The following compares the current state of Fire Mages 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
+12.73%
When simulating boss fight encounters, Unholy Death Knights averaged 12.73% more DPS than Fire Mages (+197K DPS).
Unholy Death Knight
+31.41%
When simulating AoE DPS, Unholy Death Knights averaged 31.41% more DPS than Fire Mages (+297K DPS).
Unholy Death Knight
+59.23%
Unholy Death Knights have higher spike damage potential, achieving +3.5M more DPS than Fire Mages.
Spike damage is the peak DPS achieved in any given moment and is not sustained DPS.
Fire Mage
+1.23%
When upgrading the gear for both specs by +44 ilvl, Fire Mage DPS improved the most, +1.23% more than Unholy Death Knight. In total, Fire Mages DPS increased by 66.2% and Unholy Death Knights by 64.97%.
Unholy Death Knight
+22.26%
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 6.15% for Unholy Death Knights.
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 28.41% for Fire Mages.
When introducing occasional movement and real-world latency, Unholy Death Knights performed better, as Fire Mages suffered a +22.26% DPS loss.
Fire Mage
When evaluating abilities used during boss encounters, Fire Mages had fewer damaging abilities in total, indicating a potentially less complex rotation.
The comparisons above highlight some of the key differences between Fire Mage 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
Fire Mage