Post by Shane Small on Jul 23, 2009 22:29:18 GMT -5
COMMON ABBREVIATIONS
AoE = Area of Effect
AMS = Anti-Magic Shell
BB = Blood Boil
BP = Blood Presence
IT = Icy Touch
DCh = Deathchill
DK = Death Knight
DnD = Death and Decay
DPS = Damage per Second
FC = Rune of the Fallen Crusader
FF = Frost Fever
FS = Frost Strike
GCD = Global Cooldown
HoW = Horn of Winter
KM = Killing Machine
OB = Obliterate
PS = Plague Strike
RP = Runic Power
UA = Unbreakable Armor
UP = Unholy Presence
SPECS
Currently Accepted Spec(s)
17/51/3
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMVZG0xxAbckf0Vostc
Unlike other classes, there is nothing exceedingly mystical about the talent choices made by a Frost DK, due largely in part to the Frost tree being free of any extraneous bloat found in many other specs. 51 points happens to be the exact amount needed to grab every essential DPS talent from the frost tree. This leaves us with 20 talent points left for the other trees. Blood has been chosen as the primary sub-tree for the following reasons:
Frost's heavy reliance on crit.
Frost's heavy dependence on 2h weapon attacks.
Largely undesirable talents found in the Unholy tree.
However, you are able to grab all the essential talents from the Blood tree by only spending 17 points. These 3 extra points are best placed in Virulence, as the extra 3% hit will very likely get you spell-hit capped.
Experimental Spec(s)
20/51/0 or 17/51/3
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMVhZG0xxAbckf0Vost
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMMhZG0xxAbckf0Vostc
These two specs are centered around using [Glyph of Icy Touch] to generate the maximum amount of RP possible, in order to spam FS as much as can be allowed. The talent choices are identical to a traditional Frost spec, with one notable exception: 3 points are either taken from Virulence or Dark Conviction and placed in Death Rune Mastery. It is currently unknown which of these will yield higher DPS.
GLYPHS
Major
[Glyph of Frost Strike]
[Glyph of Howling Blast]*
[Glyph of Icy Touch]*
[Glyph of Obliterate]
*Interchangeable
Minor
[Glyph of Horn of Winter]
[Glyph of Pestilence]
[Glyph of Raise Dead]
GENERALIZED ROTATIONS
SINGLE TARGET
Single Disease
Howling Blast
When using [Glyph of Howling Blast] one usually resorts to a single disease rotation. This is because it is a DPS loss to spend an Unholy rune on PS when you could find much greater DPS by using it for HB or OB. In general, the rotation for this spec is as follows:
HB -> OB -> BS -> BS -> DUMP
OB -> OB -> OB -> DUMP
Note that HB should replace OB at any time where it looks like the duration of Frost Fever is about to expire. Due to the inherent OB spam nature of this rotation, it is heavily reliant on the generation of Rime procs. When Rime is procced, there are two things that must be considered before the proc is used:
How much time is left of the Frost Fever timer?
How many Obliterates do I have left in my rotation?
If the timer for FF is getting low (<5s), the Rime proc should be consumed immediately to prevent the disease from falling off the target.
If there is still a significant amount of time (>6s) left on FF's timer and you have no OBs left in your rotation, the Rime proc should not be spent until just before you begin to use OB again. The reason for this is to simply insure that you get the maximum duration out of each application of FF, so you are not forced to spend any runes on HB that would otherwise be better spent on OB. Furthermore, by never holding onto a Rime proc while using OB, you insure that you will never "lose" a Rime proc to a double proc situation.
This rotation is best used while in Blood Presence, owing to the small amount of Global Cooldowns needed for two-rune attacks.
6x IT Machine Gun
This is the rotation that a 20/51/0 DK will use. It follows the same essential philosophy as the standard double disease rotation with a few key differences. The generalized starting rotation for this spec is as follows:
IT -> OB -> BS -> BT -> OB -> IT -> DUMP
From this point on, a static rotation is nearly impossible to maintain, due to the incredibly dynamic nature of this spec. As a general rule, though, you should ALWAYS burn your Unholy Runes with OB and everything else should be spent on IT or BS. You will have to watch carefully for KM procs and do your best to prevent them from being eaten by IT.
Note that you are highly likely to become RP capped during the second part of this cycle. As such, you should weave in FS every time you approach the cap.
Double Disease
This spec is largely the same as the Machine Gun spec, except instead of taking 3/3 Death Rune Mastery, you grab 3/3 Epidemic for the spell hit. It should be noted that this spec is largely inferior to the Machine Gun spec, due to poor use of Unholy Runes and a marginal benefit from an extra disease.
IT -> PS -> OB -> BS -> BS -> DUMP
OB -> IT ->PS -> IT -> IT -> DUMP
It important to note that the your Death Runes are much better spent on 2x IT than on OB. This is because while 2x IT will result in marginally less damage than OB, you will generate 25 more RP. The gain from this RP gen (and the additional FS it will eventually allow) far outweighs the damage loss from missing one OB.
