UDK PvE Guide- Noobface edition

This is a brief albeit in depth introduction in to the world of Unholy Death Knights, for new & advanced players of this spec.

DISCLAIMER: If you don't have the time or you think you can figure things out on your own you can find the author's DK build either here https://armory.warmane.com/character...ecrown/summary or by searching Noobface on the Warmane site armory and copy it.




First things first, to be able to play any spec in the game the correct way we need to be aware of the basics such as stat prioritization, talents and glyphs.

UDK is no different than the other melee damage dealers, besides the fact half your damage isn't physical, but regardless of that your main stat is -------STRENGTH and you should gem every red socket, and every socket if you're new, with it because that will be the stat that boosts your damage the most and we'll get into more details "why" later on.

As UDK your HIT RATING should be no less than 8% and there are plenty of ways to achieve that with your build.

Regarding EXPERTISE - you should aim to get 26 unless you're going for a no-EXPERTISE build(yeah, that's a thing) the aim of which is to miss as many abilities as you can in order to generate more runic => you can cast more Death Coils (what the..).
Both builds have about the same DPS with the no-EXPERTISE build having slightly more damage according to simulations, which makes sense because you discard EXPERTISE for extra stats elsewhere, but if you're new to the spec stick to being EXPERTISE capped.

Your next best in slot stats are HASTE and CRIT and you can gem either of them in your yellow sockets as an orange gem alongside STRENGTH.

Lastly - ARMOR PENETRATION. Arp isn't as beneficial as STR since as I mentioned above half your damage isn't physical, so basically your DOTs and minion attack will not benefit at all from it, but I guess your auto attacks and physical abilities will go up a notch without a doubt.




The talents are pretty straightforward: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...0109/image.png

Important to note here is that you put 1/3 points into Morbidity instead of 3/3 (which means 10% less damage from Death Coil) BUT when you put those 2 extra points into 2/2 Dirge you generate 5 extra runic power on every Death, Plague and Scourge Strike and if we do the calculations:

-If your base Death Coils deals 10k damage on average - With 3/3 Morbidity your Death Coil will do 11.5k instead of 10k thus every 5 Death Coils you'll do ~57.5k

-If your base Death Coils deals 10k damage on average - With 1/3 Morbidity and 2/2 Dirge your Death Coil will do 10.5k on average BUT you will get an extra Death Coil for every 4-5 casts, which means your total damage with 5 Death Coils(and the bonus one) becomes 63k

So, all in all, if you want to maximize your DPS potential you should go for 2/2 Dirge and 1/3 Morbidity.




The following glyphs are the absolute GO-TO if you want to the best performance out of your UDK: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...9614/image.png

-Glyph of Dark Death increases your damage done with the Death Coil ability by 15%, which needs no explaining.

-Glyph of Glyph of the Ghoul makes your pet stronger as it receives 40% of your stamina which makes it harder to die and 40% of your Strength.
Notice how the ghoul gets 40% of our STRENGTH? That's exactly why we gem and aim for as much raw STRENGTH and as we can get.

-Glyph of Icy Touch is again self explanatory as it increases your Frost Fever disease damage by 20%.

Minor glyphs:
-Glyph of Horn of Winter increases the duration of the Horn of Winter buff by an additional 1 minute, which is good if you're the only DK and you die early in the fight(or the tank DK is slacking and forgets to use his)

-Glyph of Pestilence increases your spreading of DOTs range by 5 yards and it makes it easier to transfer them from one target to another(also makes it more likely that you'll DOT kinetics and orbs on princes)

-Glyph of Raise Dead is essential, since you don't have to buy reagents every time to summon your ghoul

NOTE #1: You can replace either of the major glyphs in an AoE fight like Onyxia or Halion HC and use Glyph of Death and Decay which increases your Death and Decay(DnD) ability damage by 20% and you can further enhance that if you re-do your talents or use an AoE off spec which has 3/3 Morbidity instead and 0/2 since the Morbidity talent reduces the DnD cooldown.

