The Death Knight Hero Class is a unique addition to World of Warcraft for a number of different reasons. What makes him so unique is the use of diseases for damage, runes for resources, and the fact that you start at level 55 with a pretty epic quest chain. The most unique aspect of a Death Knight, though is the incredible speed at which you can level up. In this Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide, we will discuss exactly how to optimize your leveling experience.
Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide Part 1: Why Unholy?
Ok, so you will be using Unholy as your leveling spec for a number of different reasons. First, Unholy Presence, and Improved Unholy Presence’s movement speed increase is phenomenal. This alone can shave days off of your leveling time. Second, the use of Unholy Presence and IUP increase rune regeneration significantly. Also, the talent Runic Corruption increases your overall rune regeneration by 100% when you Death Coil. Third, the increased power of your diseases and survivability abilities allow for intense AoE Grinding. These three qualities make Unholy Death Knights a Leveling Powerhouse.
Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide Part 2: Gearing Up
Ok, when you first leave the Death Knight starting zone, you have all the gear you will need for quite some time. However, you will upgrade it as you quest through Outland and Northrend. You want to focus on plate armor, and large 2-handed weapons. Your weapons should have high damage, with slow attack times. The slower the better. Don’t worry, you are using mostly instant attacks, and your speed is increased by other factors like Unholy Presence and haste. Stats you want to choose are, in this order, Strength, Stamina, Haste, and Crit. Note that these are LEVELING stats, not raiding stats. Strength affects all damage, physical and magical. Stamina increases your health, duh. Haste increases your rune regeneration, disease ticks, and melee damage. It’s much better for Unholy Death Knights than it was in WoTLK.
Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide Part 3: Strategy
This is probably the most important part of leveling your Death Knight. If you aren’t applying this, then it doesn’t really matter what spec you choose. Essentially you are going to AoE DoT your enemies and move onto the next while the first one burns down. First, you want to apply your diseases to one target with Plague Strike and Icy Touch, then Festering Strike, pestilence to spread it to others nearby, and Death Coil to dump your Runic Power. Once you have 5 stacks of Shadow Infusion, use Dark Transformation to send your Ghoul into a killing spree. All the while, you should be kiting mobs through desecrated ground so you are taking minimal damage. If you get low on health, use a Death Strike to heal.
Unholy Death Knight Leveling Guide Part 4: Final Notes
This is almost the exact plan that I learned from the WoW Leveling Guide that I used. It does vary from level to level, but overall that’s how this rotation works. Remember though, that the majority of your experience while leveling will come from questing. It’s best to have an optimized questing path from a quality WoW Leveling Guide. Between a good questing path and the perfect leveling strategy, you should be reaching level 85 in no time!
