How to Play Death Knight TANK - The Complete Guide for WotLK Classic

[@Toyhouze]

Want a WotLK Classic Beta key? Subscribe now to enter for a chance to win the giveaway. Thanks for watching! Here's the presentation: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iMZqPUfAfIoLFMSr86ZOfa2dHy6cgBsTXxcyOuZMkr4/edit?usp=sharing

[@PeterDB90]

5:51 - I've read on multiple other sources that you should go OUT OF YOUR WAY to AVOID Glyph of Horn of Winter - you are better off leaving that slot blank than putting that glyph on, and here's why: First of all, Horn of Winter costs a GCD and nothing else. The cooldown on it is lower than the buff duration and you get extra runic power from using it, so it costs very little (and is often beneficial) to cast Horn of Winter every time the CD is up and it is therefore unnecessary to extend the duration of the buff since you will be casting it all the time. Second, and this is more important, there is even a sort of parasitic/hindering other DK's problem with this glyph. Other DK's also use their HoW buff on CD to gain runic power, but if someone in the party/raid has the glyph with longer duration, it PREVENTS them from casting THEIR HoW because "there's a more powerful effect already active" since the duration is longer, so if THEY want to continue using HoW on CD, they also have to pick up that Glyph, otherwise they won't be able to cast it unless the manually click off your buff to be able to cast theirs every time. I highly recommend glyph of Blood Tap instead. That spell doesn't just convert a blood rune into a death rune, it also immediately resets its cooldown, so you essentially can use an extra rune every minute, so why wouldn't you pick up a glyph that makes it so this very useful spell does not damage you?

[@Cho-pk5zs]

Would a cancel aura macro work here?

[@13lackout360]

Ah ok I wasn't even aware of that interaction with Blood Tap. I figured the spell turned a blood rune into a death rune and that was it, but resetting the cooldown, especially on such an essential rune is huge.

[@brandonkruse6412]

You can combine an on-use dodge trinket with Army of the Dead for cheesing some big damage. I like to solo tank the VoA bosses, it’s very good for that last 20% of the fight when you’re taking big damage on the frost boss.

[@Toyhouze]

That's a great idea!!

[@courtesan8784]

Was waiting for a blood DK guide to come out, good stuff

[@Toyhouze]

Thank you!

[@Iggnil]

Really appreciate this video. Can tell you put a lot of time and effort into it. Thank you.

[@ValkorEvo]

Hey, great guide. Wanted to see the Frost rotation tho. Its been always hard to find frost guides.

[@redrav4233]

For blood dk tank the only ability your using for threat is icy touch. You generate more threat tab target icytouch than anything else.

[@brandonkruse6412]

Icy Touch and Rune Strike, you need to macro RS to all of your single target attacks.

[@elisaagnew5070]

You will be using a lot more than IT. IT x7 threat modifier was added several weeks after 3.3.5a released as a quick fix for DK threat in ICC-HM with the debuff. Ghostcrawler did this as a quick messy fix when the parry component of HS suffered. I'd be very surprised if this doesn't get reverted in upcoming Beta and BDK threat spread back roughly equally across all abilities. Ya really think they will let a quick messy hotfix to address a specific issue go live for the entity of WotLK Classic....naw.

[@redrav4233]

@@elisaagnew5070 Relying on blizzard to "fix" anything is a fools gambit.

[@Kspice9000]

Aside from death grip. Interrupt,taunt, and gap closer all in one.

[@brandonkruse6412]

@@elisaagnew5070 Blizzard already said that they’ll be going with the 3.3.5 class balancing changes as they were. I don’t see any reason to make changes, single target threat is the main reason DKs get brought as boss tanks.

[@respenz886]

Thank you for the guides and all the hard work you put into them. I really appreciate it

[@Toyhouze]

Thanks man I appreciate that. :)

[@DwwwD]

Biggest headache is for sure when you are pulling a pack of lets say 5 mobs and your Death n Decay is on cooldown and you need like 3 globals to spread diseases to all targets fml

[@Anudorini-Talah]

why is my blood presence 4% self heal not working??

[@tommydonker3682]

I never subscribe to KZbinrs because they are annoying or they think are funny. Finally a guy who knows to create a a good video. Keep up the good work!

