|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Welcome to Elitist Jerks | ||||
|
We're testing some new features on the site regarding OpenID registration and coordination with gamerDNA. If you experience any issues with registering an account, please take the time to fill out a report and send it to this e-mail address. We would appreciate any assistance you could provide in making sure everything is functioning as intended. Thanks! If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ and the forum rules. Users must register to post and new registrations are subject to a one day "mute" period to get acquainted with the community. |
 |
|
|
LinkBack (249) | Thread Tools |
08/30/09, 1:30 PM
|
 #1
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Don Flamenco
|
Unholy Dps | 3.3, Brick By Boring Brick
I | Latest News
Upcoming Changes section is back, this time for Patch 3.3.0, which is now live on the PTR! The new Scourge Strike is fully functional, at long last, leading to us finally being able to figure things out:
II | Contents Hold Control + F, then enter in the number of the section you wish to skip down to. Or simply scroll! I | Latest News II | Contents III | Upcoming Changes IV | Common Abbreviations V | Why Unholy for Dps? VI | Specs & Runeforges -- Accepted -- “Optional” Talents -- Runeforges VII | Glyphs -- Major -- Minor VIII | Generalized Rotation -- Single Target -- AoE IX | Gearing & Stat Weights -- Set bonuses -- Weapon Speed -- Best in Slot -- Sigils X | Consumables & Cooldowns -- Consumables -- Cooldowns XI | Basic Combat Mechanics XII | Ghoul Specific Mechanics XIII | Taking Advantage of AMS -- Crusader's Colliseum -- Ulduar XIV | Professions XV | Unholy-Specific Macros XVI | Frequently Asked Questions XVII | Valuable Resources XVIII | Credits XIX | Thread Change Log III | Upcoming Changes World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.3.0 notes of interest to an Unholy DK:
In order of least consequential to most: The Glyph of Disease change hardly matters. Unholy has never used it for single targets (although we might have in 3.3.0, were it not for this change). It's still an excellent glyph for AoE, but that's already the case. The Army of the Dead change is relatively unimportant. Half the cooldown with half the damage and two thirds the cast time is an ever so slight nerf, but one which is hardly noticeable. It has the upside of ensuring the spell will be up on each and every pull, causing less variation amongst one's individual dps from pull to pull. At any rate, it hardly matters. The Night of the Dead damage reduction change is a nice little PvE boost, although nothing too noteworthy. It will allow your pet to survive essentially any and every AoE found in raids. No longer will you have to worry about it standing in a pool of poison from Acidmaw or eating a shock blast from Mimiron - the damage your pet will take from such abilities will easily be covered by JoL, ILotP, and other such 'passive' healing sources. The Bone Shield duration change is a huge quality of life improvement. From a raw dps perspective, it's not that significant, but still; it gains you 4 Blood Strikes per 5 minutes, or 40-50 dps - a nice little gain considering we are required to do nothing differently to acquire it. Free dps is free dps, after all. The Unholy Blight nerf will cost us about 1-2% of our overall dps, which offsets the Bone Shield change (and then a little). Relatively minor in the scheme of things, especially when you consider we'll be throwing less Death Coils, in part because of the Glyph of Icy Touch change and in part because of our new rotation producing less overall RP. The 4P T9 change is, of course, a nerf. Math hasn't been completely done, but it will probably cost us about 3-4% of our overall dps, approximately, although more in an AoE scenario. It's unfortunate, but it was necessary; 4P T9 was simply too strong. We never would have wanted to drop it in Icecrown, no matter how large the ilvl gap. Now, given the strength of T10, we will. It will require two pieces of T10 for us to break T9. The Glyph of Icy Touch change is more or less a dps wash on a single target as compared to the current GoIT. That said, it is however a much larger dps boost in AoE situations, for obvious reasons. All in all, consider it a buff. The Scourge Strike change is easily the most interesting of it all and, at long last, is finally fully functional on the PTR. It is a huge, huge buff... one to the tune of a 60% increase relative to the current version of SS. The shadow portion of the attack does double dip into certain buffs/talents (Blood Presence, Desolation, Two Handed Weapon Specialization, Bone Shield, Ferocious Inspiration, Subversion, Vicious Strikes, Dark Conviction) and it does benefit from shadow/magical damage specific modifiers (Ebon Plague, Black Ice). It can crit separately from the physical portion (although if the physical portion crits, the shadow portion will have its damage increased accordingly, whether or not it crits - which means when both parts crit, your SS can do ridiculous numbers). The shadow portion cannot be dodged or parried, nor can it miss. It can be partially resisted. The physical portion works like any other physical strike in every single way. What all of this means is that our spec, rotation, and gearing will all change, significantly. The most optimal spec will become 17/0/54. Taking 1-2 points out of Bladed Armor and putting them into Necrosis is a slight (literally 4-8) dps gain, but when you consider Bladed Armor easily pulls ahead on any fight with multiple targets, most would consider it the obvious choice. Still, Necrosis isn't necessarily wrong if you are trying to eke out each and every drop of single target dps you can. Glyphs will now be Ghoul, Dark Death, and Icy Touch for single target fights. [Glyph of Scourge Strike] still isn't attractive, and [Glyph of Disease] only pulls ahead on fights lasting at least 400 seconds (6.67 minutes) of uninterrupted dps (a rarity). For AoE heavy fights, however, Disease, Death and Decay, and Icy Touch become the obvious choices, for self-explanatory reasons. Our rotation will revert back to the basic Unholy build of 3.1 and before:
Unlike now, where you refresh Bone Shield in place of a Blood Strike, you'll want to refresh Bone Shield during an empty GCD, as we'll have plenty of them. Gearing wise, a lot will change for many, many reasons. Stat weights should be roughly as follow:
Set Bonus EP values are as follow:
