Unholy Death Knight Talents

The War Within Season 1

Talents in World of Warcraft define your character's gameplay. They offer active abilities for offense and defense, major cooldowns, or passive enhancements to your stats and spells. Here are the current Unholy Death Knight talents for The War Within Season 1.

Where to Find Talents

Talents can be found in the talent menu, which is accessible by pressing the N key (default) or by clicking the target icon in the micro menu:

Screenshot of the talents button in the micro menu

Class Talents

Class talents represent a common tree shared across all Death Knight specializations. These talents provide foundational skills and enhancements essential to the Death Knight class, offering a range of abilities that lay the groundwork for a Death Knight's overall capabilities.

Name	Cast	Effect
Icebound Fortitude	Instant - 2 Min Cooldown	Your blood freezes, granting immunity to Stun effects and reducing all damage you take by 30% for 8 sec.
Death Strike	Instant - Melee Range	Focuses dark power into a strike that deals 299 Physical damage and heals you for 25.00% of all damage taken in the last 5 sec, minimum 7.0% of maximum health.
Raise Dead	Instant - 30 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Raises a ghoul to fight by your side. You can have a maximum of one ghoul at a time. Lasts 1 min.
Runic Attenuation	Passive	Auto attacks have a chance to generate 3 Runic Power.
Improved Death Strike	Passive	Death Strike's cost is reduced by 10, and its healing is increased by 60%.
Cleaving Strikes	Passive	Scourge Strike additional enemies while you remain in Death and Decay. When leaving your Death and Decay you retain its bonus effects for 4 sec.
Mind Freeze	Instant - 15 Yd Range - 15 Sec Cooldown	Smash the target's mind with cold, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 3 sec.
Blinding Sleet	Instant - 1 Min Cooldown	Targets in a cone in front of you are blinded, causing them to wander disoriented for 5 sec. Damage may cancel the effect. When Blinding Sleet ends, enemies are slowed by 50% for 6 sec.
Anti-Magic Barrier	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Anti-Magic Shell by 20 sec and increases its duration and amount absorbed by 40%.
March of Darkness	Passive	Death's Advance grants an additional 25% movement speed over the first 3 sec.
Unholy Ground	Passive	Gain 5% Haste while you remain within your Death and Decay.
Control Undead	1.5 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range	Dominates the target undead creature up to level 71, forcing it to do your bidding for 5 min.
Enfeeble	Passive	Your ghoul's attacks have a chance to apply Enfeeble, reducing the enemies movement speed by 30% and the damage they deal to you by 12% for 6 sec.
Sacrificial Pact	Instant - 2 Min Cooldown	Sacrifice your ghoul to deal 402 Shadow damage to all nearby enemies and heal for 25% of your maximum health. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
Coldthirst	Passive	Successfully interrupting an enemy with Mind Freeze grants 10 Runic Power and reduces its cooldown by 3 sec.
Proliferating Chill	Passive	Chains of Ice affects 1 additional nearby enemy.
Permafrost	Passive	Your auto attack damage grants you an absorb shield equal to 40% of the damage dealt.
Veteran of the Third War	Passive	Stamina increased by 20%.
Death Pact	Instant - 2 Min Cooldown	Create a death pact that heals you for 50% of your maximum health, but absorbs incoming healing equal to 30% of your max health for 15 sec.
Brittle	Passive	Your diseases have a chance to weaken your enemy causing your attacks against them to deal 6% increased damage for 5 sec.
Death's Reach	Passive	Increases the range of Death Grip by 10 yds. Killing an enemy that yields experience or honor resets the cooldown of Death Grip.
