Blood

This is a world of warcraft build that is based on grinding only. If you want to go dps with this, you can, but this is made to proc health and runic power when you kill a mob. You will plow through every mob in world of warcraft. This build makes a shot at being the best grinding spec/class in the game.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/2 Butchery. (Whenever you kill an enemy that grants experience or honor, you generate up to 20 runic power. In addition, you generate 2 runic power per 5 sec while in combat.)

PVE* In pve this talent is ok. I would say this is a great grinding talent, and offers a little for long boss fights. This offers about .4% dps up per point.

PVP*In pvp this talent is very lack luster. Not many fights last long enough to give 2 runic power per 5 seconds much of an advantage. And if you kill something in pvp, the 20 runic power isn’t a big deal because you killed who you were trying to kill.

***This is one of the base synergy (proc on kill) talents that make this build such a fast grinding spec.***

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Subversion. (Increases the critical strike chance of Blood Strike, Heart Strike and Obliterate by 9%, and reduces threat generated while in Blood or Unholy Presence by 25%.)

PVE*In pve this is a must have talent. The reduced threat will give you the ability to dish out max damage for however long you want. The increased critical strike is really nice especially for deep blood builds. For other builds the blood strike crit is nice and obliterate crit is just awesome. This ranges from a .7% dps up to 1.8% dps up per point depending on your build.

PVP*This is a great blood death knight talent and really not anything else. If blood is your off spec then i would say get blade barrier unless you are doing a build that uses blood strike a lot. This is just a minimal up to unholy and frost death kinghts.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 5/5 bladed armor. (Increases your attack power by 5 for every 180 armor value you have.)

PVE*In pve this is both a good tanking talent for making threat and a great pve dps talent. All death knights should have this dps or tank. A tank can expect 700+ attack power from this and a dpser can expect 400 attack power. This is around a 1.3% dps per point.

PVP*In pvp it is as good as pve. This is a talent that isnt hurt by resilience. Attack power is great in pvp. You will also find yourself in frost presence a lot in pvp, this will give you 600+ attack power in a defensive form. It is a great talent and i would say one of the must haves in almost every build.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/2 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization. (Increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 4%.)

PVE*In pve this is a great talent. This is about a 1.7% dps up per point. This is great for all builds but is a little less useful for a deep frost build. I would say that this is on par point for point with bladed armor.

PVP*In pvp this is a great talent for burst. This is a pure damage up and is slightly worse that bladed armor. I would say this is a must for all builds in blood. Frost and unholy should stick to bladed armor.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 1/1 rune tap. (Converts 1 Blood Rune into 10% of your maximum health.)

PVE*In pve this really isnt something you need. As a tank you will have a devoted healer and as a dps you need the blood runes to do damage.

PVP*In pvp this is one of you top talents. This little one point talent is amazing. The survivability it gives you makes you so hard to kill, you will not believe. Every talent spec that can, should have this talent.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 5/5 dark conviction. (Increases your chance to critically hit with weapons, spells and abilities by 5%.)

PVE*There isn’t a ton of synergy with death knights and crit besides you see some crazy numbers. This talent will give you about 1.1% dps up per point. I would say this is almost below average for death knight talents, but still good to invest in. Go with BA or 2H Special over this tho.

PVP*In pvp this talent loses value even more. This just isn’t as good as it looks. You still need to pick it up if you have the points, but don’t bother if you are stretching just for it.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 death rune mastery. (Whenever you hit with Death Strike or Obliterate there is a 100% chance that the Frost and Unholy Runes will become Death Runes when they activate.)

PVE*This talent is made for deep blood builds. If you are deep blood then this will be about 2% dps up per point if used right. If you don’t have heart strike then don’t get this.

PVP*For pvp this is about the same as for pve. Deep blood specs need this and all others don’t. Its that simple, unless you have a crazy blood rune spec or something.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/leveling talent you will get is 3/3 Vendetta. (Heals you for up to 6% of your maximum health whenever you kill a target that yields experience or honor.)

PVE*If you are grinding then this is good. If you are not then it is not. No death knight build should include this.

PVP*Just dont get this for pvp. Grinding only.

***This is the second great proc on kill talent that makes this spec by far the best grinding spec***

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Bloody Strikes. (Increases the damage by 30% and the bonus damage from diseases by 60% of Blood Strike and Heart Strike, and increases the damage of Pestilence by 60%.)

PVE*This is a great talent for deep blood builds and even hybrid builds using blood strike. This is a 2.6% dps up per point for deed blood death knights. This is even a good tanking talent because of threat generation. Great overall pve talent.

