MoP Classic Blood Death Knight — Guide (Phase 5)
viewsAbout the Spec
Blood Death Knight is a plate tank wielding a two-handed weapon and the only tank in the game that heals itself off damage it has already taken. All of its defense is built around 
Death Strike: it returns a portion of the damage taken over the last 5 seconds, and mastery turns that healing into an absorb shield, Blood Shield. The more precisely you land your Death Strikes into the boss's heavy hits, the less work your healers have to do.
The spec resource is runes and runic power. In Mists of Pandaria 
Vengeance was added on top, converting the damage you take into attack power, so a Blood Death Knight also hits noticeably hard. In return it has almost no mobility and is heavily gear-dependent.
Strengths
- Best self-healing among tanks: Death Strike and Blood Shield cover most of the incoming damage.
- A full set of cooldowns for every damage type, including
Anti-Magic Shell against magic. - Strong raid utility:
Anti-Magic Zone, 
Gorefiend's Grasp and 
Raise Ally. - Instant target grouping:
Death Grip on cooldown and pulling the whole pack with a single button. - High damage thanks to Vengeance.
Weaknesses
- Very weak mobility: no dashes, only a passive movement-speed bonus.
- Heavily gear-dependent — in weak gear Blood Shield barely builds up.
- Self-healing scales poorly as Vengeance grows, so its contribution drops on later tiers.
- Requires constant rune management: a missed Death Strike is immediately felt in your health.
Stat Priority
- 1Stamina
- 2Mastery
- 3Hit Rating (up to 7.5%)
- 4Expertise (up to 7.5%)
- 5Haste
- 6Parry
- 7Dodge
Hit and Expertise are taken to exactly 7.5% and no higher: beyond that cap they give nothing. Parry and Dodge are not useless — through 
Riposte critical strike rating from gear is also converted into parry.
Talents
Rotation (Ability Priority)
The opener is a set sequence of abilities you use as you engage an enemy. Memorising it helps initiate your rotation in the most optimal way possible.
- 1
Horn of Winter - 2
Bone Shield - 3
Army of the Dead - 4
Icy Touch - 5
Plague Strike - 6
Heart Strike - 7Heart Strike
- 8Death Strike
- 9Heart Strike
- 10
Dancing Rune Weapon - 11Death Strike
- 12
Rune Strike
Veteran of the Third War — check before the pull that you are standing in it- Bone Shield — on cooldown, better to raise it even before the pull
Frost Fever and 
Blood Plague — keep both diseases on the target via 
Outbreak- Death Strike — the core of survival: builds Blood Shield and returns damage already taken
- Rune Strike — when runic power approaches the cap, so it is not wasted
Soul Reaper — on targets below 35% health- Heart Strike — spends blood runes when Soul Reaper is unavailable
Death and Decay or 
Blood Boil — on a 
Crimson Scourge proc- Horn of Winter — a filler when everything else is unavailable
Key Abilities
Blood Charge and turns them into a ready rune when you need it, not when you get luckyBest in Slot (BiS)
Best in Slot (BiS)Tier 16 Set — Battleplate of Cyclopean Dread
Tier 16 Set — Battleplate of Cyclopean DreadIn the BiS list the chest slot is taken not by the set piece but by
Earthbreaker's Steaming Chestplate. The set chest is only needed by those collecting 4 pieces for the bonus — in that case the helm or legs is dropped from the set.
Enchants, Gems, Consumables
Enchants
Gems
ConsumablesRaces
Riposte partly carries over into parry as well.
Best Professions
The best profession for a Blood Death Knight. 
Synapse Springs on gloves gives a burst of your primary stat every minute, and Nitro Boosts on the belt are the only real dash for a class that barely moves.
Socket Bracer and 
Socket Gloves add two extra sockets. The gain is small, but it works constantly and requires no button presses.
Lets you set up to three 
Solid Serpent's Eye — that is noticeably more stamina than ordinary gems give.
Fur Lining - Stamina on the wrists gives more than an ordinary enchant and fully fills the slot.
Author
Fouren
Fouren has been playing World of Warcraft for over 15 years. He is an active player with 12 Cutting Edge achievements under his belt, and has reached the top 1% and 0.1% multiple times on various classes. His main classes are healers, particularly Holy Paladin.
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