Quick Facts

Screenshots

Videos

Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Rune of the Fallen Crusader
5 sec cast
Requires Death Knight
Requires level 70

Requires One-Handed Axes, Two-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces, Two-Handed Maces, Polearms, One-Handed Swords, Two-Handed Swords, Staves, Fist Weapons, Miscellaneous (Weapons), Daggers
Affixes your rune weapon with a rune that has a chance to heal you for 3% and increase total Strength by 20% for 15 sec. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold.

Enhanced Fallen Crusader (Level 92+)
Rune of the Fallen Crusader heals for an additional 3%.

Spell Details

Duration

n/a

School

Physical

Mechanic

n/a

Dispel type

n/a

GCD category

n/a

Cost

None

Range

0 yards (Self)

Cast time

5 seconds

Cooldown

n/a

GCD

0 seconds

Effect #1

Enchant Item: Rune of the Fallen Crusader (3368)

Effect #2

Dummy
Server-side script

Flags

Guides

Blood Death Knight Guide

Death Knight DPS Guide
(Frost/Unholy)

Unholy Death Knight
PvP Guide (Gearing
up, Pressure and Utility)

Comments

Comment by Bluefire

It should be noted that even though some people might think these are overpowered compared to enchants, that they were actually designed to be the "best in class" weapon enchants. That means, that the DK weapon enchants will/should outperform any normal enchant.

To quote Ghostcrawler (a Blizzard Poster) of the Beta WotLK forums:

I think it's fine if the runeforging enchants don't stack with other permanent enchants because the runeforge enchants can be as powerful as they need to be. It's okay if they are the best in their class -- they are offered as a perk of the deathknight. The current ones already scale much better than current enchants.

Comment by Hankie

Can't see the use of a class "ability" if it's useless, and since it don't stack with normal enchants, it has to be slightly better imo...

rly, saying this is op because it's better then normal, which it mb not even is (say lvl 70 and you have 600 str, with a proc you get 180 str, 360 ap, is that rly that much better then 840 Armor ignore from executioneer...) enchant's is just silly... that's like saying Shamans weap enchants is op becuase they outmatch sharpning stone...

Comment by Malgorath

This seems like a scaling Crusader (http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=20034) enchant, as hinted by its name. Personally I think it's very cool, having a weapon proc as good as Crusader (well, much better at higher levels) and the ability to have another enchant.

Comment by arkthegreenguy

It says chance to heal for 3%. Does that mean it will heal you for 3% of the damage that hit deals or 3% of your total health?

Comment by Ramsay

Like Bluefire stated above, the reason why these don't stack with enchantments is because Death Knights were intended to "imbue their weapons with powerful runes". DK's can still opt to use enchants, but the runes will be always more powerful. This is the best rune DPS-wise.

Comment by Ramsay

You need to be level 70 to be able to train this.

Heh, my DK I created in early beta I hadn't touched for a while had it at 55. This was because initially all weapon runes could be trained from the start.

Most likely 60-70 will be using the Crusader enchant. I'd use mongoose if I wasn't so cheap.

Comment by elde

Runeforging is a profession-like ability for Death Knights. While it is used like other professions, you don't need to train it; you get new recipies like every few levels as class abilities. There are no skillpoints to train. A Death Knight can only change the runeforged enchant on his weapon at a Rune Forge (obviously). At the moment, you can find Rune Forges at least in Acherus and Shadow Vault in Icecrown.

A runeforged weapon cannot have an enchant other than the temporary enchants, such as sharpening stones. Luckily for Death Knights, the runeforging recipies scale with level and gear. Here's a list of the runeforging recipies and the level a Death Knight receives them.

55 - Rune of Cinderglacier
55 - Rune of Razorice
57 - Rune of Spellbreaking (Only for 1h weapons)
57 - Rune of Spellshattering (Only for 2h weapons)
60 - Rune of Lichbane
63 - Rune of Swordbreaking (Only for 1h weapons)
63 - Rune of Swordshattering (Only for 2h weapons)
70 - Rune of the Fallen Crusader
72 - Rune of the Nerubian Carapace (Only for 1h weapons)
72 - Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (Only for 2h weapons)

Comment by Brachamul

This contributes between DW and 2H balance for the DK. Using two of these to keep the proc up as much as possible will somewhat counter-balance the fact that so many DK attacks are Weapon Damage based.

