I want to break 4k-5k avg raid dps and I need some help from some pros

[Bullshifter]

If you were looking to stay as UH i might suggest putting points into desecration for the 5% extra dmg which will help

Don't do this with a 17/0/54 spec, at least not before 3.1. It's pretty worthless for a deep 2H unholy spec. Coppermine, your UH spec looks perfect as is for live.

Post 3.1 however, find the points from somewhere, because Desecration will be a lot better for us.

[Bullshifter]

I spent a bunch of time on the training dummy just trying to max out what DPS I get on it (though I know it will be different in varying circumstances) but I have these questions...

1. What is the best way to attack a single target with 17/0/54 Should I AOE at all? DND/UB etc
2. What is the best way to attack a mob with the same (see below)

ie; DND first or IT, PS and then pestilence AND when you see that the DOT's are wearing down do you IT, PS and use pestilence again? When is blood boil best used?

Right now for mob I lay down DND, then PS, IT, Pestilence, UB, BB then start into Scourge Strike, and at that point it just seems Death coil is available etc...

I think I waste my cooldowns and runic power too fast because I still just get kind of lost in my rotations and instead of instinctually knowing what to do my lack of experience guides me to 'just do whatever works at the time'.

For single target, don't bother with DnD, it uses too many runes and throws off your rotation, for not enough benefit.

Basically, it's

PS>IT>BS>BS>SS then UB and possibly DC if you have the RP to dump.

Then it's SS spam with all of your unholy/frost and Death Runes. Blood Strike when Blood runes come back up. Never let your RP cap- either refresh UB if it's about to fall off or DC. If your RP will cap on your next strike, dump it with a DC before using the strike (I will explain this further). Watch your disease timers and if they aren't refreshed with SS, then use PS/IT to reapply them.

When your runes come back up, it's ok to hold off on the strike if it's going to cap RP and burn a GCD dumping RP- there is a leniency built into the runes which allows you a little bit of time on them.

To simplify it- if you use the runes within 2 secs- they will refresh at 10 secs total regardless. If they just came up, and you burned a GCD and then used the strike 1.5secs after they refreshed, they will then refresh in 8.5 secs. If you wait longer than 2 secs though, they will then refresh at the normal 10 secs, lowering your DPS. In a nutshell- if you are going to cap RP, it's better to hold off on the strike for a sec to burn a DC or refresh UB, then strike.

When you summon gargoyle- you can maintain him, and still use a DC or UB if you are above 70RP when you do it. Try to wait until you are about to perform a strike though, so the RP is replentished quickly. If you have 4pc t7, you can do this even more.

[coppermine18]

For single target, don't bother with DnD, it uses too many runes and throws off your rotation, for not enough benefit.

Basically, it's

PS>IT>BS>BS>SS then UB and possibly DC if you have the RP to dump.

Then it's SS spam with all of your unholy/frost and Death Runes. Blood Strike when Blood runes come back up. Never let your RP cap- either refresh UB if it's about to fall off or DC. If your RP will cap on your next strike, dump it with a DC before using the strike (I will explain this further). Watch your disease timers and if they aren't refreshed with SS, then use PS/IT to reapply them.

When your runes come back up, it's ok to hold off on the strike if it's going to cap RP and burn a GCD dumping RP- there is a leniency built into the runes which allows you a little bit of time on them.

To simplify it- if you use the runes within 2 secs- they will refresh at 10 secs total regardless. If they just came up, and you burned a GCD and then used the strike 1.5secs after they refreshed, they will then refresh in 8.5 secs. If you wait longer than 2 secs though, they will then refresh at the normal 10 secs, lowering your DPS. In a nutshell- if you are going to cap RP, it's better to hold off on the strike for a sec to burn a DC or refresh UB, then strike.

When you summon gargoyle- you can maintain him, and still use a DC or UB if you are above 70RP when you do it. Try to wait until you are about to perform a strike though, so the RP is replentished quickly. If you have 4pc t7, you can do this even more.

That read helps a lot but Im sure I'll be reading it over and over till I get it all figured out the acronyms still throw me off a little -

One clarification that I'm not getting - Never let the rune power build to 100? (what does that do I didn't see the why in that or quite understand it if it was there) .. Always use DC or an attack that uses it first? What does GCD stand for? a cool down like empower rune weapon?

Sorry for all the questions but I don't like to suck and want to get this down.

