I need a better explanation as an Unholy rotation and efficent use of Runes

[Sameight 0]

title is clear enough^^ 
anyway i wasnt playing my DK since cata and started to leveling him up

but i understand that i was playing wrong.i have some problems.

 

now my DK is level 88 and doing dungeons and mobs become stronger fights become longer so i need to improve my rotation

need help about death runes choosing ability etc.

 

im putting my diseases via outbreak or using icy touch and plague strike
an i lose 1 frost and 1 unholy runes
then strike with scourge strike and festering strike

and lose 1 unholy and 1 blood 1 frost

 

(problem one)

then my problem starts with dead runes and 1 blood

i dont know what to do trying to use blood tap efficently

trying to put diseases up all the time via festering strike

and use scourge strike for dmg

 

using death coil for procs and runic power dump while this continues to dark transformation

 

and problem two

 

when i lose diseases i dont know what to do plague strikes gives the both disease if outbreak in CD but i still use icy touch then plague strike try to use outbreak for it

 

problem three

and couldnt understand how and when to use plague leech too

thanks in advance for your help and explanations

 

 

[Farnion 8]

im putting my diseases via outbreak or using icy touch and plague strike

an i lose 1 frost and 1 unholy runes

then strike with scourge strike and festering strike

and lose 1 unholy and 1 blood 1 frost

You don't have to use icy touch anymore, since plague strike will apply both diseases. This will prevent the situation that you are sitting there with one blood rune.

 

i dont know what to do trying to use blood tap efficently

trying to put diseases up all the time via festering strike

and use scourge strike for dmg

 

only use festering strike if you have frost/blood runes. Use your death runes on Scourge Strike. Sticking to this will extend diseases long enough to use outbreak again when they finally will fall off

 

when i lose diseases i dont know what to do plague strikes gives the both disease if outbreak in CD but i still use icy touch then plague strike try to use outbreak for it

I do not understand why you use icy touch although you already noticed, that plague strike will apply both diseases

 

and couldnt understand how and when to use plague leech too

Since you will not extend your diseases indefinitely (see point above), you want to use plague leech just one second before your diseases will fall off to get the maximum gain.

 

 

Some words of general advise regarding your talent choice: Taking blood tap and plague leech complicates your unholy play style. Since you are still in the (re)learning process I would highly advise to rethink both (or at least one) talent choices. In theory, proper blood tap usage may be a very minor dps increase (1-2%), but doing it wrong will result in a bigger dps loss compared to the alternatives. I suggest trying runic corruption for the start, this is the easiest talent choice which you can mess up the least. Even if you macro your blood tap usage into one of your abilities this counts towards not proper usage and will therefore not get you the theoretical dps increase.

Also consider taking unholy blight instead of plague leech, which will give you more flexibility for disease applications. Again, plague leech might be a very very minor dps increase (if used 100% correctly), but thinking about the reality of today's boss fights, where nearly no single target patchwerk style fights exist, unholy blight is mostly the better choice.

 

 

Regarding death runes in general: You always want to use your death runes for Scourge Strike or

Dark Transformation. You may come into the situation, where you cannot use your death runes fast enough (heorism/bloodlust + runic corruption proccs), where you may fall back using festering strike to prevent too much rune overflow.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Farnion

[Sameight 0]

Farnion thanks for your explanation ^^ love you

[loboshu 0]

I hope this helps improve your performance, I too was experiencing difficulty keeping up with the dps of my fellow guildmates and the like until I refined my rotation. Now I'm one of the highest dps in my guild.

Just keep in mind that Single target unholy dps is nowhere near the highest when compared to other classes, however, Unholy AoE dps is among the highest in the game when done properly

 

Talents:

some talents will boost your dps and some are best used in specific situations, this reason is why I usually always keep a stack of Tome of the Clear Mind in my inventory.

Tier 1)  some say Plague Leech is a dps increase for Unholy DK's, this is NOT true. Unholy Death Knights rely heavily upon diseases for dmg and their diseases should NEVER fall off because of Festering Strike, there is no cap for duration on your diseases so spam away. Unholy Blight is good for situational usage but should not be relied upon because of the nature of Death Knight diseases, your disease strength varies with your attack power/crit/mastery WHEN THEY ARE APPLIED so you want full control of reapplying your diseases. Rolling Blood triggers Pestilence whenever it does dmg to a target afflicted with your diseases, this is not optimal but it will free up a spot on your action bar without harming your dps too much, and will allow you to start doing major aoe damage sooner.

