Death Knight Double Legendaries in 9.2: Combinations for Blood, Frost and Unholy

RPT Publié 28/01/2022 à 03:51 par Jaydaa

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The timeline and acquisition of Double Legendaries has changed on the 9.2 Eternity's End PTR. Check out our post below to learn how and when you'll be able equip two legendaries.

Double Legendary Acquisition in Patch 9.2

Our Guide Writers have provided initial thoughts on which Double Legendary combinations you'll likely equip in Patch 9.2. Check out all of our released articles below.

Theorycrafting of Double Legendaries in 9.2

Death Knight Double Legendary Analysis
Demon Hunter Double Legendary Analysis
Druid Double Legendary Analysis
Hunter Double Legendary Analysis
Mage Double Legendary Analysis

Monk Double Legendary Analysis
Paladin Double Legendary Analysis

Priest Double Legendary Analysis
Rogue Double Legendary Analysis
Shaman Double Legendary Analysis
Warlock Double Legendary Analysis
Warrior Double Legendary Analysis

Disclaimer: All theorycrafting is based on the current tuning of the PTR using all the latest class and systems changes including Double Legendary and a complete 9.2 4-Set Tier bonus. Additional tuning and class changes may dramatically affect the recommendations seen below. This is merely a preview of each spec's Double Legendaries and final recommendations will be published closer to 9.2's launch.Mandl

Mandl

Before we get into the whole meat of "which Unity covenant pair is better", there are two important topics we need to get out of the way.

What changed Since 9.1?

A couple of very important changes to covenant legendaries are coming for 9.2, and it would be criminal to not spend some time explaining the changes, along with their impact.

Kyrian: Final Sentence

Condamnation finale went through a minor rework for 9.2, allowing it to have some value in single-target as well as in AoE. Instead of giving you the extra damage and Rune when shackle spreads, it instead provides the benefits when shackle is applied to an enemy. This means that pressing the button will, by itself, provide a rune and 4% damage for 15 seconds.

Necrolord, Night Fae: Minor Buffs

The covenant legendaries for Necrolord and Night Fae also received some minor tuning changes:

Frénésie d’abomination's damage bonus is now 20%, up from 10%
Transfert effréné now grants 4% more strength when fully stacked

Best Blood Death Knight Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones

This is where things get both very straightforward and very complex at the same time. Due to the fact that our covenant legendaries do not interact with our rotation or any other legendary beyond "X does more damage", the choice of generic legendary will be the same for every covenant. Instead, the legendary and covenant combination you decide on will largely be dependent on the content you are doing, the same way you are today.

One thing to note - Arme runique cramoisie is not the only legendary to benefit from the tier set bonus we will be receiving in 9.2. Based on set tuning and encounter profiles, in addition to Souche résistante, there is a small but non-zero chance that Domination de Fielsang might see some play.

Kyrian: Condamnation finale & Souche résistante

As much as it pains me to say this, the covenant legendary Condamnation finale really does not add much to this oft-used combination. 4% extra damage every 56s (thanks to Mikanikos) and a bonus Rune at the same time is not that interesting, although it has some additional potential on fights with adds. And there are quite a few of those, although there is a fair chance you will be playing Necrolord for them (and even use Poigne de l’éternité on at least one of them on top of being necrolord).
Necrolord: Frénésie d’abomination & Souche résistante
There are a number of fights with adds that need to be moved, either to facilitate cleaving them down, to prevent them from moving away, or to control them. There is a very strong chance you will want to be a necrolord for at least some of it. Once again, the bonus is sort of lackluster, functioning as 20% extra damage on anything you damage with Membre abominable.

