Best Death Knight leveling spec 3.3

[Wanky]

Hey all, I haven't leveled my Orc Death Knight for a very long time (he's still sitting at level 70), probably not since 3.2, and with all the recent changes to Death Knights, I was wondering what the preferred build for leveling is now. Or if anything has changed.

I used to level as Blood. It was very useful due to the high survivability/self-healing and ridiculous single-target damage. But with the Heart Strike nerf that ruined multiple-target damage, I'm thinking that going Unholy might be the best bet. What I'm really looking for is a build that lets me pick up multiple mobs and solo effectively at the same time.

Any suggestions?

[Krovven]

Many will say Blood, personally I liked Unholy to AE down several mobs at a time. But really, leveling is the time for you to try different things out in the Talent trees on your own, read the Talents and see what they do, try different things. What works for solo questing doesnt work for instances. ie: solo questing I had 3 points in DnD (for AE) and in Death Grip (and Glyphed) to snag runners back and pull more mobs as I killed the others. I just kept healing myself with Death Strike. This was also all pre-random dungeon finder. So maybe you want to spec as tank and chain queue instances....I dont know what your plan is.

Best answer I can give is just try different things out based on what way you are going to level up.

[Shelly]

Hey all, I haven't leveled my Orc Death Knight for a very long time (he's still sitting at level 70), probably not since 3.2, and with all the recent changes to Death Knights, I was wondering what the preferred build for leveling is now. Or if anything has changed.

I used to level as Blood. It was very useful due to the high survivability/self-healing and ridiculous single-target damage. But with the Heart Strike nerf that ruined multiple-target damage, I'm thinking that going Unholy might be the best bet. What I'm really looking for is a build that lets me pick up multiple mobs and solo effectively at the same time.

Any suggestions?

What nerf was this? I'm not remembering anything like that which would have hurt blood AoE damage on HS. (I could have missed it, I took a rather lon gbreak.)

I still say blood is the best, in general 2-handers last longer than 1-handers and death strike + bloodworms results in almost zero down-time.

[Nangz]

the one that makes the cleave target only take 50% damage.


Anyway. I prefer blood. You can solo anything with a proper build.

[mhp]

I'd go with frost if you have access to heirlooms. Good burst AoE (unholy is sustained AoE, which is fairly pointless when mobs die in two hits) in the form of HB, and DS is usable in any build, if so need be.

[Shelly]

I'd go with frost if you have access to heirlooms. Good burst AoE (unholy is sustained AoE, which is fairly pointless when mobs die in two hits) in the form of HB, and DS is usable in any build, if so need be.

The only problem with the heirlooms though is they can't be runeforged. Which isn't to say that they don't often remain the highest damage weapons you can have, however once you can start throwing Fallen Crusader on things you really notice when it's not around.

[Sonkzor]

Either Blood or Unholy.
My personal preference is Blood, because of all the healing talents, and the overall survivability.
Unholy is good too because of your permanent pet, but I'd advise you to go Blood, always.

[Arthas]

click this link
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...O,9aYO-3,11403
this lvled me faster then any other spec i used and also killed and quest faster

[Wanky]

click this link
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...O,9aYO-3,11403
this lvled me faster then any other spec i used and also killed and quest faster

That looks like a really good build, I'll try it out.

[mhp]

The only problem with the heirlooms though is they can't be runeforged. Which isn't to say that they don't often remain the highest damage weapons you can have, however once you can start throwing Fallen Crusader on things you really notice when it's not around.

The difference between FC and the classic Crusader enchant is fairly low until you get better gear and replace heirlooms, in my experience. I'd rather have a good heirloom with crusader, than a 6 level old blue with FC :P

[Unholyground]

If you want to kill things in like 3 hits, Frost DW for leveling hands down. Get 2 1H weapons that are 2.60 ish speed, Cinderglacier on one, Razorice on the other (until you hit 70 then fallen crusader + cinderglacier) you will be killing things like a crack addicted sex offender.

[Hedstone]

Just go unholy and pick up the On a Pale Horse talent since 70% of all your leveling will be running around trying to finish quests.

[mhp]

Just go unholy and pick up the On a Pale Horse talent since 70% of all your leveling will be running around trying to finish quests.

Unless you do what I did on my alt: spec tank and sit on LFD. No quests from level 15 'till 80.

[Krovven]

Unless you do what I did on my alt: spec tank and sit on LFD. No quests from level 15 'till 80.

You had a DK tank at level 15? I think that might be a world first...



Something I neglected to mention was that when I was Unholy, I was a Herbalist, so I had Lifebloom to assist with healing.

[mhp]

You had a DK tank at level 15? I think that might be a world first...

Obviously, it wasn't a DK. But if I'd roll a DK now, I wouldn't do any single quest 'till 80 once I'm out of the starting zone. Even easier than leveling to 15 on my druid.

[Wanky]

If you want to kill things in like 3 hits, Frost DW for leveling hands down. Get 2 1H weapons that are 2.60 ish speed, Cinderglacier on one, Razorice on the other (until you hit 70 then fallen crusader + cinderglacier) you will be killing things like a crack addicted sex offender.

