Two-Handed builds are divided into the three types: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. It makes sense to do the same to the DW builds as frost builds are very different from the unholy ones. This summary is designed with upcoming changes in mind. I recommend you familiarize yourself with the Think Tank article about Death Knight DPS. Though some of the data is out of date, it is a good foundation of knowledge overall.
Just remember you will see different results when testing on a test dummy versus actual raid bosses so don't be too discouraged just because you're doing lower amounts of damage on the dummy.
There are two builds that do good DPS. Each one is slightly different in their execution but their goal is to generate as much runic power as possible to maximize Death Coil.
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A proven contender with the 2H builds, you use Improved Unholy Presence to fire abilities like crazy. Featuring Ghoul Frenzy, it's the classic Death Coil build generating more runic power than any other viable build currently.
Glyphs: Dark Death, Icy Touch, Ghoul
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...0&version=9806
This build scales better with Expertise and Critical Rating. Haste isn't bad either.
Priority System: Spam Plague Strike, Icy Touch, Blood Strike, Ghoul Frenzy and fire Death Coil every time runic power gets above 40. Use Death Runes for Icy Touch.
This build works well right now but it scales less than other builds. This means that eventually as gear gets better, you'll outgrow this spec. If you like action and spamming buttons, this will make you happy.
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This build is the classic Scourge Strike build of the DW bunch. This one uses Blood Presence to fire hard hitting attacks to go with the usual spells. This build needs Haste so that it's rotations don't get too long. Just avoid Armor Penetration which scales poorly due to so many attacks that ignore armor. As a nice side effect, Plague Strike hits harder in this build than any other DW build. This build has a very high scaling Death Coil as well.
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...5&version=9806
This build scales better with Haste and Expertise. Critical Rating isn't bad either.
Priority System: Diseases(BP>FF)>SS>BS>UB>DC.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) Does Icy Talons stack with Improved Icy Talons or Windfury Totem?
Answer: No. In a raid, you should expect this buff so any points in Icy Talons would be a DPS loss.
2) When is the best time to use Gargoyle?
Answer: Gargoyle actually gets it's haste and other stats from its owner. The best time to use gargoyle is actually during a bloodlust when as many of your procs/cooldowns are available. Just keep in mind that the Gargoyle is fragile and will die quickly to any AoE.
3) Is Glyph of Disease worth using?
Answer: It's useful for AOE but that's it. It comes out to be a dps loss that while it's refreshing your diseases, it deals no damage of it's own. It's especially bad if you screw up and diseases drop as your whole raid will lose the Ebon Plaguebringer buff until you can fix your mistake. It's not recommended.
4) What determines partial resists?
Answer: Originally Posted by Zyrm
As an additional note, what is *actually* responsible for partial resists on bosses is weapon skill. For example, if you tried to scourge strike a level 80 mob with 1 weapon skill, aside from parries/dodges, the strikes you DID land would be mitigated in half (which is actually the most a SS can resist, it will always hit for at least half damage)... until you're weapon skill was at or near max. Since Raid bosses count as your level +3, and there is currently no way to raise weapon skill beside the level max, you will always see partial resists in raids.
Another side note, when you see a strike that says, say "Your SS hits X for 4000 (200 resisted)", you wouldn't have originally done 4200 damage, but actually quite a bit more. The (X resisted) is actually before modifiers/buffs/talents/crits, so in reality, if half a strike was resisted, you might actually see something like "Your SS hits for 2.5k (1.9k resisted)". Just some food for thought. I can't tell you how many time's I've seen 5500(900 resisted) when my SS crits that don't resist always break 8k.
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An alternative build is 1/18/52 which uses Obliterate. This build requires a lot of gearing to make it work. The advantage of this build is being able to use all of the Armor Penetration gear in Ulduar. You ideally want to stack as much Armor Penetration as you can without sacrificing too much in other stats.
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...5&version=9806
Priority System: Diseases(BP>FF) > OB > BS > UB > DC.
Pre-Heroic armor with good weapons
Head:
[Conqueror's Darkruned Helmet] --
[Bold Dragon's Eye] +
[Arcanum of Torment]
Neck:
[Might of the Leviathan]
Shoulders:
[Conqueror's Darkruned Shoulderplates] --
[Bold Dragon's Eye] +
[Greater Inscription of the Axe]
Cloak:
[Drape of the Faceless General] --
[Bold Scarlet Ruby] +
[Fierce Monarch Topaz] +
Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed - Spell - World of Warcraft
Chest:
[Conqueror's Darkruned Battleplate] --
[Bold Stormjewel] +
[Bold Scarlet Ruby] +
Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats - Spell - World of Warcraft
Arms:
[Bitter Cold Armguards] --
[Fierce Monarch Topaz] +
[Bold Scarlet Ruby] +
Enchant Bracers - Greater Assault - Spell - World of Warcraft
Hands:
[Gauntlets of the Wretched] --
[Bold Scarlet Ruby] +
Enchant Gloves - Precision - Spell - World of Warcraft
Waist:
[Girdle of Embers] --
[Bold Scarlet Ruby]
Legs:
[Conqueror's Darkruned Legplates] --
[Bold Scarlet Ruby] +
[Bold Dragon's Eye] +
[Icescale Leg Armor]
Feet:
[Melancholy Sabatons] --
Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality - Spell - World of Warcraft
Ring1:
[Bladebearer's Signet]
Ring2:
[Strength of the Automaton]
Trinket1:
[Blood of the Old God]
Trinket2:
[Darkmoon Card: Greatness]
Weapon1:
[Caress of Insanity] (note: 232 version is better. These are old stats) --
[Bold Scarlet Ruby]
Weapon2:
[Remorse]