Icy Talons	Passive	Your Runic Power spending abilities increase your melee attack speed by 6% for 10 sec, stacking up to 3 times.
Anti-Magic Zone	Instant - 30 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Places an Anti-Magic Zone that reduces spell damage taken by party or raid members by 20%. The Anti-Magic Zone lasts for 8 sec or until it absorbs 296,010 damage.
Unholy Bond	Passive	Increases the effectiveness of your Runeforge effects by 20%.
Ice Prison	Passive	Chains of Ice now also roots enemies for 4 sec but its cooldown is increased to 12 sec.
Gloom Ward	Passive	Absorbs are 15% more effective on you.
Asphyxiate	Instant - 20 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Lifts the enemy target off the ground, crushing their throat with dark energy and stunning them for 5 sec.
Assimilation	Passive	The amount absorbed by Anti-Magic Zone is increased by 10% and its cooldown is reduced by 30 sec.
Wraith Walk	Channeled - 1 Min Cooldown	Embrace the power of the Shadowlands, removing all root effects and increasing your movement speed by 70% for 4 sec. Taking any action cancels the effect. While active, your movement speed cannot be reduced below 170%.
Grip of the Dead	Passive	Death and Decay reduces the movement speed of enemies within its area by 90%, decaying by 10% every sec.
Soul Reaper	Instant - Melee Range - 6 Sec Cooldown	Strike an enemy for 241 Shadowfrost damage and afflict the enemy with Soul Reaper. After 5 sec, if the target is below 35% health this effect will explode dealing an additional 1,093 Shadowfrost damage to the target. If the enemy that yields experience or honor dies while afflicted by Soul Reaper, gain Runic Corruption.
Suppression	Passive	Damage taken from area of effect attacks reduced by 3%. When suffering a loss of control effect, this bonus is increased by an additional 6% for 6 sec.
Blood Scent	Passive	Increases Leech by 3%.
Unholy Endurance	Passive	Increases Lichborne duration by 2 sec and while active damage taken is reduced by 15%.
Osmosis	Passive	Anti-Magic Shell increases healing received by 15%.
Insidious Chill	Passive	Your auto-attacks reduce the target's auto-attack speed by 5% for 30 sec, stacking up to 4 times.
Runic Protection	Passive	Your chance to be critically struck is reduced by 3% and your Armor is increased by 6%.
Blood Draw	Passive	When you fall below 30% health you drain 637 health from nearby enemies, the damage you take is reduced by 10% and your Death Strike cost is reduced by 10 for 8 sec. Can only occur every 2 min.
Rune Mastery	Passive	Consuming a Rune has a chance to increase your Strength by 6% for 8 sec.
Subduing Grasp	Passive	When you pull an enemy, the damage they deal to you is reduced by 6% for 6 sec.
Will of the Necropolis	Passive	Damage taken below 30% Health is reduced by 35%.
Null Magic	Passive	Magic damage taken is reduced by 8% and the duration of harmful Magic effects against you are reduced by 35%.
Unyielding Will	Passive	Anti-Magic shell now removes all harmful magical effects when activated, but it's cooldown is increased by 20 sec.
Abomination Limb	Instant - 20 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Sprout an additional limb, dealing 1,945 Shadow damage over 12 sec to all nearby enemies. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets. Every 1 sec, an enemy is pulled to your location if they are further than 8 yds from you. The same enemy can only be pulled once every 4 sec.
Death's Echo	Passive	Death's Advance, Death and Decay, and Death Grip have 1 additional charge.
Vestigial Shell	Passive	Casting Anti-Magic Shell grants 2 nearby allies a Lesser Anti-Magic Shell that Absorbs up to 2,256 magic damage and reduces the duration of harmful Magic effects against them by 50%.

