After getting my raid needs in order I started playing in Wintergrasp, the new PvP zone in Northrend. I tried it out during beta testing and enjoyed the mix of game type, vehicles, and buildings. Even though the zone was very buggy at the time I had a lot of fun.
I know PvP isn’t something everyone is into and I’m on a PvE realm for a reason, but I find Wintergrasp is a good PvP tryout for people new to it. You have large groups, so there is less pressure to perform well. It isn’t difficult to get into a turret or vehicle at some point and blowing stuff up with those is always fun. There are daily quests and you can still get most of the rewards even if your side loses. The only downside is the 2.5 hour delay between games, but I think it is a necessary feature to prevent both abuse and burn out. And there’s always Strand of the Ancients, which is a mini-Wintergrasp battleground, if you just can’t wait.
The key to enjoying PvP, IMHO, is survivability. No one has fun if they are dead a lot. The more you are alive the more you get the chance to do the killing, therefore the more fun you should be having. This is where gearing for PvP really makes it an enjoyable experience. I want to go over both starter PvP gear, gear you can get with no PvP, and experienced PvP gear, which is the best possible set (IMO) without having any arena rating. Obviously arena gear is better than some of the things I’ll post here, but if you have arena rating you don’t care because you know what you’re doing.
Starter PvP Gear
Keep it simple, get the crafted gear.
[Savage Saronite Skullshield]
[Savage Saronite Pauldrons]
[Savage Saronite Hauberk]
[Savage Saronite Bracers]
[Savage Saronite Gauntlets]
[Savage Saronite Waistguard]
[Savage Saronite Legplates]
[Savage Saronite Walkers]
You’ll need [Saronite Bar] x102, [Eternal Air] x2, [Eternal Earth] x1, [Eternal Fire] x1, [Eternal Water] x2, [Eternal Shadow] x2. An bit of an up front investment, but if you want to get into PvP with your death knight it is worth it. Don’t worry about enchants, if you stick with PvP you’ll upgrade all of this gear and if you don’t why waste the mats.
It is worth noting that raid epics are good enough to start PvP in as well. You won’t have the PvP specific stats but you should still have decent stamina and certainly good damage.
Better PvP Gear
This is the PvP set I’m aiming for myself. It is the best gear you can get without doing arenas. The arena rewards are better pieces for the most part, but in addition to requiring arena points they also require personal arena rating, so you have to do well to get some of the gear and do very well to get it all. For me PvP is nice for solo play time so I’m just skipping the arena scene for now. That being said I did look at some of the higher arena rated death knights to see what they are doing for gems and enchants.
[Titan-forged Plate Helm of Triumph]
[Hateful Gladiator's Pendant of Victory]
[Savage Gladiator's Dreadplate Shoulders]
[Hateful Gladiator's Cloak of Victory]
[Savage Gladiator's Dreadplate Chestpiece]
[Hateful Gladiator's Bracers of Triumph]
[Savage Gladiator's Dreadplate Gauntlets]
[Hateful Gladiator's Girdle of Triumph]
[Savage Gladiator's Dreadplate Legguards]
[Titan-forged Greaves of Triumph]
[Hateful Gladiator's Band of Triumph]
The gear speaks for itself, almost all PvP based gear which can be earned with honor points or Wintergrasp tokens. The Savage Gladiator gear can also be bought with [Emblem of Heroism] if you like. For the second ring I suggest your best DPS ring. For weapon use what you normally use for DPS and same for the sigil. Fallen Crusader is your best bet for your weapon’s rune.
The gear itself is a mix of offensive and defensive stats. Stamina and resilience are the big survival stats for PvP. PvP damage stats are a lot like PvE damage stats. The hit cap is smaller, only 5% (163 rating), and crit isn’t as value because your opponent, in theory, will have resilience to counter your crits. Strength remains the best constant for damage.
