How (not) to Unholy DK in PvE

Since A LOT of people have been spamming me, in both direct messages and public forums, when it comes to how "Awbee" plays his Unholy DK and why is it so different from my guide and way of playing things, I will use this chance to take his video as an example and break it down step by step and give my opinion on it.

I did not want to bother with a whole forum post, but since he is deleting all the comments I post on his videos (and I am not trying to be funny or belittle him), even tho most of them were genuine advice, I will do it mainly to hopefully stop the dm and @tag spam from discord.

This is the video: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=970ksLnBmyA"
I will be using @x:xx as a time stamp of the time in the video I am giving my comments on.

@1:55 he starts with the talents.
The talent list is fine, the reason behind why we go for those talents are wrong, since we dont care about the "free" interrupt, we want 4% extra Strength from that talent, and 20% Haste from Frost tree as a whole, since Haste is really valuable for both Death Knight and our Pets (more about this latter).
If you are interested in more in depth talk when it comes to talents and reason behind them from 0 gs to 6.8k gs go check: http://forum.warmane.com/showthread.php?t=326654

@3:05 he talks about alternative glyphs for Ruby Sanctum.
I am not sure if you would want to trade Dark Death or Ghoul for Death and Decay, but I can say that 20% more damage on DnD is for sure not worth it unless your guild have a specific problem with killing the adds and wiping to them.
I think that with all the raid buffs and debuffs, Ghoul is the one that does more overall damage than Death Coil.
You want to kill Halion as soon as possible, and from all the guilds I was in, not a single one required more AoE damage (on the small adds) on that fight.
I also got asked why he values T9.5 (258 version) for the set bonus that allows your Blood Plague to Crit, which when taking in to account all the damage lost on single target (from both 2t10 bonus and stats), and damage you lose from Death and Decay (due to less stats again and no 4t10 bonus) is not worth it on the long run (aka whole fight), so I would want to see how he would combine DnD glyph with T9 or T10 set as a whole and which one he finds better (I think you also have the set bonus value for each tier in the "Unholy, King of Anything" retail guide).

@3:50 he addresses the big question regarding gear, expertise dodge cap or not.
As I said in my guides, I prefer to cap it. He does to, but...
As you can see from my mains armory: http://armory.warmane.com/character/...ecrown/summary
I have it capped there. It is far easyer to cap it on an Orc (T10 legs + 3x 10exp10hit gems) but if you play anything else, this is the way to cap it.
Now, if we take his DK for example: http://armory.warmane.com/character/...ecrown/summary
You can see that he uses gems to cap expertise as he said in the video. What is funny to me is that he found a way to make suboptimal way of gemming even more suboptimal, to explain:
you need 173 Expertise Rating from gear you get it to 26, which can be done with 1x 34 expertise gem, 60 expertise from Ring and 4x 20 expertise gems (80 total) to finish the job.
He for some reason goes for 2x 34 and 1x 10exp10hit gem that makes him even more over capped with hit on top of everything else.
Fun fact is that I asked a friend of mine to sim 26 expertise build I have on Gnimo at the moment, and the "retail bis" with 5 exp, the difference was 17000 dps for my build and 17200 dps for "retail bis" build (it is not exact number, but the difference was ~200 dps), so if you want to avoid getting Plague Strike dodged 3 times in a row (like it happened once to me on BQL 25m hc), you can feel free to cap it and not worry about losing a lot of dps.
However, if the 5 expertise build gets lucky, and has 0 dodges in a fight (which also happened to me couple of times when I was testing it in raids), you can for sure know that it did more damage than the expertise build (not a lot, especially on short fight, where Haste wont make a huge difference when it comes to melee count of both your auto attacks and pets).

More in the video, @5:00, he mentions that you want 10str10haste gems in only +6 socket bonus items...
http://forum.warmane.com/showthread.php?t=326654 (again) if you take a look at "Stat weights" from this "old retail" guide, you can see that "Frost SM" has these values for Strength and Haste:
Strength - 3.11 / Haste - 2.97
20 x 3.11 = 62.2
14 x 3.11 + 10 x 2.97 = 43.54 + 29.7 = 73.24
By using simple math you can see that you actually want to to match all +4 socket bonus items as well.
On top of that, I dont understand why, especially as a Draenei where he wont suffer the hit loss with his current gear, he does not want to use T10 legs to lower the Haste, he does not value much, while going for 26 Expertise and to increase Strength he does value a lot, by the info he gave in the video.
I doubt, considering how much he raids, he didnt have a chance to get Fleshrending Gauntlets by now.