As stated previously, between the nerf of 4P T9 and the strength of 2PT10, there's no question that we'll immediately drop the former for the latter, as the ilvl gap between the two sets will easily cover the ~40 AP gap. Once again, a disclaimer: This section is subject to a lot of change, as it is the PTR, and the math, theorycrafting, and testing on these notes are still ongoing. IV | Common Abbreviations AoE = Area of Effect AMS = Anti-Magic Shell APE = Attack Power Equivalence BB = Blood Boil BCB = Blood Caked Blade BiS = Best in Slot BP = Blood Presence BS = Bone Shield or Blood Strike, depending on context CC = Crusader’s Colliseum DC = Death Coil DK = Death Knight DnD = Death and Decay DPS = Damage per Second FC = Rune of the Fallen Crusader GCD = Global Cooldown HoW = Horn of Winter IT = Icy Touch PS = Plague Strike RP = Runic Power SoA = Sigil of Awareness SotVH = Sigil of the Vengeful Heart SoV = Sigil of Virulence SS = Scourge Strike TotGC = Trial of the Grand Crusader (CC Hard)` UB = Unholy Blight UP = Unholy Presence V | Why Unholy for Dps? Why do it? Why spec Unholy when you could go Blood for superior sustained single target dps, superior single target burst, Hysteria, Abomination's Might, and simpler gearing options? Why spec Unholy when you could go Frost for superior sustained single target dps, superior AoE burst, Improved Icy Talons, and a more dynamic rotation? Why? This question is vital to this understanding anything in this thread. After all, if there were no reason to spec Unholy over the alternatives, why would this thread even exist? Fortunately, Unholy has more than it's fair share of upsides, thus it's an easy argument to make. The more notable upsides of Unholy:
The fact of the matter is, speccing Unholy makes you unique. It provides you with tools which no other class or spec can bring. It provides you with dps in an area (AoE) which no other spec can hope to reach. Everything Blood* and Frost bring to the table, on the other hand - be it their raid buffs, their single target dps, their survivability, their playstyles, whatever - can be matched or, in several cases, surpassed by others in a raid. In the world of increasing homogenization, this fact makes Unholy one of the most "different" specs around today and, as such, it becomes one of the most valuable. The same cannot be said about Blood or Frost. Whether you choose to spec it or not, is completely up to you. Blood and Frost are obviously not worthless and, depending on your typical raid composition and current level of progression, may in fact be ideal. It all depends on your personal circumstances, and there honestly is no right or wrong answer - at least not one which can be provided by others, only by yourself. The point is: Unholy is more than worthy of its raid spot. Anything to the contrary is utterly incorrect, be it coming from some random forum troll, a fellow guildmate, or a meter-obsessed Blood/Frost DK. *Hysteria aside. VI | Specs Cookie Cutter builds as of 3.2.2 Currently there are a variety of viable specs; standard Blood Presence 2H, Blood Presence Dual Wield, Imp Unholy Presence 2H, and Imp Unholy Presence Dual Wield. Which you choose is largely a matter of personal preference and current gear level. All four use almost identical rotations and, as such, have incredibly similar play styles. Blood Presence Dual Wield does do the most dps in best in slot gear, however the difference between it and Blood Presence 2H is almost nominal. Blood Presence 2H 16/0/55 – If you don't yet have 4p t9, you'll want to shift a point from Dark Conviction into Bladed Armor, but otherwise this is your base 2H build. This spec is drastically different than all of its Unholy predecessors in the sense that it drops two previously considered mandatory and vastly valuable talents - Reaping and Epidemic. Reaping will, at most, gain you about 600 damage every 20 seconds (which comes out to 30 dps, or 10 dps a talent point - a horrible investment) and, at worst, it's actually a dps loss. Epidemic, on the other hand, is still a dps gain; it's just not large enough of one to be worth taking over the alternatives (Desolation/Necrosis). The only fault of this build is in the AoE department - the lack of Epidemic, while worth it on single targets, does cause you to perform one less Blood Boil per 20 seconds. This loss is shared with the other three 'viable' 3.2.2 specs, however, and as such is considered quite acceptable, as it is relatively minor anyways. Your auto-attack will be the highest percent of your total damage, followed by your Ghoul and then your Death Coil. Death Coil plus it's subsequent UB will be your hardest hitting individual ability, followed closely by Scourge Strike. Blood Presence Dual Wield 3/13/55 - The new standard Unholy DW build. Which you choose - 2H or DW - is a matter of choice, more so now then ever before due to the fact that their performance is near identical (with the DW spec just barely pulling ahead in BiS gear - by about 20 dps). Glyphs and stat weights are near identical. The rotation differs slightly from the 2H one, with one Blood Boil outdamaging one Blood Strike (although you still need to Blood Strike once per 20 seconds for Desolation). Once again, your auto-attack will be the highest percent of your total damage, followed by your Ghoul and then your Death Coil. Death Coil plus its subsequent UB will be your hardest hitting individual ability, followed not-so-closely by Scourge Strike. Imp Unholy Presence 2H 14/0/57 - If you do not yet have 4p t9, you'll want to shift two points in Dark Conviction to Bladed Armor. Played in Unholy Presence, this build works the same way as its brethren. If your haste falls below a certain threshold (the exact number has yet to be identified, but it's somewhere in the 200-300 range), this spec pulls ahead of Blood Presence due to the GCD reduction - once you surpass that specific haste, as one does easily in CC gear, it becomes inferior and not worth speccing. The downside to using UP, even when you are undergeared and its worth the single target bump, is the AoE loss; yes, you can always just switch to Blood Presence for AoE fights, however what about fights where you AoE about half the time and single target the other half (which many AoE fights are actually like)? Switching presences in combat is going to lose you dps, but if you don't switch you are either stuck in blood (losing half the reason to be this spec) or stuck in unholy (losing a ton of AoE damage for little gain). Regardless, some find it worth the change. Your auto-attack will be the highest percent of your total