Unholy Death Knight Rotation & Talent Build

Class

Spec

Introduction

Welcome to the PvE Class Guide for Unholy Death Knight in Mist of Pandaria Classic. We'll look at the rotation and opener, best talent build, stat priority, consumables, and more so that you can dps at a high level in raids, dungeons, and challenge modes.

MoP Classic Unholy Death Knight Rotation

Opener

Pre-cast
Army of the Dead
.
Pre-cast
Horn of Winter
.
Pre-cast
Raise Dead
.
Pre-pot
Potion of Mogu Power
.
Cast
Death Coil
whenever you have enough Runic Power until 5 stacks.
Cast
Dark Transformation
whenever you have 5 stacks alongside
Unholy Frenzy
.
Cast
Outbreak
while running in.
Cast
Death and Decay
while running in.
Cast
Festering Strike
.
Cast
Festering Strike
.
Cast
Scourge Strike
.
Cast
Summon Gargoyle
with any on-use effects.
Proceed with single target rotation.

Single Target

Use
Rune of the Fallen Crusader
.
Use
Unholy Presence
.
Cast
Army of the Dead
. Best used before pull or during non-combat phases.
Cast
Raise Dead
.
Cast
Unholy Frenzy
.
Cast
Summon Gargoyle
.
Cast
Empower Rune Weapon
when all Runes are on cooldown and you won't cap on Runic Power.
Cast
Blood Tap
with 9+ charges and a fully depleted Rune. You should also use it when either
Soul Reaper
or
Death and Decay
are off cooldown and you don't have a Rune available.
Maintain
Frost Fever
and
Blood Plague
. These are applied by
Outbreak
or
Plague Strike
and refreshed by
Festering Strike
.
Cast
Plague Leech
if
Outbreak
is available and you have 2 fully depleted Runes.
Cast
Soul Reaper
on targets below 35% HP.
Cast
Dark Transformation
at 5 stacks of
Shadow Infusion
. You should have high Runic Power when it ends so you can maximize its uptime.
Cast
Death Coil
to 5 stacks of
Shadow Infusion
when
Dark Transformation
is not active .
Cast
Death and Decay
or
Scourge Strike
if it's on cooldown when both Unholy Runes or Death Runes are up.
Cast
Festering Strike
when both Frost Runes and Blood Runes are up.
Cast
Death Coil
when
Sudden Doom
procs or at 90+ Runic Power.
Cast
Death and Decay
or
Scourge Strike
if it's on cooldown.
Cast
Festering Strike
.
Cast
Horn of Winter
.

AoE

2-3 targets:

Cast
Outbreak
or
Plague Strike
once to apply diseases.
Maintain diseases on all targets with
Blood Boil
and
Roiling Blood
, otherwise use
Pestilence
.
Proceed with your single target rotation.

4+ targets:

Cast
Outbreak
or
Plague Strike
once to apply diseases.
Maintain diseases on all targets with
Blood Boil
and
Roiling Blood
, otherwise use
Pestilence
.
Cast
Death and Decay
with Unholy Runes.
Cast
Festering Strike
to transform all Blood and Frost Runes into Death Runes.
Cast
Blood Boil
with Blood and Death Runes.
Cast
Plague Strike
to avoid capping on Unholy Runes.
Cast
Horn of Winter
.