Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

As a seasoned adventurer with years of experience under my belt, I can’t stress enough the importance of having the right gear to survive and thrive in the treacherous lands of Dungeonborne. And let me tell you, nothing beats the satisfaction of wielding a perfectly upgraded and enchanted set of equipment.


As a passionate fan of Dungeonborne, I’d be happy to share with you how I’ve crafted an effective Death Knight character. This class is perfect for those who enjoy getting up close and personal in battle. To optimize your Death Knight experience, let me guide you through the best abilities, skills, and weapons to wield.

Best Active skills for PVP and Solo

In Dungeonborne, each class is equipped with two primary skills. One can be activated using the E key, and another using the Q key. For Death Knights, the E skill is consistently the Grasp of the Grave. As for the Q skills, Soul Shroud is an optimal choice.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

As a fan, I’d describe it like this: With Grasp of the Grave, I can seize control over an enemy or teammate and drag them closer to me. It’s ideal for reeling in distant foes and bringing them into the thick of battle or saving an ally from harm’s way. When I drag an enemy, they’ll sustain Shadow Damage.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

As a seasoned player with hundreds of hours invested in this game, I’ve come to appreciate the subtle yet impactful abilities that can turn the tide of a battle. Among these, the Soul Shroud stands out as a go-to choice for me.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

Best Passive skills for PvP and Solo

As a seasoned player of this game, I strongly recommend focusing on unlocking the Death Knight’s three most beneficial passive skills right from the start. Having played this character class extensively, I can attest to the power and utility of these abilities: Grim Harvest, Soul Cage, and Life Steal.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

Grim Harvest makes the Death Knight’s E ability, Grasp of the Grave, generate 20 Soul Energy when it hits an enemy target. This includes both enemy players and monsters, making this ability perfect for either PvE or PvP. The Soul Energy generated is enough to give you an extra use of your Q skill while waiting for your Grasp to recharge. You’ll need 54 Strength to unlock this ability.

The second skill, named “Soul Cage,” protects you with a shield of 200 health when you employ your Q special ability. This protective shield remains for a duration of 8 seconds before vanishing and entering a cooldown period of 30 seconds. With your Q abilities inflicting damage on enemies in close proximity, Soul Cage positions you advantageously to charge towards them and attack with your weapon while the Q skill harms them. To access this ability, amass a total of 39 Stamina points.

Harvesting the life of any foe, be it a beast or a person, results in the release of tiny Soul Energy orbs. The Life Steal Passive skill then harnesses this power, restoring 14 points of your Health each time you gather a single Soul Energy orb. In PvPvE scenarios, this can be quite beneficial as you’ll be able to restore both Health and Soul Energy by slaying weaker creatures at no extra cost. However, if you’re focusing on Player versus Player combat alone, it might be wiser to exchange this ability for Soul Reaper, and instead rely on consumables for healing.

Best Stats

Considering the past passive abilities, it is recommended that you put effort into enhancing your attributes of Strength, Stamina, and Will. To gain access to the top three Death Knight passive skills, aim for the following thresholds:

  • 59 Strength for Grim Harvest.
  • 42 Stamina for Soul Cage.
  • 24 Will for Life Steal.

If you primarily engage in player versus player (PvP) combat, consider elevating your Intelligence stat to 43 for access to the “Soul Reaper” passive ability. For those who enjoy player versus environment (PvE) or a blend of player versus player and environment (PvPvE), continue focusing on enhancing your Strength and Stamina stats to effectively tackle larger adversaries and withstand enemy attacks.

Best Gear and Affixes for PvP

An excellent starting weapon combination for a Death Knight is the Mace and Shield pair. Go for a Mace bearing the Morgenstern moniker, as it excels in inflicting physical harm. With this setup, you can attack enemies while simultaneously safeguarding yourself with the shield. This configuration offers an edge over wielding a sword and a separate shield. For additional punch in close quarters, consider equipping a two-handed sword as your secondary weapon.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

Any character can hold three Heirloom items at once—a piece of armor, an accessory, and a weapon or shield. I recommend using the Defender’s Steel Shield Heirloom for your shield. It will increase both your blocked damage reduction and your stamina, helping you survive much longer against any enemies. Additionally, since it is an heirloom you can easily repurchase it after dying so you’ll always have a good shield.