It is worth noting that all the issues with this covenant legendary have not been addressed since the first time we saw them. I covered Frénésie d’abomination in particular at length on the initial preview, and I am still very disappointed that, in most situations, some of the Bouclier d’os charges from this legendary will be wasted. It feels like such a cop-out to have a legendary be copy-pasted between two DPS specs and a tank spec, with resources that are not even close to comparable (you spend Frimas as soon as it shows up, and Corruption runique has the effect of speeding up everything you do. Meanwhile, Bouclier d’os is neither in your control nor is it a resource you particularly care about beyond a certain level - 5 or more - and overcapping is strictly negative). I also still stand by my initial opinion - having the legendary grant Corruption runique on every additional tick granted by this legendary (i.e. tick 0 bones, tick 1 RC, tick 2 bones, tick 3 RC, tick 4 bones, tick 5 RC etc) would be a formidably fun change.
Night Fae: Transfert effréné & Souche résistante

In cases where you are able to predictably hunker down and turret without the need to move too much, Night Fae might show some promise. It already did in Sanctum of Domination under very specific conditions, and the rule will not really change in Sepulcher.

The reward for managing Dû de la mort gets amplified even further with Transfert effréné, thanks to the bonus Runic Power and strength. Death Knights able to manage and maintain Dû de la mort optimally despite the plethora of mechanics that might cause you to drop it (yes, there are plenty) will be rewarded even more than in Sanctum, as this is technically, if played absolutely optimally, the highest performing covenant on DPS in vacuo. This "technically" is a very slim margin, however, and is extremely dependent on the player's skill and ability to think 20 to 25s ahead.

In other words: not for the faint of heart, but potentially good in very specific circumstances.

Best Blood Death Knight Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Unfortunately, the disclaimer will be the same as for Sepulcher - you will just pick whatever covenant you prefer and you'll inherit a glorified buff stick no matter what you pick. On the upside, Arme runique cramoisie actually interacts with our tier set, so we can at least look forward to that interaction.

These suggestions of legendary and covenant pairs are based on what you can expect to be playing in the majority of key levels played out there. There will always be some ultra cool tech at world first level, but very few people will get there and the choice is often based on group covenant diversity as well as specific tech.

Just like in 9.1, all four covenants will be perfectly fine to easily get keystone hero and beyond (there are world 10 keys being done by each and every covenant right now). And just like in 9.1, the better choice is the one you are better at.
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Bicepspump

Best Frost Death Knight Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones

Necrolord: Frénésie d’abomination & Rage du champion gelé/ Faveur de Koltira

A combination pretty much without synergy that will see play simply because the individual components are good. Sure, the extra Frimas does arguably synergise with Rage du champion gelé but it's incredibly minor. Faveur de Koltira is always paired with Oblitération and potentially with Souffle de Sindragosa. Our new tier set does make it more powerful which is why it is likely to see more play. Rage du champion gelé is a nice cleave legendary for Souffle de Sindragosa and also can see play on single target, mostly because it smooths our the rotation nicely.

I feel like running Necrolord is a great option for the Frost Death Knight due to the versatility it brings. It's always nice to have the extra grips from Membre abominable available to you, and you get really nice 2 minute burst windows as well.

Best Frost Death Knight Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Necrolord: Frénésie d’abomination & Rage du champion gelé/ Froid mordant

We see an almost identical Necrolord setup for Mythic+ as a viable play. Only difference is that we swap out Faveur de Koltira for Froid mordant when running Oblitération. Froid mordant is also a viable pick when running Souffle de Sindragosa if you're looking for a bit more AoE instead of single target.

Overall, Necrolord is versatile and fits into your rotation nicely, bringing even bigger 2 minute burst windows.

Night Fae: Transfert effréné & Rage du champion gelé/ Froid mordant

Night Fae becomes a lot more powerful in Mythic+ due to the quick buff-scaling of Dû de la mort as well as the really nice Anéantissement cleave. Since Dû de la mort has a short 30 seconds cooldown, we expect to use it on every pull in the dungeon. This means that the legendary brings consistent damage, an option to the more bursty Necrolord. It is also very likely to bring more overall damage throughput, due to the nice AoE scaling of the legendary combo.

In a similar fashion to Necrolord, we pair up the covenant legendary with either Froid mordant or Rage du champion gelé, depending on our talent choices and damage focus.

