Unholy Rotation for Patch

[Deleted]

I don't know any off the top of my head so I'll write a very basic outline for you here.

• Pre-cast Army 5 secs before pull
• Use Apocalypse when you have 8 stacks of Festering Wounds
• Keep Virulent Plague up 100% of the time using Outbreak
• Keep Festering Wounds above 4 stacks once you have Scourge of Worlds artifact trait
• Pop wounds using Scourge Strike/Clawing Shadows
• Use Ebon Gargoyle/Dark Arbiter to line up with trinket procs/bloodlust
• Use Dark Transformation on CD or delay slightly (no more than ~15secs) for AOE
• Consume Runic Power using Death Coil
  
  For AOE:
  
  
• Apply Outbreak when the group is stacked up
• Use 3x Epidemic charges if taken
• Place Death and Decay and begin to spam Scourge Strike/Clawing Shadows, as it turns into AOE within DnD. You have to be standing within DnD in order for SS/CS to cleave - the adds don't necessarily have to.

There's some more depth to it outside of this, specifically with wounds and pooling RP when taking Dark Arbiter, but this is the general, basic outline. Note that in some builds this hasn't always been the case - at one point it was a DPS gain to completely ignore Festering Wounds. However, it is apparent that the list I've given is the way Blizzard intend the class to be played, and as of writing this (Beta Build 22231) list is correct.

Actually you use Army during bloodlust phase wherever it may go (start,end,mid). AOTD is now your highest DMG skill per rune cost as it's been significantly buffed.

For AOE if you have bursting sores it's actually better to use FW7-8 + DND + SS spam as you get SS cleave + FW aoe burst which combined does more dmg than epidemic. If you can't do it then Epidemic.

[Skullbound]

Actually you use Army during bloodlust phase wherever it may go (start,end,mid). AOTD is now your highest DMG skill per rune cost as it's been significantly buffed.

For AOE if you have bursting sores it's actually better to use FW7-8 + DND + SS spam as you get SS cleave + FW aoe burst which combined does more dmg than epidemic. If you can't do it then Epidemic.

You got a source for that statement? o.o

[Deleted]

Actually you use Army during bloodlust phase wherever it may go (start,end,mid). AOTD is now your highest DMG skill per rune cost as it's been significantly buffed.

For AOE if you have bursting sores it's actually better to use FW7-8 + DND + SS spam as you get SS cleave + FW aoe burst which combined does more dmg than epidemic. If you can't do it then Epidemic.

Find me 5 logs, or give me a breakdown of the math where you compare AOTD damage to a full DA burst window, where the AOTD damage outweighs a well-played DA burst window.

DA hits so much harder and AOTD it's not even funny, and DA scales significantly better than AOTD off of haste. You pre-cast Army because you generally want to open with DA, where you want to use those 3 runes effectively for wounds, not for Army that gives much less RP than building and bursting wounds.

[Deleted]

Find me 5 logs, or give me a breakdown of the math where you compare AOTD damage to a full DA burst window, where the AOTD damage outweighs a well-played DA burst window.

DA hits so much harder and AOTD it's not even funny, and DA scales significantly better than AOTD off of haste. You pre-cast Army because you generally want to open with DA, where you don't want to use those 3 runes effectively for wounds, not army that gives much less RP than building and bursting wounds.

Not everyone will take DA while everyone has AOTD.

Also expect a nerf to DA tbh.

- - - Updated - - -

You got a source for that statement? o.o

just playtesting on beta. if you refer to ghouls then when they apply dots, increase dmg taken by the target from DK by 5-15% and also explode when they die it's very high.

As for Bursting Sores + FW + DND + SS it's simple math. You get FW aoe dmg + SS cleave vs Epidemic's dmg. Without Bursting Sores Epidemic is the superior choice (at least appears so from testing)

[Deleted]

Not everyone will take DA while everyone has AOTD.

Also expect a nerf to DA tbh.

No reason to nerf DA - it's not strong enough to consitute a nerf as it ends up being quite far down on your damage due to its long cooldown. It's been significantly nerfed three(?) times now. Plus, it requires set up and attention to use it to its full potential, including luck with sudden doom procs. It's not a simple press-to-win CD.

Plus you're right, not everyone will take DA, because Defile is looking to be a better talent for extended AOE as it ticks a lot harder and also increases Mastery by a total of 7%. If AOE lasts long enough for Defile to be required, that is when we'll look towards BS, more below:

just playtesting on beta. if you refer to ghouls then when they apply dots, increase dmg taken by the target from DK by 5-15% and also explode when they die it's very high.

As for Bursting Sores + FW + DND + SS it's simple math. You get FW aoe dmg + SS cleave vs Epidemic's dmg. Without Bursting Sores Epidemic is the superior choice (at least appears so from testing)

Bursting Sores does have a high damage potential, but it also requires an awful lot of set up - which you often won't have time for in a raiding environment because AoE packs that are large enough to benefit from Bursting Sores generally aren't common in boss fights. You realistically have to spend at least 4 GCDs to start getting damage out of Bursting Sores (2x Festering Strike (more likely 3), 1 DnD, begin SS/CS spam). Whereas with Epi, it's simply a 1/2 GCD setup. If you 1x FS for 2-3 wounds then 1x SS/CS then 1x FS, you'[re wasting so much damage between GCDs that you'd be better off spamming Epi.

BS may be viable on certain bosses, and it will definitely be seeing some play on trash and in Mythic+. We'll need to wait for sims and/or boss fight tuning to see where it'll be worth taking. It's just about whether AOE packs last long enough for BS' to be set up effectively.

[Rothulean1]

Honestly, Bursting Sores for AoE MASSIVELY relies on having Infected Claws and praying for good RNG.