Specialization Talents

Specialization talents provide Unholy Death Knights with unique abilities and enhancements tailored to their combat style. These talents differentiate Unholy Death Knights from other Death Knight specializations, maximizing effectiveness in combat.

Name	Cast	Effect
Festering Strike	Instant - Melee Range	Strikes for 732 Physical damage and infects the target with 2-3 Festering Wounds. cffffffffFestering Wound A pustulent lesion that will burst on death or when damaged by Scourge Strike, dealing 127 Shadow damage and generating 3 Runic Power.
Scourge Strike	Instant - Melee Range	An unholy strike that deals 336 Physical damage and 190 Shadow damage, and causes 1 Festering Wound to burst.
Raise Dead	Instant - 30 Sec Cooldown	Raises a ghoul to fight by your side. You can have a maximum of one ghoul at a time.
Sudden Doom	Passive	Your auto attacks have a 25% chance to make your next Death Coil cost 10 less Runic Power and critically strike. Additionally, your next Death Coil will burst 1 Festering Wound.
Dark Transformation	Instant - 100 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Your ghoul deals 237 Shadow damage to 5 nearby enemies and transforms into a powerful undead monstrosity for 15 sec. The ghoul's abilities are empowered and take on new functions while the transformation is active.
Foul Infections	Passive	Your diseases deal 10% more damage and have a 5% increased chance to critically strike.
Improved Festering Strike	Passive	Festering Strike and Festering Wound damage increased by 20%.
Runic Mastery	Passive	Increases your maximum Runic Power by 20 and increases the Rune regeneration rate of Runic Corruption by 20%.
Eternal Agony	Passive	Death Coil and Epidemic increase the duration of Dark Transformation by 1 sec.
Defile	Instant - 30 Yd Range	Defile the targeted ground, dealing 862 Shadow damage to all enemies over 10 sec. While you remain within your Defile, your Scourge Strike will hit 7 enemies near the target. Every sec, if any enemies are standing in the Defile, it grows in size and deals increased damage.
Unholy Blight	Passive	Dark Transformation surrounds your ghoul with a vile swarm of insects for 6 sec, stinging all nearby enemies and infecting them with Virulent Plague and an unholy disease that deals 168 damage over 14 sec, stacking up to 4 times.
Festering Scythe	Passive	Every 20 Festering Wound you burst empowers your next Festering Strike to become Festering Scythe for 12 sec. estering Scythe Sweep through all enemies within 14 yds in front of you, dealing 1,064 Shadow damage and infecting them with 2-3 Festering Wounds.
Apocalypse	Instant - Melee Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Bring doom upon the enemy, dealing 269 Shadow damage and bursting up to 4 Festering Wounds on the target. Summons 4 Army of the Dead ghouls for 20 sec. enerates 2 Runes.
Plaguebringer	Passive	Scourge Strike causes your disease damage to occur 100% more quickly for 10 sec.
Clawing Shadows	Instant - 30 Yd Range	Deals 624 Shadow damage and causes 1 Festering Wound to burst.
Reaping	Passive	Your Soul Reaper, Scourge Strike, Festering Strike, and Death Coil deal 30% additional damage to enemies below 35% health.
All Will Serve	Passive	Your Raise Dead spell summons an additional skeletal minion.
Ebon Fever	Passive	Diseases deal 12% more damage over time in half the duration.
Bursting Sores	Passive	Bursting a Festering Wound deals 16% more damage, and deals 89 Shadow damage to all nearby enemies. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
Ghoulish Frenzy	Passive	Dark Transformation also increases the attack speed and damage of you and your Monstrosity by 5%.
Magus of the Dead	Passive	Apocalypse and Army of the Dead also summon a Magus of the Dead who hurls Frostbolts and Shadow Bolts at your foes.
Improved Death Coil	Passive	Death Coil deals 15% additional damage and seeks out 1 additional nearby enemy.
Harbinger of Doom	Passive	Sudden Doom triggers 30% more often, can accumulate up to 2 charges, and increases the damage of your next Death Coil by 20%.
Unholy Pact	Passive	Dark Transformation creates an unholy pact between you and your pet, igniting flaming chains that deal 1,191 Shadow damage over 15 sec to enemies between you and your pet.
Vile Contagion	Instant - 30 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Inflict disease upon your enemies spreading Festering Wounds equal to the amount currently active on your target to 7 nearby enemies.
Pestilence	Passive	Death and Decay damage has a 10% chance to apply a Festering Wound to the enemy.
Infected Claws	Passive	Your ghoul's Claw attack has a 30% chance to cause a Festering Wound on the target.
Menacing Magus	Passive	Your Magus of the Dead Shadow Bolt now fires a volley of Shadow Bolts at up to 4 nearby enemies.
Coil of Devastation	Passive	Death Coil causes the target to take an additional 30% of the direct damage dealt over 4 sec.
Rotten Touch	Passive	Sudden Doom causes your next Death Coil to also increase your Scourge Strike damage against the target by 60% for 10 sec.
Ruptured Viscera	Passive	When your ghouls expire, they explode in viscera dealing 62 Shadow damage to nearby enemies. Each explosion has a 25% chance to apply Festering Wounds to enemies hit.
Death Rot	Passive	Death Coil and Epidemic debilitate your enemy applying Death Rot causing them to take 1% increased Shadow damage, up to 10% from you for 10 sec. If Death Coil or Epidemic consume Sudden Doom it applies two stacks of Death Rot.
Army of the Dead	Instant - 3 Min Cooldown	Summons a legion of ghouls who swarms your enemies, fighting anything they can for 30 sec.
Summon Gargoyle	Instant - 30 Yd Range - 3 Min Cooldown	Summon a Gargoyle into the area to bombard the target for 25 sec. The Gargoyle gains 1% increased damage for every 1 Runic Power you spend. enerates 50 Runic Power.
Doomed Bidding	Passive	Consuming Sudden Doom calls upon a Magus of the Dead to assist you for 8 sec.
Morbidity	Passive	Diseased enemies take 2% increased damage from you per disease they are affected by.
Festermight	Passive	Popping a Festering Wound increases your Strength by 2% for 20 sec stacking. Multiple instances may overlap.
Raise Abomination	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 1.5 Min Cooldown	Raises an Abomination for 30 sec which wanders and attacks enemies, applying Festering Wound when it melees targets, and affecting all those nearby with Virulent Plague.
Decomposition	Passive	Virulent Plague has a chance to abruptly flare up, dealing 100% of the damage it dealt to target in the last 4 sec. When this effect triggers, the duration of your active minions are increased by 1.0 sec, up to 3.0 sec.
Unholy Aura	Passive	All enemies within 8 yards take 20% increased damage from your minions.
Superstrain	Passive	Your Virulent Plague also applies Frost Fever and Blood Plague at 75% effectiveness.
Unholy Assault	Instant - Melee Range - 1.5 Min Cooldown	Strike your target dealing 677 Shadow damage, infecting the target with 4 Festering Wounds and sending you into an Unholy Frenzy increasing all damage done by 20% for 20 sec.
Commander of the Dead	Passive	Dark Transformation also empowers your Gargoyle and Army of the Dead for 30 sec, increasing their damage by 35%.

