Death Knight Specialization

Blood Death Knight

Tank specialization of the Death Knight.

Blood Death Knight at a glance

Spells the Blood specialization teaches or changes, in the game's order.

Blood Death Knight PvP talents.

Bloodforged ArmorDeath Strike reduces all Physical damage taken by 25% for 4 sec.
Dark SimulacrumPlaces a dark ward on an enemy player that persists for 12 sec, triggering when the enemy next spends mana on a spell, and allowing the Death Knight to unleash an exact duplicate of that spell.
Death ChainChains enemies together, dealing (176.9% of Attack Power) Shadow damage and causing 20% of all damage taken to also be received by the others in the chain. Lasts for 10 sec.
Decomposing AuraAll enemies within 8 yards slowly decay, losing up to 3% of their max health every 2 sec. Max 5 stacks. Lasts 6 sec.
Last DanceReduces the cooldown of Dancing Rune Weapon by 50% and its duration by 25%.
Murderous IntentYou focus the assault on this target, increasing their damage taken by 3% for 10 sec. Your melee attacks refresh the duration of Focused Assault.
Price of ProgressYou sacrifice 1% of your health every 1.5 sec and in exchange you cannot be slowed below 100% of normal speed, and you are immune to forced movement effects and knockbacks. Lasts until cancelled.
Rot and WitherYour Death's Due rots enemies each time it deals damage, absorbing healing equal to 100% of damage dealt.
SpellwardenAnti-Magic Shell is now usable on allies and its cooldown is reduced by 10 sec.
StrangulateShadowy tendrils constrict an enemy's throat, silencing them for 4 sec ( when used on a target who is casting a spell).

BloodTank

October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight
Dark Simulacrum (PvP Talent) cooldown reduced to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).
October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Blood
Death Chain (PvP Talent) now affects 4 targets (was 3).
October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Blood
Death Chain (PvP Talent) initial damage increased by 500%.
October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Blood
Price of Progress (PvP Talent) now causes the Death Knight to be unable to be slowed under 100% of normal speed (was 90%).
October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Blood
Price of Progress (PvP Talent) now sacrifices 1% health every 1.5 seconds (was 1 second).
September 22, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Blood
Developers’ notes: San’layn is dealing quite a bit more damage in AoE than our intended target for tanks. We will be reducing their overall damage to reduce the disparity. However, we will be increasing Death Strike’s damage and reducing its cleave effectiveness to buff Blood’s single target which is a little on the lower end of tanks. In addition, we are making some Deathbringer specific targeted buffs to counter the overall aura nerf and be a small net positive buff to both their AoE and single target damage.
September 22, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Blood
All ability and minion damage reduced by 6%.
September 22, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Blood
Death Strike damage increased by 15%.

Blizzard Entertainment's official hotfix notes, shown in full at the hotfix tracker.

Every Death Knight hotfix, by date: Death Knight hotfixes.

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