Death Knight leveling guide, 55 to 80, for Wrath of the Lich King
Leveling a Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a is short and fast: you need a level 55 character on the realm to unlock the class, you start at 55 in the Scarlet Enclave, and the starting chain gives you gear, a mount and enough experience to head straight for Outland. From there it is Hellfire Peninsula at 58 and Northrend at 68, with a class that heals itself, pulls enemies to it and can tank or deal damage from any tree. Below: each step, the usual leveling specs, and how Lasthavens’ 2x experience changes the pace.
How to unlock the Death Knight
Death Knights are the hero class of Wrath of the Lich King. To create one in 3.3.5a you need another character of level 55 or higher on the same realm. Once you do, every race can be made a Death Knight at character creation.
New to a realm? Level a first character to 55, which goes quickly at 2x. The WotLK leveling guide gives a zone route for both factions.
The Death Knight starting zone: Acherus and the Scarlet Enclave
Your Death Knight wakes up in Acherus: The Ebon Hold, the Lich King’s floating necropolis above the Scarlet Enclave in the far east of the Eastern Plaguelands. The starting chain is one connected story, and one of the best in the game. Do all of it.
The broad shape of the chain:
- In Acherus. The Lich King gives you your first orders. You forge your runeblade at a runeforge, prove yourself against an unworthy initiate, and take control of the Eye of Acherus to scout the Scarlet Crusade’s town of New Avalon.
- Death’s Breach and the Scarlet Enclave. You go down to the surface and fight the Scarlet Crusade. Along the way you steal a horse from Havenshire, which leads to your own Acherus Deathcharger, attack the Scarlet fleet, turn miners into ghouls, and duel other Death Knights for the right to go on.
- The Light of Dawn. The chain builds to a battle at Light’s Hope Chapel, where the Scourge army faces the Argent Dawn and Tirion Fordring. The outcome sets up the Knights of the Ebon Blade, led by Highlord Darion Mograine, who break from the Lich King.
- Back to your faction. After retaking Acherus, you are sent to your capital: Alliance Death Knights to King Varian Wrynn in Stormwind, Horde Death Knights to Thrall in Orgrimmar.
What the starting chain gives you
| Reward | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A full set of armour and a weapon | Good enough for the start of Outland |
| Acherus Deathcharger | A fast ground mount from level 55 |
| Runeforging | Permanent weapon enchants from the runeforge |
| Death Gate | Takes you to Acherus, home of your trainer and the runeforges |
| Talent points | Some quests award talent points, so skipping them leaves you short |
| Experience | Should leave you at or near 58, ready for the Dark Portal |
Runes and runic power explained
Death Knights do not use mana, rage or energy. They use runes and runic power.
- Runes. You have six: two Blood, two Frost and two Unholy. Each ability spends one or more specific runes, which then recharge on their own over a few seconds.
- Death runes. Some talents and abilities, such as Blood Tap, turn runes into Death runes, which count as any type.
- Runic power. Spending runes builds runic power. You spend it on abilities like Death Coil, Frost Strike and Rune Strike. It drains away out of combat.
The core rhythm is simple: spend runes on your main attacks, then dump runic power while your runes recharge.
Diseases
Most Death Knight damage starts with two diseases:
- Icy Touch applies Frost Fever.
- Plague Strike applies Blood Plague.
Many of your strongest attacks hit harder for each disease on the target, and Pestilence copies your diseases to nearby enemies. That makes groups much easier than they look.
Death Knight presences
Presences are stances. You can have one active at a time.
| Presence | What it does | When to use it while leveling |
|---|---|---|
| Blood Presence | More damage, and you heal for part of the damage you deal | Your default for soloing at 55 |
| Frost Presence | More armour and health, less damage taken, more threat | Tanking dungeons, or very hard fights |
| Unholy Presence | Faster attacks and movement, shorter global cooldown | Popular with Unholy once you learn it at 70 |
In 3.3.5a, Frost Presence is the tanking presence, not Blood. Any Death Knight spec can tank in Frost Presence, which is why the class gets dungeon groups quickly as a tank. See the best WotLK tank comparison if that interests you.
Best Death Knight leveling spec: Blood or Unholy
All three trees can reach 80, but Blood and Unholy are the specs most players recommend for leveling, for different reasons.
