applications on
Fortified
,
Teeming
. When used in tandem with
The Instructor's Fourth Lesson
, turns Soul Reaper into a very strong jack of all trades setup, allowing you to use any combination of tier pieces of your choice, while dealing respectable damage in both single target and AOE.
Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish
: Very much the same as Soul of the Deathlord above, just with Strength for flavor, and a cooldown.
Defensive
Acherus Drapes
: The Cape Formerly Known as Acherus' Disappointment, this legendary is actually very useful on
Bursting
,
Explosive
, and
Volcanic
. With
Bursting
, it can either absorb the damage dealt after the dot is applied (granting Runic power and healing), or be used in tandem with the
Spell Eater
talent to grant you a 20 second
Anti-Magic Shell
that completely prevents the application of the
Bursting
debuff. (Can be really nice, but can result in you watching your entire group slowly die from the massive dot after a successful over-pull... or just a large pull where everyone AOE'd like it was their job.)
Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
: Very straightforward, this just shields you from a lot of damage. Particularly useful on
Grievous
,
Quaking
.
Common Sense Tips
If you get stunned,
Icebound Fortitude
can help you get out of it. (Most of the time. There are exceptions)
Wraith Walk
breaks Roots as well as Slows. Keep this in mind.
There are some unavoidable hard hits that come from bosses, keep yourself healthy with
Death Strike
if you take a hard knock.
Death Grip
is a reliable method of proccing
Sephuz's Secret
on cooldown. Remember that the cooldown of
Death Grip
is shorter than the cooldown of
Sephuz's Secret
, so you'll want to save the spell to proc the effect properly, if you are using Sephuz.
Antorus, the Burning Throne
There are not very many difficult mechanics on Garothi Worldbreaker.
Anti-Magic Shell
helps against
Luring Destruction
.
You will want to save
Wraith Walk
for AFTER
Luring Destruction
, if you want to survive on Mythic. Using it during will not negate the pulling effect, leaving you too close to the boss to survive the ensuing damage.
Try to dot both hounds with
Outbreak
Anti-Magic Shell
greatly reduces damage taken from
Burning Maw
and
Corrupting Maw
.
Anti-Magic Shell
cannot
prevent the fear from
Weight of Darkness
. You will need raid members to stack on you for it!
Using
Outbreak
3-4 seconds before the adds spawn will help you be more efficient with Runes.
Try to cast
Death and Decay
shortly before the adds spawn to maximize damage before they charge away.
Anti-Magic Shell
can negate the stun and the damage from
Shock Grenade
. Use this to your advantage to continue dealing damage while running out with your
Shock Grenade
.
Icebound Fortitude
will also negate the stun, allowing you to continue dealing damage.
Avoid stepping on
Entropic Mine
.
Stay out of
Collapsing World
.
Be careful when returning to the platform from the portals; landing in
Felstorm Barrage
will get you killed.
Do your best to dot the adds from the Transport portals.
Dodge
Felstorm Barrage
Probably the only fight in the game where
Debilitating Infestation
is useful.
Slow adds and do as much damage as you can.
Stay near your healers and try not to die. Defile can be useful here, but most enemies will die so quickly, it won't matter terribly much.
Avoid sleeping your raid with
Sleep Canister
Make sure you are out of range of other players with
Sleep Canister
. Don't get slept!
Avoid being hit by
Charged Blasts
during phase 2.
Avoid triggering traps, during phase 2, and the bombardment during Phase 3
During phase 1, make sure you are not within 5 yards of any other players, especially your tanks.
Swap immediately to adds to bring them down while the damage debuff on them is strongest. Save your
Dark Arbiter
for these phases.
Never move more than 8 yards from your raid, unless you get
Necrotic Embrace
. Move out quickly within a few seconds of the expiration
Try not to be in front of the rest of your raid;
Marked Prey
will take you out of the fight.
Dot both bosses with
Outbreak
.
Anti-Magic Shell
can give you some extra time to get to a safe zone during
Storm of Darkness
, but don't dawdle.
Avoid being hit with
Fiery Strike
.
Sidestep Asara's
Shadow Blades
casts and dodge
Whirling Saber
.
Focus the adds during
Machinations of Aman'Thul
,
Flames of Khaz'goroth
and
Fury of Golganneth
. Avoid being near other players during
Fury of Golganneth
.
If you don't have a Blood DK tank, you may be put on add management duty. Use
Death Grip
to pull in the smaller adds one by one as the debuff falls off. Coordinate with your raid team to CC adds until you're ready to grip them.
Avoid
Scorching Blaze
and
Wake of Flame
.
You want to try and stack up
Strength of the Sky
If you are marked with a
Sky and Sea
orb, try to run directly back along the edge of the
Death Fog
.
During Phase 2, avoid the
Edge of Obliteration
, and make sure you run out with your
Soulburst
/
Soulbomb
During Phase 3, focus the Constellar Designate add with
Shadow Vulnerability
Help interrupt
Cosmic Beacon
.
During Phase 4, Release Spirit immediately, and quickly move to the Tree so that you can resummon your Ghoul/Abomimation, and recast your Augment Rune. Remember that you can Wraith Walk while a Spirit.