[@mazhiwezakizo3513]

I feel like the Pestilence related Runes would be really important to an unholy tank, as it allows them to really spread that disease around, and keep it going forever, allowing them to put more focus on blood boil, and the single target strike moves. EDIT: I do miss the option for all three specs to be either dps or tank, it brought amazing flexibility to the class which was really fun.

[@TheXarfay]

Frost dk dps Guide would be awesome for next vid

[@tomekkjaworski1945]

Ask ur local healers how "overpowered" DK Tanks are... they will tell u stories!

[@CasualCreed]

Are they not?

[@alexkochie9789]

​@Just Chill to be fair, dks arnt too resilient. their defense comes from undoing the work a boss had done. story time. I was young and stupid and playing a blood dps. did wintergrasp and wanted to join a group for the raid there. after a poorly thought out dual on the raid leaders part, i was begrudgingly allowed to join. we go in and 8/10 wipe on the fire guy at the start, still at 50%, only me and a boomkin. out of spite i didnt listen to the raid telling us to throw the fight. Even as a dumb half heroic half normal dungeon geared dps spec we 2 manned the second half without a problem. as long as a dk can get 3-5 seconds after a big hit they arnt going down.

[@laia4862]

Wait tank dk need healer?

[@jeremysobles6656]

Had a priest ask if I wanted him to start dpsing in ramps on my dk cause he was just standing there bored💀

[@redrav4233]

hit rating goes to both physical and spells. There ia no difference in wrath.

[@customconcern1]

Thank you got back into wow today yanked on everything but a dk so helpful

[@jdotwilliam]

That frost build without Howling Blast is not great. That's a huge source of AoE threat for dungeon tanking. Then you can grab blood tap or morbidly respectively after

[@SuperYtc1]

It does half the damage that a single plague does. Not that great for aoe threat.

[@_faythene]

The 20% melee haste from windfury is a talent from enhance, making the DK haste option even more valuable

[@OmarHernandez-xi3qu]

I used an unholy spec yeaterday similar tot he dungeon crawl one but i spec into magic damage reduction and tanked malygos with it, pretty much completely mitigated all damage from breath and other magic attacks.

[@brandonkruse6412]

This was a great guide. Only suggestion I’d make is that if you’re doing dungeons and early raids, I would spec a little more into Unholy than Frost to improve your AoE tanking with DND. I would still stay Blood and just dip into Unholy sub-spec for a few extra points. Then go Blood with Frost subspec once you start doing main tank roles.

[@Toyhouze]

Thank you! Good tips!

[@vaels5682]

Nice guide bro. Although i'd say that 5/5 in killing machine is overkill in my experience. Keep in mind it might be better to go with 4 or even 3 points in that

[@heygek2769]

put one of those points in deathchill, guaranteed icy touch crit is nice on pulls, crits cant miss.

[@nicudochiu8573]

@Toyhouze you for got about the rotation for the frost .

[@ferdinandgunther9594]

very nice! very symphatic

[@novusmundi]

I don't understand this. Back when Lich King was live, FROST was the tanking spec for tanking. BLOOD used to be a DPS spec. Is Lich Classic going with new specs?

[@Berserkism]

No. People are just caught up in Retail where Blood was changed to the only Tank spec rather than Frost Presence being the largest determination of a Tank. Also, private server sweaties and the tools that take streamers word as gospel and can't think for themselves keep repeating Blood, Blood, Blood as of there are no viable options. I played Dual Wield Frost Tank in ICC without issue in OG WotLK. Frost Tanking is still a great option.

[@novusmundi]

@@Berserkism That's what I thought. My friend was one if the top DK tanks on Eredar then and he was frost. I want that build and rotation. I never saw a blood DK tank back then.

[@19DJCC]

The fact is DK is an "heroic" class you Can tank ans dps in each spec, im playong dk since 10 year on private serv , in all spec, blood is thé best for ICC ( in theorycrafting) but frost is the best before that. Im only playing blood cause i like it . Play what you want ( UH is funny too)

[@CoachFykling]

Such an amazing video, thanks a lot!

[@Toyhouze]

My pleasure!

[@crorodeo4929]

gona roll blood dk tank,thanks for first classic guide on youtube,there are some wierd specs for warmane and some other private servers.

[@Toyhouze]

Happy to help!