damage, followed by your Ghoul and then your Death Coil. Death Coil plus it's subsequent UB will be your hardest hitting individual ability, followed closely by Scourge Strike. Imp Unholy Presence Dual Wield 1/13/57 - The DW version of the Unholy Presence spec. It has the same upsides and downsides when compared to the standard Blood Presence DW build as the Unholy Presence 2H build has to the Blood Presence 2H build - more dps when you are below a certain amount of haste (~200ish), and a somewhat annoying interaction with AoE situations which can lead to a loss of damage depending on presence swapping. Your auto-attack will be the highest percent of your total damage, followed by your Ghoul and then your off-hand attack. Death Coil plus its subsequent UB will be your hardest hitting individual ability, followed not-so-closely by Scourge Strike. Optional Talents Although none of the specs (with the exception of Blood Presence DW) have free floating points to spend on whatever you choose, one can take points from either Bladed Armor or Dark Conviction at a relatively minor dps loss in favor of the utility provided by other talents:
Runeforges There is currently only one viable Runeforge for PvE DPS: Rune of the Fallen Crusader. If you are dual wielding, you want RotFC on both your main hand and your off hand - even though the buffs won't stack, it will significantly increase the overall uptime. The alternative enchants/runes do not even come close. VII | Glyphs Major Single Target Multiple Targets Minor The major glyphs are set in stone for two hand Unholy. No matter which of the four builds you are, no matter which of the “optional” talents you take, no matter what gear level you are currently at, you’ll use these same three glyphs. None of the minor glyphs will have any large impact on your dps, so which you choose is largely up to you. Glyph of Pestilence is the one exception – although it won’t increase your dps in theory or in a simulator, a 50% range increases on Pestilence is generally considered a godsend for AoEing, and to go without it would be rather silly. VIII | Generalized Rotations Single Target Two Hand Builds
Dual Wield Builds
Without Reaping or Epidemic, your build essentially becomes ten seconds, which may seem strange at first and quite different to play. Priority wise, however, it is the same as ever: Apply diseases (PS - IT), dump your RP if its capped (DC), burn your blood runes (BS - BS), use your FU strike (SS), dump your RP (DC), use Horn if you have an extra gcd and are unable to do anything else (HoW). You do end up clipping diseases, but it is acceptable to do so since the damage of Plague Strike + Icy Touch is almost the same as that of Scourge Strike, except for the fact that the former generates near double the runic power of the latter. You can't drop SS from your rotation completely, however, due to GCD constraints, SoV proccing, and the fact that disease clippinng, although acceptable to an extent, goes too far and becomes too large a loss. In situations where you have additional RP thanks to Anti-Magic Shell, Revitalize, or Rapture, simply toss in the extra Death Coil(s) at the very end of your rotation. You have a solid 5 second window in which to use them, as diseases won't have dropped yet. DC is your hardest hitting ability when you factor in Unholy Blight, so it's fine to hold on to runes (so long as diseases remain up) to DC instead, provided you are RP capped. Multi-Target / AoE
Due to the shorter disease duration, you will have to Pest twice as often and, as such, lose out on being able to Blood Boil once per 20 seconds. You do end up losing a couple hundred dps in sustained AoE scenarios, but nothing too significant, and Bladed Armor along with Dark Conviction nearly cover the hole. One common mistake players make is to Death and Decay before spreading their diseases. Doing so is a bad move (from a dps point of view. Tanking is another matter). Although it might seem like a dps gain to use Death and Decay initially so it is off cooldown sooner, it loses a lot of damage if your diseases aren’t on the target (15% from Rage of Rivendare, 13% from Ebon Plague, so on). As well, spreading your diseases sooner means more raid dps thanks to Ebon Plague. Blood Striking to proc Desolation is a larger net dps gain than Blood Boiling, for those who are curious. If Desolation is already up, then Blood Boiling becomes the clear winner, but such a situation will never happen without Epidemic. IX | Gearing and Stat Weights Stat Weights The most important stat for Unholy DKs has always been Strength. Regardless of spec, regardless of gear, this has always remained true. Now that the ghoul benefits properly from it, Hit actually comes very close and, depending on your gear, may indeed be superior - the catch being it's all but useless once you hit the melee cap. Haste is actually very potent these days as well, primarily due to the spell gcd reduction aspect of it. Crit has lept up in value, primarily due to 4p t9. The following are the currently accepted stat weights for Unholy DKs:
As far as hit and expertise go, simply choose the best pieces based on the individual stat weights and the weights of the set bonuses and don't place any special important on capping these two beyond their stated value. Due to their high weights, they're both capped in Best in Slot gear anyways, but before that point in time, there's still no point in adding any special emphasis to them. Weapon Speed When using a two hander, slower is better, of course. Generally speaking, however, you don't have many options - it's either 3.5 or 3.6, so the decision is made for you. For dual wielding, you want your main hand weapon to be as slow as possible, which typically means 2.6s. A slow main hand from Ulduar is going to be better than a fast main hand from normal CC, despite the dps gap. Weapon speed is very important here. Your off hand weapon, on the other hand, doesn't matter. The speed is irrelevant, essentially - just go with the highest dps one you can find. If you are contemplating ever going Frost DW, then you'll want to make you off hand slow, just in case, but for Unholy, it could matter less. Best in Slot For other variations of the Best in Slot lists (10m only, race specific, etcetera), feel free to visit Norg's Optimal Gearing: the BiS thread. Set Bonuses These are the average weights of the set bonuses for Unholy DKs. As you can see, T9 four piece is absolutely incredible for Unholy (and Blood/Frost, for that matter), and the sooner you can attain it, the better.
