T's Death Knight Guide 4.1: Basic Combat

DISCLAIMER: This guide is not updated to 3.1 yet. Please be patient.

This section of the guide will cover the basics of Death Knight combat.

Death Knight combat is broken down into 3 phases.

1: Apply diseases. All Death Knights, regardless of spec, need to keep diseases up at all times. The damage is important, and many skills work off diseases.
2: Use remaining Runes.
3: Burn Runic Power. The only specs that will not burn RP every rotation are those that use DRW or Gargoyle, as those skills are most useful with a full RP bar.

Death Knights, moreso than almost any other class, rely on a solid rotation of skills to maintain optimum effectiveness.

Let's cover some basic rotations. These models assume perfection. That is, no misses, parries, etc. If a skill does not land, simply cast it again and move on.

Basic rotation

This is a simple, talentless rotation.

Let's look at your Runes and Runic power at the start of combat.

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Let's follow step 1 of the rotation and apply our diseases. This involves casting Plague Strike and Icy Touch. This consumes one Unholy and one Frost Rune, putting those on cooldown. One-Rune skills generate 10 Runic Power each, giving us 20 Runic Power.

B B F F U U
RP: 20

Next, let's follow step 2 and burn the rest of our Runes. First, we'll use 2 Blood Strikes. This puts our Blood Runes on cooldown and generates 20 more RP.

B B F F U U
RP: 40

Depending on level, you'll cast either Death Strike or Obliterate next, putting your last 2 Runes on cooldown. Two-Rune abilities generate 15 RP.

B B F F U U
RP: 55

Time for step 3, burning Runic Power. The basic RP dump is Death Coil. Let's use that, consuming 40 RP, and assume all our Runes are up and ready for use again.

This leaves us ready to start our rotation over again.

B B F F U U
RP: 15

Basic Tanking

Here's a basic AOE-tanking rotation.

B B F F U U
RP: 0

Step one is the same as above.

B B F F U U
RP: 20

Next, throw out a Pestilence to spread your diseases to multiple mobs.

B B F F U U
RP: 30

Finally, drop a Death and Decay.

B B F F U U
RP: 55

At this point, your party can start DPSing without fear of drawing aggro. Continue your rotation.