Fix My DK DPS v1 - Thread broken, see v2 in the stickies

[Axphyxiate]

I noted my AMS soaking yielded way more RP than I used and I had a lot of wasted RP - is that common on Noru / Noru HC?

It's normal for any fight where you take a large amount of damage in short time. You can try minimize wasted RP by spending as much as you can before using AMS. I generally use it when one of the big adds dies, the orbs they drop do a fair amount of damage and you should be able to get a full runic bar before it gets soaked by someone.

- How should I be using SR on Noru HC? Should I be looking for opportunities to bang it on the adds? Will that make a significant different to my overall damage?
- Any talent specific suggestions?

Don't use SR on the adds, they'll die too quickly for the damage to go off and its not worth using for the haste proc.
You could think about using Plague Leech instead of unholy blight, haven't played 2h in a while but if you're running out of runes it might be a good choice, not sure how much of a dps gain unholy blight is when the adds die pretty fast.

Had a quick look at logs, FS damage looks quite a bit higher than Oblit, might be explained by more mastery than when I played but just make sure you're using Killing Machine procs on oblit over FS when you possible (not worth waiting for runes to cast Oblit though).

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@Rebslack
Must admit those AMR suggestions look a bit weird, but if the stat gains you get with your SimC stat weights look good then give it a shot.

Hard to compare yourself to top ranked DKs when most of them will have a shit load more mastery/stats in general plus their guilds generally have strats specifically for ranking. Plus your dps will also be affected based on how soon you go into the other phase and clear your sha stacks or whatever plus unless you're uploading logs personally, all of your damage you do in the other phase wont be recorded.

I'm pretty useless with WoL sorry, WCL are a lot more user friendly.

[Helwinter]

Thanks for the feedback Ax. I noted that on FS too - I actually have double the casts of FS vs OB. Hopefully that should mean I'm powering through that RP as quickly as I can! I also took a look at my resource chart for RP - it would seem like I'm capping when I'm using AMS, but not staying capped for long (but that likely may suggest I'm capping out on runes from spamming out FS :S) or that I'm capping and wasting BT charges instead!

[Axphyxiate]

Yeah if you're aware of your RP during AMS soaking then that's fine, there are some situations where you just wont physically be able to not cap your RP and that's okay so long as you maximise how much you get out of it. Don't worry about capped runes, as far as I'm aware spending RP during 'infinite RP' is your priority, use BT stacks to stop them from capping assuming you have runes on CD and just get them back on CD after you stop gaining RP. Make sure you only spam FS while you're gaining RP, as soon as AMS wares off go back to balancing runes and RP.

[valliant13]

Yeah if you're aware of your RP during AMS soaking then that's fine, there are some situations where you just wont physically be able to not cap your RP and that's okay so long as you maximise how much you get out of it. Don't worry about capped runes, as far as I'm aware spending RP during 'infinite RP' is your priority, use BT stacks to stop them from capping assuming you have runes on CD and just get them back on CD after you stop gaining RP. Make sure you only spam FS while you're gaining RP, as soon as AMS wares off go back to balancing runes and RP.

There's only a few fights where I noticed overcapping Blood Charges, RP, and Runes.. It doesnt happen TOO often, but it does happen...But even still if you know how to prepare for those moments you can actually barely overcap RP and Blood Charges while just getting to full runes and about 8 blood charges. Actually to think about it, the only fight I know that it happens on is Garrosh during whirling corruption.

[Deleted]

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...s%c3%a9/simple

190K - 200K dps acceptable with this gear ?

[Axphyxiate]

Depends on the fight, seems okay considering your trinkets are pretty shit and weapon is only 540 plus you're playing 2h. Not sure why you're using exp/hit gems in your shoulders and weapon when you're already like 300-400 rating over hit/expertise cap.

[Deleted]

Yeah I need to switch around pretty much every gem according to MR robot and a few reforge changes.

Just wanted to get a general idea if I was doing okay considering both my trinkets suck and a pretty bad weapon.


Thanks.

[Axphyxiate]

I'd definitely recommend switching to dual wield frost if you get 2 flex or higher weapons.

No worries, good luck.

