WoW Death Knight Guide: Introduction to Blood Spec

2010-12-03

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Death Knight Blood Spec Guide Part 1: The Basics

When you think of a Death Knight, you most likely don’t think of a hero who seeks to protect the land. This, however, is essentially the Death Knights in World of Warcraft have become. Although creations of the evil Lich King, the Death Knights have been freed from his grasp. They now have the chance to redeem themselves.

The Death Knight underwent significant revisions in World of Warcraft patch 4.0.1 and has been receiving further revisions in the patches leading up to Cataclysm. All Death Knights used to display some degree of durability. Now, however, the Blood specialization Death Knight is unquestionable the tank of the bunch. The other specs, Frost and Unholy, and tuned to different types of offensive play.

In this first part of this WoW Death Knight guide we’ll focus on the basics of the Blood specialization. The later sections will delve more deeply into the talents, gear and more.

The Basics of Death Knights

The Death Knight is the only “hero class” in World of Warcraft. They’re different from other classes because they start at level 55, and a player must have at least one level 55 character to roll this class.

Death Knights were also more advanced than other classes at the time of Wrath of the Lich King’s release because they had an extra resource – Runes – that tie into how the class can use abilities. Different attacks consume runes on use, and if all runes of a certain type are used, attacks relying on them won’t work.

As we’ll examine more closely in the rotations section of the guide, this makes playing a Death Knight rather complex. You can’t use any attack at any time . As a result, Death Knights of any specialization are best suited for patient players who already have a firm grasp on the basics of World of Warcraft.

The Basics of Blood Specialization

Death Knight Blood Spec

Blizzard officially changed the talent trees available to Death Knights in patch 4.0.1 and purposely crafted the Blood spec into the only viable choice for Death Knights who want to tank. Let me say that again – The Blood Talent Tree is for TANKS. If you do not intend to tank monsters, or you don’t care to play a class that puts durability above offensive power, then you probably won’t care to play a Blood spec Death Knight.

Once you choose the Blood spec you will receive the following bonuses.

Heart Strike – An AOE melee attack that inflicts 100% weapon damage +bonus (which scales to your level). The damage is increased by any diseases on your target. This is a great tank attack because it is AOE, which helps you keep a group of monsters attacking you.

Veteran of the Third War – A passive bonus that increases your Stamina by 9% and your Expertise by 6.

Blood Rites – Whenever you hit with Death Strike or Obliterate the Frost and Unholy runes used will be converted to Death Runes, which can substitute for any type of rune the next time they are used.

Vengeance – Whenever you take damage you gave 5% of the damage back as attack power, up to a maximum of 10% of your health.

Learning More About Blood Spec

That’s the basics of the Blood spec for Death Knights, but that’s far from the end of this WoW Death Knight guide. In the next section we’ll touch upon one of the most important issues – talents.

This post is part of the series: Death Knight Blood Spec Guide

Want to play a Blood-spec Death Knight in World of Warcraft? This guide provides you with the info you need to know to get started.