The following compares the current state of Elemental Shamans to Unholy Death Knights using the latest SimulationCraft data for end-game PvE in World of Warcraft The War Within patch 11.0.2.
Comparison
Category
Winner
Unholy Death Knight
+2.93%
When simulating boss fight encounters, Unholy Death Knights averaged 2.93% more DPS than Elemental Shamans (+45K DPS).
Unholy Death Knight
+11.63%
When simulating AoE DPS, Unholy Death Knights averaged 11.63% more DPS than Elemental Shamans (+110K DPS).
Unholy Death Knight
+32.44%
Unholy Death Knights have higher spike damage potential, achieving +1.9M more DPS than Elemental Shamans.
Spike damage is the peak DPS achieved in any given moment and is not sustained DPS.
Elemental Shaman
+2.18%
When upgrading the gear for both specs by +44 ilvl, Elemental Shaman DPS improved the most, +2.18% more than Unholy Death Knight. In total, Elemental Shamans DPS increased by 67.15% and Unholy Death Knights by 64.97%.
Unholy Death Knight
+8.32%
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 6.15% for Unholy Death Knights.
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 14.47% for Elemental Shamans.
When introducing occasional movement and real-world latency, Unholy Death Knights performed better, as Elemental Shamans suffered a +8.32% DPS loss.
Elemental Shaman
When evaluating abilities used during boss encounters, Elemental Shamans had fewer damaging abilities in total, indicating a potentially less complex rotation.
The comparisons above highlight some of the key differences between Elemental Shaman and Unholy Death Knight in the current meta, which can hopefully help you determine which spec to play or group up with.
Unholy Death Knight
Elemental Shaman