[@Djupadalar]

Kind of new to DK and I’ve been tanking 5 mans with a deep frost spec. I thought that was the way lol

[@Jifflan]

Thanks mate for the guide! Did you mentioned if you had any favorite tank spec? which one do you like most? Was planning to tank in 5 man dungeon only

[@DracomarGames]

whats the point on 6:54 build as high threat? You pick heart strike which demands you one frost rune which you could have been spending in Icy Touch, which makes far more threat... waste of talent point

[@lifeinrc9051]

Thanks for the video Toyhouze, does this guide still apply to v3.4.0? Loved the explanation and the powerpoint you shared for reference. Greatly appreciate your work.

[@Toyhouze]

Thanks! Yeah this is for the last patch of wotlk!

[@anthonyg6083]

fawkin beautiful bro

[@kingofcombos]

This is part of why I questioned if having the hybrid tank was actually worth it. With them being as powerful as they are, is the spot you're saving something that you really want more than just another DK? If not, wouldn't it be better to have both of the DKs going deeper into their respective trees?

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

Not really, because DKs have their defensive talents everywhere and they stop at lvl50 talents tier(You should never go beyond that tier list, because you can spend talents on better defensive talents). Does not matter if you go deep frost, deep blood or UH, or UH/Blood, BLoof/Frost... you always get the same mitigation/healing from everywhere. Except from Frost Tree, you dont heal 15% hp from DS, only 10 (in UH you have crypt fever as third disease).

[@Leggolem_]

@@samuelsvetlik6305 I didn't even think about UH having the extra disease to make DS heal 15%. That's awesome! Thanks for pointing it out!

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

@@Leggolem_ yeah, UH is great tank until ICC coz of Dodge reduction... I think All 3 specs are great, Frost being the best mitiation, blood healing and unholy kinda good only as a spell mitigation. Its like, grab starter 5point talents in each spec (8 in Frost) and the rest is Up to you... Play with builds

[@heygek2769]

@@samuelsvetlik6305 will of the necropolis talent from deep in the blood tree is definitely worth taking, way better than the dodge you get from UH

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

@@heygek2769 take both lol, just dont go beyond that

[@michaelandreasen993]

argh man.. 3 specs.. all of them sounds fun! which one to choose. i mean, obviously gonna do alot of dungeons now that im 70.. so maybe the unholy is the best way to go

[@coldfrostzero2000]

Pretty sure Wrath changed taunts to melee hit which is why the glyph with melee hit is no missed taunts

[@coldfrostzero2000]

Also missing frost DK rotation? Not to mention your spec seems off. There's a great guide by a private server guy explaining the frost tanking much more realistically

[@Zoro.....]

Hi really good Guide, thanks for your work 👍

[@Toyhouze]

Thanks man I appreciate that

[@zigaramsak7725]

top guide ty

[@Toyhouze]

Ty

[@seleniele]

hi, quick question, why does your blood tank spec have killing machine? considering we use icy touch and PS to open and then from that moment on only use pestilence to refresh our diseases I don't see where the value of these 5 points come into play. please explain.

[@thebigandlazyguy246]

You use icy touch to maintain aggro mostly

[@rickybrown8264]

The rotations only covered the blood and unholy but I think I want to do a Frost tank dk

[@96shadowrazor]

Did you miss the rotation for frost dw? or am I missing something

[@Fordren420]

Frost plays same rotation as blood, they are very similar

[@Wran84]

Cool guide. Seems to be missing the frost rotation?

[@backrip5233]

Does 56 Expertise mean I need 56 on the Number in the Character Menu or I need 56 of that stat in general?

[@demoonlee]

have question about the unholy tank build, what does the Ghoul help for the tanking?

[@alexsisson3820]

Back up for corspe explosion for aoe packs and also is able to be sacrificed for a big heal.

[@theonechance12]

This guide is atleast clear that it is a 2h build. Icy veins and wow head both have duel wield as the bis weapon loadout but all the talent trees have 2h damage speced so it is weird lol.

[@Tophkaneki]

As a complete newbie experiencing WotLK for the first time I really needed this so I can succeed as a tank. Cause I fucking love taking all the agro and letting my group just go unethically unhinged on the boss.

[@MidgardGamesTV]

How come none of the builds have the talent to increase disease duration? I find DKs really hard to enjoy without that talent, having the pestilence so often feels like such a waste of a rune/gcd

[@Kspice9000]

Hahahahaha if there going with true patches then god damn that's shits gonna be fun for whoever's rolling Dk.