The type of armor and accessories you can craft for Heirlooms depends on the items you currently have in your inventory. For instance, since I had a decent necklace but only average rings, I chose to make a Ring of Power to enhance my strength attribute. In contrast, I decided to swap out my subpar helmet with a Protector’s Headgear to boost both my damage and health.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

As a seasoned player of this captivating game, I cannot stress enough the importance of enhancing your Heirlooms to optimize your build. Having gone through countless hours of gameplay and countless iterations of my character setup, I have come to appreciate the transformative power of these cherished items.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

When preparing to imbue your weapons with magic, consider enhancing either the Shadow Damage, basic Damage, or Physical Damage. Feel free to switch among these depending on your weapon upgrades and gained enchantment slots. I suggest concentrating on perks that incentivize parrying and dealing damage, given your propensity for active combat rather than monster eradication. Some worthwhile choices are: [Your List of Good Options]

  • + True Damage to Attacker on Block will damage those attacking you while you block. This is especially useful for the Mace and Shield combo since you will be blocking often, allowing you to deal extra poke damage to attackers.
  • + Life Recovered on Successful Defense will benefit you by healing you for small amounts while you defend yourself against enemy players.
  • + Life on Hit will heal you as you attack enemies. It won’t be a huge amount, but any bit of healing helps when facing enemy players who will do their best to outlive you.

In simple terms, adding prefixes or suffixes (affixes) to your Death Knight’s abilities generally enhances their defensive, offensive, or crowd control properties significantly in this build.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

When it comes to upgrading the rest of your gaming equipment, I recommend enhancing the passive stats and affixes you mentioned earlier. It’s essential to experiment with less superior gear initially to unlock more potent items later on. You can find some hidden treasures in Dungeons guarded by formidable enemies, while others may be readily available for purchase in the Trade Marketplace.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

If you possess both time and financial resources, consider trading for less common items to obtain desired affixes. Should an item not enhance the desirable attribute or fall short of expectations, simply sell it back on the marketplace at a slightly reduced price.

Best Gear and Affixes for PvPvE/Solo

For both PvPvE and solo playstyles, the build is quite alike that of PvP. Your principal weapon should be a Morgenstern Mace accompanied by a shield. Normally, I acquire mine from the Trade Marketplace, yet they may surface as rewards from dungeons too. As you progress to higher levels, consider replacing it with a more advanced physical damage Mace, such as the Beastlord’s Mallet.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

In my regular playstyle, I give more importance to carrying a Mace and Shield rather than any extra weapon. Among all the weapons I’ve tried out, a two-handed sword has proven to be the most dependable secondary weapon for me. For inflicting damage from afar, consider replacing the sword with a Crossbow. However, do keep in mind that you’ll need to frequently restock bolts for the Crossbow to ensure it’s always ready for use.

Death Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

If you’ve previously enhanced some Heirloom items, it would be beneficial for you to continue using them as you work on unlocking new ones and discover which ones fit your playstyle optimally. Here’s a suggested setup to begin with:

  • Defender’s Steel Shield with a +2.7% Shadow Damage upgrade.
  • Defender’s Helmet with a Stamina upgrade.
  • Ring of Strength with a Stamina upgrade.

Being an experienced adventurer, I can’t stress enough the importance of keeping my gear up-to-date. So, as always, I suggest you take some time to enhance and charm your helmet and ring to boost any stats that are running low.

    Death Knight Build Guide – DungeonborneDeath Knight Build Guide – DungeonborneDeath Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

Instead of filling in the blank spots in your equipment with items that boost your stats to activate the three key passive abilities, focus on acquiring gear that enhances these capabilities as you search for Passive skill upgrades. Give priority to obtaining armor adorned with the subsequent affixes while seeking out these skills:

  • Affixes that increase a stat or recover health on defense, like +2 Life Recovered on Successful Defense in the first image below.
  • Any affixes that deal damage when you block. Since you’ll have your shield up often against enemies while swinging your Mace, this will cause them to take extra damage. It’s an impenetrable, offensive defense when combined with your Strength and the constant damage of your Soul Shroud. An example of this affix is the +3 True Damage to Attacker on Block on the Mastery Orb in the second image below.
  • Affixes that increase your physical or shadow damage, like the +2.7% Shadow Damage affix on the Defender’s Fine Steel Shield in the third image below.
  • Any affixes that increase stats like Damage or Health for killing enemies. Gear with these on it will cause you to power up as you travel through dungeons killing enemies and monsters alike.
    Death Knight Build Guide – DungeonborneDeath Knight Build Guide – DungeonborneDeath Knight Build Guide – Dungeonborne

How to play Death Knight in Dungeonborne

To effectively play this role, you need to adopt an aggressive and tactile tanking approach, getting up close and personal with the enemies. Employ Grasp of the Grave to reel in foes, followed by a swift rotation with your Mace to inflict significant damage. Post-pulling, trigger Soul Shroud to hinder their escape, keeping them within reach of your Mace’s might. Be cautious not to overblock and attack sparingly; prolonged blocking may provide enemy players the opportunity to amass stronger attacks that could potentially breach your defenses.

As a gamer, I can tell you that in the video you’ll see an intense battle between my Death Knight and a formidable Werewolf foe lurking in the castle dungeon. With my carefully crafted build, I wield a shield that effectively absorbs the Werewolf’s fierce blows. This protection enables me to swing my Mace with full force and precision.

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2024-07-25 22:21