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Death Knight Specialization

Unholy Death Knight

DPS specialization of the Death Knight.

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Unholy Death Knight at a glance

Class
Death Knight
Role
DPS
Armor
Plate
Resource
Runes and Runic Power
Introduced in
Wrath of the Lich King
Sibling specs
2
Spec spells
8
PvP talents
10

Unholy Death Knight spellbook

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

Hidden passives the client applies to Unholy (not shown in the spellbook): Plate Specialization, Unholy Death Knight (137007), Stat Negation Aura - Strength DPS, Frost Fever, Death Knight, Unholy Death Knight (462064), Lesser Ghoul, Unholy Death Knight (1256918).

Unholy Death Knight PvP talents

Unholy 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.
  • DoomburstSudden Doom also causes your next Death Coil to deal the damage of your plagues an additional time at 25% effectiveness and reduce the target's movement speed by 45% for 3 sec.
  • Life and DeathWhen the target afflicted with your Dread Plague is healed, you are also healed for 10% of the amount. Additionally, Dread Plague deals 200% of its remaining damage to the target when dispelled.
  • Necrotic WoundsPutrefy applies a Necrotic Wound to the enemy when it deals damage, absorbing 8% of all healing received for 15 sec. Adding a stack does not refresh the duration.
  • 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.
  • StitchmasterWhen a Lesser Ghoul dies, you gather the remains to heal for 2% of its maximum health. Death Strike sacrifices all Lesser Ghouls under your command.
  • StrangulateShadowy tendrils constrict an enemy's throat, silencing them for 4 sec ( when used on a target who is casting a spell).
  • ZombifyReanimates a nearby corpse, summoning a zombie for 20 sec that slowly moves towards your target. If your zombie reaches its target, it explodes after 3.1 sec. The explosion stuns all enemies for 3 sec and deals 10% of their health in Shadow damage.

Other Death Knight specializations

Death Knight appearance sets

Recent Unholy Death Knight hotfixes

  • October 27, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Unholy

    Developers’ notes: The last adjustments to San’layn did increase its viability, but the impact of Vampiric Strike has been higher than we would like.

  • October 27, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight › Unholy

    San’layn: Vampiric Strike damage reduced by 20% in PvP combat.

  • October 6, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Unholy

    Developers’ notes: A recent bug fix resulted in Blightfall dealing significantly more damage than we expected. Alongside this tuning change, we’re also making sure the damage is represented accurately when an Augmentation Evoker is present in the group.

  • October 6, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Unholy

    Blightfall now deals 100% of the remaining plague damage (was 200%).

  • October 6, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Unholy

    Resolved an issue causing Augmentation Evoker Reattribution damage from plague erupt effects to be attributed to the Death Knight.

  • October 6, 2026 Player versus Player › Death Knight

    Dark Simulacrum (PvP Talent) cooldown reduced to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).

  • September 23, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Unholy

    Resolved an issue with Blightfall doing less damage as more time passes since the plague was applied.

  • September 22, 2026 Classes › Death Knight › Unholy

    Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Unholy Death Knight’s damage output in raid. In parallel, we’re aiming to bring Blightfall build back to where it was prior to the bug fixes that made it no longer viable.

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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