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Unholy Death Knight

Damage specialisation · Tier A in Mythic+, 5.6% of the sample

PvE GuideRaid logs, Mythic+ players and PvE buildsACTIVEPvP GuideRated ladder talents, gear stats and builds

Opener

The order abilities first landed across 4 top-parsing pulls, with the median time into the fight. The percentage is how many of those parses used the ability at all — a step at 100% is the opener, one at 60% is a choice some players make.

  1. 1Outbreak+0.3s75%
  2. 2Festering Strike+1.5s100%
  3. 3Festering Scythe+2.4s100%
  4. 4
Charge!
+3.7s
100%
  • 5Army of the Dead+3.7s100%
  • 6Dark Transformation+4.1s100%
  • 7Soul Reaper+4.5s50%
  • 8Putrefy+4.7s75%
  • 9Necrotic Coil+6.2s100%
  • 10Vampiric Strike+8.9s75%
  • What follows what

    What was pressed next, counted over every observed pair. This is the closest a log gets to a priority list — but it describes behaviour, not a rule: a player casting Execute because it lit up looks the same here as one following a plan.

    • Vampiric Strike55 casts→Necrotic Coil33%Vampiric Strike26%Death Coil15%
    • Necrotic Coil44 casts→Vampiric Strike43%Necrotic Coil18%Putrefy9%
    • Scourge Strike28 casts→Death Coil32%Scourge Strike25%Necrotic Coil14%
    • Death Coil28 casts→Vampiric Strike46%Scourge Strike19%Death Coil12%
    • Putrefy15 casts→Necrotic Coil47%Death Coil13%Dark Transformation13%
    • Festering Strike12 casts→Festering Scythe42%Scourge Strike25%Vampiric Strike17%

    Ability usage

    Casts per minute across 20 top-parsing kills in The Venomous Abyss. Per minute rather than totals, so a long fight does not read as a heavily used ability.

    Single target

    7 fights where almost all damage went to the boss

    1. 1Death Coil11.9per min
    2. 2Scourge Strike11.0per min
    3. 3Vampiric Strike10.9per min
    4. 4Necrotic Coil8.0per min
    5. 5Festering Strike3.4per min
    6. 6Festering Scythe0.9per min

    Multi-target

    10 fights with substantial add damage

    1. 1Scourge Strike10.8per min
    2. 2Vampiric Strike10.3per min
    3. 3Death Coil10.2per min
    4. 4Necrotic Coil

    Fights are sorted by how much damage landed on boss units rather than by a hand-kept list of which encounter is the AoE one, so the split stays right after a retune. Fights in between are left out of both columns.

    Updated 31/08/2026. These are observed casts, not a recommended priority — the order reflects how often an ability came up, which is not the same as when to press it.

    Secondary stats

    Secondary stat split across the 100 best-geared synced characters. Averaged per player, so one heavily geared character cannot define the answer for everyone.

    • Versatility38.5%957 avg
    • Mastery31.3%787 avg
    • Haste18.4%511 avg
    • Critical Strike11.8%311 avg

    What PvE players are playing

    Talent choices across 278 synced characters playing this specialisation. These are observed picks, not recommendations — they say what the ladder is doing, not what you should do.

    Where builds differ

    Taken by between 15% and 90% of players. This is where the real decisions are.

    • Death Defiance89%

      244 players · Class

    • Osmosis87%

      238 players · Class

    • Ebon Fever82%

      224 players · Specialization

    • Proliferating Chill76%

      207 players · Class

    • Cycle of Death61%

      168 players · Specialization

    • Blood Draw61%

      167 players · Class

    • Grip of the Dead58%

      158 players · Class

    • Coldthirst53%

      145 players · Class

    • Dark Transformation33%

      91 players · Specialization

    • Icy Talons33%

      91 players · Class

    • Blood Scent23%

      64 players · Class

    • Menacing Magus22%

      59 players · Specialization

    • Permafrost18%

      49 players · Class

    • Insidious Chill16%

      45 players · Class

    Near-universal picks (67)taken by 90%+ — effectively baseline
    • Anti-Magic Barrier100%

      274 players · Class

    • Asphyxiate100%

      274 players · Class

    • Death Strike100%

      274 players · Class

    Rarely taken (110)under 15% — situational or out of favour
    • Grave Mastery15%

      41 players · Specialization

    • Blood Bond13%

      35 players · Class

    • Assimilation8.8%

      24 players · Class

    Import a real build

    Loadouts from the highest-rated synced players of this specialisation. Paste straight into the game.

    • Rangedbad

      area-52 · US3,537

    • Goosedekay

      bleeding-hollow · US3,510

    • Morós

      tarren-mill · EU3,288

    • Miratrixdk

      silvermoon · EU3,273

    • Stinkguy

      illidan · US3,254

    Learn the spec

    This page measures what players do. For rotation, stat priority and matchup play, these are the references.

    • WowheadpveRotation, stat priority, gear and consumables. The most complete free PvE reference.
    • Icy VeinspveRotation walkthroughs and talent reasoning, written for players learning a spec.
    • Raider.IOpveMythic+ routes, affix planning and dungeon-by-dungeon breakdowns.

    Other Death Knight specs

    • Blood
    • Frost
    6.2per min
  • 5Festering Strike1.3per min
  • 6Festering Scythe1.2per min
  • 7Epidemic0.9per min
  • 8Graveyard0.7per min
  • 9Putrefy0.4per min
  • Death's Echo100%

    274 players · Class

  • Icebound Fortitude100%

    274 players · Class

  • Improved Death Strike100%

    274 players · Class

  • Rune Mastery100%

    274 players · Class

  • Runic Attenuation100%

    274 players · Class

  • Unholy Bond100%

    274 players · Class

  • Unholy Momentum100%

    274 players · Class

  • Veteran of the Third War100%

    274 players · Class

  • Will of the Necropolis100%

    274 players · Class

  • Brittle100%

    273 players · Class

  • Mind Freeze99%

    272 players · Class

  • Gloom Ward99%

    271 players · Class

  • Cleaving Strikes99%

    270 players · Class

  • Blood-Soaked Ground6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Bloody Fortitude6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Frenzied Bloodthirst6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Gift of the San'layn6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Incite Terror6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Inevitable6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Infliction of Sorrow6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Newly Turned6.9%

    19 players · Hero

  • Pact of the San'layn6.9%

    19 players · Hero