Sigils The best Sigil for Unholy DKs is [Sigil of Virulence]. This is true regardless of which spec variation you go with. With an 80% proc rate, a 10 second internal cooldown, and a 20 second duration, it will easily have a 90%+ uptime. [Sigil of the Vengeful Heart] comes in a somewhat moderate second place. If you have access to neither of those, [Sigil of Awareness] is your next best bet, although it’s a somewhat distant third. X | Consumbles and Cooldowns Consumables Flask: [Flask of Endless Rage] Potion: [Potion of Speed] Secondary Potion: [Indestructible Potion] Food: [Dragonfin Filet] Pet Food: [Spiced Mammoth Treats] Pop an [Indestructible Potion]about 5 seconds prior to the actual pull for a free ~90 AP (thanks to Bladed Armor) in the first two minutes of the fight. If used before combat, you will still be able to use an additional potion mid-fight. Cooldowns As an Unholy DK, you only have two cooldowns - Army of the Dead and Summon Gargoyle. AotD has an entire thread discussing how to use it to its fullest potential and such, so I won’t touch upon it here. Summon Gargoyle isn't terribly complex in its use. Your Gargoyle scales with your attack power and haste based on the moment it was cast, and will retain those exact stats for its entire duration. Try to wait on using it until all of your procs coincide, however, don't let this make you miss an opportunity to cast it. Summoning your Gargoyle three times in a fight is better than only summoning it twice, regardless of procs. As such, figure out how many times you'll be able to use it based on the fight length. Try and use it at some point during Heroism's duration - it needs to be popped AFTER Heroism is cast, while the buff is active on you, to benefit (unlike a Moonkin's treants). This is also the time to pop your Potion of Speed. Also remember, your Gargoyle has horrid AI. It will not attack Yogg-saron’s brain if summoned within the brain room (but will attack the brain if you summon it before entering the brain room) and will (usually) only melee XT Deconstructor’s Heart. Get familiar with odd instances such as these; know when your Gargoyle will and will not attack, so you don't waste 60 RP. Your Gargoyle will follow the same commands you give your Ghoul (i.e, follow, stay, attack, etc), so you can move it out of AoEs such as Shock Blast – however you are best off simply waiting until immediately after such spells to go off to summon it. XI | Basic Combat Mechanics Some elementary numbers to remember when raiding.
XII | Ghoul Specific Mechanics With your Ghoul being one of your highest sources of damage, and the primary tool which sets an Unholy DK apart from other DKs, there are some basic numbers to know about it.
XIII | Taking Advantage of AMS Ignored or forgotten by many, Anti-Magic Shell not only absorbs magic damage, it also produces Runic Power based on the damage absorbed. More Runic Power translates directly into more damage and, as such, the proper use of AMS is a skill essential for a DK wishing to perform to their very best. Darkside did an excellent job of explaining this for Frost DKs and, as such, most of this is a reprint of his comments - with his permission, of course. Trial of the Crusader This section is still new and, as such, subject to a lot of change. Northrend Beasts P1: There are some explosions that you can soak some RP from easily enough, however they tend to only spawn on ranged, thus you have to decide whether or not it's worth it. That aside, you can get some during the knockback/silence, which is on a regular timer. P2: There are multiple opportunities to get free RP, and in this phase you should be using AMS the second it's on CD (provided you aren't already close to RP capped). You can soak from the poison on the ground, from the poison debuff, from the fire debuff, and from the knockback. If you see Acidmaw target you (and you didn't pull aggro), that means he is about to throw the poison debuff at you - you can use AMS to prevent it's application entirely, saving you the loss in dps time which moving to someone with the fire debuff would require. P3: If a poison cloud is still up from P2, feel free to use it. That aside, the only other opportunity for AMS it to use it proactively to prevent the stun from his Frost Breath. If he targets you, not only will it prevent him from stunning you, it will prevent him from stunning everyone else, as he will cancel casting it. Lord Jaraxxus You can stand in the flames, pop it when an infernal is by you, or even try to time it when you think you'll get hit with a beam. Popping it while in flames or when an infernal is near are your best bets, and both are fairly common happenings. Faction Champions Here, you can almost pop it on CD. With the level of random damage the mobs throw around, simply wait until one is AoEing (Such as the warlock casting Hellfire) or until one (usually several) target you and start attacking. Twin Valkyrs There are two main opportunities here: You can either save AMS for the Dark/Light Vortex, which not only will give you a full RP bar, but it can also save you the trouble of switching essences. Your other option is to pop it and grab the wrong color essence. On heroic version, you can also cast it if you get Tough of Light/Darkness, granting you a full RP bar. Anub'Arak Pop it when you have a few stacks of the poison debuff from the scarabs which spawn during the burrowed phase. You can also pop it at any time during the Swarm (30% until death). Ulduar Flame Leviathan N/A Razorscale P1: Run through a fire patch on your way over to Razorscale after she's been harpooned. P2: There is usually a flame patch in the near vicinity of the boss, simply hop in that every 45s. Ignis Simply time AMS for use right after he finishes his Flame Jets cast. Know that if you use AMS before the cast is finished you won't receive the debuff and will therefore generate far less RP than you could otherwise. Additionally, you want to start burning RP as soon as you start gaining it, or you will quickly become capped, and waste the extra RP from AMS. XT Deconstructor You can elect to follow a light-bombed melee as they run out of the group. Otherwise, save AMS for when you get bombed, be it with Gravity or Light. Kologarn Wait until Shockwave comes off of cool down then, pop AMS and pray that he uses the ability within 5s seconds (he usually does). Assembly of Iron Steelbreaker: The High Voltage aura makes this fight one of the best for consist RP generation through AMS. Simply use AMS every time it is off cooldown and enjoy the free damage. Molgriem:You'll have to wait for a Rune of Death on the melee group and use AMS as you leave. Brundir: Lightning Tendrils is the best source of reliable magic damage. You can also take advantage of Overload, though know that you will suffer a 2s knockdown. Since it typically takes a second or two to get back in, this is pretty much a wash. Auriaya Wait for a fear and then dance through a void zone on your way back to the melee clump. Hodir Save AMS for Frozen Blows. Real ballers can also get 2-3 stacks of