Blood: the self-healing spec
Blood is widely seen as the safest way to level because it rarely needs to stop and rest.
- Death Strike heals you based on the diseases on your target, and is the backbone of the spec.
- Heart Strike hits your target and a second enemy.
- Vampiric Blood and Mark of Blood add healing in emergencies.
- Dancing Rune Weapon at the bottom of the tree adds a copy of your weapon that mirrors your attacks.
The usual approach: Icy Touch, Plague Strike, then Death Strike and Heart Strike, with Death Coil to spend runic power. It is steady, forgiving and good for players new to the class.
Unholy: the disease and pet spec
Unholy is the favourite for players who like pulling several monsters at once.
- Scourge Strike is the main attack and grows with your diseases.
- Master of Ghouls makes your Raise Dead ghoul a permanent pet that tanks for you.
- Bone Shield cuts the damage you take.
- Corpse Explosion and Wandering Plague add area damage.
- Summon Gargoyle at the bottom of the tree is a strong burst cooldown.
Pull a group, apply diseases, spread them with Pestilence, then use Death and Decay and Blood Boil. With a permanent ghoul and strong area damage, Unholy clears quest areas quickly once you are used to it.
What about Frost
Frost levels fine too, with Howling Blast for area damage, but it leans more on gear. Whatever the spec, a two-handed weapon is the common leveling choice.
Key Death Knight abilities for leveling
| Ability | Use |
|---|---|
| Death Grip | Pulls a target to you. Great for casters and runners |
| Icy Touch, Plague Strike | Apply your two diseases |
| Pestilence | Spreads diseases to nearby enemies |
| Blood Boil, Death and Decay | Area damage for groups |
| Death Strike | Damage and self-healing |
| Death Coil | Spends runic power on damage, or heals undead allies |
| Mind Freeze, Strangulate | Interrupt and silence casters |
| Anti-Magic Shell | Absorbs magic damage |
| Icebound Fortitude | Reduces all damage taken for a short time |
| Horn of Winter | A strength and agility buff that also builds runic power |
| Army of the Dead | Your level 80 ability, a short army of ghouls |
Leveling a Death Knight through Outland, 58 to 68
When the starting chain ends you are close to 58. Take the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands to Hellfire Peninsula, where quest rewards soon replace your starting gear.
| Levels | Zone |
|---|---|
| 58 to 63 | Hellfire Peninsula |
| 60 to 64 | Zangarmarsh |
| 62 to 65 | Terokkar Forest |
| 64 to 67 | Nagrand |
At twice the normal experience, these four zones are often enough to reach 68. If you want to tank dungeons on the way, WotLK dungeons by level shows which fit each bracket.
Leveling a Death Knight in Northrend, 68 to 80
At 68, take the boat or zeppelin to Northrend.
| Levels | Zone |
|---|---|
| 68 to 72 | Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord |
| 71 to 74 | Dragonblight |
| 73 to 75 | Grizzly Hills |
| 74 to 77 | Zul’Drak |
| 76 to 78 | Sholazar Basin |
| 77 to 80 | The Storm Peaks, Icecrown |
At 2x you will often reach 80 before you finish Zul’Drak or Sholazar Basin. A few tips for this stretch:
- Learn Unholy Presence at 70. If you are Unholy, the faster attacks and shorter global cooldown speed up every fight.
- Queue as a tank. The Dungeon Finder in 3.3.5a rewards your first random dungeon each day, and tanks find groups fastest.
- Keep your runeforge current. Check the runeforge each time you are in Acherus. Rune of the Fallen Crusader is the usual choice for damage once you have it.
When you hit 80, the WotLK gearing guide picks up where this one ends.
Faster Death Knight leveling at 2x experience
- Do not linger. Quests turn green quickly at 2x. When most of your log is green or grey, move on.
- Pull in groups. With diseases, Pestilence and self-healing, two or three monsters at once is often faster than one.
- Use a quest addon. The AddOn Library at character select includes Questie, which marks objectives on your map. See the best WotLK addons.
Level a Death Knight on Lasthavens
Lasthavens is a free Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a PvP realm with twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, so both the character you need for the unlock and the Death Knight itself level quickly. The real 3.3.5a client runs in your browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android, with no 17 GB download and no launcher. The first visit downloads about 50 MB, and you make an account on the login screen with Create Account. Play Lasthavens and start your climb from Acherus.