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Bicepspump

Best Unholy Death Knight Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones

Necrolord: Frénésie d’abomination & Voile fatal/ Monstruosité frénétique

This legendary combination essentially just follows along from our current best setup in 9.1.5. Playing Necrolord with Voile fatal/ Monstruosité frénétique being picked up depending on fight. Voile fatal for a bit more single target and Monstruosité frénétique for a bit more cleave.

Frénésie d’abomination doesn't synergise at all with the paired legendaries, but it also doesn't need to since it's powerful on its own. Increasing the burst of our Membre abominable-window is great since we tend to line up our big cooldowns with it. It also brings a ton of bursty AoE, perfect for any adds that need grouping and killing in the raid (Artificer for instance).

This legendary combination is by far the most versatile since it doesn't require any setup or additional play. It simply makes us deal a lot more dmg in our burst windows. It also makes us run Necrolord which is nice due to the extra grip utility!

Night Fae: Transfert effréné & Voile fatal/ Monstruosité frénétique

Finally, a synergy that has always been on the Unholy DKs minds manifest into a competitive build. Running Profanation, this setup allows us to maintain 100% uptime on an empowered version of Dû de la mort strength buff, giving us 20% strength. This hasn't been competitive before since we sacrificed a good legendary for it. Now however, Transfert effréné is a good theoretical second option making this build viable.

This combination relies on reducing the Cooldown of Dû de la mort sufficiently so as to chain the stacks and keep up the buff indefinitely. Profanation is sufficient to do so since a refresh of the Dû de la mort at the end of the Dû de la mort window gives us 14 seconds (12 seconds base + 2 seconds from the legendary) to refresh it. This provides a 4 second window where you need to pop down Dû de la mort and cast a Frappe du Fléau to refresh the buff. This is rather tight but doable if you keep good track of it.

In a controlled setting, there isn't any issue at all keeping up with the stacks. You control your resources so that you always spam Frappe du Fléau at the end of your Dû de la mort. Just before Dû de la mort comes up again, you dump your Runic Power before-hand to ensure you have the two Runes available to refresh the buff ASAP. The gameplay feels pretty smooth and easy on a target dummy.

Now let's talk about why this legendary combination won't necessarily be the best to play on encounters, even if it might be theoretically best in a controlled scenario. Dropping the stacks is very easy in a raid environment. Avoiding mechanics, forced downtime, running around, being distracted. Tons of effects that will make it difficult to maintain your stacks. An experienced player that knows the fight really well can probably do it, but it will still depend on the specific fight.

Overall, this combination will definitely be viable, but not necessarily optimal. I believe it can see play on fights where it's easy to keep up the stacks, and where you can leverage the extra cleave you get on adds etc. For progression, I do expect us to play something different though!

Best Unholy Death Knight Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Night Fae: Transfert effréné & Traînard réanimé/ Monstruosité frénétique

We again see Transfert effréné, now paired with either Traînard réanimé or Monstruosité frénétique. In a Mythic+ scenario, we no longer care too much about extending the buff from Dû de la mort. Instead, we simply gain a ton of value by boosting our Dû de la mort window a ton! For AoE, we hit that 20% strength buff instantly with our first Frappe du Fléau within Dû de la mort, buffing our main (when running the wound build) dmg window a ton.

You are likely to run a build centered around Griffes infectées and Plaies purulentes. The legendary buffs our Dû de la mort and these talents really brings our burst to this window. If we are running something else, we'll see a much larger proportion of our damage coming from outside the window, not synergising very well with the legendary.

Picking up Traînard réanimé or Monstruosité frénétique depends on your priorities within the group. Traînard réanimé has quite a wonky AoE and an inconsistent proc-rate. However, it just leads to a huge amount of AoE damage in the end. Monstruosité frénétique is more versatile, bringing a balance of AoE without sacrificing any single target. You will make the choice depending on dungeon and your group, picking what is most needed.

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