Hero Talents

Hero talents allow for deeper customization of the Unholy Death Knight class fantasy, further enhancing its combat effectiveness.

San'Layn

Name	Cast	Effect
Vampiric Strike	Passive	Your Death Coil and Death Strike have a 25% chance to make your next Scourge Strike become Vampiric Strike. Vampiric Strike heals you for 2% of your maximum health and grants you Essence of the Blood Queen, increasing your Haste by 1.0%, up to 5.0% for 20 sec.
Newly Turned	Passive	Raise Ally revives players at full health and grants you and your ally an absorb shield equal to 20% of your maximum health.
Vampiric Speed	Passive	Death's Advance and Wraith Walk movement speed bonuses are increased by 10%. Activating Death's Advance or Wraith Walk increases 4 nearby allies movement speed by 20% for 5 sec.
Blood-Soaked Ground	Passive	While you are within your Death and Decay, your physical damage taken is reduced by 5% and your chance to gain Vampiric Strike is increased by 5%.
Vampiric Aura	Passive	Your Leech is increased by 2%. While Lichborne is active, the Leech bonus of this effect is increased by 100%, and it affects 4 allies within 12 yds.
Bloody Fortitude	Passive	Icebound Fortitude reduces all damage you take by up to an additional 20% based on your missing health. Killing an enemy that yields experience or honor reduces the cooldown of Icebound Fortitude by 3 sec.
Infliction of Sorrow	Passive	When Vampiric Strike damages an enemy affected by your Virulent Plague, it extends the duration of the disease by 3 sec, and deals 10% of the remaining damage to the enemy. After Gift of the San'layn ends, your next Scourge Strike consumes the disease to deal 100% of their remaining damage to the target.
Frenzied Bloodthirst	Passive	Essence of the Blood Queen stacks 2 additional times and increases the damage of your Death Coil and Death Strike by 5% per stack.
The Blood is Life	Passive	Vampiric Strike has a chance to summon a Blood Beast to attack your enemy for 10 sec. Each time the Blood Beast attacks, it stores a portion of the damage dealt. When the Blood Beast dies, it explodes, dealing 50% of the damage accumulated to nearby enemies and healing the Death Knight for the same amount. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
Visceral Strength	Passive	When Sudden Doom is consumed, you gain 8% Strength for 5 sec.
Incite Terror	Passive	Vampiric Strike and Scourge Strike cause your targets to take 1% increased Shadow damage, up to 5% for 15 sec. Vampiric Strike benefits from Incite Terror at 400% effectiveness.
Pact of the San'layn	Passive	You store 50% of all Shadow damage dealt into your Blood Beast to explode for additional damage when it expires.
Sanguine Scent	Passive	Your Death Coil and Death Strike have a 15% increased chance to trigger Vampiric Strike when damaging enemies below 35% health.
Gift of the San'layn	Passive	While Dark Transformation is active you gain Gift of the San'layn. Gift of the San'layn increases the effectiveness of your Essence of the Blood Queen by 200%, and Vampiric Strike replaces your Scourge Strike for the duration.

