Death Knight Class Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King
A plate-wearing melee fighter who spends runes and Runic Power on diseases, strikes and frost and unholy magic. Death knights start at level 55 and can tank or deal damage from any tree.
- Roles
- Damage, Tank
- Specializations
- 3
- Popular builds
- 7
- Starts at
- Level 55
- Version
- WoW Wrath of the Lich King
How the death knight plays
Death knights are Wrath of the Lich King's hero class: they start at level 55 in the Plaguelands with their own quests, and can tank or deal damage from any of their three trees. Abilities cost runes (two Blood, two Frost, two Unholy) and build Runic Power, which Death Coil, Frost Strike and Rune Strike spend.
Diseases are the core: Icy Touch applies Frost Fever, Plague Strike applies Blood Plague, and many abilities hit harder for each disease on the target. Presences replace stances: Blood for damage, Frost for tanking, Unholy for speed.
Death Grip pulls an enemy to you, Anti-Magic Shell absorbs magic, Icebound Fortitude cuts damage taken, and Army of the Dead summons a host of ghouls.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Can tank or deal damage from any tree.
- Death Grip, Chains of Ice and Strangulate for control.
- Strong self-healing with Death Strike.
- Starts at level 55: a quick way to the level cap.
Weaknesses
- Runes add complexity.
- Shares plate with warriors and paladins.
- Few ranged tools besides Death Grip and Icy Touch.
Specializations
The specs compared
Each spec rated from 1 to 5 at what it does in WoW Wrath of the Lich King. Single and several targets mean damage for damage specs, healing for healers and threat for tanks; a spec's own guide names its ratings for its role.
BloodDamage, Tank · 2 builds
Self-healing and survivability, with the tree's own tanking and damage tools.
Top talent:
Blood guide
Dancing Rune Weapon
FrostDamage, Tank · 2 builds
Frost damage and strikes with dual-wielded or two-handed weapons, and a tanking tree in its own right.
Top talent:
Frost guide
Howling Blast
UnholyDamage · 3 builds
Diseases, a permanent ghoul and shadow damage: the usual leveling tree.
Top talent:
Unholy guide
Summon Gargoyle
Gear
- Plate with Strength, hit, expertise, haste, crit and armour penetration for damage; defense to 540, Stamina, dodge and parry for tanking.
- Hit to 8% (263 rating) for melee; Icy Touch and Death Coil are spells and miss more often.
- Runeforge your weapons: Rune of the Fallen Crusader for damage, Stoneskin Gargoyle or Nerubian Carapace for tanking.
Each spec guide ranks its stats and says what to look for on its gear.
Death Knight class quests
The quests that unlock class abilities, by the level each route starts at.