Biting Cold at the same time, though your healers will complain, as will the rest of your raid for ruining their achievement! An alternative is to use AMS when he casts Flash Freeze, as it will allow you to stay on the boss without getting frozen. Thorim P1: Wait for a Stormhammer cast and hope that you're standing near the target. P2: Instead of moving out, just sit in and soak the Lightning Charges. Freya P1: Sunbeam, if you can move close enough to the target in a timely fashion. There's also Nature's Fury. P2: Not much, as the bombs will tend to blow you away from the boss and should thus be avoided. Mimiron P1: Find an isolated land mine and trigger it on your way back to the boss from a Shock Blast. P2: Use AMS immedietly after you see Heat Wave pulse to make your healers happier. P3: Bomb bot explosions are the only source of magic damage. P4: Use AMS whenever it is off cooldown. Odds are, you will be targeted by Hand Pulse sometime during the duration. Due to having to weave in and out a lot on the Mimiron encounter, this is a great fight to try to maximize your RP through AMS, additionally there are lots of way to die, so avoiding death is always your greatest DPS gain! Vezax This is the only fight in Ulduar without reliable AoE magic damage. In the hard mode version of the encounter, however, you can pop it as the Animus is stacking its debuff for some RP, although it isn't much, and you only get one real opportunity to do so. Yogg-Saron P1: If your guild elects to tank all the guardians in the center, you can use AMS to soak their detonations. P2: There is lots of shadow damage if you're in the portal group (hint: you should be) from Grim Reprisal. P3: Nothing here, as you should not be getting hit with Lunatic Gaze. Algalon AMS can be popped before Cosmic Smash or before a Collapsing Star dies. Either option will give you a full RP bar, and both happen more than every 45 seconds. If you try to soak from a Cosmic Smash, beware: AMS will not prevent you from going flying if you are too close. Soaking on a Collapsing Star is typically safer, and grants the same gain. XIV | Professions Jewelcrafting Compared to the non-JC versions of [Bold Cardinal Ruby], you will be gaining a total of 42 strength through JC. This not only makes it the strongest profession in terms of total stats gained, but also the most flexible. A must have for those wishing to optimize their dps. Blacksmithing The two free sockets you get, gloves and bracers, allow the use of two more +20 STR gems, for a total benefit of 40 Strength. This is close to the benefit you see from J/C'ing and, while expensive, the combination of Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting is the best two professions you can select. Engineering Hyperspeed Accelerators (340 haste for 12 seconds per minute) and Nitro Boosts (24 crit rating) are the two personal dps boosts provided by Engineering. Although both are quite solid, they don't quite match what is provided by Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting. The haste from Hyperspeed Accelerators is a bit too much, and will put you over the haste 'soft cap (the point at which haste stops reducing the global cooldown of spells, and merely increases your and your ghoul's attack speed)', causing it to decrease in value. The crit rating from Nitro Boosts is only a minor gain to begin with. Regardless, Engineering is an excellent option if you are turned off by BS/JC, for whatever reasons. Enchanting Two ring enchants at 40 AP a pop, for a total of 80 AP. Relatively standard for a profession, although inferior to the above options. Leatherworking 130 AP to bracers, which does not stack with the 50 AP bracer enchant. A net gain here is 80 AP. Inscription 120 AP 15 crit shoulder enchant, a gain of 80 AP as opposed to the exalted Hodir enchant. Alchemy An additional 80 AP in a raid setting (or 40 str outside of a raid, thanks to Flask of the North) as well as increased Flask duration. Similar in value to Enchanting, Leatherworking, and Inscription. Skinning 40 crit rating, which is moderately decent, although clearly inferior to any of the above options.. Tailoring The tailoring cloak enchant, Swordguard Embroidery, grants 400 AP for 15 seconds, which averages out to ~100 AP over time. When you subtract from this the lost haste, it comes out behind all of the above professions. It does have a slight advantage in the sense that you can time the proc with others for a stronger Gargoyle, but that doesn’t significantly increase its worth. Mining 60 stamina, which is utterly useless for dps. Herbalism Self heal, which is once again useless for dps. XV | Unholy-Specific Macros Ghoul jump to safety
Rune Strike with any ability
Cast Death Coil on your target or, if you are holding shift, cast Death Coil on your pet, healing it
An elementary Gargoyle Macro
Refreshing Bone Shield without breaking your rotation
XVI | Frequently Asked Questions There are some questions which come up time and time again, despite having already been answered repeatedly. It's frustrating for readers looking for new information or new discussion to have to see a post asking, yet again, why talent Y or spec X is not considered viable. Hopefully this section helps to alleviate this problem. These questions are posted in no specific order. While on the subject, please don't post asking why you, personally, are not doing as much dps as expected or what is wrong with your gearing - anything of that sort. It's an EJ policy not to clutter threads with such posts - posts which contribute nothing of interest to anyone except yourself. Even were it not EJ policy, it would be mine. If you have concerns about your performance, feel free to PM me with a link of a parse, and I'll try to help you out. If you have questions about your gearing, gemming or enchanting, feel free to PM me with an armory link, and I'll try to help you out. I would rather you bother me then detract from the intelligent conversation which is (hopefully) ongoing in this thread. Why is Epidemic no longer considered mandatory and included in the standard builds? This post (specifically the edit) does a solid job explaining the upsides and downsides of Epidemic. It simply isn't a single target dps boost any longer - and not a significant enough of an AoE one to justify the point spent. Plague Strike plus Icy Touch only do about 100-300 damage less than a single Scourge Strike - except the the former also generates 75% more runic power than the latter (35 to SS's 20). If Epidemic didn't cost any talent points, it would hardly be worth it. The fact that it does, and you would have to sacrifice from Bladed Armor (or Dark Conviction, depending on your gear level) just makes the gap too large to be worth considering. Why is Reaping no longer considered mandatory or, at the least, optional? Reaping is a raw dps loss. No question. Epidemic at least has some upside in terms of AoE - Reaping is nothing but bad. Two Blood Strikes outdamage a single Scourge Strike at most gear levels, thus you lose dps speccing into Reaping as opposed to just not spending three talent points. That's the dictionary definition of a wasted talent. Even at gear levels where Scourge Strike will still out damage Blood Strike, you still gain more dps by spending those three points in Bladed Armor and/or Dark Conviction. Why do the two hand builds not pick up Black Ice? Scourge Strike is an ever decreasing portion of our total dps. With 4p t9, Dark Conviction becomes that much more attractive. Subversion is a mandatory talent now, so even if you did pick up Black Ice, you would still have to shove points into the Blood tree. So on. The bottom line is: Black Ice just doesn't do as much dps. There isn't much more to it than that. Why is Obliterate no longer used? Obliterate does, in fact, still out damage Scourge Strike on an individual strike level. However, with Dirge no longer affecting Obliterate, Obliterate builds generate substantially less runic power, and thus fall further and further behind, despite ArP scaling and the like. What is the ICD and proc rate of 2p t9? 