NOTE #2: If you're having a hard time keeping your DOTs up you can replace one of your major glyphs with Glyph of the Disease which allows you to refresh your DOTs by simply using pestilence on the target, but we wary not to spread it on additional targets that you should otherwise not damage.




Now that the base of the build is covered up it's time to get the best out of your rotation:

The rotation is pretty simple, apply each of the two DOTs and keep them up every 20 seconds manually(unless if you're using Glyph of the Disease, then you just press pestilence) while using both Scourge Strike and Blood Strike.
When you've used up all your runes you can fill in your rotation by using Horn of Winter which will renew the buff & give you additional 10 runic power.

Before the fight ALWAYS make sure you Bone Shield is used and has at least 4 more minutes before it expires, because it gives you an extra 3% damage increase as well as 20% damage reduction on the next 3 times you're hit.

For an even stronger opener you can switch to Unholy Presence before the pull and use Army of the Death(unless your raid leader tells you to keep it for later in the fight) , dot the boss/target up and gather enough rune power to summon the gargoyle.
After you summon the gargoyle and use up all your runes - use Empowered Rune Weapon to get back your runes, switch to Blood Presence and keep on going with your rotation.

NOTE #1: If you want to min-max your opener even more try using Blood Strike as your first ability as it enables your 5/5 Desolation talent which increases your damage dealt by 5% with all attacks for the next 20 sec.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...1585/image.png

NOTE #2: There are some fights where you can boost your DPS by spreading your DOTs with pestilence, like using it just as beasts on Deathbringer Saurfang spawn or when the Lich King summons his ghouls/valkyries.




There is no concrete BiS build for UDK like there is for Fury Warrior i.e , in fact you will see a lot of UDKs each with a different build all doing pretty much the same DPS.

Here is the EXPERTISE build that I am currently using:
HEAD: Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet - the t10 head piece;
NECK: Lana'thel's Chain of Flagellation - Drops from BQL 25/ you can replace it with Penumbra Pendant(RS 25) for the no-EXPERTISE build;
SHOULDERS: Sanctified Scourgelord Shoulderplates - the t10 shoulder piece;
CLOAK: Winding Sheet - Drops from Rotface 25;
CHEST: Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate - the t10 chest piece;
WRISTS: Umbrage Armbands - drops from RS25 / can be replaced by any leather wrists incl. Toskk's Maximized Wristguards(DBS 25);
HANDS: Sanctified Scourgelord Gauntlets - the tier10 hands piece;
WAIST: Coldwraith Links - Drops from Valithria Dreamwalker 25;
LEGS: Sanctified Scourgelord Legplates - the tier10 legs piece / or Scourge Reaver's Legplates (VDW 25) for the no-EXPERTISE build;
FEET: Apocalypse's Advance - Drops from RS 25;
RING #1: Ashen Band of Endless Might - the reputation ring from ICC;
RING #2: Might of Blight - Drops from Festergut, this one can be replaced by any AGI/STR ring according to what stats you need i.e hit/expertise;
TRINKET #1: Sharpened Twilight Scale - Drops from RS 25, overall the best trinket for the spec;
TRINKET #2(choice 1): Deathbringer's Will - Drops from DBS 25;
TRINKET #2(choice 2): Death's Choice/Verdict - Drops from Twin Val'kyr in TOC/TOGC 25
WEAPON: Shadowmourne - can be replaced by either Glorenzelg(LK 25) or Bryntroll (Marrowgar 25)
SIGIL: Sigil of the Hanged Man /Sigil of Virulence - 30 emblems of frost/25 emblems of triumph

NOTE #1: Deathbringers Will(DBW) can be better than Death's Choice(DC) and vice versa depending on what form you get out of your DBW.
For instance, this is the order of the forms/procs you benefit most from both trinkets:

DBW ATTACK POWER FORM > DC PROC > DBW HASTE FORM > DBW CRIT FORM.

Overall your DBW AP form is better than the DC proc, but it has a 1/3 chance, so if you want to have maybe less but more consistent damage you can go for DC over DBW.