[@carlotta3604]

Thanks for the great guide - I am confused about the Blood tank rotation. Why or when would you ever use Blood Strike in place of Heart Strike, besides in situations where you don't want to cleave? Heart Strike costs the same but deals more damage and is a cleave - I don't even have it on my action bars.

[@skeuwaa]

feel the same bro ! i don't understand this one ^^

[@josephazzoneiv6702]

You have to talent into heartstrike and most of your aoe is from pestilence or dnd so I personally don't take it.

[@richardhulsey949]

taunt miss doesnt really matter one or two icy touch's will almost always pull threat

[@Toyhouze]

Great point!

[@D3moknight]

Taunt miss matters a lot. That's a global cooldown wasted on a miss. That gets raiders killed.

[@Jon-yn4pq]

Which talents should you get at each level? Is there a breakdown of that online anywhere?

[@thevlaka]

nothing, it's wasted points.

[@koobertohumperdink8702]

Imagine being surprised that the tank spec has good tank talents...

[@SuperYtc1]

Imagine not realising that there is no definitive tank spec...

[@alfonztoth882]

what about the frost rotation? or i missed something? there is just blood and unholy

[@mackb-g8268]

will you be doing a spec for classic prepatch? I feel like prepatch and early into wrath a lot of tanking for DKs will be in 5man content or maybe as an OT if you are getting carried in a 25man for gear before wrath launch. Just want an understanding of what the build options are tanking wise during prepatch / while leveling.

[@Toyhouze]

Yeah great idea, I'll definitely put out some builds for pre-patch DK tank and DPS. Thanks for the idea!

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

@@Toyhouze And please, make better Defensive cooldown list :D :D This one lacks like half of all CDs...

[@dwlondon]

is the unholy dungeon crawler build dual weild or 2 handed?

[@crwakamv980]

those icytalents build make you do damage but a sad trash tank

[@derunbekanntesoeldner6498]

Did I miss something or where is the 2h frost tank rotation?

[@TheWhisperingPenis]

Am I high or does Bone Shield not exist? I literally just loved DKs for Boneshield but no guide has it listed so I assume I'm crazy and it was introduced later.

[@Toyhouze]

It's in the unholy talent tree

[@TheWhisperingPenis]

@@Toyhouze Ahh, I see. So it seems it was changed from I believe 40% to 20% and has 1 less charge. Not sure if they changed how the internal cooldown works either. Shame, this was such a fun concept. I guess its mostly just for damage upkeep now, but if the internal cooldown is still high, even 20% for 10 seconds (assuming 2.5icd still on 4 charges with glyph) isn't that bad right? You kind of need a third defensive because IBF and Vampiric Blood are fairly long CD in dungeon situations yeah?

[@Lumbytele]

Will we always be in frost presence?

[@krisring3945]

Does this pretty work for current wotlk classic?

[@lucasseagull8282]

Guys, what talents are the best for main tank - nax 25?

[@derekbrennan7212]

K so the theory crfting is done id like to see these builds in action lol

[@filiP16588]

wheres rotation for frost build?

[@intuneknight9681]

You forgot the rotation for the frost build

[@embezzeryt3659]

Question, for the pre patch where DKs are capped at 70 what would defense cap be? 490 still for the 5.60% reduction to be critically hit? Can’t find that information anywhere if anyone can help I would appreciate it!

[@patrickdobson8323]

Is there a link to the first blood talent tree you showed?

[@michaelandreasen993]

aw man, not realizing that its a lvl 80 build and not a 70 build when you respec and finally notice you dont have enough points.. F

[@MrWardonis]

You did not say anything about frosts rotation

[@irthrones9021]

Hi , I need a DK dps ! Blood Talent or Unholy ?

[@robertj6523]

question doing this build in prepatch can it work and also what presence should i use frost or unholy?

[@thebigandlazyguy246]

Frost

[@samhorton8605]

No rotation for frost?

[@tragorify]

Great guide, but why not mention that DK get 25% of their strength converted to parry rating? Seems like an important feature to point out.

[@Toyhouze]

Great point! Such a powerful passive.

[@JJ-no8fk]

How is tank dk for pvp. Torn between prot pqladin or dk tank for arena. Yes yes I know etc but I’m disagreeing with people and doing the spec I’ve always wanted for arena

[@Toyhouze]

You should try it out! I bet Paladin Hunter DK with a tanky DK would do well :)

[@Ministry11337]

isn't 2h Wep Specialization worthless as Weps are basically stat sticks?