[Deleted]

Hello,

Played wow quite a bit, but never played deathknight until now. Now I got some questions about this class that is totally new to me.

this is my armory:

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...icore/advanced

First question is, should I go DW with these:

Normal
Encapsulated Essence of Immerseus

and

Flex
Xifeng, Longblade of the Titanic Guardian

against my normal Britomart's Jagged Pike

Tried dw with those weapons, reforged and gemmed towards mastery but kept losing to my 2h setup, like alot in single target fights and on dummys. I read somewhere that when ilevel start rise, DW should overcome 2h. So should those weapons (especially if I upgrade the flex one) be enough to beat 2h? I think I got grasp on how to play as dw also, but seems that my dps lacks anyway. Are the "tankish stats" and the thing that the other weapon is flex (weapon damage?) affecting that much to dps? I think I also like more the 2h "ZOMGLITERATE"-facesmash than the lame steady damage of dw. But I also like to do more damage.

Second question is about using pestilence and general aoe as frost 2h:

Quoted from Icy veins

"If the enemies will live long enough, then make sure you spread Blood Plague to them, either through Pestilence, or through use of your Tier 1 Talents (I am using Plague Leech). For Pestilence, by "long enough" we mean that the diseases would need to have time to tick for a total of 30 seconds, among all the adds. So, if you are spreading the disease to two adds, they would each need to live for at least 15 seconds. If you were spreading to three adds, they would each need to live for at least 10 seconds, and so on"

To me my 2h aoe seems bit low even if I _try_ use that principle above. Is it a large dps loss to "aoe" with pestilence if the adds die faster (one blood/death rune and gcd)?
On Garrosh when adds are tanked, I pop dnd, use pestilence on Garrosh and use howling blast when rime procs. Other than that I continue ST rotation on Garrosh. This is the correct aoe "rotation" we got? Or should I focus more on using Howling Blast as 2h user?

Note that I am not raiding heroics.

Last question about runic power:

Often in fights I feel like I'm runic power starved. I got glyphed horn that I use on cd (of course not if rp capped), same goes for ERW. Still it feels like my runic power is often really low or near 0. I try to learn how to soak with AMS, but this needs some practice.
But in fights where you cant soak properly, there will be times when I cant do anything... like nothing in several seconds when nothing procs and everything is on cooldown. Is this the correct way to play or should I try to bank some rp and stop spamming everything I got like a madman. If I need to bank rp, why is that and whats the reason to store it? Note again, this happens on normal bosses and in flex/LFR where there is no need to reserve runes or rp against some add or some mechanic, everything is just nuked like mad. Same goes for target dummy. Should there be like gaps or some "downtime" with frost 2h or even dw? For example retribution paladins (decently geared, with 4pct16) there is literally no gaps or downtime, it is constant spamming of abilities. With my Deathknight I get alot of "downtime" compared to several classes. This has been greatly improved by gear, but it still feels that I am doing something wrong.

Any tips or tricks are more than welcome. Don't bash me too much, I am just trying to learn this class.

[Tenen]

Hello there!
First thank you very much for your efforts

Questions:
1- Should I always use festering strike on frost & blood runes ?
2- I am struggling with AoE fights especially Spoils and Galakras if I have roiling blood and Glyph of Festering blood
Should I use my single target rotation after putting my highest dotting damage or just spamming Blood Boil?

Best regards

[Axphyxiate]

Based on those weapons, I'd stick with 2h for now. The tanking weapon is less than ideal, if you can get a normal dps 1h instead then use that with the flex 1h and go dw then. If dw is doing less dps than 2h it could just be that you don't have enough mastery on your current gear plus the weapons will be a large factor as well so try replace that tanking weapon and try again. It might also take a little while to get used to doing the rotation properly.

2h is a lot weaker in aoe scenarios compared to dw. When I played 2h frost in early SoO I never bothered with pestilence and still managed good ranks on WorldofLogs etc. I would focus on getting as many Howling Blasts out as possible like Icy-Veins says when there are large aoe scenarios, otherwise if there's only 2-3 mobs I'd HB once to spread frost fever and then continue single target dps seeing as HB won't do as much damage for 2h since you won't have as much mastery. Another option would be to take Unholy Blight in T1 talents. A lot of 2h DKs use it so that they don't have to use plague strike as much to keep up diseases.

