DK Frost DPS

[Dave]

Since they added the new DW talent in the patch, I decided to go frost to see how useful it may become. It told me a few things:

-They want more people to DW
-They want more people to be frost

or

-They want people to stop crying


This is an absolute work in progress, so I NEED criticism, questions, and comments.

The spec:
15/56/0
Pure PvE raiding, without tanking in mind.

The glyphs:
Glyph of Disease: Possibly the most important one to have for this spec. Having this frees up the need to waste frost and unholy runes to refresh diseases.
Glyph of Obliterate: This is one of the main damaging attacks for this spec, and is about equal to having Glyph of Dark Death from my Unholy build from the previous patch.
Third Glyph: I'm currently open to suggestion for a third glyph, as I am trying to figure out which one would work best. My two choices right now are either Glyph of Frost Strike, or Glyph of Howling Blast. Problem is, I can't weigh the utility of either, since they both produce a moderate amount of waste (too much runic power from, and redundant application of Frost Fever).

The setup:
It's the same as usual for any death knight. Icy Touch, Plague Strike. Afterward, if there are multiple mobs, Pestilence -> Blood Strike. If it's a boss or single mob, Blood Strike -> Blood Strike.

From this point on, I like to use Howling blast, as it does do more damage than Obliterate (with a caveat that I will talk about) even with a single mob. Doing this first sets it on cooldown, so that it's not wasted.

Again, there is no rotation. DKs are a highly dynamic class in terms of what skills to use, especially with Frost being as reliant on procs as it is. There is definitely no one-buttoning this shit for me. This spec generates an abundance of Runic Power, so Frost Strike is used a lot. Luckily the higher RP pool allows for some leeway in terms of saving it or using a Rime proc.

Where Glyph of Disease comes in:
While you're fighting and waiting for rune cooldowns, the most important thing for a death knight in general is to keep diseases up. Having this glyph allows you to refresh your diseases with one rune, a blood rune, and one global cooldown. I now use pestilence on bosses and single targets to keep my diseases up. On multi-mobs, it's self explanatory.

Procs:
Watch for all your procs. Killing spree is up quite a bit. Rime also comes up. When Rime procs, the highest priority spell becomes Howling Blast.

Dual Wielding:
I currently have two ilvl200 swords from Naxx. They do a decent job, for their level, and the gear that I have. One thing that I don't know is whether or not a slow offhand affects the numbers generated from Frost Strike, and Obliterate, since they both deal damage now. I have a fast offhand with low end damage, so I'd need a new weapon to be sure.

Observations:
I currently pull about 2600 DPS in heroics with 2/3 useful glyphs, and the exact same gear with the same ilvl weapons I did pre-patch, which is about 90% of the dps that I did while unholy. I'd imagine that raid buffed, I could pull around 3000-3100 dps.

[Vitandus]

I was thinking of this build of 0/56/15 if I try dual wield on one of my Death Knights. Necrosis stacking with Black Ice just sounds too good to pass. Since Obliterates don't consume disease with Annihilation, I want to extend the disease to free up having to use any runes.

[Korrtez]

I was reading an article last night that seems to think that deep unholy/frost DW combo is the way to go.  I'm not sure how they came to their conclusions since they leave out all the bonus dw talents in frost.  Here is the link;


http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deathknight=0000000000000000000000000000320053002020000000000000000002300303050032152003120213133051&glyph=270817060504&version=10116

[Acree]

Rick, that looks a lot like the spec I was using before the implement of changes.  Don't know how it will work with the new mechanics

[Dave]

This past weekend I tried a modified version of Pat's suggested build. I took out two points from Killing Spree and one from Deathchill, to put them into Blood Caked Blade.

I have noticed a good increase in overall dps by adding Glyph of Frost Strike, as well as changing the playstyle a little. The focus now is more on Obliterate, and using Obliterate to proc Rime, or Rime and Killing Spree at the same time. Otherwise, the basic disease upkeep is the same. I was pulling about 2800-2900 in heroics, and the one raid I did (OS25), I was able to pull about 3800-3900 on Sartharion.

This spec works better. Bladed armor does not scale well at all in the higher gear ranges, and that's where Necrosis passes it in overall damage, with BCB for more passive damage. The 5% crit is not a huge loss, considering how high crit is with frost to begin with.

Also, if you DW frost, use two slow weapons.

[Vitandus]

Side note - DK tanking dual wield is kinda silly. Rune Strike does not work with Threat of Thassarian and usual tanking weapons are too fast.

[Vitandus]

My new dual-wield 3.2 idea: http://hordedefenseleague.org/dkdual

[Acree]

That looks almost almost like my build.  However, I put all 5 points in killing machine instead and don't have the point in unbreakable armor.  I can see how having that ability as an on demand dps boost would be nice however.  From the things I have read online, you will want to be in blood presence.  Rune of FC on your main weapon and Rune of Razorice on your offhand.  Major Glyphs are: Obliterate, Icy Touch, and Frost Strike.

[Vitandus]

Yup, 180 to 200+ more Strength is a nice boost to AP. Just trigger it as you would Hysteria and you have your cooldown pump.