State of (Blood) Decay (BDK)

Classes Death Knight
1

Hello Fellow DKs,

I want to share some thoughts on the current weaknesses of the Blood Death Knight (BDK) in high keystone dungeons. While the BDK remains one of the best tanks in low to medium keys, it tends to get one-shot in higher keys due to an overly long and complex pull setup.

Extended Pull Setup
One major issue is the extended preparation required for a pull compared to other classes. The BDK must:

  • Generate Runic Power
  • Generate Bone Shield
  • Build threat
  • Set up a Death and Decay zone to benefit from its buffs

This process is significantly slower than that of other tanks.

Comparison with the Vengeance Demon Hunter
In contrast, the VDH outperforms in almost every aspect:

  • Greater resilience
  • Faster pull setup
  • Higher mobility
  • Superior crowd control (stun, grab, fear, mass silence)
  • Integrated raid buff
  • Nearly the same self sustain

Although the BDK’s Cheat Death is effective for surviving unexpected heavy damage, it becomes a liability if used too early. Once consumed in a challenging pull, it may not be available for subsequent pulls, increasing the risk of a wipe.

Potential Improvements

  • Removing Death Strike from the Global Cooldown (GCD):
    When preparing a pull without the Dancing Rune Weapon active, it becomes extremely difficult to efficiently generate Runic Power, maintain Bone Shield, and secure threat. Exempting Death Strike from the GCD could streamline the setup and offer more flexibility.
  • Enhancing Defensive Passives:
    Will of the Necropolis is a core defensive ability of the BDK, yet the effectiveness of Rune Tap seems almost negligible. Strengthening Rune Tap to double the passive effect of Will of the Necropolis might provide much-needed stability. Additionally, adjusting mastery—such as granting a percentage damage reduction based on the percentage of health healed—could further support the tank, though the timing of the first Death Strike during the pull remains the primary concern.

Final Thoughts
In my view, the Blood Death Knight will never be one of the best tanks in high keystone dungeons unless a tier set—similar to the one seen in SL S3—is introduced. However, such a tier set completely alters the intended gameplay spirit of the BDK and renders them overpowered, which undermines their unique design.

I am also very receptive to other points of view on how to improve this class, which we all love for its unique gameplay. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and engaging in a constructive discussion.

Note: I was assisted by ChatGPT to translate and correct the original text into English, as English is not my native language and I wanted to gather feedback from as many people as possible. Thank you for your understanding

Note2: I’d also like to highlight another tank that, in my opinion, deserves the attention of the tuning team: the Brewmaster. While I don’t yet have enough insights to suggest specific improvements for the Brewmaster, I believe it’s worth taking a closer look at its mechanics.

3 Likes
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Is not always easy to pull with BDK, I noticed DPS can’ t wait to attack, sometimes even before I pull (if they die, not my problem though).

I usually do my first pull with AMS up, DnD, DC, Dancing Rune (Boneshield stacks and parry chance), then spread diseases and what not.

But when I play my DH, I also need to press a sh…load of buttons (if I do the pull correct that is). I know that keys have timing issues, but can DPS wait for a tank to prepare his pull, at least the first one (in a room/area)

1 Like
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How high keys are we talking? I’m doing just fine at +10 by rotating my cooldowns and not soaking every single auto-attack. With interrupt rotations and DnD with 90% slow you can just backpedal and kite packs of mobs easily. Or you could bait caster into starting an attack before breaking LOS for a brief moment.

Our job is just to tank, not eat damage. So long as we maintain threat and survive it’s not really an issue. Of course if you’re talking about doing +17 keys or something I can see more of an argument for small changes. The main problem is that DK is relying on self-sustain overlap. You need to use Death Strike to keep your shield up to prevent big hits, but also have enough for a strike immediately after taking a tank buster to recover the majority of the hit. You know all this of course.

In my view tanking became easier with the San’leyn hero talents after I got the 4 piece set bonus from Season 2.

1 Like
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yo man all good?

5

Yes, as you mentioned, doing weekly keys as a BDK is relatively easy. However, when pushing the class to its limits (like in +17 keys), the situation changes drastically. If Dancing Rune Weapon (DRW) isn’t active or you get unlucky with its RNG, you can get one-shot before even setting up the pull, which is incredibly frustrating.
And when that happens, even if you get a Battle Resurrection (BR), resetting your setup becomes nearly impossible since your cooldowns are already burned.