Death Knight Leveling Guide 100-110 (Legion 7.0.3)

We recommend Pestilent Pustules Icon Pestilent Pustules as your level 57 talent, since the other two choices are too slow and cumbersome to use in a dynamic leveling process.

Clawing Shadows Icon Clawing Shadows is probably the best level 58 choice since it allows you to burst Festering Wound Icon Festering Wounds from range, while the other two talents are not really useful against short-lived targets.

We recommend Asphyxiate Icon Asphyxiate as your level 60 talent, since a stun is very valuable while leveling and can end up saving you a lot of health. Sludge Belcher Icon Sludge Belcher can also work as a more passive choice, but we do not recommend Debilitating Infestation Icon Debilitating Infestation.

We feel that Corpse Shield Icon Corpse Shield is the best level 75 talent in general, as it will allow you to avoid a lot of damage and thus have very little downtime while recovering. Lingering Apparition Icon Lingering Apparition can also be a good choice to help you move faster between mobs, but Spell Eater Icon Spell Eater is unlikely to be of any use.

Necrosis Icon Necrosis is a simple damage increase and we feel that it is the best level 90 talent you can take.

Finally, none of the level 100 talents are ideally suited for leveling, but we recommend Dark Arbiter Icon Dark Arbiter, which you should just use as often as possible (as long as the enemies are not so weak that they will die too quickly anyway; try to use it on bigger targets).

2. Useful Skills

As far as dealing damage is concerned, the abilities you should use are:

Outbreak to apply Virulent Plague;
Dark Transformation on cooldown to transform your ghoul (do not use it if the targets are just about to die, though);
Festering Strike to apply Festering Wounds to the target, and Clawing Shadows to burst them and deal damage;
Death Coil to deal damage and spend Runic Power.

Once you obtain your Artifact weapon, you should use Icon Apocalypse as often as you can, as long as the target has several stacks of Festering Wound Icon Festering Wounds on them.

Dark Arbiter Icon Dark Arbiter and Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead should be used as often as possible.

Anti-Magic Shell Icon Anti-Magic Shell, Wraith Walk Icon Wraith Walk, Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude, and Corpse Shield Icon Corpse Shield should be used to help you get out of dangerous situations, such as when you overextend and pull too many mobs.

Lastly, do not forget to use Asphyxiate Icon Asphyxiate as often as possible to stun your target.

3. Artifact

Throughout the course of your journey to 110, you will accrue a reasonable amount of Artifact Power tokens just from completing quest chains, and usually will end up somewhere in the region of 2000-2500 total gained by 110, which should fund your first 5-6 traits. Make sure to spend them whenever you return to your Class Hall, since any bonus will help you.

Be aware that in situations where you have 2 or more Artifacts, the one you currently have equipped will consume any Artifact Power tokens you use (to the detriment of your non-equipped Artifacts). So, be aware of that and use your tokens on specs that you intend to play at 110!

3.1. Traits

Whilst there are some traits that can help you out with the leveling process and make it slightly faster, doing so will hurt how rounded your Artifact is when you hit 110 and begin doing endgame content, so make that choice wisely. For Unholy, we would strongly recommend sticking to the outlined in the main guide and not deviating, as the benefits do not outweigh having a sub-optimal Artifact for the future.

4. Gear

As all gear acquired from quests now scales to your level, and that means that rewards increase in power the higher you go. At 100, quest rewards will generally be in the 685~ range, scaling all the way up to 800 when you complete quests at 110. Keep your gear updated along the way with any significant item level upgrades, whilst leaning toward the more powerful offensive stats (those being Haste and Critical Strike). For trinkets, if you have access to the heirloom Gronntooth War Horn Icon Gronntooth War Horn, stick with that as it scales up with each level you gain, and take any other strong trinkets you obtain during your leveling process.