2p t9 has a 45 second ICD and has a 50% chance to proc when off the ICD. Is the 4p t9 set bonus now working? Does the 4p t9 set bonus work off melee crit or spell crit? Does the 4p t9 set bonus allow Wandering Plague to crit? Yes, 4p t9 is working on the live servers. The crit chance is based off of your melee crit change. The 4p t9 set bonus does not allow Wandering Plague to crit, however it does allow Wandering Plague to do double damage. It's essentially a two roll system: one roll decides whether or not your disease tick crits, the other roll decides whether or not WP procs. The two are completely independent of one another. If, however, they both are positive - the disease crits and WP procs - WP will do double damage (not a critical strike in the combat log or in a parse). More questions and answers to be added as appropriate. XVII | Valuable Resources Kahorie’s DK Simulator An amazing tool. Curious how much dps you should be doing relative to your gear level? Curious whether or not it’s time for you to transition specs? Curious what your personal stat weights are? The simulator can tell you all of that and more. Zerack’s DK Gear Optimizer The spreadsheet ideal. Wondering whether or not you should bother getting hit/expertise capped, despite what it says here? Wondering what is Best in Slot of the items you already have or already have access to? Wondering whether it’s worth grabbing that socket bonus or not? These spreadsheets can tell you all of that and then keep calculating. Rawr - for DPS DKs An alternative to Kahorie's and Zerack's. Pondering which drop to blow your dkp on? Pondering if it's worth sacrificing an upgrade or two to keep that set bonus? Pondering if that new item, despite having purple text, is actual an upgrade? This program can tell you all of that and then keep informing. TotGC: A Fight by Fight Breakdown General information is great and all, but do you ever wish there was a single compilation of fight specific tips and tricks for the current tier of content? Potlol has put together just that. Wondering when you can Pestilence on Beasts? Not knowing if it is or is not worth Death and Decaying on only one Mistress during Jaraxxus? Can't decide whether or not to Blood Boil during Anub? This guide can tell you all of that and then some. XVIII | Credits Credit to Norg, Afabar, dr_AllCOM3, and Zerack. If not for these three, there would be no agreed upon stat weights, optimal gear sets, or any of that. This thread – and the Blood and Frost counterparts – would be so much less precise if it weren’t for these guys. Credit to Soilantgreen64 for his work on the Blood DPS thread, his permission to use a very similar format, and his profession break down. Credit to Darkside for the AMS utilization section and the original formatting of the Blood DPS thread and, as such, of this one. Credit to frmorrison for the Ghoul and Combat Mechanics sections. Credit to all other contributions, big and small, to not only this post specifically, but also to the constantly ongoing discussions of this thread. Would that I could list everyone by name. XIX | Thread Change Log [9]: 10.01.09 Upcoming Changes section returns for PTR Patch 3.3.0. [8]: 09.26.09 Update for patch 3.2.2 complete. Two new sections added - "Why Spec Unholy Dps?" and "Frequently Asked Questions". Order of sections rearranged to be somewhat more logical. [7]: 09.22.09 Updated for patch 3.2.2 [6]: 09.18.09 17/0/54 information added to live area, as it is now believe viable. "Latest News" Headline added for those too lazy to scroll down here. [5]: 09.09.09 Upcoming Changes section added. PTR Patch 3.2.2 Unholy changes added to aforementioned section. [4]: 09.02.09 Stat weights updated with more accurate numbers. DW stat weights moved to DW thread. [3]: 08.31.09 Stat weights added for 0/18/53. Haste weighting had an error in it - now fixed. [2]: 08.30.09 DW Builds added to the spec section. Ghoul and Combat Mechanic sections added. [1]: 08.30.09 Thread Launched Last edited by Consider : Yesterday at 6:05 AM. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
08/30/09, 2:23 PM
|
#2 |
|
Glass Joe
|
Finally! So my question is. How does UH Obliterate spec compares to 51/0/20 With ArP soft capped around 460-470+ trinket? Can we get parses of this new UH Oblit. spec in action?
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 2:46 PM
|
#3 |
|
Don Flamenco
|
Some food for thought;
Jaraxxus: WoW Meter Online - Combatlog Replay XT Hard: WoW Meter Online - Combatlog Replay IC Hard: WoW Meter Online - Combatlog Replay So on. Generally speaking, Unholy comes within 5-10% of Blood on single target (and, quite obviously, far surpasses Blood in AoE, so I didn't bother linking those sorts of parses). Although, as such, it is certainly still behind Blood in raw dps, it's by a much smaller margin than in 3.1. It's still a bit early to really tell, however, especially when you consider that Unholy will benefit the most from 4p t9 (which could potentially be enough to put it over the top). Oddly enough, Unholy outperforms Blood in Kahorie's sim, both pre and post 4p t9. It probably undervalues Hysteria, DRW, and cooldown stacking in general - one of Blood's strengths. It's certainly undervaluing (or overvaluing) something, as there's yet to be any parses reflecting the type of lead the simulator hints at. Anyways, when you factor in Unholy's added raid utility, the two are both very attractive raid specs. Neither is flat out superior to the other in overall raid contribution, even if one does beat out the other in raw single target dps. Which you spec should have more to do with which playstyle you enjoy the most, what sort of gear you already have, and what type of raid composition you typically run with than anything else. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 3:08 PM
|
#4 |
|
Glass Joe
|
Well said Consider! Im currently blood and gemmed with ArP. Im going to regem to str to try this newly found unholy spec. It looks very promising. Besides blood is boring me to hell =*( as so did unholy before going blood xD.
