Cataclysm Classic Blood Death Knight Guide

This page contains all relevant information needed for Blood Death Knight before the release of Cataclysm Classic. Be sure to check back as we get closer to the release date, as this page will be updated with the latest information as it becomes available.

Yes! Blood Death Knight is one of the strongest tanks in Cataclysm and offers an incredible unique playstyle compared to other tanks that allows you much greater control over your ability to survive. Blood Death Knight also offers some of the strongest utility in the game in the form of powerbul debuffs like Frost Fever and Scarlet Fever and the ability to instantly resurrect a fallen ally in combat with your Raise Ally ability. Death Grip and Chains of Ice are two more incredibly valuable tools that add to that seemingly never ending toolkit that is Death Knight utility.

Strengths

• Strongest self-sustain in the game thanks to Death Strike and Blood Shield, making them incredibly difficult to kill and allowing a considerable amount of skill expression.
• Provides the Abomination's Might and Scarlet Fever raid buff and debuff, making them incredibly useful in a 10-man raid.
• Death Grip allows for easy repositioning of mobs, especially casters.
• Highest damage-dealing Tank.

Weaknesses

• Extremely immobile and vulnerable to slows/stuns after cooldowns are expended.
• Must be in melee range to be able to use majority of its self-sustain/mitigation.
• Very gear dependent especially early.

As Horde, the default choice will be Tauren; due to the bonus health granted from the Endurance racial. If you are confident in your ability to survive without this added health both Orc and Troll are incredible choices with Orc slightly edging out Troll due to the strength of Blood Fury and your ability to snapshot diseases with it active.

As Alliance, the default choice will be Dwarf; The Stoneform racial is one of the strongest if not the strongest Tanking racial abilities in the game and the massive and the two minute 10% damage reduction can be the difference between surviving or dying. Worgen is another great option too though as Death Knights can struggle with mobility so the Darkflight ability can provide some incredibly useful movement speed as well as gaining a small bit of Critical Strike from Viciousness.

Cataclysm does a much better job of balancing professions leading to each profession to give an average increase of about 80 stats. With that in mind there are still some decisions to be made when it comes to which Profession to choose as there are still options that may be better for your class.

1. Blacksmithing — Lets you add an extra socket to both your Gloves and Bracers thanks to Socket Gloves and Socket Bracer. As a Tank the static Stats are incredibly valuable and only becomes more valuable as the expansion progresses onward and Epic Gems are introduced.
2. Engineering — Engineering is still one of the best Professions in the game and is made even stronger for Tanks with the addition of two new Tinkers, Quickflip Deflection Plates and Grounded Plasma Shield. Both are incredible increases to your survivability. It is also impossible to ignore Nitro Boosts which provide a ton of movement speed which as a Death Knight you will almost always be lacking. And you will still retain access to Synapse Springs for when you are out in the world Soloing or switch to a DPS spec.
3. Leatherworking — Is another great choice as there is no new Stamina enchantment to Bracers in Cataclysm. The Leatherworking enchant Draconic Embossment - Stamina will grant you 155 more Stamina than Enchant Bracer - Major Stamina. This is the single largest primary stat gain you can obtain as a Tank and especially as a Tank like Blood Death Knight where raw HP is so important due to the number of abilities that scale off maxmimum HP this is not something to pass over.

Addons and Macros can greatly improve your quality of life during Cataclysm. Listed below are some of our recommendations on Addons and Macros to help get the most out of your time playing the game.