PVP*In pvp this is an above average talent. You may not always have diseases stacked as blood but its still a nice boost. Id say it is really only useful for deep blood pvp builds.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Veteran of the Third War. (Increases your total Strength and Stamina by 6%, and your expertise by 6.)

PVE*In pve this is about a 1.6% dps up per point before you are expertise capped. This is on par with some of the best talents in the blood tree. For tanking this is also a nice stamina boost, and expertise is a great tanking stat, plus the strength gives you parry. Great tanking talent.

PVP*In pvp this is an awesome talent if you can get to it. 6% stamina, more attack power, more parry, expertise, all in one talent. This is one of the best pvp talents around and if you can get it i advise you to do so.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 1/1 Mark of Blood. (Place a Mark of Blood on an enemy. Whenever the marked enemy deals damage to a target, that target is healed for 4% of its maximum health. Lasts for 20 sec or up to 20 hits.)

PVE*I have to say that this is a great talent. This is a good raid utility/tanking talent. This is a good reason to have you in a raid. It is also a good Oh Crap button. Great talent overall.

PVP*In pvp this makes blood stand out. This is a 20 second rogue cc, and fury warriors are also helpless. Just amazing if you cast it on the fastest swinging dps and even works on ice lance spamming mages and feral druids. Just a great all around talent and should be in every pvp build that can reach it.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Bloody Vengeance. (Gives you a 3% bonus to physical damage you deal for 30 sec after dealing a critical strike from a weapon swing, spell, or ability. This effect stacks up to 3 times.)

PVE*In pve this is a great deep blood talent. 9% physical damage is a great buff to your overall damage. This is about a 2.3% damage increase per point. Any blood build should have this.

PVP*In pvp this talent loses some value. Resilience makes crits harder to come by, and blood death knight fall short because of this. If you are deep blood pvp then pick this up still, but if you are hybrid you may be better off looking at something else.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/2 Abomination’s Might. (Your Blood Strikes and Heart Strikes have a 50% chance and your Obliterates have a 100% chance to increase the attack power by 10% of raid members within 45 yards for 10 sec. Also increases your total Strength by 2%.)

PVE*In pve this makes you worth bringing to a raid. This does not stack with other similar buffs, but its still good. I would say its very valuable in 10 mans and little less so in 25 mans. It is also not a bad tanking talent to pick up.

PVP*In pvp this talent is good if you are running double dps. The death knight will buff up the other class very well. This should be used for double burst down teams or 5v5 teams. It is worth getting but situational, and may be hard to keep up at all times.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Bloodworms. (Your weapon hits have a 9% chance to cause the target to spawn 2-4 Bloodworms. Bloodworms attack your enemies, healing you as they do damage for 20 sec or until killed.)

PVE*This talent is debatable. I like the looks of it but the worms need more health. I think from a tank’s perspective its not really worth it, but if you are a dps you may want to know it will add .4% dps per point and does not scale well. Just not a very good talent.

PVP*In pvp this is very RNG. If they proc fast they could win the game for you. If they dont proc at all then you wasted 3 points. The RNG needs to be revamped, Heck the whole talent needs an overhaul. But may be worth it if you need a filler point or two.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/2 Blood Aura. (All party or raid members within 45 yards of the Death Knight are healed by 4% of the damage they deal. Only damage dealt to targets that grant experience or honor can trigger this heal.)

PVE*In pve this is a great utility talent. This will make you have a little better shot at getting that raid spot.

PVP*In pvp this is just an average talent. If you are deep blood i would consider it but just depends on your build and the focus of your build. 4% healed isn’t bad when combined with blood presence, but not awesome. It is average and is probably worth it in most deep blood builds.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 1/1 Heart Strike. (Instantly strikes the target and his nearest ally, causing 60% weapon damage plus 220.8, and an additional 110.4 bonus damage per disease.)

PVE*This is a good talent. I really don’t like the rework of the talent. The after effect is that it feels clumpy and thrown together, but if blizzard wants to give us a free aoe then so be it. Of course it is a must have for tanks and dps alike.

PVP*In pvp this can be tricky, but if you are this far in the tree then this is a must have and you just have to learn how to use it. Make sure you are not breaking cc with it. This is an instant cleave. I like the talent, but still needs some work.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Might of Mograine. (Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Blood Boil, Blood Strike, Death Strike, Heart Strike, and Obliterate abilities by 45%.)

PVE*In pve this is a 2% dps up per point. This is a great dps and tanking talent. You should invest in this for sure. This is some of the only crit synergy you will see in the blood tree.

