Blood Death Knight

Very hard to kill, and heals itself through big hits.

TankMeleeEasy to play

Talents

Copy the build, then in game press N to open Talents, click Import and paste.

For San'layn. Deathbringer: Crit > Mastery > Versatility > Haste.

Pick gear, gems and enchants with your top stats first. Item level still matters most.

Patch 12.1. Stat source

Picks for Blood in patch 12.1, from the Icy Veins guide.

Flask Flask of the Shattered Sun Critical Strike. The best flask for Blood.
Combat potion Potion of Recklessness The strongest potion for this spec. Use it with your big cooldowns. Light's Potential is the simpler pick if your secondary stats are evenly spread.
Health potion Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion Healing in combat. It doesn't share a cooldown with Healthstones, so you can use both.
Food Harandar Celebration A group feast. On your own, eat Royal Roast instead.
Augment rune Void-Touched Augment Rune Raises your Strength. It's expensive and is lost when you die, so save it for progression.
Weapon oil Thalassian Phoenix Oil Lasts an hour. Reapply it after it wears off.

Head
Raises Speed.
Shoulders
Raises Speed, so you move faster.
Chest
Raises your primary stat.
Legs
Raises Agility or Strength, plus Stamina.
Feet
Raises Speed and Stamina.
Both rings
Raises Versatility.
Silvermoon's Tenacity with Deathbringer, Nature's Fury with San'layn.
Main hand
Death Knight rune.
Rune of Sanguination for most players. Deathbringer in very large pulls can use Rune of the Fallen Crusader.

First socket
Raises your primary stat.
Every other socket
Raises Critical Strike and Mastery.
Masterful Garnet with Deathbringer, Quick Garnet with San'layn.

Patch 12.1. Source

Best trinkets for Blood

Grades for Blood, patch 12.1.5. Trinket source

Look up your character to see which of these you're missing and what to upgrade first.

Other Death Knight specs: Frost · Unholy

Tier ranks from patch 12.1.5, mid-October 2026. See the full tier list.