Death Knight Unholy PVE Guide 4.1.0 Cataclysm

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unholy saw little change in 4.1. We received a reversal to the nerf previously applied to the Rage of Rivendare and, as class-wide addition, Raise Ally has become a full battle resurrection.

The two Frost specs received the bulk of attention and DPS performance increases in this patch. Sims indicate Frost will regularly outperform Unholy in all but the most mobile of scenarios. Unholy's prominence will wane in contrast to Frost's abundant improvements but it remains a capable DPS spec for those who prefer its playstyle and consistency.

DW Unholy was possible a long time ago, but now it is more deprecated than a VHS tape. Actually, I think chucking a VHS tape would do more damage than that spec. A complete underachiever, so it’s not worth mentioning any further.
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"Just Act Natural" 5/0/32 + 4 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jbhZZshcdfzuMRu:Vks0sb0zc
S p e c
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This build grabs all the key damage abilities to make you, your trusted 2H, and Timmy the Ghoul a force of (un)nature. You will have 1 point to spend in a pre-requisite talent early on and 3 points to spend at the build’s completion as you wish. Your final choices can have some marginal bearing on your DPS.

Your first choice comes at the cusp of tier 3 in Unholy to fulfill the base point requirement:

■Unholy Command
Unholy Command can be useful if you frequently use Death Grip to reel-in stubborn casters to your tank or want a pre-requisite talent that does not impose a snare.
■Desecration
Desecration is easy to apply (Plague Strike, Scourge Strike and Necrotic Strike) and a very effective AOE snare. Several encounters benefit from slowing effects and, generally, having a snare in melee can be a boon to keep mobs from rushing casters. The only downside occurs in situations where the tank wants the mobs be mobile, i.e. when they need it to be relocated on the fly or when you lose control of your character. In that situation, there is sadly no 'off button'. With the release of Patch 4.1, Desecration no longer triggers on a snare-immune target. This update makes Desecration a more raid-friendly option where only add snare is desired.
■Resilient Infection
If there were bosses that dispelled themselves, this might actually be worthwhile in PvE. Pass.

From here, continue assigning the suggested points in the Unholy tree. 1/3 Magic Suppression makes for acceptable Runic Power conversion (as suggested by the 32 point investment in the tree). As one delves further into the raid scene I would, however, give a solid recommendation of 2/3 for the purposes of survivability and the occasional DPS boost from added RP generation. If you want to max the effect, you can certainly return to this talent in a moment.

After the necessities in Unholy are taken care of, assign the 5 points as suggested in Blood talents.
Now we come to the final 3 points. These last talent points can be spent at your discretion amongst the following abilities:

Blood Options

■Improved Blood Tap
Extra runes equal more DPS. The caveat associated with IBT is whether it will be available when you both need the runes and have the GCD to make use of them. Talents reduce its cooldown by 15s/point.
■Scent of Blood
Or maybe Taste of Blood? This talent requires you to get hit about the face and soft spots for there to be any effect. Boss AoE’s rarely qualify for Scent of Blood so this talent is lackluster if not masochistic.
■Blade Barrier
If you really, really want to enhance the frugality of your healer, you can pick this talent up for some added damage reduction.
■Scarlet Fever
This provides an amazing debuff but it’s one that should already be supplied by your tanks. It would be a shame if you had to do their job for them, in my opinion. Also note that Scarlet Fever does not apply a disease that would synergize with Scourge Strike.
■Hand of Doom
This talent reduces the cooldown of Strangulate to 1 min. This is probably more provisional for PvP but given that we can’t CC (asides from beating a mob to dead pulp), providing more reliable caster control can be a nice group asset where mobs are susceptible to silence

Edited by Heartless on 4/13/11 7:35 AM (PDT) Frost Options

■Runic Power Mastery
Since Runic Corruption procs no longer override each other (they stack 3 second extensions to the buff) we can Death Coil without fear of wasting rune regeneration. RPM will allow you to collect more total RP and successively Death Coil to reach Dark Transformation faster. 1/3 Runic Power Mastery is definitely recommended and all that’s required. More investment in this talent provides diminished benefits. I’m pretty sure there are TV shows about people who hoard to dangerous levels. Your gains and expenditures of RP (besides sudden AMS pops) will have you below 100 for a majority of the time anyway.