PVP*In pvp this is great to cancel out all of the resilience. It is always nice to have that huge death strike too. This is only an average pvp talent and you will use this in most of your builds.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 5/5 Blood Gorged. (When you are above 75% health, you deal 4% more damage. Also increases your expertise by 2.)

PVE*There is no reason that every blood build shouldn’t have this. It is a 2.3% dps up per point, and is not RNG. Just get this and you will go far.

PVP*In pvp it is different. You will find yourself under 75% all the time (most of the time). I would come close to saying that if you are not in a double burst down then this is not worth the points. If you are in a burst down then make sure you blow rune tap if you get close to 75%.

The next blood death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 1/1 Dancing Rune Weapon. (Unleashes all available runic power to summon a second rune weapon that fights on its own for 10 sec plus 1 sec per 5 additional runic power, doing the same attacks as the Death Knight.)

PVE*Besides being the coolest looking talent in the game, this is a good dps talent. With full RP it last 22 seconds. If you do 3000 dps then it is 66000 damage every 3 mins. That means it gives you close to 200dps if used on cooldown on a single target. Remember that heart strike now hits 4 times per attack. 200 dps makes this a 7.5% dps up with one point. Really not bad, but consider it takes 100 RP and it makes it really only a 4% dps up. But that is still not bad. Combine it with runic power mastery and now we get some math going.

PVP*In pvp this is proving to be pretty good now. With heart strike cleaving, and a 22 second duration, its proving to be an adrenaline rush for death knights. This is actually a great burst down move to pressure the healer and dps at the same time when you get them close. This will demolish noob teams btw. Just you and a rogue/warrior/caster blow the aoe moves and cooldowns (MAKE SURE you use hysteria with this) and you get a killing machine. I actually approve of this 51 point death knight talent :P.

Frost

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Improved Icy Touch. (Your Icy Touch does an additional 30% damage and your Frost Fever reduces melee and ranged attack speed by an additional 6%.)

PVE*This is a good pve damage up for frost, and a below average up for other builds. Of course this is a good utility talent, but if there is more than one death knight then it may not be as good. As for tanking, i would say it just depends on your focus, this will help to get some threat and is a good pulling tool. This is about a .8% dps up per point for frost.

PVP*In pvp i personally love icy touch. I use icy touch glyph and i think icy touch is one of the best pvp utilities for death knights. In a deep frost build this is a must and every build in frost at all should consider it.

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/2 Glacier Rot. (diseased enemies take 10% more damage from your Icy Touch, Howling Blast and Frost Strike.)

PVE*In pve this is built for deep frost. All other builds should skip this one. This will give a 1.2% dps up per point for a frost build with frost strike and howling blast.

PVP*In pvp this is an ok talent. You will usually have a disease up, but if you are going for any build that doesn’t have frost strike, skip this.

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 5/5 Black Ice. (Increases your Frost damage by 30%)

PVE*In pve this is a huge damage increase for for frost builds. This will be almost 3% damage increase per point. For non frost specs, i would say it depends on how your rotations look.

PVP*In pvp this is as helpful as pve. 30% damage on spells that already scale good. This will give frost builds the burst that you are looking for. To bad it is getting nerfed next patch.

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 5/5 Icy Talons. (You leech heat from victims of your Frost Fever, so that when their melee attack speed is reduced, yours increases by 20% for the next 20 sec.)

PVE*In pve this is a great talent for any build because it is a huge raid buff. I would say this is a must have unless the buff is already provided.

PVP*In pvp this really isn’t a great because only 15 to 20% of your damage is white damage. In pvp you find yourself out of range all the time and you use melee as more of a joust once every 5 seconds. This is also why dual wield isn’t effective. I would say only get this is your running with rogues and fury warriors and even hunters.

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 3/3 Annihilation. (Increases the critical strike chance of your melee special abilities by 3%. In addition, there is a 100% chance that your Obliterate will do its damage without consuming diseases.)

PVE*This is a huge pve talent. This is a great blood talent and should be in the best blood dps builds. Besides that, it isn’t a great talent for unholy and frost specs.

PVP*In pvp this isn’t really a great talent. You won’t use this unless you are deep blood pvp spec. If you are blood this is huge tho.

The next Frost death knight dps/pvp/arena/tanking talent you will get is 2/3 Runic Power Mastery. (Increases your maximum Runic Power by 30.)

PVE*In pve this talent will give you some use. I don’t really love this talent for pve, but if you find yourself topping out runic power a lot this may be good.

PVP*In pvp this is a great talent. You can unload another frost strike with a full RP bar. This can be the difference between bursting that healer down or not.

-Brandon C. ; aka. Darksun22