[@heygek2769]

it increases damage of all melee attacks by 4%, so auto-attacks and all 'strikes' get their dmg multiplied by 1.04

[@darkestgray0]

Me @ healers: I don't die

[@wowrougefuckers9041]

I use pestilance in aoe 2 since it spread desises

[@aaric3783]

The first build you showed requires 74 talent points and you only get 71 by level 80.

[@Toyhouze]

It's 43/26/2 - if you go into the slides there is a link to it.

[@Hexsyn]

Yesss frost tank!

[@nathancawley8759]

Yeah! I was a frost dk tank in og wrath! Prolly doing the same in classic... at least until I get a shadowmourn.

[@Mooseguy15]

@@nathancawley8759 I fking hated when they killed frost tanking in cata, and it’s the exact reason I switched from DK to Prot pally. I wish they would have just balanced around it a bit, nothing wrong with having a single spec do both DPS and Tank. I mean they did it with Druid later on, I just couldn’t understand why they would kill such a unique build, dual wielding tank? Yes plz!

[@KeruptR47]

Yea if Dks are overpowered wait till he does prot pala

[@Mooseguy15]

Prot pally pretty much king in wotlk, so much AOE and threat generation

[@VitchAndVorty]

Wait, we can tank as Unholy?

[@thevlaka]

heartstrike should not be used at all.

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

Dude you kinda missed bone shield, anti magic zone, lichborne, mark of blood as defensive cooldowns. How could you miss that?

[@Toyhouze]

Doh! Tbh the specs that get those talents aren't good. Bone shield falls off in 2 seconds. Mark of blood is the only one that you get and that's more a self heal than damage mitigation IMO

[@samuelsvetlik6305]

@@Toyhouze right but DK is lotta about healing since DK got no shield. Sou healing is pretty much part of your survival, but touché. Tho mark is a major survival cd on frenzy enemies, like patchwerk or maexna or muradin

[@Leggolem_]

@@Toyhouze For tanking, wouldn't Bone Shield be great for mitigating damage from a hard hitting boss? Sure, if you are tanking a ton of things it's useless, but if you are tanking 1 hard hitting guy, it should be great, right? It's a 20% reduction on the next 3 hits, no matter what kind of damage it is, on a 1 minute cooldown.

[@thevlaka]

@@Leggolem_ boneshield is great.

[@brandonmorrison2379]

Very very good Very Very 😏

[@cori7095]

Do mage next lol!

[@adilsonhaas1445]

in Build +threat, I use [Heart Strike] when and in place of what spell?

[@heygek2769]

whenever you dont need to refresh your diseases, dont need to deathstrike and dont need the threat from icy touch. it is purely a damage booster

[@thevlaka]

dont use heartstrike.

[@leben_io]

Mannnn hype another class don't want the over population be worse hahahaha

[@TheNebulose]

When was Parry Haste changed from all npcs? Is this a private server thing or just something I forgot? Anyone have a patch note link?

[@Toyhouze]

I forget which patch, but there was a blue post saying that it's still in the game but they turned it off for some monsters.

[@brandonkruse6412]

Parry Haste is only really important on Sindragosa and Halion.

[@xommby]

wish there was a dislike amount shown so i could tell if this was a good guide or not

[@yorgosk2938]

Look up the "Return KZbin dislike" add-on

[@Bunglay]

where the fuck can i read about how the runes get converted and what not... like... its confusing as fuck

[@UncleAmerica92]

And u will be all surprised FROST dk will be the go tank early expansion until ICC then blood

[@Toyhouze]

I could honestly see frost being a great tank for the early raids.

[@samuelwhittenburg8742]

Rotations are not coffect

[@TheVileintent]

They have all ready stated there will only be blood tanking in classic wotlk

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

Not exactly what they said. They said it'll be 3.3.5, meaning blood was the clear definitive tank oriented tree, but the other two (along with hybrid specs) were still viable and in some situations arguably a bit better

[@slimjimothy94]

Taunt really is not an attractive ability in Wrath. Got to be honest

[@sjpatrik2]

elaborate please

[@slimjimothy94]

@@sjpatrik2 why press taunt when you have an ability that is almost free to use and causes 30k threat (icy touch). I mean I guess if there's a taunt swap obviously it's optimal to use it there

[@dipsy4005]

No rotation for frost?