Because of Unholy's natural defenses against AOE, it's very likely you will just survive SoulBomb in this phase when you're supposed to die. There is nothing you can really do about this, but continue DPSing as normal.
If you do die, pick up as many
Mote of Titanic Power
as you can before rezzing to keep working on the boss.
Tomb of Sargeras
Crashing Comet can be fully absorbed by
Anti-Magic Shell
, and the dot damage effect negated. (This can really reduce strain on your healers as you completely remove the 1M/2s dot from the equation.)
The instant damage of
Infernal Burning
can be reduced or even negated by
Anti-Magic Shell
, and the dot damage effect negated. (However, it's easier just to hide behind a pillar.) On Mythic, the damage from the Pillars can be negated as well.
Icebound Fortitude can be helpful during Infernal Burning on Mythic difficulty.
Anti-Magic Shell
will absorb damage and prevent Torment gain while afflicted with
Echoing Anguish
. This is also true if you find yourself inside a zone of
Suffocating Dark
(possibly due to a raid member standing on or too close to the exit point of the cage zone.
Using your pet's
Hook
to move it between bosses can help with pet uptime.
Move out of melee range and do not attack Atrigan while he is casting
Bone Saw
.
On Mythic difficulty, the adds are susceptible to
Hook
,
Chains of Ice
, and
Death Grip
. If you are fixated by an add, using Chains of Ice to slow its progress will give you more room to maneuver. They cannot be stunned, however, even with the effect of
Cold Heart
Anti-Magic Shell
can prevent the application of the
Drenched
debuff from all sources, including Drenching Waters.
Aqueous Burst
can be interrupted with
Death Grip
.
The
Colicky Tadpole
can be
Death Grip
ed while casting their jump to interrupt it, but they will begin jumping again immediately after.
Dodge pools during
Draw In
.
Anti-Magic Shell
can no longer negate the application of
Hydra Acid
when soaking another player's
Hydra Shot
but
There are very few, if any, mechanics on Sisters of the Moon that require special advice.
Crossing from one side of the room (indicated by the color on the ground) triggers
Astral Purge
, resetting
Umbra Suffusion
or
Lunar Suffusion
.
Dodge the
Twilight Glaive
.
On Mythic, don't dawdle when crossing the moon line. This will cause multiple Astral Purges to fire.
Rapid Shot can be absorbed with
Anti-Magic Shell
. Take a tick or two before casting
Anti-Magic Shell
, and healers can heal you up while the shield is active.
You are vulnerable to silencing by the Tormented Cries, so be careful of their placement.
Shattering Scream
applications can be prevented with
Anti-Magic Shell
.
Untested: It may be possible to prevent being forced into the Spirit Realm via
Spear of Anguish
using
Anti-Magic Shell
. I would like to test this but have not had significant opportunity.
When affected by
Infusion
, move to the designated side of the room.
There's nothing you can usefully prevent here with
Anti-Magic Shell
, but it can protect you from having the bombs applied to you in the event other people mess up the orbs.
Try not to be close to other people jumping in the pit with their bombs, as this can cause a cancellation that will send you plummeting to your demise.
If you aren't confident if your ability to grab orbs, stay on the rails in the floor to avoid picking up any.
You can tell the next orb that will drop based on the color of the swirl pattern on the floor. Be mindful of the colors, and don't stand on them continuously; Step in when an orb of the right color is about to drop, and step out immediately after, as the orb colors rotate randomly.
A fun fight, nearly every mechanic that can affect you is reductible by Anti-Magic Shell.
Cast
Wraith Walk
when struck by
Shadowy Blades
, as this will allow you to move quickly out of the slowing field without taking very much damage.
Anti-Magic Shell
is excellent against
Rupture Realities
. If you move to the limit of your
Death Coil
range, You can still deal some damage, negate the damage of
Rupture Realities
, and generate Runic Power in the process to continue attacking.
The damage of
Touch of Sargeras
is very weak when split amongst players, so don't bother using AMS on this, it is much better saved for
Rupture Realities
.
Anti-Magic Shell
will prevent the application of the debuff from soaking
Armageddon Rain
. Be aware that the large version,
Armageddon Hail
, deals physical damage, and will kill you instantly if you try to AMS it. Even Corpse Shield will not save you from the dot damage applied afterward.
AMS is also useful against the effects of
Focused Dreadflame
, shielding you against both the initial damage and the
Focused Dreadburst
that accompany it on Heroic difficulty and above.
Wraith Walk
is tremendously useful for getting into position for the
Rupturing Singularity
. As long as you are on or near the center of the platform, you will never be knocked off. (Obviously do not stand UNDER the singularity if it is in the center.)
If you have the
Item - Death Knight T20 Unholy 4P Bonus
, casting on the boss during intermission stages can help you bring down the cooldown of your Army significantly before
Kil'jaeden
returns to the field.
In order to avoid the beams from the obelisks, make sure you are not standing in line with any of the spiky protrusions on top, as thee indicate the source and direction of the knockback beam.
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Tags:
Intermediate
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