See, I'd really like to have a dual-wield spec because it'd be fun and something out of the ordinary, but the problem is that I'm not looking to be a Rogue out of stealth. I don't think a Frost DW build has a lot of survivability when leveling, in the sense that you're going to be eating constantly after a battle and you'll have difficulty soloing multiple mobs or an elite.

Right now, I decided to spec mainly in Blood, while putting points in Unholy, so that I have the two points in On A Pale Horse for the mount speed increase. Since I'm now level 72, this lets me use a majority of the Blood talents, too, including Heart Strike, and it's working very nicely.

[MCC1701]

It is hard to say because most people just level their DKs really fast to 80, and rarely use any other spec than just that one.

I have to say though that unholy takes the cake for leveling vs blood. I tried blood for a level in northrend, didn't really like it. Lacked burst, took a little long, too many CDs, etc. Now unholy(I think) is highest single target DPS, and really works well for leveling. You need no ramp up time for buffs like blood does, so just DG, put your diseases on, and then use either SS and SS/2BSs depending on if reaping is up or not to kill a mob. The real gem here is that with unholy presence, you move faster and the GCD is reduced by .5 seconds. So while it would take blood almost 10 seconds to use the same spells(swap SS for detah striek or obliterate) it will take unholy only 5-6 seconds, plus faste rune CDs to go form mob to mob faster. Plus having a pet is great for damage and when lookingfor a specific mob(/target mob, send pet to attack) and of course AOEing is great as unholy...

For elites blood works well because of CDs. If you are out of CDs, and an elite hits really hard, there is a good chance you won't make it. Unholy actualy brings a lot of survivibility that most people don't know about. For example, with reaping and imp unholy presence, you can use abilities like death strike a lot more, and because of the extra diseases heals for as much as the talented death strike does as blood. plus with reaping and faster GCDs you can chain them together, like 3 death strikes in 3 seconds. I think the only quests I couldn't solo were wanton warlord and the ring of blood elites.

Anyways, just the fact that you move so much faster shows that unholy has an edge on all other specs, and with less CDs, more burst, and more damage, it is the clear and obvious choice for leveling post 3.3

Also I decided to make a build for 1-71 for you:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jcZZf0hItfdg0u0duIqo:Vp


You can decide to spend the next several point in either getting black ice or going into blood, whichever you prefer...

[Vangor]

Unholy for me. The AoE potential was much higher, Bone Shield is a fairly passive survivability talent, and since functionality changed with Death Strike since I leveled I would find 15% over 10% healing preferable.

[DeusX]

I would us Blood any day for leveling, without a doubt. I have seen a leveling build posted by somone on the first page... it's decent but lacks important levleing tallents. You are all reading too much EJ threads about raiding on a DK.
When I leveled my toon I surely used Vendetta because killing a pack of mobs was healing me like crazy, also I think I used Butchery. I simply had alot of trouble trying to get killed.

You dont have to get all formal and shit and only put points in 2 trees, pick nice talents from all, like Improved Icy Touch to slow down the attack speed of your mobs. Also, I would not use Obliterate and pick up DnD glyph instead... DS and HS is all you need as main damage dealers.

Using a perma ghoul without the glyph is preaty much useles, I remember him dieng very easy in these conditions.

Blood was fun to play, I was doing 3-men quests alone, burning booldowns, and finishing with over 75% hp. Packs of regulars mobs were killed with a remaining 90%+ hp, almost never using a bandage, and also never using a pot because of Improved Rune Tap. Using Improved Blood Prsesnnce also helps self healing alot.

[MCC1701]

I would us Blood any day for leveling, without a doubt. I have seen a leveling build posted by somone on the first page... it's decent but lacks important levleing tallents. You are all reading too much EJ threads about raiding on a DK.
When I leveled my toon I surely used Vendetta because killing a pack of mobs was healing me like crazy, also I think I used Butchery. I simply had alot of trouble trying to get killed.

You dont have to get all formal and shit and only put points in 2 trees, pick nice talents from all, like Improved Icy Touch to slow down the attack speed of your mobs. Also, I would not use Obliterate and pick up DnD glyph instead... DS and HS is all you need as main damage dealers.

Using a perma ghoul without the glyph is preaty much useles, I remember him dieng very easy in these conditions.

Blood was fun to play, I was doing 3-men quests alone, burning booldowns, and finishing with over 75% hp. Packs of regulars mobs were killed with a remaining 90%+ hp, almost never using a bandage, and also never using a pot because of Improved Rune Tap. Using Improved Blood Prsesnnce also helps self healing alot.

Just saying, but that pretty much sums up how ever DK who doesn't fail plays. DKs are an OP class for leveling, no matter how you spec you will do great. As someone who has tried both blood and unholy, both work great, though right now unholy pretty much excels at EVERYTHING leveling wise, due to recent blood nerfs. I think blood may be better at soloing elites, if you spend several points into talents that will only be used to that effect, while unholy has talents like bone-shield, which help soloing, plus are very leveling-friendly with low CDs and being passive buffs. However if you like the blood playstyle then you aren't gimping yourself.

BTW how the heck is your pet dying? My pet, unglyphed, was a durable little sucker, and only at 80 on my DK have I ever had to heal him...