While this rotation can be done in Blood Presence, it is generally a better idea to use Unholy Presence. This is because the use of many single rune attacks requires many GCDs in order to fit everything into the rotation while leaving time for FS spam.
AoE
In general, AoE rotations are identical to standard DPS rotations with a few changes:
Use Howling Blast as much as possible.
Use Pestilence in place of BS to spread your diseases around.
On some fights with a lot of mobs (Freya/Auriaya, for example) it is also beneficial to use DnD and Blood Boil whenever possible.
Priority Systems
It is important to realize that Death Knight DPS cannot be effectively done with a rigid rotation. The systems detailed above are applicable only for stationary single target fights. Attempting to follow them absolutely as some sort of Frozen Bible will result in terrible DPS and even more people complaining about how DKs have become the new huntards.
Because of this, most people have developed a priority system that they follow instead, which allows for fluid adaptation to new scenarios and overall produces a higher amount of damage done. Generally, it works as follows:
Do I have a KM proc?
-If yes, then FS. If not, try and quickly generate enough RP without losing the KM proc to preform a FS.
Am I RP capped/will using a rune ability cause me to be capped?
-If so, dump RP.
Are my diseases (specifically FF) up on my target/about to expire?
-Refresh them if necessary.
Do I have any Runes available for use/will I have runes available as soon as my current GCD finishes?
-If you do, use them in accordance with whichever rotation you have chosen to follow.
If none of the above criteria apply, dump RP with FS.
If you have no RP, use HoW while waiting for runes to recharge.
Sigils
There is only 1 truly viable Sigil for competitive Frost DPS and that is the [Sigil of the Vengeful Heart]. You will see no greater DPS gain from any item currently in the game as you will with this Sigil. You can DPS as Frost without it, but in reality, you will see FAR better results as an Unholy spec.
CONSUMABLES & COOLDOWNS
Flask: [Flask of Endless Rage]
Primary Potion:[Insane Strength Potion] (To be used in conjunction with Unbreakable Armor
Secondary Potion: [Indestructible Potion] (The gain from Bladed Armor is ~97 AP).
All cooldowns should be timed with Bloodlust (which your raidleader should be calling at the start of every fight). If for some reason you are saving Lust (Mimiron P2, for example), use cooldowns (sans potion) immedietly at the beginning of the fight and then again during Bloodlust.
You should be saving Blood Tap for when you use UA, so as to not affect the flow of your attacks. This can be done after using UA with a Frost Rune, or before if all your runes happen to be on cooldown.
Notes on [Indestructible Potion]: This should be used about 5s before you enter into combat on any given fight. This will result in you not being potion locked for that particular encounter and enable you to use another potion as soon as the cooldown expires. It should also be noted that the AP gains from the armor will not be calculated till your strength changes in value. This can be done via a simple weaponswap macro, cancelling and reapplying HoW or simply waiting for a FC proc.
AoE = Area of Effect
AMS = Anti-Magic Shell
BB = Blood Boil
BP = Blood Presence
IT = Icy Touch
DCh = Deathchill
DK = Death Knight
DnD = Death and Decay
DPS = Damage per Second
FC = Rune of the Fallen Crusader
FF = Frost Fever
FS = Frost Strike
GCD = Global Cooldown
HoW = Horn of Winter
KM = Killing Machine
OB = Obliterate
PS = Plague Strike
RP = Runic Power
UA = Unbreakable Armor
UP = Unholy Presence
SPECS
Currently Accepted Spec(s)
17/51/3
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMVZG0xxAbckf0Vostc
Unlike other classes, there is nothing exceedingly mystical about the talent choices made by a Frost DK, due largely in part to the Frost tree being free of any extraneous bloat found in many other specs. 51 points happens to be the exact amount needed to grab every essential DPS talent from the frost tree. This leaves us with 20 talent points left for the other trees. Blood has been chosen as the primary sub-tree for the following reasons:
Frost's heavy reliance on crit.
Frost's heavy dependence on 2h weapon attacks.
Largely undesirable talents found in the Unholy tree.
However, you are able to grab all the essential talents from the Blood tree by only spending 17 points. These 3 extra points are best placed in Virulence, as the extra 3% hit will very likely get you spell-hit capped.
Experimental Spec(s)
20/51/0 or 17/51/3
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMVhZG0xxAbckf0Vost
www.wowhead.com/?talent#jfVMMhZG0xxAbckf0Vostc
These two specs are centered around using [Glyph of Icy Touch] to generate the maximum amount of RP possible, in order to spam FS as much as can be allowed. The talent choices are identical to a traditional Frost spec, with one notable exception: 3 points are either taken from Virulence or Dark Conviction and placed in Death Rune Mastery. It is currently unknown which of these will yield higher DPS.
