The dark guardians corrupt and manipulate life energy to draw from it in battle.
As a Blood Death Knight, you harness undead magic to take on the role of tank and protect allies. If you prefer to deal damage, you can use the Unholy or Frost Death Knight instead.
The most important changes
You can now use the Icy Chains, Death Mantle, and Raise the Dead abilities. The former honor talents Antimagic Field and Lich Knight are now normal abilities.
Sacrifice Pact is a new ability that you learn at level 54. It allows you to sacrifice your ghoul to inflict Shadow damage on eight nearby enemies and heal yourself.
New rune enchantments are available for your weapons: Rune of Eternal Thirst (level 20, for PvP), Rune of Sanguination (level 32, increases damage from Deathblow), Rune of Apocalypse (level 44, your ghoul inflicts debuff on target), Rune of Hysteria (level 48, increases Rune Power and Rune Power generation), and Rune of Spell Protection (level 48, deflects magic damage and gives an absorption shield).
The former talent Rune Transformation is now a normal ability that reduces all damage taken by 20% for four seconds and has two charges. The former talent Ossuarium has become a passive ability. It reduces the cost of Deathblow by five Runic Power if you have at least five charges of Bone Shield. In addition, the maximum rune power is increased by ten.
Your Heart Strike now does 20% more damage, and Vampire Blood increases healing and absorption by an additional 5%. Your area abilities Sacrificial Pact, Bone Storm, and Consumption now only hit a maximum of eight targets.
Blood Transformation is a new level 30 talent that creates a rune and reduces the recharge time of Bone Shield with each charge spent. The new level 45 talent Death Pact heals you for 50% of your maximum health while absorbing healing received equal to 30% of your maximum health. The effect lasts for 15 seconds.
How to play the Blood Death Knight
You should set your attribute priority as a Blood Death Knight as follows:
- Strength
- Versatility
- Speed
- Critical hit chance
- Mastery
| Stage | Talent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Blooddrinker | Drain 2,627 health from the target over the course of 3 seconds. While channeling this ability, you can move, parry, dodge, and use defensive skills. |
| 25 | Rapid Decomposition | Your Blood Plague and Death and Decay abilities deal damage 15% more often. Additionally, your Blood Plague ability drains 50% more health. |
| 30 | Relish in Blood | While Crimson Scourge is active, Death and Decay heals you for 267 health per stack of Bone Shield the next time you use it, and you immediately gain ten Runic Power. |
| 35 | Will of the Necropolis | Below 30% health, your damage taken is reduced by 30%. |
| 40 | Grip of the Dead | Death and Decay reduces the movement speed of enemies within the effect area by 90%. This effect decreases by 10% per second. |
| 45 | Voracious | Increases Deathblast’s healing by 20% and grants you 15% life steal for eight seconds. |
| 50 | Red Thirst | Reduces the cooldown of Vampire Blood by 1.5 seconds for every ten Runic Power spent. |
You follow a priority list. Use Shredder if your Bone Shield is about to expire. Use Deathblast when your health is low or you are near the limit of your rune power. Use Blood Drinker whenever it is available.
Use Boiling Blood when there are enemies nearby without an active Blood Plague. Now follow up with Marrow Shredder if you have six or fewer stacks of your Bone Shield. Use your Death and Decay ability on three or more enemies.
Use Heart Strike if you have three or more runes. If nothing else is possible, use Boiling Blood. Actively, you can counter damage with Bone Shield and Deathblow. You can also use the defensive cool-downs Antimagic Shell, Rune Transformation, Vampire Blood, Icy Resistance, and Dancing Rune Weapon.