NOTE: for an addon that will help track your disease strength and let you know when the best/worst times to reapply your diseases look up DKDoTs

Tier 2) This is your survivability tier and at 90 the best choice, hands down, is Lichborne, which can be macroed in with your Death Coil, because Unholy DK's have increased shadow dmg which equals into more healing per Death Coil (I've healed myself for 500k with a single Death Coil before). Anit-Magic Zone may be a better choice ONLY in certain encounters where aoe magic dmg is high, and Purgatory will only be a good choice if you have VERY attentive healers.

Tier 3) This tier is situational/preferance based so feel free to experiment or ask which your raid leader will prefer :3

Tier 4) This is another Survivability tier, I use Death Pact as an emergency button because you can always moniter the hp of your minion and heal him with a quick Death Coil or simply let him die and resummon him. Death Siphon is a good choice until you start getting higher in lvls where it will do progressively less and less healing. Conversion is a weak HoT that uses up your runic power, I do not recommend conversion for unholy death knights even in pvp.

Tier 5) This is your DPS increase tier, Runic Empowerment is the weakest of the choices because it only has a 45% chance of creating a random Death Rune. For those who learning the unholy ways I would suggest Runic Corruption because it will cause a surge in Rune regeneration. When you are comfortable and confident with your rotation you can spec into Blood Tap, however make sure not to waste blood charges by not using Blood Tap, to remedy this you can safely macro Blood Tap in with your Death Coil for a hands-free approach

Tier 6) This tier is Situational/preferance based, most DK's take Remorseless Winter but I will change between these abilities fairly often depending on what I'm doing or fighting

 

Rotation:

Before I get into your rotation I will reinnerate, being a Death Knight, your diseases depend upon your attack power WHEN APPLIED. Example: say you start a fight and you have 2 things proc that increase your Strength lets say by 1000 and you apply your diseases right then... when the buffs wear off your diseases will STILL be as strong as when you applied them even tho you no longer have the buffs

For this reason I HIGHLY recommend the addon DKDoTs, it has increased my dps significantly

 

Single Target:

1) Make sure your minion is up at all times

2) Apply and maintain your diseases at all times: open with an Outbreak or Plague Strike

3) use Festering Strike twice.... this will use 2 blood, 2 frost runes and generate 40 runic power, as well as add 6 secs, per strike, to both Blood Plague and Frost Fever

4) use Scourge Strike twice.... this will use 2 unholy runes and generate 20 runic power

5) use Death Coil to dump runic power, try to use Death Coil when your runic power is at or above 90, but try to avoid getting 100 runic power.... to avoid waste

6) use Dark Transformation when you have 5 stacks of Shadow Infusion

7) use Horn of Winter on cooldown to generate a free 10 runic power

8) use Unholy Frenzy, Gargoyle, and trinkets on cooldown or when you can do increased damage to the target

 

Multi Target:

1) Make sure your minion is up at all times

2) Apply and maintain your diseases at all times: open with an Outbreak or Plague Strike

3a) ROLLING BLOOD NOT USED-use Pestilence to spread your diseases and use Festering Strike twice followed by a quick Empower Runeweapon....this will use 2 blood and 2 frost runes, turn them into death runes, and Empower RW will immediately activate them (DON'T LET YOUR DISEASES WEAR OFF)

3b) ROLLING BLOOD USED-use Festering Strike twice followed by a quick Empower Runeweapon.... this will use 2 blood and 2 frost runes, turn them into death runes, and Empower RW will immediately activate them

4) use Death and Decay

5) spam Blood Boil

6) use Scourge Strike and Death Coil when you have unspent Unholy Runes or Runic Power

7) use Dark Transformation when you have 5 stacks of Shadow Infusion

8) use Horn of Winter on cooldown to generate a free 10 runic power

9) use Unholy Frenzy, Gargoyle, and trinkets on cooldown or when you can do increased damage to the target(s)

Edited October 5, 2013 by loboshu