NOTE #2: Shadowmourne is the best weapon in this expansion and that goes without saying, but since it takes ages to grab a hold of the alternatives are
Glorenzelg, High-Blade of the Silver Hand and Bryntroll, the Bone Arbiter
Glorenzelg offers a ton of EXPERTISE and 2(3)red sockets with a huge chunk of raw DPS while Bryntroll offers a unique proc which is specifically designed to work exclusively for DKs that not only heals you but it also deals a nice portion of damage.
The proc can be activated by literally everything - from an AA to a DOT proc AND there is no limit to how many times or how often it can proc!

NOTE #3: The Sigil of the Hanged Man can grant you a total of 219 STRENGTH when you use Scourge Striker 3+ (73 STRENGTH wit each Scourge Strike) while Sigil of Virulence grants you 200 STRENGTH with just a single Scourge Strike.
It's up to you to & your preference which one you'll choose to go with.



If you want to get the best out of your race as an UDK - go for the good old Orc!
-The orc racial gives you 5 EXPERTISE for free if you're using an Axe
-Being an orc gives your pet additional 5% damage increase
-2 minute CD racial ability that gives you 300 odd ATTACK POWER and aligns almost perfectly with your gargoyle CD

The next BiS UDK are the sharp tusked Trolls.
-3 minutes CD racial ability that increases your casting & attack speed by 20%(a mini BL) which aligns perfectly with your gargoyle CD
-Beast Slaying passive racial that increases the damage dealt against beasts(mostly useful in TOC/TOGC) by 5%

If you are just a casual that doesn't care about a small damage boost or a tryhard that's looking for an excuse as to why he's not top DPS in his raid group you can go for whatever race that visually appeals to you.




Engineering is the one MUST HAVE profession for your UDK.
Having the ability to use nitro boots and death grip something one way or the other to help your raid group can be a real difference maker.
Not to mention that the hands enchant "Hyperspeed Accelerators" gives you a 340 haste buff for 12 seconds that make your gargoyle even stronger with a 2 minute CD that you allows you to empower every next gargoyle once it comes off cooldown.

Jewelcrafting is also a great choice because you can create and wear 3 major stat gems like STRENGHT that give you 34 each(hell yeah!).

Enchanting gives you a 40 ATTACK POWER ring enchant and the ability to disenchant items that can earn you a buck or two while raiding.

Leatherworking gives you 114 ATTACK POWER wrist enchant and the ability to skin beast corpses and collect their fur for profit, also gives a nice little passive critical strike bonus which shouldn't be overlooked.

Blacksmithing allows you to add an extra socket to your gloves and bracelet which you can gem with 2x 20 STRENGTH gems.

Tailoring gives you the ability to enchant your cloak with a proc that gives you 400 ATTACK POWER for 15 seconds every with a 1 minuted CD.
This is yet again a great profession that you can maximize your gargoyle damage dealt with, as it will align with your gargoyle CD and every other big CD you've got saved up.



If you want to spend extra gold on improving your DPS besides Flask of Endless Rage, you can get yourself some Scroll of Strength VIII that you can use on both yourself and your ghoul for an extra 30 STRENGTH each.
Oh, and don't forget about the Spiced Mammoth Treats that boost your pet's STRENGTH and STAMINA by 30. Your pet certainly won't.



Remember: The raid leader took you to his raid group because of the unique buffs & utility that you bring to the raid, not because of your immaculate gameplay or top DPS, so don't be too fussed when you get out DPS'd by the 5th Fire Mage or Fury Warrior in your group.


Here are some Screenshots from raid fights so you can get a good feel of what to expect from your UDK once you learn and master it:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...923_225103.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...923_225751.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...723_231420.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...323_212636.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...423_210913.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...323_205605.jpg

i cant see those "Here are some Screenshots from raid fights so you can get a good feel of what to expect from your UDK once you learn and master it" it doesn't work for some reason .

Screenshots from raid fights are not working, better upload it on imgur.