If you feel RP starved you could consider running with higher haste, especially if you're still practicing soaking properly. One reason haste is de-valued so much is because it's assumed that you are AMS soaking to counteract the slower rune regen. Every fight has a mechanic that you can AMS soak, some of them are just a bit more luck based rather than being able to plan it. Also remember that 2h is a lot slower in it's rotation than dw, it might be worth dropping loud horn so that you can use it as a filler more (and you gain 2 extra RP by dropping the glyph). I'd also suggest trying out Unholy Blight, this way you can use Outbreak and unholy blight to reapply diseases which means you don't have to use as many plague strikes to reapply diseases. DW with gear will have nearly no gaps in their rotation but 2h will have more downtime, especially with lower gear.

Hope this helps

[Tenen]

Armory:
eu .battle.net/wow/en/character/stormrage/Shsaten/advanced

Log:
www .worldoflogs.com/reports/fzrwsrf8aa9ub5ol/

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Hello there!
First thank you very much for your efforts

Questions:
1- Should I always use festering strike on frost & blood runes ?
2- I am struggling with AoE fights especially Spoils and Galakras if I have roiling blood and Glyph of Festering blood
Should I use my single target rotation after putting my highest dotting damage or just spamming Blood Boil?

Best regards

[Deleted]

Blood spec is the best DPS spec for Death Knight right?

Blood DK's aren't dps, they're tanks. They just deal a lot of dmg thanks to vengeance.

[Azrogol]

Armory: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...rogol/advanced (My weapon is 4/4, but it hasn't upgraded on the armory for some reason)
Spec: Unholy
Log: http://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/...-done&source=1

Hey guys, I switched to Unholy and logged my first fight after doing some practicing with the spec. Can you guys help me break this down so I can know what I did right, what I did wrong, and how I can improve? Not sure if I should be doing more dps for my ilvl, and I start progression on Saturday so I want to make sure I'm doing as much as possible.

[Deleted]

Armory eu.battle-net/wow/en/character/wildhammer/Giliead/
Blue weapon is just temporary for try
(i got 2h HC mace but i want try to DW because i think my DPs with 2h is too low)
Spec : DW Frost
Log : warcraftlogs-com/reports/fct3jPx48d7Nk6Th#type=damage-done&source=3

Hello guys , I got problem with my DK because i think i can do better DPS but i dont know how (i see many videos but i dont know what i do wrong :( )I was tried to do best DPS with 2h but after reading some forums etc. i want try to do DW and here is my first log from raiding target dummy . I dont know if this result 255K (100M DMGdone) good or bad (final il567, MH = 553 and OF(temporary) blue 463)Please can you check this and give it me some advice. I will be very grateful.
Thanks alot for help.(iam new here cant insert link to other web)
Gili

[bals]

Armory eu.battle-net/wow/en/character/wildhammer/Giliead/
Blue weapon is just temporary for try
(i got 2h HC mace but i want try to DW because i think my DPs with 2h is too low)
Spec : DW Frost
Log : warcraftlogs-com/reports/fct3jPx48d7Nk6Th#type=damage-done&source=3

Hello guys , I got problem with my DK because i think i can do better DPS but i dont know how (i see many videos but i dont know what i do wrong )I was tried to do best DPS with 2h but after reading some forums etc. i want try to do DW and here is my first log from raiding target dummy . I dont know if this result 255K (100M DMGdone) good or bad (final il567, MH = 553 and OF(temporary) blue 463)Please can you check this and give it me some advice. I will be very grateful.
Thanks alot for help.(iam new here cant insert link to other web)
Gili

well 1) you're cleaving onto other training dummies so this is pretty much pointless
2) 2hand really isn't that far behind if you can play that properly the 2hand hc mace is better.
3) you're not using pillar of frost.

