I didn't test the Gargoyle on beta, but I did test blood worms (which are also classified as a "guardian"), and they got the 5% bonus. So it's highly likely the gargoyle does as well.

In case you aren't sold on the gargoyle yet, by the way, consider the fact that as a cooldown ability, you can stack its use advantageously given the fight duration. For example, if a fight lasts 4 minutes, you will have 2 minutes of gargoyle uptime, or 50%. Right now the estimated damage numbers assume he will be up for 1 in 3 minutes (33%), but that is merely the minimum uptime (assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong with your runic power generation). In a four minute fight, the gargoyle provides 1/3rd more damage than estimates, since an extra one third of 33% uptime is 50% uptime. Cooldowns also let you take advantage of downtime in a fight. The gargoyle's cooldown will shorten during the time in which you can't do damage, letting you stack the full duration for the next round of combat, effectively increasing the uptime when considered as a percent of time in which you're allowed to attack.

Related to cooldown stacking, does anyone know if the gargoyle is affected by Bloodlust? I'm going to assume not (as it's a guardian, not a pet), but I haven't verified this. If it is though, then that's a lot of extra damage just for synchronizing with your shaman.

It seems the current discussion is on DPRP (damage per rune power) between Gargoyle, DRW, or just straight DC.

DPRP isn't the same as DPS though, though for DKs I guess it is a bit different than Damage per mana where you can trade mana efficiency for damage.

Hey gang,

First of all thanks for all 150 pages of brain numbing info in the past months. This is the first time I've used these boards to help in learning the class before I play. I have read every page and I was able to spend a little less than a day on the Beta. I played through the starting area 4x in hopes of getting the perfect leveling spec started. As with everyone here I'm attempting to move very very quickly so I have 2 specs I have worked out. I am sure they have been mentioned before and one of these two will be the winner. I was unable to parse enough data to make a good educated guess and would love a bit of last minute advice.

Blood @ lvl 60
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
Using the rotation of >> PS - IT - DS - HS (Oblit when I get it) then repeat with mainly Hearts (DC when it's up)

Unholy @ 60
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
Using the rotation of >> PS - IT - SS - BS - BS - SSx3 (DC when it's up)

Again, I hope I am not being redundant and I *think* I have chosen the best talents for the purpose of early leveling. You guys are unreal in how much time you have put into this and thanks in advance.

Aw mate, for the love of god if you go unholy, take On a Pale Horse primarily, but also Unholy Aura. They are possibly the talent points that will speed up your leveling the most!

This was vastly referenced numerous times in this thread already, and its quite good advice.

So postpone 2 points from Rige of Rivendare and go into On a Pale Horse...np

Any other suggestions? Thanks Again

I would suggest taking those points from BCB/Impurity, rage of rivendare is absolutely vital as well.

Edit: browsing your Blood build, I would drop 2 points in Abomination´s might, 10% AP and 2% increased STR,for 2 talent points? Yummy.

Take from reaping or necrosis or desecration. Postpone the 2 points from Rage of Rivendare and put them in Butchery.

If you plan to AoE, impurity is one of the most valuable talents in Unholy. Keep it maxed if you can.

Is Unholy still the spec of choice for AOEing mobs down? I'm definately more inclined to level AOEing instead of using single target etc, but Icy Touch > Epidemic > Howling Blast seems pretty immense from the limited testing I did pre-beta finish.

For those planning on going the RAF grant a level route, to go from 57.9 to 60.9 (like me), and are worried about overkilling mobs, it should be noted that there is a second quest you can skip, other than the trainer one already mentioned. Noth's Special Brew - the one where you throw the skulls in the cauldron - can be skipped for 12250 xp less.

Impurity is a good talent for single target damage and an amazing one for aoe. I feel necrosis is the weakest talent in the early tree, and will likely skip it entirely. When I was testing out specs at around lvl 60 in the beta, normal melee damage was usually only 10-20% of my total damage done. Necrosis is still very weak even with the bonuses to shadow damage from talents.

I plan on going for this 0/0/51 at lvl 60, filling out Rage of Rivendare next and continuing to blood after. Gargoyle is just there to help with soloing elite quests, but I might end up skipping it for something else.