Also! You should create a post within this thread to post parses on this spec! it'd give people a good idea of how much dps this unholy+oblit spec can do. We all know everyone only looks for the best possible dps output spec raid wise anyway. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 3:26 PM
|
#5 |
|
Hero of the Horde
|
Check the last couple pages of the previous unholy thread, a number of parses were linked.
World of Logs - Real Time Raid Analysis Here's EJ's last ToC/Ulduar clear, I'm Unholy and Tejax is blood, who outdamages me on every fight except Freya. Luckily Crypt Fever is worth something like 1000 dps split across 2 dps and 1 tank DK, so I don't feel so bad about it. There is certainly room for improvement on my part, however. One thing I am trying to figure out is how Sense (and a number of other DKs whose parses I looked up) had nearly double the amount of autoattacks and significantly more Obliterates than I do on XT despite the fight lengths being essentially the same. |
|
|
|
08/30/09, 3:37 PM
|
#6 |
|
Don Flamenco
|
You're reading WoL wrong (I hate WoL. More information, yes, but a much less user friendly interface). Where WMO says the total number of times you did an ability (79 Obliterates, in the case of my XT) and then lists the percent of those which were crits, WoL splits it into two numbers - the number of hits (47 Obliterates in yours) and crits (39 Obs in yours). Thus you actually did 86 Obliterates to my 79, which isn't significantly different when you factor in the slightly different kill times.
Same situation with auto-attacks, except WoL actually splits it into three numbers - Hits, Crits, and Glancing Blows. Anyways, I don't really see the need to add a specific section/post for parses. WoW Meter Online - Combatlog Replay / WoW Meter Online - Combatlog Replay give you a good enough idea of where the specs stand in relation to one another on each encounter. That, and you can also filter those by spec. Of course, not everyone uses WMO, not everyone gets Hysteria/Tricks/Etc, and on certain fights there are ways to pad the meters (hello, Ignis), but regardless, it's as good a compilation of top parses as a post here could be. Last edited by Consider : 08/30/09 at 3:54 PM. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 4:33 PM
|
#7 |
|
Von Kaiser
|
I see no mention of DW Unholy 0/18/53(Featuring Obliterate)
Any reason? http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...=250827000000& |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 4:40 PM
|
#8 |
|
Don Flamenco
|
There is a thread specifically for DW builds. That thread may be centered primarily around Frost DW at the moment (due to such a spec's superiority - or believed superiority, beats me if it's actually better - over Unholy DW), but even so; Unholy DW has more in common with Frost DW than it does with Unholy 2H, and as such that thread is probably the best place for it.
Besides, even if Unholy DW would fit better here (which I really don't believe it would), the DW thread already has a section on it. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 4:57 PM
|
#9 | |
|
Von Kaiser
|
DW Unholy has more in common with 2H Unholy actually. Every DW Unholy build is deep Unholy(50+ points) and none of them Take the Deep Frost Talent ToT, unless you consider the first tiers up to and including Annihilation to be more in common with Frost I would have to disagree with your opinion. I can understand you wanting to create a thread for 2Handed builds specifically, but it is probably a disservice to the community to post things that are fairly far from the truth given the evidence and sim data available. DW Unholy is nearly identical to 2 Handed Unholy in pretty much every way(Rotation, Glyphs and gearing), and DW Unholy Obliterate builds are essentially the pioneer of the spec most 2 Hand Unholy players are using right now. If you are going to create a thread, it may be a good idea to post every viable high end build without prejudice or personal opinion interjected and let the audience sort out the choices for themselves. Players could find the information beneficial, as they would be able to pick up one handers for both Unholy and Frost DW builds. If they read this thread it would appear that Unholy is exclusive to 2 Hander use only. it is not. Last edited by Octopi : 08/30/09 at 5:57 PM. |
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 5:11 PM
|
#10 |
|
Don Flamenco
|
I could edit the title to say "2H Unholy DPS..." if it would help.