Armory: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...rogol/advanced (My weapon is 4/4, but it hasn't upgraded on the armory for some reason)
Spec: Unholy
Log: http://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/...-done&source=1

Hey guys, I switched to Unholy and logged my first fight after doing some practicing with the spec. Can you guys help me break this down so I can know what I did right, what I did wrong, and how I can improve? Not sure if I should be doing more dps for my ilvl, and I start progression on Saturday so I want to make sure I'm doing as much as possible.

you look like you're doing pretty well.
looks like you may have been able to cast cds again at the end and a second pot but overally doing a good job (may not have even been worth using the 3rd cds at the end). Could use 2nd pot when UF and gargoyle are back up again for the 2nd cast

[Deleted]

Hello,

Played wow quite a bit, but never played deathknight until now. Now I got some questions about this class that is totally new to me.

this is my armory:

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...icore/advanced

Hello again,

Questions about gear and rotation and Outbreak:

Normal 4pc T16 OR 2pc T16 with WF ordos head and pants OR WF hc chest from Immerseus and 4pc? 4 set bonus seems really strong when cleaving but on single target the damage increase isnt that huge, right?

Im not asking if there is like 1% damage difference there, but if some of the mentioned gear choices are well above others or there is something to change?

I am using the WF hc chest and 4pc now.

Update:

Ok, simmed my gear and dw 2pc t16 was the best for single target. DW 4pcT16 was behind like 5k so going with that because the set bonus gives nice cleave dps.

Rotation (DW):

to start with, everyone is saying take Obliterate out from your action bars, leave unholy runes to "rot" and just spam HB, FS and PS. Dropping obliterate is because mastery empowered howling blast does more damage than obliterate and both use same rune (plus obliterate uses one unholy)?

So I started dual wielding when I got warforged and normal swords from Klaxxi, check the armory on my post above.

Using masterfrost rotation(not using obliterate) seems again low compared to 2h and rotation with obliterate, and I do have more than 15k mastery.
Dropping obliterate removes rime procs and without them I am slowly starving on runes and runic power -> rime procs seem to "slow" my rotation and giving that one gcd time to rune regeneration or something? I kept using unholy runes to DND and then PS when got "spare" time.

Why it seems that dropping Obliterate from rotation only seems to be an dps loss? :/

Update:

haste seems to be the problem. Regforged my gear a bit towards haste, and rotation seem to be bit better, not so much gaps and waiting.I think better version of TTT should solve this for good.

Outbreak:

So only use Outbreak when not in melee range of boss, or its a dps loss? Or did I miss something here?

[Deleted]

you look like you're doing pretty well.
looks like you may have been able to cast cds again at the end and a second pot but overally doing a good job (may not have even been worth using the 3rd cds at the end). Could use 2nd pot when UF and gargoyle are back up again for the 2nd cast

Just make sure you'll use the 2nd pot when boss is under 35% HP, if you're confident that you'll be able to pop Gargoyle and Unholy Frenzy with it, it would be perfect :b

[asen932]

Hey guys, seem to be having huge problems with my rotation since my DPS is pathetic for my item level

(on a training dummy, 8m 21s, 198.9k dps, ilvl 566 frost 2h)

Question (BE VERY SPECIFIC):

1. I'm not sure I have the right stat priority / reforging. Popular WoW / DK websites e.g noxxic, icy veins advise Crit > Mastery > Haste. I had that setup for quite a while, but experience huge down - time ( up to 5 - 6 seconds ) since I was both out of runes and out of RP. I then changed to Haste > Crit = Mastery which has increased my DPS both on training dummy dry runs and in raids by about 20% (from 175-180k to 200-210k) as well as left me with almost no down time, meaning for more consistent damage.

2. I use CLC DK addon for my rotation. I track Pillar of Frost and always use it on cooldown, I've macroed it together with engineering synapse springs and strength potion.
Is there a better addon I could use for a more optimal rotation ?

Currently farming material for 600 BS to get the extra gems, although I doubt that'll fix everything, since I've seen DK's around my level pulling 400 - 500k dps comfortable.