Unholy Options

■Desecration
If you didn’t choose it as your 1st utility, you could assign some points here now. See above to read the details on this talent. It is beneficial in many pre-raid encounters but has potential minuses you will also want to consider.
■Resilient Infection
If you didn’t choose it as your 1st utility, you could assign some points here now but again this is very lackluster considering its lack of PvE application.
■Death’s Advance
Not just for PVP, this talent would be nice for any fights that are snare heavy.
■Magic Suppression
2/3 of Magic Suppression is an excellent choice based on the frequency of this spell’s use. You could also go back and finish 3/3 for even more survivability and healer friendliness. It provides situational enhancements to your RP generation which translates into some DPS.
■Optional: Anti-Magic Zone
If you decided to finish 3/3 of the previous talent, you could take your magic protection a step further. AMZ has a 2 minute cooldown which can be of benefit for stationary phase events.

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I I I . P R I O R I T Y / P L A Y
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Playing 2H Unholy means maintaining a challenging & fun priority system while artfully commanding Timmy to do your bidding. Fixed rotations are long gone and we’re better for it.

P r e s e n c e
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Unholy (unless otherwise noted)

R u n e f o r g e
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Rune of the Fallen Crusader

P r i o r i t y S y s t e m
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Single Target Priority Diseases > Dark Transformation > Death and Decay/Scourge Strike (UnholyUnholy or Death Runes are up)> Festering Strike (BloodBlood and FrostFrost are up)> Death Coil (Sudden Doom, high RP)> Death and Decay/Scourge Strike> Festering Strike > Horn of Winter
Diseases
Apply your diseases quickly via Outbreak if it’s up, otherwise Icy Touch and Plague Strike. The ticking damage isn’t a lot but the boost it provides to your damage is paramount. Ebon Plague, for example is applied when you cast Icy Touch, Plague Strike, or Outbreak and weakens your target to magical damage by an additional 8% (tier 6 Unholy talent). That's a huge vulnerability. Also Scourge Strike, for each of your diseases on your target, deals an additional 18% of the physical damage done as shadow damage.

Dark Transformation
Your Death Coils apply a stacking Shadow Infusion buff onto your Ghoul. This improves the Ghoul progressively and allows for the casting Dark Transformation upon reaching 5x Shadow Infusion. A huge factor in your overall DPS is maximizing Dark Transformation's uptime (see the Mods section in this guide for suggestions about monitoring DT and Shadow Infusion). It is key that you super-size Timmy as often and as quickly as you can. If you’re caught without available runes down on a 5x Shadow Infusion, remember that Blood Tap is a Death Rune activator that may enable you to DT faster (read more on BT's mechanic below). One can also reserve Runic Power during Dark Transformation for quick reapplication of Shadow Infusion stacks the moment Timmy returns to normal. As a general rule, you will want to throttle your non-Sudden Doom Death Coil usage so that you approach the cap just as DT fades.

Death and Decay/Scourge Strike
Death and Decay is a solid tick that requires minor effort to cast and it’s a DPS gain even in single target situations. Whenever possible, plan ahead to avoid losing potential damage due to mob movement. If it means deferring Death and Decay until the target is situated, so be it.

Scourge Strike is a very hard hitter and is similarly high in priority. It will also replace Death and Decay when it is on cooldown.

Festering Strike
Festering Strike serves the important purpose of adding 6 seconds to your diseases. Done wisely, and fight allowing, your diseases will stayed renewed. It’s like watering a plant of doom. If your diseases do fall off for whatever reason you will simply repeat the ‘Diseases’ priority explained above. Also, with Reaping from our Unholy specialization, the runes consumed by Festering Strike will become death runes when they reactivate.

Death Coil
Not unlike runes, we don’t want to waste Sudden Doom procs. With Runic Corruption’s mechanic revamped, we no longer have to worry about overriding our rune regeneration. Death Coil may now be done freely to make use of Sudden Doom procs, to build Shadow Infusion stacks quickly (for DT), and to avoid the RP cap.

Death and Decay/Scourge Strike and Festering Strike
This is your ‘rinse and repeat’ in order when you have runes (and cooldown) available.