For enchants and gems you can go offensive, defensive, or a mix. From what I found in my review of top arena death knights they are going full offense with their gems and enchants. This is for two reasons. One, you need to do burst damage as well as be able to survive burst damage. The gear is weak for damage compared to your PvE gear, so the enchants and gems help. Two, the amount of resilience on gems and enchants is so small compared to how much rating you need for a percent that it just really isn’t worth it. Likewise the gem bonuses on the gear really isn’t worth it. It is either a small bit of crit or resilience, both of which aren’t useful in small numbers. I arranged my Dragon’s Eye gems to get the socket bonuses, but for you non-jewelcrafters you can just put in normal strength and spell penetration gems and skip the bonuses.
That’s right, I said spell penetration. Trust me, coming from a melee DPS class before my death knight that stat never even occurred to me until I saw the arena death knights using it. Spell penetration reduces the target’s resistance to your spells, which should not be confused with hit. It is a PvP stat used to help spell casters get around the resistances of other players, both natural resistance and from buffs. Player resistance can affect our Icy Touch, Chains of Ice, Death Coil, Death and Decay, and the spell talents for both frost and unholy specs. The arena death knights run with 130 to 145 spell penetration. Frost and unholy specced death knights should definitely aim for similar numbers if you want optimal PvP damage.
by john, on February 6 2009 @ 9:15 pm
whats the spec your using?
Total Comment by john: 1
by Den none, on February 28 2009 @ 11:42 pm
nice guide =p . yea your spec would help alot.
Total Comment by Den none: 1
by Xars, on March 12 2009 @ 12:52 pm
That gems are terrible,but good work
Total Comment by Xars: 1
by Sataris, on March 16 2009 @ 12:14 pm
Spell penetration is nearly useless unless you plan on spamming Chains of Ice or Icy Touch. At most you can stack about 40 spell pen, but never really need to go any higher on it as a DK.
Total Comment by Sataris: 1
by Achilles, on March 17 2009 @ 11:54 am
Spell penetration nhearly useless!!?? Hello you ignorant ex caster turned melee dps, whats most popular spec for arena DK UNHOLY… what does unholy thrive on? PLAGUES via spell casting, dnt try to know it all if u dnt, and ty 4 rolling alliance.
Total Comment by Achilles: 1
by Omnoms, on April 2 2009 @ 8:29 pm
I’m assuming those who are doubting these sockets haven’t fully read what’s below it. The strength is more important than crit here because in high-end arena… everyone is going to be packed with resilience, so you’re better off maxing your overall damage.
And in-regards to the spell penetration, it’s extremely important to have this. You might be melee, but you’re still casting spells that can easily be resisted.
Total Comment by Omnoms: 1
by Darknie, on June 9 2009 @ 3:22 pm
I have one question, the only spell I use right now is chains of ice really. I’m frost pvp for now. I use CoI to get frost fever on and then PS, then obliterate/Bs/FS depending on whats up.OB and FS are #1. Spell penetration seems useless unless FS counts as a spell since it is frost damage. Any ideas? I just picked up new gloves and want to get usefull gem/gems since im a BS. Or anyone have a name i could look up that is on a high arena team and is frost?
Total Comment by Darknie: 1
by Risteroph, on June 16 2009 @ 6:49 pm
I really like this setup you have ima use on my DK this really rocks!
Total Comment by Risteroph: 1
by Dedbitt, on June 17 2009 @ 12:54 pm
Darknie – I don’t think spell penetration affects Frost Strike, it acts too much like a melee ability. Howling Blast would, however, and so would Chains of Ice, which is vital to your damage. So spell penetration is still needed, if for no other reason than to counter Mark of the Wild stopping your Chain of Ice/Frost Fever application.
by Despire, on July 7 2009 @ 8:31 pm
spell penetration also effects strangulate.. and you know how anoying it is to have ur 5sec silence ressisted
Total Comment by Despire: 1
by auratwilight, on July 13 2009 @ 6:11 pm
plague strike i think is also considered a spell… cause anti magic shell seems to reduce the damage of plague strike, and anti magic shell reduces magic damage taken! hopefully this helps.
Total Comment by auratwilight: 1
by Hoäx, on February 20 2010 @ 12:26 pm
This is the old build right? can you make a setup, cause i could rly need some help
Total Comment by Hoäx: 1