@5:20 macroes...
Have 2 different binds for Blood Boil and Death and Decay.
Mouse over macro on taunts as DPS is NOT a good idea.
And... YOU DO NOT, I repeat, YOU DO NOT WANT TO /CANCELAURA POWER WORD SHIELD when using AMS (which he says in tips and tricks part of the video latter).
Using AMS as offensive cooldown should only be done with combination of DnD on the target when your Runic Power is already low.
If you are playing your Unholy DK the right way and use Runes first and Runic Power when everything else is on CD, you wont ever need extra Runic Power from AMS in the first place.
AMS is a great tool to help you survive Infest, from both Initial damage if you see healers are having trouble keeping the raid clear from it, and the damage over time part in case you see you are dropping low without getting healed.
It is also a great tool to avoid getting killed in P3 from all kind of random magic damage, so you should actually just move from Blistering and avoid any kind of big damage coming your way and use AMS in case raid is getting killed and the boss is on 1-2%.

@7:20 rotation...
I legit did not understand how can people get something as simple as Unholy DK rotation so wrong, but I guess now I can see with my own eyes.
If you plan to use Army of the Dead before the pull, Bone Shield should be done 11+sec from the moment you want to start casting Army of the Dead.
Even if you want to use this abysmal opener, where you AotD at 9 sec before the pull (even tho he said "nine-9" in the video, the timer said 7 sec, but lets say its 9 or less) you want to have at least 1st of each rune (x blood x frost x unholy, "x" being the rune used for AotD) synced.
One could argue that ERW will fix it all, but it wont as you can see @8:39 (well u cant see since he is not using any rune tracking addon, but try to use vision over 9000 and check the state of Frost and Unholy runes after 2 Scourge Strikes after ERW).
Now, if you have Rocket Boots, and the fight is Festergut for example, you want to use them (unless tank is slow), to get in melee range asap, but you dont want to open with IT ever if you are at melee range or can get to melee range that fast.
Opening with BS is ok, I use it to proc trinkets and Desolation in order to have stronger diseases, but you DO NOT want to use IT after BS.
Why? Read: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?spell=50117.
On top of that Frost Fever does more damage than Blood Plague so you want to buff the spell that does more damage not the other way around.
If we take every fight in ICC for example, you kind of dont want to start on any fight with IT. Just run, hit that PS or BS > PS or PS > BS and go for IT after that.
As for his rotation during boss fights, in the video he presented as a guide for udk, he manages to lose 4t10 bonus due to poor rune management, especially when it comes to Blood Runes.

I wont address his bad positioning on PP and LK in the video, or any other bad thing he did because I really dont care.
All I want is for dumb questions he brings to the table to stop coming my way.
I dont care about what he does, or what he preaches, I would rather not give him even more views from threads like this, just stop with the questions.

If you dont like my guide, u have: http://forum.warmane.com/showthread.php?t=326654 (and again) that has every little information covered from an elitist point of view.
I am just a guy who reads those kind of guides and does a lot of testing and practice in game based on common sense and personal logic, and post the results I found to best work for me.
But know this, no guide, no stream, nothing will help you improve if you dont put in the work and practice in the game that is needed.

In my guide you have both everything I know in text and in video format, if you dont like it, use something else.

When it comes to Awbee, I legit did want to try and help him out (his random viewer asked me to try and do it).
I would have helped him out with the guide he made on this, and many other topics, if he asked for it.
I dont hold grudges and all I want is for people to finally learn how to play and to stop asking me if 2+2 is still 4?
But it is always easyer to ban someone over argument such as if someone should buy T10 legs or wait for VoA to drop them, or to delete or hide my comments on youtube that suggest "fix" when it comes to gemming and how to cap expertise on an Unholy DK, than to admit you are wrong and to grow as a player from it. Hiding in bubble it is...

But, I guess one thing is for sure from this, Unholy DK, no matter how badly you use those Runes and abilities, will do good amount of damage when bis.

Final word to his community is to take everything he says with a grain of salt.
One can say he is entertaining for sure, but his game knowledge and skill he displays on streams are nowhere near average, and him refusing to take any advice that is not served on a silver plate while kissing his bottom, is beyond annoying.

Anyway, hopefully after this hell of a month is over, I will have more time to finish the rest of the forum "guides" I made on other classes and to record videos for all other melee spec, both meme and meta ones.
Until than, chose which information you consume, and keep on improving!
Best of luck!

I dont play dk but I kinda know you from here. Once asked your opinion about 4t9 when some of my friends got into that trend and claimed that it was BiS for them. What I know is that you are not one of the players that just accept things and do as you are told without given proof. You actually try to understhand the logic and test before claiming something. What I know is, if someone can claim to understhand how the dk works fully, you are one of them.

And this Awbee guy, I saw few videos of him and didnt think he was also making guides. I watched few funny top 5 list of tanks etc videos. But few days ago a friend posted a video of him playing a hunter and it felt like he was going just random on it. Sometimes 4, sometimes 5 steady, doing arcane shots unnecessarily, prioritizing arcane shot over other shots etc. Well, that class is easier than a dk and if he cannot master it even, I dont think he should claim to know better on a advanced class. But miracles happen sometimes still.

