Unholy DK Warlords of Draenor Guide

[Maxweii]

I'm basing it off the APL from SC -> It only triggers PL when Outbreak has <1s remaining, or your diseases have <1s remaining:

s	3.94	plague_leech,if=cooldown.outbreak.remains<1
t	0.00	plague_leech,if=!talent.necrotic_plague.enabled&(dot.blood_plague.remains<1&dot.frost_fever.remains<1)
u	0.00	plague_leech,if=talent.necrotic_plague.enabled&(dot.necrotic_plague.remains<1)

When I get home, I'll sim with PL being top priority regardless of outbreak/diseases, but I'll assume it's potentially still a loss.

Reason being, you're not just needing to use Scourge Strike (Less dmg than anything else you'd use that rune on), you're also using a global for PL (No damage). So that's 2 globals of lesser damage, even if you do get 2 death runes out of it. Will those 2 gained death runes over the course of the fight result in offsetting the loss of damage from 2 globals?

It's meant to plug holes in your rotation, so having (something) is better then (nothing). Two lesser attacks for two greater attacks, when otherwise nothing would be done if you didn't do it. That's why PL is a gain, you have something where nothing would have been.

[TyrantWave]

That is a good point for downtime.

I just simmed my own DK, with the following results:

Standard APL: 22,073 DPS
PL Top Priority: 22,001 DPS

So within variation, it's actually pretty much DPS neutral whether to use it only for Outbreak/Disease Dropoff and on CD - I'll update the original post.

[Deleted]

Will those 2 gained death runes over the course of the fight result in offsetting the loss of damage from 2 globals?

Yes, because we're not GCD capped.

[TyrantWave]

Yes, because we're not GCD capped.

No, but in a time period you're not actually gaining anything. In the best possible scenario, using PL on cooldown is a DPS loss (-22 DPS from using it on the standard APL), and using it on the standard APL or when you have no runes at all is a 31 dps increase.

Both of those fall within the usual deviation of dps by quite a bit, so you're not gaining anything at all for DPS.

You *are* however smoothing out gameplay if you also use it when you have no runes, which can make it smoother to play.

I put sims of T17N in the main post, with the modifications to the APL. Also expanded on about how to use PL in each case.

[Deleted]

Maybe I just misread it, but you use Soul Reaper all the time in your rotation and not just below 45% (for UH) or 35% (Frost) right?

[TyrantWave]

Maybe I just misread it, but you use Soul Reaper all the time in your rotation and not just below 45% (for UH) or 35% (Frost) right?

No, only under 45% (35% frost/blood), or when it'll go under that threshold before it triggers.

Reckon I should clarify that in the post? I assumed it was a given, but always open to suggestions

[Deleted]

No you did a great job. Just wanted to ask for clarification thats why I said maybe I just misread. Your post is very helpful thank you very much

[Uspoonybard]

Those PL changes should have already been in the APL btw. They're in all my profiles so idk who went in and changed them. I'll fix them later. Also the no runes condition isn't necessary if you just put it below all the things that require runes (which is already in the APL).

[Rothulean1]

I personally just use it the moment I have nothing to do. Theres no way it is a DPS loss to PL when you are standing there doing nothing. Using 1x Plague Strike and 1x SS is better than sitting around for 3-5 seconds doing nothing.

[TyrantWave]

Those PL changes should have already been in the APL btw. They're in all my profiles so idk who went in and changed them. I'll fix them later. Also the no runes condition isn't necessary if you just put it below all the things that require runes (which is already in the APL).

Hm, I used the latest APL from git.

The (extremely minor) difference in my change is that it'll also PL if you have no runes but do have RP, while the default APL will also expend all RP before using PL. But as I noted, this is all within standard deviation (Using on CD, or using in the other cases)

[Uspoonybard]

Hm, I used the latest APL from git.

The (extremely minor) difference in my change is that it'll also PL if you have no runes but do have RP, while the default APL will also expend all RP before using PL. But as I noted, this is all within standard deviation (Using on CD, or using in the other cases)

Ah I see, gotcha.

[TyrantWave]

Updated the priorities (attack priority and stat priority) since the recent simc updates fixing mastery double dipping.

Would it be worth stickying this so we have a dedicated UH resource? Or if it's not up to that standard what would I need to change to get it so

[Deleted]

Quick question regarding spawning adds. If a boss is spawning one add from time to time. Is it worth it sometimes to refresh death runes as death runes if it spawns shortly? If yes, what is your timeframe for that (<= 5 sec?) and do you use BB or FS then on the boss? How does this change when 2+ adds spawn?

Also one question regarding ERW. Do you use this together with BL at the start of a fight? Because I rarely get rune starved during this time, so it kinda seems like a waste.

Thanks!

[TyrantWave]

I'm assuming you're referring to Brackenspore?

For him, if the add is coming out and I'm on 2x Blood/Frost, I Festering them on the add to Death runes, if I have 1 blood/Frost and PL is off cooldown, I BB -> ITouch -> PLeech -> BB spam.

If you need to wait for the runes to refresh them, it's a dps loss - do whichever gets you the most attacks in until you have full death runes.


For ERW, during lust is a loss imo - you don't get enough use out of it. During lust you'll never be out of runes anyway.

[Deleted]

So, if you have 4 death runes and the add spawns in like 4-5 sec. do you use SS? because then you miss out on a lot of AOE imo because blood+frost has to reg then and then we can convert them to death runes and have to wait again. So in this scenario I think using BB single target or FS with 2 death runes (dont know which is more dps) to get death runes again seems like the better option to me.

[Varmin]

Should I be taking plaguebearer when I swap to NP for Ko'ragh or UB?

[Evida]

Guys, Im sorry for a kinda sided question - what do you think is more important for DK dps in PvP (no matter the spec) - 1000 AP or 10% crit?
I'm at dillema, would like to gear up for crit but having growing doubts cause of more AP is better, thanks

[TyrantWave]

Well, that'd be the equivalent of 1,100 crit vs 1,000AP - for general output at any sustained rate, the AP would be significantly better.

DKs don't really have many things that rely on crits either, so I'd go for the AP.

But I'm also not a pvper so maybe someone else could weigh in on the usefulness of it - just saying that from a dps perspective, the AP wins.

[Deleted]

Do you think Frost would be better for Kargath, Butcher and maybe Kor'agh?

[Deleted]

Do you think Frost would be better for Kargath, Butcher and maybe Kor'agh?

Kargath only if you're not in the chain group. Ko'ragh probably not since there's plenty of adds to abuse with Blood Boil. Also, depends on your gear. Unholy and frost have different stat weights and Highmaul isn't exactly amazing when it comes to loot variety.