Blood Death Knight PvE Guide - Cataclysm Classic

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Rotation

Blood Death Knights are considered the best Tank in Cataclysm. The changes to
Death Strike
healing, as well as their
Mastery: Blood Shield
gives them insane self healing and damage prevention. They have an abundance of defensive cooldowns, so they have an answer for every situation. Another big quality of life change that all Blood Death Knights got is
Outbreak
now has a 30 sec cooldown, which means you can use this exclusively to keep your
Blood Plague
and
Frost Fever
on enemies, and you no longer need to
Icy Touch
and
Plague Strike
.

Opener

1. Whenever all or most of your procs align in your opener, cast
   Raise Dead
   .
2. Pre-cast
   Bone Shield
   .
3. Pre-cast
   Army of the Dead
   .
4. Pre-cast
   Horn of Winter
   .
5. Pre-pot
   Golemblood Potion
   .
6. Cast Taunt.
7. Cast
   Death Strike
   .
8. Cast
   Heart Strike
   .
9. Cast
   Dancing Rune Weapon
   and any on-use effects.
10. Cast
    Outbreak
    .
11. Cast
    Death Strike
    .
12. Cast
    Heart Strike
    .
13. Cast
    Death Strike
    .
14. Cast
    Heart Strike
    .
15. Cast
    Empowered Rune Weapon
    .
16. Cast
    Death Strike
    .
17. Cast
    Heart Strike
    .
18. Cast
    Death Strike
    .
19. Cast
    Rune Strike
    .
20. If
    Runic Empowerment
    procced, cast
    Blood Tap
    and
    Death Strike
    , otherwise cast
    Heart Strike
    .
21. Proceed with single target rotation.

Single Target

1. Use
   Rune of the Fallen Crusader
   .
2. Use
   Blood Presence
   .
3. Maintain
   Horn of Winter
   if assigned.
4. Cast
   Empower Rune Weapon
   when all Runes are on cooldown and you won't cap on Runic Power.
5. Cast
   Raise Dead
   as a dps or defensive cooldown with
   Death Pact
   . Try to snapshot it with any on-use effects or procs like
   Rune of the Fallen Crusader
   .
6. Cast
   Dancing Rune Weapon
   as a dps or defensive cooldown.
7. Cast
   Bone Shield
   at 0 charges.
8. Cast
   Blood Tap
   if you have a fully depleted Blood Rune and only one Death, Frost, or Unholy Rune ready.
9. Cast
   Rune Strike
   to avoid capping on Runic Power.
10. Maintain
    Blood Plague
    and
    Frost Fever
    with
    Outbreak
    or
    Icy Touch
    and
    Plague Strike
    if it's on cooldown.
11. Cast
    Death Strike
    with Death, Frost, and Unholy Runes.
12. Cast
    Heart Strike
    with Blood Runes.
13. Cast
    Blood Boil
    with
    Crimson Scourge
    procs.

AoE

2-3 targets:

1. Cast
   Death and Decay
   .
2. Maintain diseases on all targets with
   Pestilence
   .
3. Proceed with your single target rotation.

4+ targets:

4. Cast
   Death and Decay
   .
5. Maintain diseases on all targets with
   Pestilence
   .
6. Proceed with your single target rotation, but use
   Blood Boil
   instead of
   Heart Strike
   .

Defensive Cooldowns

1. Rune Tap
   .
2. Vampiric Blood
   .
3. Icebound Fortitude
   .
4. Dancing Rune Weapon
5. Army of the Dead
6. Anti-Magic Shell
   .
7. Death Pact
   on the ghouls from
   Army of the Dead
   or
   Raise Dead
   .

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Talents

Standard Build

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Glyphs

Prime:
Heart Strike
,
Rune Strike
,
Death Strike
Major:
Anti-Magic Shell
,
Bone Shield
Optional:
Blood Boil
,
Dancing Rune Weapon
,
Pestilence
,
Vampiric Blood
Minor:
Blood Tap
,
Horn of Winter
,
Resilient Grip

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Best Consumables

Flasks and Elixirs

Best:
• Flask of Steelskin

Alternatives:
• Flask of Titanic Strength

Food

Best:
• Seafood Magnifique Feast
  ,
• Beer-Basted Crocolisk
  ,
• Fortune Cookie

Alternatives:
• Lavascale Minestrone

Potions

Best:
• Golemblood Potion

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Best Races

Alliance

1. Dwarf:
   Stoneform
   and
   Mace Specialization
2. Worgen:
   Viciousness
   and
   Darkflight
3. Human:
   Sword Specialization
   and
   Mace Specialization
4. Draenei:
   Heroic Presence
5. Night Elf:
   Quickness

Horde

1. Goblin:
   Time is Money
   ,
   Rocket Barrage
   , and
   Rocket Jump
2. Orc:
   Axe Specialization
   and
   Blood Fury
3. Troll:
   Berserking
   and
   Regeneration
4. Tauren:
   Endurance
5. Blood Elf:
   Arcane Torrent

Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Best Professions

1. Blacksmithing:
   Socket Bracer
   and
   Socket Gloves
   .
2. Jewelcrafting: Unique Epic Gems.
3. Leatherworking:
   Draconic Embossment - Stamina
   . Becomes 2nd best in T13.
4. The rest of the Crafting Professions provide nearly identical benefits.