What about Outbreak? I've not heard a lot of talk about it, but a lot of builds I've seen posted here either include it or don't with little or no comment. My thought is that if the goal is to level Unholy in a primarily AoE capacity, its probably one of the better talents to take low on the tree. (As a note, I am not a Beta tester, though I have been following the last 20-30 pages with rapt attention.)

I'm also interested in seeing more discussion regarding the benefits of descration for leveling (with an eye towards some AoE) versus spending those 5 points elsewhere (likely Impurity and Necrosis, at a guess). On a related note, is Corpse Explosion still mostly considered to be crap?

For what its worth, here's the build I'm currently looking at using at 60: 2/0/49

Even if Corpse Explosion is still crap when used on corpses, does it still explode the ghoul for 53% of his HP when used on him? (As I have read earlier in this thread).

I think a point in CE is worth it just for that effect while leveling to 80. Even without Night of the Dead just blowing up the ghoul every 5 minutes could be useful, especially if held in reserve for emergency situations.

Didn't do 53% of the ghoul when I tested it, I think that is just shadow of death self-ghoul explode that hits that hard. He still takes like 3 seconds of cast time to explode so I doubt it is useful to get CE just for exploding ghoul.

Two questions: First, say you have a Blood->Death rune and a Frost->Death rune, if you Icy Touch is it known if theres a priority of which death rune it burns first (there are cases where it would be ideal for either one to be true, but random would never be ideal).

Second: I'm having trouble seeing how a hybrid blood/unholy build such as 24/0/37 wouldn't be ideal level at around or approaching 70. Ebon Plaguebringer is nice sure, and Scourge Strike is also nice but it just doesn't seem like it competes with Bloody Strikes for a damage increase. I mean, you walk up to a random mob, IT PS BS BS SS or SS SS as unholy, compared to IT PS DS BS BS or IT PS BS BS BS BS as blood/unholy. I guess its essentially Rage of Rivendare vs. Bloody Strikes+2h Spec+Rune Tap+Vendetta for just pure non-downtime destruction. It just seems to me people are generally committing to blood or unholy and that a hybrid could do worlds of good. (also of note, i plan to level with a friend so even if unholy were deemed better we couldn't both have ebon up)

1) In my blood tests, the Unholy Death rune was always used before the Frost. Not sure why, oblit creates them both at the same time.

2) BS can't even come close to competing with SS as unholy. SS ignores armor entirely, and is just stupidly OP while leveling. And bloody strikes doesn't even come close to the contribution that RoR provides. SS, Crypt Fever and Ebon plague are too amazing to not get. And what is with rune tap and vendetta over Dark Conviction? It seems to me like you didn't have the beta. I can assure you that SS will hit at least twice as hard as BS while leveling, and it certainly crits for way more than double.

If your friend is going unholy, I would suggest going blood, and providing him with some nice buffs and leech effects. Would be a nice synergy between you two.

Didn't someone mention a few pages back that the Death Strike glyph was currently bugged and actually resulted in lower damage and healing?

EDIT: Nvm, I can't find it. Could have sworn I saw that mentioned somewhere.

Yes, the glyph does not work in conjunction with RoR or Tundra Stalker currently. If you don't have those talents, then the glyph works, but if you have even one point in either of those, the glyph does not work. Blizzard is aware of the issue.

Nevermind that then, even an unglyphed Death Strike with 3 diseases up is more than sufficient to keep your life pretty much at the maximum while killing a reasonable number of targets at once. And if they fix the glyph, the better it becomes.

Appreciate the response, I had overlooked the ignoring armor and that obviously makes all the difference. I was considering going blood along side him but then I wouldn't have on a pale horse and honestly that just seems unacceptable. If I only go to crypt fever and not to ebon plaguebringer we can both put the third disease on the target correct? Also, do you have a leveling spec in mind at 60? You linked to one above but your link actually went to a level 80 spec.

Well yea, I would build up to that spec. Put two points in Butchery first, fill out unholy, then go back to blood.

Now would probably be a good time for someone more ambitious than I to create a new Death Knight thread, and maybe consolidate it into one tanking mechanics thread and one DPS mechanics thread. This thread has basically degenerated into people talking about specs and specific abilities because the older information in the thread is all outdated and irrelevant and even if someone were inclined to read all 100-some pages, they wouldn't get much useful out of it.