[Bullshifter]

GCD= Global Cooldown- anything you do generally invokes a GCD.
RP= Runic Power- and when I say never let it cap, what I'm referring to is the fact that every rune you use is going to generate RP- RP is used for attacks, so if you are running around with your RP sitting at 100, you're losing out on damage you can be doing- so you never want to let your RP cap out at 100, or sit there for any length of time if you can help it- you don't benefit from the damage your RP can be doing, and the side benefit of your strikes is accounting for nothing. That make sense?

If your next strike (SS, BS, anything that uses runes) is going to force your runic power to the cap or over- you are better off dumping a bit of runic power with a Death Coil, and THEN using runes for a strike, since the runes refresh via the mechanic I explained. That is maximising the use of your runes and your runic power.


I was looking at your armory and have a suggestion or two there as well. I would replace the AP/STAM gems that you have in your helm and belt for STR/STAM gems to get better value out of having to use the purples to meet your meta gem requirements. After accomplishing that, I would replace any other gem that isn't +16 str, with a +16 str gem. You don't need to gem for hit or crit or expertise. Str has more value than any of those stats, even below the hit cap. I don't think that will drop you all that far below the hit cap as it stands now. You would lose 36 hit, which would put you at 248 hit. That's plenty close enough to the hit cap of 263, but if you really prefer to be over hit cap (remember str is stronger than hit even below hit cap- but some people just prefer to not miss ever, which i can understand), I would then change out your glove enchant to the +20 hit enchant, putting you at 268. I think that would optimize the gear you presently have.

[EzriEU]

That read helps a lot but Im sure I'll be reading it over and over till I get it all figured out the acronyms still throw me off a little -

One clarification that I'm not getting - Never let the rune power build to 100? (what does that do I didn't see the why in that or quite understand it if it was there) .. Always use DC or an attack that uses it first? What does GCD stand for? a cool down like empower rune weapon?

Sorry for all the questions but I don't like to suck and want to get this down.

Quick list (just from your quote):

PS => Plague Strike
IT => Icy Touch
BS => Blood Strike
SS => Scourge Strike
UB => Unholy Blight
DC => Death Coil
DnD => Death and Decay
RP => Runic Power

Additional stuff:

CD => Cooldown
GCD => Global Cooldown, a cooldown that appears every time you use an ability, unless it is specifically off the GCD (Like Brain Freeze for example). The GCD is 1.5 sec. and can be reduced by talents, abilities, stats and so on, but that very much depends on what class you play. For DKs it's Unholy Aura at the moment (barring 3.1 changes).

Never reach 100 RP means, that you should make use of it before your reach 100 RPand waste RP generated through abilities that will not fill up your bar any more.

HTH,

Ezri

[coppermine18]

GCD= Global Cooldown- anything you do generally invokes a GCD.
RP= Runic Power- and when I say never let it cap, what I'm referring to is the fact that every rune you use is going to generate RP- RP is used for attacks, so if you are running around with your RP sitting at 100, you're losing out on damage you can be doing- so you never want to let your RP cap out at 100, or sit there for any length of time if you can help it- you don't benefit from the damage your RP can be doing, and the side benefit of your strikes is accounting for nothing. That make sense?

If your next strike (SS, BS, anything that uses runes) is going to force your runic power to the cap or over- you are better off dumping a bit of runic power with a Death Coil, and THEN using runes for a strike, since the runes refresh via the mechanic I explained. That is maximising the use of your runes and your runic power.


I was looking at your armory and have a suggestion or two there as well. I would replace the AP/STAM gems that you have in your helm and belt for STR/STAM gems to get better value out of having to use the purples to meet your meta gem requirements. After accomplishing that, I would replace any other gem that isn't +16 str, with a +16 str gem. You don't need to gem for hit or crit or expertise. Str has more value than any of those stats, even below the hit cap. I don't think that will drop you all that far below the hit cap as it stands now. You would lose 36 hit, which would put you at 248 hit. That's plenty close enough to the hit cap of 263, but if you really prefer to be over hit cap (remember str is stronger than hit even below hit cap- but some people just prefer to not miss ever, which i can understand), I would then change out your glove enchant to the +20 hit enchant, putting you at 268. I think that would optimize the gear you presently have.

That makes total sense.

Thank you so much - I really appreciate the time it took to write that...