Blood Death Knight Artifact Weapon: Maw of the Damned – Legion 7.3.5

By Llarold Last Updated: 2018/06/28 Changelog Patch: 11.0.5

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Llaroldcreates videos on Youtubestreams on TwitchProtection Warrior GuideArtifacts in Battle for AzerothThe Power in Our HandsConcordance of the Legionfallcontent going awayAhead of the CurveMage Tower ChallengesBFA pre-patchfull list you can read hereArtifact Appearance GuideArtifact Weapon: Maw of the DamnedActive AbilityConsumptionNetherlight CrucibleRelics ExplanationNetherlight CrucibleTumultuous AftershockTumultuous AftershockBlood DK Netherlight Crucible Video GuideThe Netherlight Crucible for Blood DKTier 2 TraitsAntorus, the Burning ThroneInsignia of the Grand Army

Defensive Value

Light Speed

Shadowbind/Chaotic Darkness

Master of Shadows

Refractive Shell

Murderous Intent

Secure in the Light/Infusion of Light

Light's Embrace

Shocklight

In summary, Light Speed is an all-around A+ trait. The Haste is the star of the show, but a little bit of movement speed can go a long way, particularly for a mobility-challenged class like DK.

The Avoidance provided by Master of Shadows is extremely competitive with other traits. AoE can range up to half of your total damage intake throughout an encounter (although usually below 25%), so Master of Shadows is potentially the highest pure damage reduction you can acquire in a single Netherlight Crucible trait - unless you already have Avoidance on your gear.

Shadowbind and Chaotic Darkness are decent traits defensively due to their healing value and the potential double-dip via Leech.

Secure in the Light and Infusion of Light are acceptable traits, but because they split their effects between damage or healing, rather than providing both simultaneously, they lose a lot of overall power.

Refractive Shell is a good defensive gain, (~600k shielding/minute, so ~10k HPS), but its lack of offensive value is a drawback.

Offensive Value

Shadowbind/Chaotic Darkness

Infusion of Light/Secure in the Light

Light Speed

Torment the Weak

Dark Sorrows

Murderous Intent/Shocklight

Master of Shadows

Light Speed is great for both offense and defense.

Shadowbind and Chaotic Darkness are hands-down the two best offensive traits, and they have great defensive value via self-healing *and* double-dipping through Leech, all without sacrificing offense!

Infusion of Light and Secure in the Light have the potential to deal roughly equal damage with Shadowbind and Chaotic Darkness, but because they can spend procs on healing, they can also fall behind significantly. They're just not nearly as good as Light Speed, Shadowbind, or Chaotic Darkness in any situation.

Mastery is a poor offensive stat, making Master of Shadows a poor offensive trait.

Torment the Weak is a great trait for single-target DPS, but it has some problems for tanks. In addition to its lack of defensive value, it is predicated on maintaining a DoT on a single target as much as possible. Because Blood Death Knights are AoE machines, that can become impossible in AoE. This results in a lot of lost DPS in the exact spot tank damage matters most!

Dark Sorrows was buffed to deal 40% increased damage, but its 8-second fuse and the low proc rate of 1 PPM still make it a niche choice at best. It can deal a lot of damage in large-scale AoE, but it can't do much of anything in other scenarios.

Tier 3 TraitsCarrion FeastBlood FeastUnending ThirstVampiric Fangs

Defensive Value

Carrion Feast is the best self-healing trait available. It was added in Patch 7.2.5 and isn't available on a lot of relics, so being able to pick it up through the Netherlight Crucible is a tremendous bonus!

Vampiric Fangs adds value to an already-strong, super-versatile defensive cooldown. It's extremely good.

Everything from Iron Heart on down is largely interchangeable. None of Blood's traits are particularly worthless or offensive, but past the first couple of options, everything is very close in value.

Despite being an offensively-oriented trait, Veinrender deserves mention due to the potential for bonus self-healing through Blood Feast and Unending Thirst.

Offensive Value

Veinrender is the best single target and cleave (2-4 target AoE) damage trait available. In large-scale AoE, some of the other traits (such as Coagulopathy and All-Consuming Rot) can catch up. Generally speaking, Veinrender is the go-to offensive trait.

Dance of Darkness adds duration to an offensive/defensive cooldown, potentially increasing burst damage, tankiness, and self-healing when you need it most. It's not always impactful, but it can be helpful at just the right times.

Artifact TraitsEmpowered TraitsConcordance of the Legionfall

Fortitude of the Ebon Blade is a 1-pointer, and the first new trait. It's great! Get it ASAP.

Carrion Feast is the new minor trait. It is seriously good at increasing your defenses, and will not only make you more resilient against all types of damage, it will increase the size of Blood Shields created by your Mastery. At this point, this appears to be the best defensive trait in the entire tree. It's great!

Vampiric Aura makes Consumption into an even stronger self-healing cooldown, and provides an interesting bit of group utility.

Souldrinker is a solid new defensive trait. Overhealing is something you want to avoid, but ultimately inevitable as a DK - especially when using Consumption in AoE situations. This has the potential to increase your health pool by 30%, which is really good for surviving burst damage.

Concordance of the Legionfall is a random Versatility proc. It can only be unlocked once you have put 4 points into every single minor trait in the tree.

Vampiric Fangs is a very good defensive minor trait, and should be a high priority for putting in a 4th trait.

Veinrender is the best DPS trait, and should be a high 4/4 priority - particularly due to its synergy with Blood Feast, Unending Thirst, and Vampiric Aura! Also, damage kills stuff, so do as much as you can!

Recommended Build PathMaw of the DamnedRattling BonesBlood FeastMouth of HellDance of DarknessMeat ShieldCoagulopathyRelics

Veinrender - Your best minor trait for single target DPS and very good against up to 5 targets.

All-Consuming Rot - Strong for AoE DPS, decent for single target DPS.

Bonebreaker - Decent in single target, poor in AoE.

Vampiric Fangs - Although boosting the power of defensive cooldowns is generally a very small bump to overall tanking strength, given how often Vampiric Blood is available, this trait is quite good.

Iron Heart - It's not tremendously effective, but the damage reduction from percentage increases to armor is incredibly reliable, and reasonably comparable in value to Grim Perseverance.

Grim Perseverance - Parry is not the most reliable or noticeable stat, but this trait is solid for damage reduction, particularly when tanking in AoE - where Death Knight tanks have historically struggled to stay alive.

Coagulopathy - Synergizes with Umbilicus Eternus to provide a modest amount of self-healing. It's a low-to-middle of the pack option for both damage and defenses.

Meat Shield - Useful against spell damage, but otherwise a small increase when compared to most options in the tree.

Dance of Darkness - Provides a modest overall benefit and helps line up Dancing Rune Weapon with cooldowns a little longer. By no means bad, but definitely has less impact than other always-active traits in the tree.

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Tags: PvE