But, please, lay off the melodrama. There is no hidden bias, intentional or otherwise. The old thread was focused on 2h Unholy, and this is merely a replacement (as the old one is no longer being updated) - thus this one is focused on 2h Unholy as well. There is a DW thread, with an Unholy DW section already - whether you consider it proper to be located in that thread is rather irrelevant. It's already there, so why have another thread with the exact same info, and inevitably the exact same discussion? I was thinking of the DC spam build when I spoke of different rotation/glyphs/gearing , but the opposite stance works just as well: If 0/18/53 has the exact same rotation, glyphs, and gearing, what is there to say about it? The bottom line though is this: If the DW thread did not cover Unholy DW, you might have a point or two. But it does. So you don't. There is zero need for two threads covering the same topic. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 5:14 PM
|
#11 | |
|
Glass Joe
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 5:44 PM
|
#12 | |
|
Glass Joe
|
Here is my DW parse for Ignis. I would post it in the DW thread but that seems to be pretty much nothing but Frost DW so I doubt i'll get much discussion there. World of Logs - Real Time Raid Analysis For some reason WWSlogs split it into two parts. The silver lining with that though is it's shows how I actually got off to a fairly poor start (rune bug hit). With Flasking, 2 Haste pots and a cleaner start I should pass 7500 easily. I'm wondering what kind of numbers are people getting with 2hand Unholy (either version). Is it around the same mark? Higher? Lower? I have the gear to switch I just want a heads up to see if the grass really is greener. |
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 5:56 PM
|
#13 | ||
|
Von Kaiser
|
The problem is that a lot of these builds(DW Unholy) are rarely played, and have not gotten much attention because of the general lack of interest in them until the recent re-modeling of the Frost tree to compliment 1 Hander use by DK's. That part is not going away, so i thought why not give the player base all the information they require in order to find the best possible build for their existing gear sets. I have only seen one active poster simming out extended data for DW Unholy Obliterate, and I am not sure he has been using the most recent gearing, pretty sure it has been the Ulduar set up. DW Unholy-Oblit breaks 7k DPS sims with average lag. This is the same, or nearly the same(within 100-150 dps) as all of the sim data I have viewed from the previous 2 Handed Unholy thread that is still active. Unholy has a very complimentary talent tree for DW, and key Talents(Necrosis and BcB) perform much better than 2 Handed builds when run with DW as they are considered pillars of those builds(hence them being included in a lot of/all ToT Frost Builds), they go from being "filler" with 2 Handed specs, to being strong performers with DW. Otherwise the fundamentals stay the same. 0/17/54 http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...&version=10192 0/18/53 http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...&version=10192 Not sure why there needs to be singling out, I for one love the Unholy tree and have played it(Both Single rune builds and Oblit builds) since the changes to 0/32/39 in 3.1, and I love playing it still. It kind of confuses me when it is considered some sort of sub-par spec. Would be sweet to see it included in any official Unholy thread, as whenever possible, weapon choice determining validity with no data saying otherwise feels odd. These specs all perform on the same level, they are all bringing the same buffs, and with the exception of weapon choice, are geared in the same way, with the exception of DW 0/17/54 single rune spam builds.
I have also been searching for the same thing Kuzuryu, but I cannot find any comparable parses. Every single one I find is full of abuse to constructs. Hopefully this thread can be a brewing on some of the more recent parses. I am sure a few of the regular Unholy 2 Handed build players will have something you can compare with. Last edited by Octopi : 08/30/09 at 6:08 PM. |
||
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:25 PM
|
#14 | |
|
Hero of the Horde
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:44 PM
|
#15 | |
|
Divine Protector
|
I really like Unholy's place in 3.2 (earlier today I got a chance to be Unholy in a 25 man, usually I tank). Since Unholy is doing so well with Obliterate with dps, perhaps that is partly why SS was nerfed (also PvP reasons). I really like the buffed pet (gains 26 expertise if you have 263 hit, so Alliance DK have some advantage going over their lower hit cap) and the buffs affects AotD as well. I am looking forward to seeing parses of Unholy with the 4 piece. |
|
|
DK - Ashbane Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
|
||
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:45 PM
|
#16 |
|
Don Flamenco
|
Since you guys are way too difficult, I added the two Unholy builds to the spec section for the time being. Nothing else to really put about them, I suppose. If someone wants to provide stat weights, I can easily enough toss those in as well - unable to calculate them myself at the present.
If someone wants to start up a DW Unholy thread for more depth or whatever, feel perfectly free to, of course. |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:47 PM
|
#17 | |
|
Von Kaiser
|
Fargom is working on some stat weight numbers for 3.2 builds in general, and DW Unholy will be included. Once those are completed I will PM you immediately. Thank you for the inclusion , it is appreciated. |
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:55 PM
|
#18 |
|
Von Kaiser
|
Has anyone tried a spec that includes 3/3 Subversion and 2/2 COTG? I'm not certain what is the most optimal talents to pull from unholy but it has to have some benefit in that you get both the key talents to the two top specs. I've looked through both the threads and haven't seen this discuses. Perhaps I missed it? If anyone has experience with this spec some insight would be appreciated.
edit: forgot to include sample build. Here's my rough idea of what it would look like Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft |
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 6:59 PM
|
#19 |
|
Divine Protector
|
Since the pet discussion thread has fallen off, adding a Pet section here may be a good idea:
Ghoul Facts * Ghouls work like most permanent pets, receiving a portion of your stats and can be buffed by the raid. * Ghoul Strength (with talents + [Glyph of the Ghoul]) = 331+1.52*Master'sStrength. * Ghouls receive 100% of your haste rating. * Ghouls have AoE mitigation, 35% for each point in NotD. This is both physical and magical damage. * Ghoul hit rating rounds down. So if you have 7.99% hit rating, the ghoul will have 7% hit rating. * Ghouls gain expertise based on your hit rating. So if you had 131 hit (4%), the pet gains 13 expertise. 263 hit (8%), the pet gains 26 expertise. The Draenei hit aura does not give expertise to the pet. |
|
DK - Ashbane Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 7:31 PM
|
#20 | |
|
Don Flamenco
|
*Edit: At least for me. If you are still using SotVH, then it might be better than 3/13/55, but I kinda doubt it. Last edited by Consider : 08/30/09 at 8:10 PM. |
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 9:37 PM
|
#23 |
|
Hero of the Horde
|
Unholy.
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 9:48 PM
|
#24 | |
|
Don Flamenco
|
Yes, Unholy competitors (and when you still have SotVH and 2p t8, 0/17/54 is definitely at least 150 dps boost over the alternatives. I can link sim/parse evidence if necessary, but I don't think anyone will disagree with that). I edited it to make it a bit more clear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
08/30/09, 10:18 PM
|
#25 |
|
Glass Joe
|
great job Consider!
Im curious though, does the amount of ARpen you have ever push 3/13/55 above 0/17/54 with the new sigil? or will it simply always be inferior until you have 4 piece tier9? Do i need a special simulator to find this out? or is the difference only in application? |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
Similar Threads
|
||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| [Horde][Duskwood] - <What> - 1/5 HToC25 | Welp | /LFGuild | 0 | 09/17/09 3:08 AM |
«
Death Knight: Simple Questions/Simple Answers
|
Blood Simple - A Consolidated Blood DK DPS Guide
»