3. Anything else I could change ? Any help is much appreciated.

(Can't post links since this is my first post ... )

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Hey guys, seem to be having huge problems with my rotation since my DPS is pathetic for my item level

(on a training dummy, 8m 21s, 198.9k dps, ilvl 566 frost 2h)

Question (BE VERY SPECIFIC):

1. I'm not sure I have the right stat priority / reforging. Popular WoW / DK websites e.g noxxic, icy veins advise Crit > Mastery > Haste. I had that setup for quite a while, but experience huge down - time ( up to 5 - 6 seconds ) since I was both out of runes and out of RP. I then changed to Haste > Crit = Mastery which has increased my DPS both on training dummy dry runs and in raids by about 20% (from 175-180k to 200-210k) as well as left me with almost no down time, meaning for more consistent damage.

2. I use CLC DK addon for my rotation. I track Pillar of Frost and always use it on cooldown, I've macroed it together with engineering synapse springs and strength potion.
Is there a better addon I could use for a more optimal rotation ?

Currently farming material for 600 BS to get the extra gems, although I doubt that'll fix everything, since I've seen DK's around my level pulling 400 - 500k dps comfortable.

3. Anything else I could change ? Any help is much appreciated.

(Can't post links since this is my first post ... )

Character - Sávoy - Draenor EU (Sorry I can't post links yet!)

Tallents - Plague Leach , Purgatory, Death's Advance, Death Pact, Blood Tap, Gorefiend's Grasp

Major Glyph - Regenerative Magic, Death and Decay, Icebound Fortitude

Minor - Long Winter, Tranquil Grip, Army of the Dead

Currently at +102.7% Haste, 47.3% Mastery, 18.9% Crit

[Axphyxiate]

@Asen932

Stat priority: You definitely want to go Crit > Mastery > haste however this stat priority assumes that you are using AMS to soak RP as often as possible to make up for the slower rune regen. If you don't feel confident soaking RP with AMS frequently you can always run Crit > Haste > Mastery but it is a bit of a dps loss. Either way you definitely want crit the most since mastery doesnt affect your obliterate damage. I would also recommend going Dual Wield when possible as 2h is worse than DW and Unholy at this point in time.

I've never used CLC DK so I have no idea how accurate its' rotation is but 2h frost is quite a fast spec usually, trying to react to split second Killing Machine procs and trying to use them on oblit rather than FS etc. It might be worth reading the rotation thread on Icy-Veins and trying to learn your rotation on your own, it's not that difficult.

I find it hard to believe that you've seen DKs at 566ilvl pulling 400-500k dps. If they were I would bet that it was burst, don't believe you would see those number for sustained dps. As a 586ilvl dual wield DK the highest dps I've pulled on Iron Juggernaut is 458k dps and that puts me in the top 4% for FDKs on that fight, there's no way a 566 2h DK will pull 400-500k sustained.

Your Fusion-Fire Core trinket is pretty much garbage on single target fights and you'll want to try get a Thok's Tail Tip to replace it ASAP. Having a normal version of Evil Eye of Galakras would also be nice. You're also ~1000 hit rating over the hit cap but it doesn't look like you can do anything about that without replacing gear for better optimized pieces.

Talents seem okay, you could try running with Unholy Blight instead of Plague Leech so that with Outbreak and Unholy Blight you won't have to use as many runes on reapplying diseases plus it will help slightly for aoe situations. Glyphs seem fine, nothing better to take really.

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@Maleficarum

With your rotation people are correct in saying it's not worth using obliterate. It doesn't hit anywhere near as hard as HB and even though it has the chance of giving a rime proc it's not reliable. HB also has the added bonus of being aoe. You don't let your UH runes rot but you only use them to reapply diseases or use them on DND/PS when you have no frost/death runes or runic power.

A lot of people seem to misunderstand the devaluation of haste. Haste is the lowest priority stat for both 2h and dual wield, HOWEVER that assumes that you are using AMS to soak RP to counteract the slow rune regen. More RP = more Blood Taps = more runes so slow rune regen doesn't matter. People who don't soak with AMS tend to run out of RP and runes and experience higher downtime in their rotation than others. If you don't feel confident in soaking enough RP with AMS you can run with more haste however it is a dps loss and it's worth getting into the habit of soaking with AMS for RP.

Regarding Outbreak, yes, only use it when you're not in melee range. Your Frost Fever will always be on the boss as DW and using Plague Strike uses up your unused UH runes as well as dealing initial damage from the strike whereas Outbreak deals no bonus damage and only applies the disease.