Comment by wizmike

This is a throwback to the old Enchant Weapon- Crusader. If you think about it, at level 60, the 75-125 heal it provided would have been around 3% of total health, and the 100 strength around 30% of total strength. It also has the same visual effect and icon.

Comment by zirilan

ok so if i dual wield and have Rune of the Fallen Crusader on both weapons can i have 2 of the buffs up at the same time? or do they share a internal CD?

Comment by Ladimore

Tried this on 2 one-handed swords, got 2 procs after eachother, didnt stack.

Comment by toastmaster7727

Just from looking at the other runeforging spells, I can already tell this will be the most favored by Death Knights. Some of them like Razorice don't really do alot: only small bonuses every swing like 2-4% extra dmg. This is a procced effect which most people seem to favor compared to constant increase in damage.

Comment by mightye

At launch this seems to have a 10% chance of proccing. At level 80, after 1000 swings on a level 55 target dummy, there were 98 procs.

So essentially this equates to 0.3% healing per swing, and of course it's not predictable when it procs. If you're using a big slow 2h weapon (to maximize the damage from your weapon damage based abilities), this is not very much healing at all.

The 30% strength bonus is nice, but happens so rarely that it's really at best a way to pad your TopScoreFu or similar tracker.

Only use this rune if you're using two 1-h weapons; and currently there are no DK builds where that's nearly as feasible as a good 2-h weapon; too many abilities are weapon damage based.

Comment by Zukill

Ok here's what you are looking for

Yes this can be placed on any weapons, 1hnd, 2hnd, or polearms. Remember to train in Maces btw, DK's can use them.

This procs about 15% from what i can tell of each melee hit you do. It will own later because it heals for 6% of your total health. *Hint hint* Get more stamina.
I personally have two Fangs of Truth, duel wielding them with both of them enchanted with this. The thing is however the ability of Fallen Crusader ONLY PROCS IF YOU ARE HURT!

I am a blood spec DK's , with 5 points in toughness from Frost. Yes a DPS tank, and I have noticed that while at 100% hp this never procs.

You can tell when it procs because it heals you and gives you the str buff called "Unholy Strength". But it will not heal if you are at 100% hp. I personally can get knocked down to about 98% total hp, and in 1 hit suck up to 100% again so it won't proc if that happens constantly. But this is a very nice enchant to have.

If anyone is going to try a Blood spec tank, i suggest 5 points in toughness for sure from Frost then go full Blood after that. Then you use Frost Presence while fighting, and believe me you won't let the DPS meters down and you will normaly have more armor than a warrior, more health at times too if you are geared enough. Oh and with the blood worms, and healing you got you don't wear out the groups healers.

Hope all this helps.

Comment by Ihmemies

I'm pasting the same comment I wrote to the buff section here:

This procced 70 times during 11 bosses in my last 10man Naxx run. That's ~7 times/boss.. which means nearly 2 minutes/boss, while average boss kill duration is maybe 4 minutes. Not too shabby.

Doesn't have internal CD so it can proc many times in a row.

Edit: Oh.. and the proc healed me for more than Blood Aura ;-)

Unholy Strength 155 815 16 %
Blood Aura 107 985 11 %

Comment by briglair

You Can Not put any runes on fishing poles... An error message pops up saying "That Item Is Not A Valid Target"

Comment by Bizkitz

I'm wondering (as probably a lot of people), would putting Fallen Crusader on MH and OH be good for PvE? And if not, what would be suggested to put on your two weapons?

Please do not vote down this question, as a lot of people would like an answer, but cannot seem to find one.

Comment by isendims

I would like point out, that I had the buff from this refresh itself. I was using a 2h, so i only had 1 weapon with the enchant. I first noticed it when i was fighting a target dummy. I was watching the buff it was at 8 sec, then saw the proc animation and sure enough it was back up to a 15 sec duration

Comment by lichborne

Anyone know if this DK proc can stack with the Darkmoon Greatness deck?
or if it can proc one after another...