Rider Of The Apocalypse

Name	Cast	Effect
Rider's Champion	Passive	Spending Runes has a chance to call forth the aid of a Horsemen for 10 sec. ograine Casts Death and Decay at his location that follows his position. hitemane Casts Undeath on your target dealing 60 Shadowfrost damage per stack every 3 sec, for 24 sec. Each time Undeath deals damage it gains a stack. Cannot be Refreshed. rollbane Casts Chains of Ice on your target slowing their movement speed by 40% and increasing the damage they take from you by 5% for 8 sec. azgrim While Nazgrim is active you gain Apocalyptic Conquest, increasing your Strength by 5%.
On a Paler Horse	Passive	While outdoors you are able to mount your Acherus Deathcharger in combat.
Death Charge	Passive	Call upon your Death Charger to break free of movement impairment effects. For 10 sec, while upon your Death Charger your movement speed is increased by 100%, you cannot be slowed below 100% of normal speed, and you are immune to forced movement effects and knockbacks.
Mograine's Might	Passive	Your damage is increased by 5% and you gain the benefits of your Death and Decay while inside Mograine's Death and Decay.
Horsemen's Aid	Passive	While at your aid, the Horsemen will occasionally cast Anti-Magic Shell on you and themselves at 80% effectiveness. You may only benefit from this effect every 45 sec.
Pact of the Apocalypse	Passive	When you take damage, 5% of the damage is redirected to each active horsemen.
Whitemane's Famine	Passive	When Scourge Strike damages an enemy affected by Undeath it gains 1 stack and infects another nearby enemy.
Nazgrim's Conquest	Passive	If an enemy dies while Nazgrim is active, the strength of Apocalyptic Conquest is increased by 3%. Additionally, each Rune you spend increase its value by 1%.
Trollbane's Icy Fury	Passive	Scourge Strike shatters Trollbane's Chains of Ice when hit, dealing 745 Shadowfrost damage to nearby enemies, and slowing them by 40% for 4 sec. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
Hungering Thirst	Passive	The damage of your diseases and Death Coil are increased by 10%.
Fury of the Horsemen	Passive	Every 50 Runic Power you spend extends the duration of the Horsemen's aid in combat by 1 sec, up to 5 sec.
A Feast of Souls	Passive	While you have 2 or more Horsemen aiding you, your Runic Power spending abilities deal 20% increased damage.
Mawsworn Menace	Passive	Scourge Strike deals 15% increased damage and the cooldown of your Death and Decay is reduced by 10 sec.
Apocalypse Now	Passive	Army of the Dead and Frostwyrm's Fury call upon all 4 Horsemen to aid you for 20 sec.

PvP Talents

PvP talents are tailored for player-versus-player combat scenarios. Activated in arenas, battlegrounds, and the open world with War Mode enabled, these talents optimize a Unholy Death Knight 's performance in PvP encounters. They provide specialized enhancements that give players an edge in combat against other players.

Name	Cast	Effect
Life and Death		When targets afflicted by your Virulent Plague are healed, you are also healed for 5% of the amount. In addition, your Virulent Plague now erupts for 400% of normal eruption damage when dispelled.
Dark Simulacrum		Places a dark ward on an enemy player that persists for 12 sec, triggering when the enemy next spends mana on a spell, and allowing the Death Knight to unleash an exact duplicate of that spell.
Necrotic Wounds		Bursting a Festering Wound converts it into a Necrotic Wound, absorbing 3% of all healing received for 15 sec and healing you for the amount absorbed when the effect ends, up to 3% of your max health. Max 6 stacks. Adding a stack does not refresh the duration.
Reanimation		Reanimates a nearby corpse, summoning a zombie for 20 sec that slowly moves towards your target. If your zombie reaches its target, it explodes after 3.0 sec. The explosion stuns all enemies within 8 yards for 3 sec and deals 10% of their health in Shadow damage.
Necromancer's Bargain		The cooldown of your Apocalypse is reduced by 15 sec, but your Apocalypse no longer summons ghouls but instead applies Crypt Fever to the target. rypt Fever Deals up to 8% of the targets maximum health in Shadow damage over 4 sec. Healing spells cast on this target will refresh the duration of Crypt Fever.
Strangulate		Shadowy tendrils constrict an enemy's throat, silencing them for 4 sec.
Doomburst		Sudden Doom also causes your next Death Coil to burst up to 2 Festering Wounds and reduce the target's movement speed by 45% per burst. Lasts 3 sec.
Rot and Wither		Your Death and Decay rots enemies each time it deals damage, absorbing healing equal to 100% of damage dealt.
Bloodforged Armor		Death Strike reduces all Physical damage taken by 20% for 3 sec.
Spellwarden		Anti-Magic Shell is now usable on allies and its cooldown is reduced by 10 sec.