5. Zones, Quests and Dungeons

5.1. Zones

The Broken Isles comes with 4 zones, and all players will have to complete a majority of each of them to reach 110 in most circumstances. They can be broken down into short zones (usually netting roughly 2 levels) and longer zones (netting 3 slightly more). Ultimately, the difference between zones is very small and your decision is not particularly important, as doing a chunk of every zone is required to hit Friendly reputation and unlock World Quests. That said, some notes on the process are below:

Short zones

Val'Sharah
Azsuna

It is best to start off with a short zone, as it lines up well with your leveling process and hits a sweet spot for returning to the Class Hall at both 101 and 102 to continue the campaign chain and begin your 4 hour mission. Note that Azsuna can have some quite punishing enemies if you do it later in the process that can slow some bonus objectives, when the effects of gear begins to diminish, which may affect your decision.

Long zones

Highmountain
Stormheim

Doing a longer zone second again lines up well with returning to your Class Hall at 104/5 to complete further campaign quests and usually fill out time for the 4 hour mission to complete. Finishing on a long zone is also great as you usually will not complete it, but always have quests to make it to Friendly and get to 110 without having to go off track. Highmountain has benefits both as your second or fourth zone as it is the longest zone to wait out the Class Hall mission, but also has the least punishing mob scaling with level.

With all zones, Bonus Objectives really smooth out the process as do some of the more opportune side quests (particularly in Val'Sharah). It is not required to do every single one to reach 110 comfortably, but if you are in an area completing quest chains, it is definitely worth completing them along the way. Also make sure to complete any main chain questlines that you are given breadcrumbs in each area.

5.2. Profession Quests

Profession quests are often very time consuming and can be cross-zone fetch or dungeon quests. If you come across a hand-in for a breadcrumb from Dalaran you are already in, do it for the experience, but do not go out of your way to complete the more time consuming objectives, leave them until 110.

5.3. Dungeons

Each zone comes with a subsequent dungeon quest when you finish the main zone storyline, rewarding a piece of Item Level 800 gear and a large boost of experience, usually totalling around 30-35% of a level inside the dungeon. You can do dungeons along the way as they are worth the time, but only if you have the appropriate quest.

Val'Sharah: Darkheart Thicket
Azsuna: Eye of Azshara
Highmountain: Neltharion's Lair
Stormheim: Halls of Valor

Do not, however, level exclusively through dungeons. The experience they reward is very poor on their own, and they are all quite lengthy compared to simply questing in the open world.

6. Legion Invasions

With the addition of Invasions in Legion's 7.2 patch, if you have the ability to fly whilst leveling your alts, completing these quests will grant a great deal of experience. As such completing all these when an invasion is active is worth the time regardless of the zone it is present in. If you are leveling for the first time and run into a world quest in the zone you are in under attack, it is also advised to complete it, but do not run across the map or to other zones to complete them if you have not unlocked that area.

6.1. Rares and Treasures

Unless you specifically want the rewards, doing any rares or grabbing treasures is not worth the time. If you run into a chest you mightaswell open it for the Artifact Power, but do not go out of your way to grab these, as they do not give any experience unlike in Warlords of Draenor. Rares also give very limited experience for the time taken, so is not worth it.

7. Class Hall

You should always be looking to go back to your Class Hall when new quests are available. This comes at 101, 102 and finally at 104. You can opt out of returning at 102 which will delay that mission, but when you do go back to Dalaran at 102/3 after your first zone, make sure to catch up on everything there.

In general it is worth doing all quests that appear in the Order Hall. You can complete the other Artifact quests immediately, or save them for another time at your discretion.

8. Leveling as a Group

In Legion, leveling as a group confers a lot of benefits (such as shared mob taking and quest items, alongside Bonus Objective progression speed). This can be great and there is not any significant downsides to group leveling, however if you choose to do this it is strongly advised you complete all dungeon quests at the end of each zone and do not skip any Bonus Objectives, as it is much tighter reaching 110 with the diminished mob experience.

9. Misc

9.1. Mob Tagging

Legion has expanded mob tagging to allow for up to 5 players of the same faction to tag any and all mobs in the open world, not just quest enemies. Faction tagging however is still a thing, so be aware of other opposing players around you. Take advantage of this by landing a hit on creatures other players are attacking for bonus credit toward completion.

9.2. Bonus Experience

The guild banners provide bonus experience on a short cooldown and are worth picking up.

9.3. Consumables

If you are pushing as fast as possible, grab some regular consumables to speed up the process. These are just the standard Warlords of Draenor consumables that were being used in raids.