It looks like I took sides but, kinda I am. You are teaching the people how to play better, at least your main class.

Awbee's guide was the best one ever

I mean the guy plays litterly every single class/spec in the game. Its clear that he will be below standards on most of them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mnggal

I mean the guy plays litterly every single class/spec in the game. Its clear that he will be below standards on most of them.

---

So do I, but I wouldn't go about making guides for classes I'm not confident about.

There is nothing wrong in making a guide, or at least trying to make one.

My first "guide" was not that great if you ask me how I feel about it now, but I guess it served its purpose (it was also not that easy to find all the information on WotLK as it is now).
I got in to a lot of arguments with a lot of people, some of which I am "internet friends" with now, there were times when I did not want to admit I was wrong, times when I was thinking everyone else is wrong and only I know what I am talking about, but as time goes by, you kind of cant run away from reality.
Reality that Haste cloak enchant on FDK is better than Agility one, that Havoc is a better off hand than Bloodvenom, that DBW is better than both WFS and DV when it comes to Unholy DK, and many more things, Blood DK tank included.
If you are trying to be the best version of your self and do the most damage possible with the class you play, those things get to you eventually.

Even today, after 3 solid guides, I still try to make them as perfect as they can be, and improve and edit things people tell me I missed or did wrong.
You can ask, what was the purpose of my first guide, or why to make a half bad guide, and the answer would be:
To put your ideas out in the open, see how people react to them, see if someone who knows more will come and try to point to your mistakes, and to improve based on every single thing you see that is new or that you missed.
For this, you need to be ready to admit you are wrong and be ready to listen to others, no matter if they are "direct" or "friendly", which is a good thing on the long run.
But I guess it is always easyer to live in a bubble.

This is the main issue I have when hearing about Awbee.
He simply believes he is always right, whenever someone approaches him in a direct way, rather than trying to be REALLY nice and not accidentally trigger him, he dismisses them and just calls them "one of Funky troll friends" and drops the ban/hide/delete hammer.

Don't get me wrong, he can play however he wants to, but at least have the balls to say:
"I prefer this way of game play, I know its not the most optimal way, but as you see it gets the job done.
If you want to know the most optimal way, go to X or Y person."
"I prefer to cap the expertise cap on Unholy DK, but on average build with 5 expertise should be better, unless you are extremely unlucky, which I consider my self to be and why I prefer to cap it. (while posting lists for both builds)"

He legit banned couple of people from his discord as "toxic" while they were trying to explain to him that Crusader Strike DOES NOT reset Divine Storm if you have 2t10.
How else do you tell someone 2+2=4?
You just go say u have 2 apples and u get 2 more apples, you have total of, one, two, three, FOUR (4) apples.
But I guess that is toxic.

As for playing multiple classes and not expecting high standards from every single one of them, I disagree.
The reason I tryed to make the miniseries with youtube videos of rotations and forum posts of the "guides" on almost every melee dps is because I was trying to improve my own skill set as a player, learn the best way of playing each one of those classes and specs, and to help others not waste a lot of time as I did in trying to find all that good info and just watch 1 video and say, "ok if I repeat that in the raid I know I am doing the best I can with this gear".
What you see as maybe ~10 videos on youtube, in reality I recorded over 200 and most of them were not good enough, some because RNG was really bad, some because I did not perform well.
But its a constant work in progress.
Sadly I have no free time nowadays to make them what I planned so I just left them be there as they are and I hope one day I will get the time to finish them. :D

I have played ALL DPS specs there are for WOTLK as an expansion, Tank specs as well, when it comes to healers, I did some 10m raids with Holy Paladin and a Resto Shaman, my learning process was always this:
"Try to figure things out yourself based on the info you have in game and using common sense, try to look for some good guides to see how min-maxing is handled, once you have at least couple of weeks of practice try to find a REALLY GOOD player of "X class/spec" and ask him/her for some tips and tricks and if you are doing something wrong."
After that, its all about constant practice on both Dummy and in Raids to perfect rotation and you are good to go.
WOTLK is not as hard as people make it to be, there is simply A LOT of bad information out there and people are just lazy to put in the work and effort.

There were a lot of meme streamers on Warmane trough all the years I have been on this server.
When people approached me with Awbee's I legit tought he could be the one to help people improve, based on how he interacted with his community and chat overall, but once I got to see how he handles critic and "hard" arguments, it was easy to see he wont help anyone unless he gets over himself.

But I guess there is always hope, that one day, everyone can see their own mistakes, admits them and improve after that.
Until that day comes, try not to believe in everything he has to offer you without double checking it. :D

You can play many classes and min max the **** out of almost every class you play. That's no excuse for being mediocre and misspreading information.

it's kinda sad when he spreads this much misinformation. glad you cleared up a lot of his points but sadly, his video will be viewed by more people than this post.