Horn of Winter
When all else fails, you can toot your horn for RP and to maintain its uptime for you and your cohorts. It’s a step above twiddling your thumbs, so don't feel bad, you're staying busy at least.

AoE Target Priority Diseases + Pestilence > Dark Transformation > Death and Decay/Scourge Strike (UnholyUnholy or Death Runes are up)> Blood Boil/Icy Touch (BloodBlood and FrostFrost are up)> Death Coil (Sudden Doom, high RP)
By AoE fight, I do not just mean multiple targets. For your standard dungeon pull, you would still use the ‘Single Target’ as above. This AOE priority is written for the cultist packs in Bastion, the non-elite cultists before High Priestess Azil, Geist patrols, and other mass pulls. In these cases, you will want to switch momentarily to Frost Presence.

Diseases
If any of the mobs will survive for more than a few seconds, it is worthwhile to Pestilence. One caveat on this: do not Pestilence if it will pull an adjoining group or if there is a CC nearby. This is particularly noteworthy if you are glyphed for extended range on Pestilence. Mages get really frustrated when their sheep spasms with cooties and comes to cough in their face.

Dark Transformation
Is still of equally high importance. Same as with single target priority.

Death and Decay/Scourge Strike
Same as with single target priority.

Blood Boil/Icy Touch
Blood Boil, for Unholy DK’s, always results in a leftover Frost rune which can only be used offensively for Icy Touch.

Death Coil
Same as with single target priority.

G H O U L ( T I M M Y )
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Timmy is still some of your best damage so it’s wise to learn how to use him properly.

For extra credit, bind his Attack/Follow/Stay & Huddle commands to keys you can access quickly. For the most part, Timmy is a resilient pet. He has an unspoken 90% AoE damage reduction and can be healed by your Death Coil (discounted healing with Glyph of Death’s Embrace). That’s wonderful, but better than cruising on those abilities is to have smooth control and awareness of him.

Another AI shortcoming is in regards to Timmy’s Claw ability. Sometimes he sits on his energy and other times he'll get all tuckered out. If he's still underusing his energy, you may want to macro his Claw with a Scourge Strike (see Macros for more info).

S U R V I V A L
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To quote Ghostcrawler, "Dungeons are hard."

Raise Ally
In 4.0.6 and prior patches, risen allies were lovingly cobbled together from elmer's glue, macaroni, and glitter. With 4.1, we have expanded our control over death to resurrect our allies completely. Raise Ally is now instant cast, costs 50 Runic Power, and has a 10-minute cooldown. The requisite Runic Power means you must be in the midst of combat activity and temporarily forgo your personal DPS for the benefit of returning others to the field. It shares the same global battle resurrection cap with other players, so like our Druid and Warlock rezzers, communication with the raid before and during an encounter is required. Only one manner of resurrection is allowed in a 10-man and three within a 25-man fight so there is stressed value in using it wisely. Resurrections have raid saving potential so don't waste it by selecting the wrong person or watching someone accept prematurely.

Anti-Magic Shell
Using Anti-Magic Shell wisely is one of the key aspects that separates the ‘good’ Death Knights from the ‘great’ ones. AMS provides a two-fold benefit and understanding it well will optimize your play.

Firstly, AMS is a powerful defensive ability that absorbs 75% (83%/91%/100% Magic Suppression) of the damage dealt by harmful spells up to 50% of your total health and prevents the application of harmful magical effects. In heavy damage situations, this is a lifesaver and aids on healing resources. For reoccurring damage, plan AMS to correlate with the boss timers. I.e., for Valiona where the damage is frequent, you can use AMS slightly before Blackout so that you have its protection and begin its cooldown timer.

Secondly, and often underutilized, is AMS’s DPS boon. Damage absorption (again via Magic Suppression) will cause you to become ‘energized’ and generate a substantial amount of Runic Power. When you can anticipate AMS a few seconds ahead of time, make sure to have very low RP so that you do not cap while energizing.

The only caveat associated with AMS is not to use it when you a required to get a magical debuff. One example of this is Elementium Monstrosity where you have to get the grounded or levitated debuff to survive. These are rare situations but worth keeping in mind.