Comment by mtwcmarsh

Anyways, DK tanks should use swordshattering

. . . IF what they're trying to accomplish is better damage avoidance. If I understand correctly, parrying an attack doesn't increase threat. Dealing extra damage, like say from the higher attack power you get with +30% strength, will increase threat.

DK tanks should use runeforging to strengthen tanking requirements where their gear falls short.

Comment by foxtrot8275

may i ask wat lvl u get this at? i looked at the dk spell page that shows wat lvl for all of ur spells but it just says 40 for all the rune enchants

Comment by eranikusnxt

enyone know the proc chance of this rune?

Comment by bla2e

-Razor ice is bigest and most while its on the MH, its not a set damage, its a percent of your weapon damage, where OH hits alot lower

It hits lower on the OH, but it hits more times.

-Razor ice > Cinderglacier because 5% extra damage all the time is greatly superior then 20% extra dmg on 2 spells every now and then

It is 2% extra damage now, and also, depending on how hard your frost attacks hit, 20% extra damage from these abilities could heavily outweigh 2% from your white melee hits.

Comment by satelitko

I can say - no internal cooldown. Had this proc from a Death Strike and an autoatack just milliseconds apart after not having it proc for... maybe 2-3 minutes.

Comment by theBMhunter

This is what it proc's http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=53365

Comment by Ihmemies

Proc rate was doubled and effect reduced by 50% in 3.1.

Since WWS hasn't been quite working, it's hard to say how much this will be up now. Maybe 80% or more during a bossfight?

I'd like to try it out with a dummy, if I just had the time.

Comment by Keelerak

How is the change to get heal?

Comment by Deivijs

This has sadly been nerfed. Atleast the buff "burst" it used to offer. Now this proc is more consistent, but half the power

Comment by ZetaZero

There should be a 2 hander version of this rune.

Comment by Zomglazerpew

It is now possible to Runeforge Bind on Account gear, making this usable once you hit 70. But, due to the 15% strength increase, it's not better then crusader until you have roughly 670 strength.

Comment by ohrty

Still wondering What enchant it better for a DPS DK as I am getting in some last second chants for 25 Naxx and some other Raids as well. (My failure to find the "right" guild for me has lead me to gearing myself to the best of the best w/o even touching naxx 10 or 25)

So the Question Stands: Rune of the Fallen Crusader;
or the Expensive as hell (unless your a chanter) Massicare.

That would be very helpful to me as i may be able to be geared enough from BoE epics and Heroic gear to not even step foot in Naxx and go Strait to Uladar 10, as Naxx is "obsoliete" now and some people just dont want to go back....

WoW Heros says i am on the brink of ulada 10 anyways for the yellow bar >.> lmao so much for naxx.

Tyvm,

Makinithell
lvl 80 DPS DK

Comment by mjblink

The buff that Rune of the Fallen Crusader gives is called Unholy Strength.

I cannot believe no one has expressly stated this yet.

Comment by Solkatti

This rune is badass. For my dk it is better than berserking considering everytime it procs i get about 550ap. And *!@# its free.

Comment by Bestshot

As of patch 3.2.2 ,you can't put runeforges on fishing poles >.< Just tried on my DK and said it wasn't a valid target

Comment by merc

The name of the buff that results from this proc is Unholy Strength:

http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=53365

Useful if you have some kind of mod that alerts you on certain procs/buffs.

Comment by ninjazlife

just tried it out on a offhand weapon total weapon speed at 1.04 the buff was up 75% of the time. This is an excellent buff for frost dps imo

Comment by Ymirjarik

Would the 15% strength proc be accumulative if there's ever an increase in strength from other gear bonus's/trinkets etc?

