In WoW Cataclysm Classic, the Death Knight stands out as one of the most powerful classes. This class has become absolute powerhouses in the open world. The combination of self-healing, active mitigation, and AoE damage makes them unrivaled in solo dungeon leveling. So in this guide, I'll introduce you to a potent Death Knight build and various methods designed to reach Level 85 swiftly.
Death Knight Leveling Build
The ultimate choice for this purpose is the Gripstrike build, which boasts exceptional effectiveness for several reasons.
- Firstly, Unholy Command resets your death grip cooldown every time you eliminate an enemy.
- Secondly, Butchery grants you 20 runic power with each kill.
- Thirdly, Unholy Presence reduces your global cooldown to half a second and enhances your movement speed by 15%.
- Lastly, having 2 Oracle Talisman of Ablution trinkets, obtainable from achieving the Exalted status with the Oracles, completes the setup.
If you don't possess sufficient WoW Cataclysm Classic Gold to get the Oracle Talisman of Ablution, then doing the same build with normal trinkets will be just fine. It'll just be slightly slower, and you may find yourself sometimes with empty global if you have Death Grip as well. Remember to have a cancelaura macro for the trinket tied to your flying mount while running this build.
In addition to those 4 key acquisitions, it's highly recommended to wield a Two-Handed Sword, acquiring Runic Power Mastery for an extra 30 runic power. Alongside these talents and glyphs, Glyph of Frost Strike, Dark Succor, and Death Grip will be pivotal in enabling this build.
As far as rotations go, you can start by putting up diseases and then just grip and Frost Strike until your runic power is depleted. Then obliterate until the target is dead. Once you get higher up in levels, you can start the fight with a Howling Blast to get Frost Fever on the target, but I never recommend Plague Strike. Then, we pick up 2 points in On a Pale Horse to speed up the traveling process.
Questing
Let's delve into a strategy that many players gravitate towards: questing. In WoW Cataclysm Classic, questing routes are quite linear, so instead of discussing how to quest, we'll focus on the most efficient build to pick through quests.
As you progress in levels, self-sustainability becomes increasingly crucial, making the Dark Succor indispensable. Since Frost Strikes constitute the bulk of your leveling rotation, investing a Frost and Unholy rune into a Death Strike to heal yourself for 20% proves immensely valuable.
Prioritize reforging everything into Mastery while also focusing on Hit as a secondary stat. This configuration ensures that every time you dispatch an enemy, you'll have a full runic power bar and a ready grip, enabling you to effortlessly dispatch foes.
Either way, the benefit of questing to Level 85 is you'll get a bunch of reputation in order to unlock 333 and 346 item level gear right at Level 85, and you will get a bunch of gear as you get to the later levels, making obtaining that Level 329 item to queue Heroic dungeons easier.
Dungeon Farming
For those hesitant to rely on the open world's stability upon launch, solo dungeon farming presents a viable alternative. This strategy is most effective between levels 80 to 82, although it can be extended to Level 85, offering substantial experience gains at the expense of progress in other areas.
Besides, you can have dungeon farming as a 5-man group. This strategy is worth considering only if you have a 5-man group with players you know and trust. While it grants more experience than questing, especially in areas with heavy competition, it's not as efficient as solo farming.
With group dungeon farming, you won't gain any reputation unless your group decides to complete a few quests together to gain faction favor. However, reputation gains will only start once you reach Level 83 and begin tackling dungeons. The advantage is the possibility of obtaining 333 item level loot and potentially starting Heroic dungeon queues earlier as a group.
Achieving Level 85 early is essential for accessing Heroic dungeons, requiring a minimum item level of 329. However, reaching Level 85 solely through dungeon farming, particularly in full ICC gear, is a daunting task best suited for alts.
