disease free!

it works!

after so long, i am now back to being a Blood Death Knight (DK). but for how long, i do not know. i knew the UnHoly (UH) tree was gonna be the `in` thing with DKs. having read so many articles of it being the uber damage dealer that it is compared to frost and blood with starting/pre-raid gear, i shifted to an unholy build when i hit level 75. that was almost 3 months ago.

the fun part of being an UH DK is the cool spell effects. what with a swarm of insects around you (unholy blight), the grasping arms of the dead beneath you (desecration), more diseases, stronger pets, plus death and decay which is a staple DK AoE ability, and let’s not forget exploding corpses (corpse explosion). raiding with an UH DK the fights can’t be more than lively and full of colors.. . it is just one ugly mess!

while the unholy DK is strong, i must say, i’ve always wanted to try or wondered about how the other specs work. i’ve always been a sucker for dual-wielding (DW). so i’ve had a short stint as a dual-wielding frost DK. i didn’t like it very much. it was too dependent on chance. killing machine procs, rime, and the likes.. . not that the other builds didn’t rely on chance. but as i’ve read, frost damage is more on killing machine and rime procs and how you have to use your highest damage ability when they go off.

lately i’ve been reading again. they’ve nerfed gargoyle. they’ve nerfed killing machine procs a bit. both are still as strong as ever given the right gear. supposedly DWing DKs have the highest DPS potential in all builds even after the patch nerfs. i guess i don’t have that kind of gear yet. raid composition also plays a lot. if the raid is not melee-DPS friendly, well.. . so i stumble upon a build that centers on doing away with diseases. yes, a disease-free rotation. all attacks are based on just 3 abilities, namely, Obliterate, Heart Strike and Death Coil, in order of priority. the concept is that the strikes do more damage in the long run compared to having to put diseases on your target frequently. nevermind that diseases add bonus damage to both strikes. in the end the strike alone does more damage since you can use up more of your runes just for these strikes instead of having to cast icy touch and plague strike, both of which use up runes but does minimal damage.

the rotation? Obilterate twice, Heart Strike until you can’t anymore, then Death Coil away before your next runes go active. squeeze in a death coil if Sudden Doom procs if you can. it’s a free death coil after all. don’t forget blood tap. always obliterate if you can. of course you can change the rotation when doing trash mobs. but i’ve found that sticking to the rotation still works. then again this build is not so AoE-centered. it’s more centered for single target fights like boss fights.

this build is heavily reliant on gear by the way. without good gear, i don’t think this can be pulled off. you need a nice high-damage weapon. the ones that drop from naxx preferably. lots of strength, that will go for 4000(++) attack power unbuffed, and a high critical strike chance as well. 30% is good enough. this should go without telling you anymore that hit and expertise rating are 2 very important stats for melee DPS. try to cap hit rating (8%), then expertise (6.5%). armor penetration is good for this build too, since it’s mostly physical damage you are doing. but get this stat last. it’s not a very high priority.

so that’s it. a 3-button mashing rotation. that’s all you need to worry about. enjoy!

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Notice: This article was published on February 26, 2009 and the content above may be out of date.
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