Comment by chop360

Comparison to other enchants for a character with 1500 strength:

Rune of the Fallen Crusader - Increases attack power by 450 for 15 seconds at ~1 ppm
- 463.5 with Ravenous Dead
- 477 with Veteran of the Third War
- 490.5 with both
- (Also heals you for 3% of your maximum health)

Enchant Weapon - Berserking - Increases attack power by 400 for 15 seconds at ~1.698 ppm
- (Also decreases armor by 5%)

Enchant 2H Weapon - Massacre - Increases attack power by 110 all the time

Enchant 2H Weapon - Scourgebane - Increases attack power by 140 all the time against undead

(Edit: Added proc rates)
(Edit 2: Figures are for level 80)
(Edit 3: Figures may be rounded up)

Comment by renork

This now can be applied to the BoA Heirlooms.

Comment by Cattlehunter

The impression given by comments so far do not adequately portray this enchant's awesomeness. During normal blood spam on 3 target dummies (not an unreasonable amount, considering how every instance is an aoe fest all day every day) it procced 49 times in 5 minutes, or about 10 times per minute. The buff effectively has 100% uptime on trash packs (after the first proc, anyway), and heals for a lot.

It is far superior to the alternatives, even for tanking (the bonus strength gives more parry too, for me it's 1.5%), up to and including heroic 5 mans.

Probably not for raids, though.

Comment by Emberblood

I am currently leveling a Death Knight, ALREADY AT LEVEL 55 :-)

3 questions

1 can you have two of the same runes when duel wielding

2 (if 1 is a yes) Does the proc chance of FC (Fallen Crusader) double when duel wielding with both

3 How often does FC usually proc if only on MH

Comment by Aderae

The Death Knight taunt actually can proc this. I combined it into a macro with my obliterate, since it doesn't apply to the GCD, and it sometimes gives me the proc in PvP when my obliterate didn't!

Comment by DarkLupine

If my math is correct, this only has about a 6% chance of occurring on a weapon with a speed of 3.6.
Some people claimed it has around 1ppm:
60/3.6 = 16.67; This is how many times it hits in a minute.
1/16.67 = 0.06; 1 out of 16.67, the proc rate, is equal to 6%.

The bonus should theoretically be up about 1/4 of the time because of the duration (but is actually much less reliable than that), averaging out to around 3.75% strength.
60/15 = 4; It's up for an average of 15 seconds every minute (1 proc), which is 1/4 of the time.
15/4 = 3.75; The bonus strength is up 1/4 of the time on average, which averages out to a bonus of 3.75%

The up time is actually increased further though by special attacks and haste.
A fair estimate of special attacks per minute would be around 30, and an average amount of melee haste might be about 25%.
The haste increases the auto-attacks per minute to about 20.8375. Adding on the special attacks, that's 50.8375 attacks per minute. This averages about 3 procs per minute now.
Ignoring inevitable overlap, that would be an average up time of about 75% (15x3 = 45/60 = 0.75), with an average strength bonus of 11.25% (15x0.75).

In PvP, you could estimate that perhaps 25% of your possible auto-attacks will actually connect, and you might get 75% of your special attacks off per minute.
Rounding up heavily to be more fair, this would be about 6 auto attacks per minute, and about 23 special attacks.
This would be about 1.74 procs in a minute, with an average up time of 26.1 seconds, or 43.5%.
This would be an average strength of 6.525%.

This is pretty much always the best rune for Frost or Unholy under any circumstance, because the morons balanced it against the other runes in the absence of haste, or even special attacks, and did not give it an ICD.

Comment by novicracker

Ok well Im wondering why there isnt a clickable spell called Unholy Strength for this Runeforge? The Proc on this Rune happens alot and the spell name for the Proc is Unholly Strength so yeah. Im just wondering.

Comment by Eowil

As far as I can see no-one has informed about this yet: This effect can actually crit-heal you, making it heal for 6% instead of 3%.

Comment by Minigunner

The top geared BLOOD death knight in the world right now is using this to tank with. I am assuming because the strength proc gives parry for Riposte and Scent of Blood. I am curious to know if the strength gain makes it worth having this enchant over swordshattering or stoneskin gargoyle? (I mean the dude obviously knows what hes doing... right?)

Rune of the Fallen Crusader

Buff

Spell Details

Guides

Related

Contribute