GLYPHS
Major
[Glyph of Frost Strike]
[Glyph of Howling Blast]*
[Glyph of Icy Touch]*
[Glyph of Obliterate]
*Interchangeable
Minor
[Glyph of Horn of Winter]
[Glyph of Pestilence]
[Glyph of Raise Dead]
GENERALIZED ROTATIONS
SINGLE TARGET
Single Disease
Howling Blast
When using [Glyph of Howling Blast] one usually resorts to a single disease rotation. This is because it is a DPS loss to spend an Unholy rune on PS when you could find much greater DPS by using it for HB or OB. In general, the rotation for this spec is as follows:
HB -> OB -> BS -> BS -> DUMP
OB -> OB -> OB -> DUMP
Note that HB should replace OB at any time where it looks like the duration of Frost Fever is about to expire. Due to the inherent OB spam nature of this rotation, it is heavily reliant on the generation of Rime procs. When Rime is procced, there are two things that must be considered before the proc is used:
How much time is left of the Frost Fever timer?
How many Obliterates do I have left in my rotation?
If the timer for FF is getting low (<5s), the Rime proc should be consumed immediately to prevent the disease from falling off the target.
If there is still a significant amount of time (>6s) left on FF's timer and you have no OBs left in your rotation, the Rime proc should not be spent until just before you begin to use OB again. The reason for this is to simply insure that you get the maximum duration out of each application of FF, so you are not forced to spend any runes on HB that would otherwise be better spent on OB. Furthermore, by never holding onto a Rime proc while using OB, you insure that you will never "lose" a Rime proc to a double proc situation.
This rotation is best used while in Blood Presence, owing to the small amount of Global Cooldowns needed for two-rune attacks.
6x IT Machine Gun
This is the rotation that a 20/51/0 DK will use. It follows the same essential philosophy as the standard double disease rotation with a few key differences. The generalized starting rotation for this spec is as follows:
IT -> OB -> BS -> BT -> OB -> IT -> DUMP
From this point on, a static rotation is nearly impossible to maintain, due to the incredibly dynamic nature of this spec. As a general rule, though, you should ALWAYS burn your Unholy Runes with OB and everything else should be spent on IT or BS. You will have to watch carefully for KM procs and do your best to prevent them from being eaten by IT.
Note that you are highly likely to become RP capped during the second part of this cycle. As such, you should weave in FS every time you approach the cap.
Double Disease
This spec is largely the same as the Machine Gun spec, except instead of taking 3/3 Death Rune Mastery, you grab 3/3 Epidemic for the spell hit. It should be noted that this spec is largely inferior to the Machine Gun spec, due to poor use of Unholy Runes and a marginal benefit from an extra disease.
IT -> PS -> OB -> BS -> BS -> DUMP
OB -> IT ->PS -> IT -> IT -> DUMP
It important to note that the your Death Runes are much better spent on 2x IT than on OB. This is because while 2x IT will result in marginally less damage than OB, you will generate 25 more RP. The gain from this RP gen (and the additional FS it will eventually allow) far outweighs the damage loss from missing one OB.
While this rotation can be done in Blood Presence, it is generally a better idea to use Unholy Presence. This is because the use of many single rune attacks requires many GCDs in order to fit everything into the rotation while leaving time for FS spam.
AoE
In general, AoE rotations are identical to standard DPS rotations with a few changes:
Use Howling Blast as much as possible.
Use Pestilence in place of BS to spread your diseases around.
On some fights with a lot of mobs (Freya/Auriaya, for example) it is also beneficial to use DnD and Blood Boil whenever possible.
Priority Systems
It is important to realize that Death Knight DPS cannot be effectively done with a rigid rotation. The systems detailed above are applicable only for stationary single target fights. Attempting to follow them absolutely as some sort of Frozen Bible will result in terrible DPS and even more people complaining about how DKs have become the new huntards.
Because of this, most people have developed a priority system that they follow instead, which allows for fluid adaptation to new scenarios and overall produces a higher amount of damage done. Generally, it works as follows:
Do I have a KM proc?
-If yes, then FS. If not, try and quickly generate enough RP without losing the KM proc to preform a FS.
Am I RP capped/will using a rune ability cause me to be capped?
-If so, dump RP.
Are my diseases (specifically FF) up on my target/about to expire?
-Refresh them if necessary.
Do I have any Runes available for use/will I have runes available as soon as my current GCD finishes?
-If you do, use them in accordance with whichever rotation you have chosen to follow.
If none of the above criteria apply, dump RP with FS.
If you have no RP, use HoW while waiting for runes to recharge.
Sigils
There is only 1 truly viable Sigil for competitive Frost DPS and that is the [Sigil of the Vengeful Heart]. You will see no greater DPS gain from any item currently in the game as you will with this Sigil. You can DPS as Frost without it, but in reality, you will see FAR better results as an Unholy spec.
CONSUMABLES & COOLDOWNS
Flask: [Flask of Endless Rage]
Primary Potion:[Insane Strength Potion] (To be used in conjunction with Unbreakable Armor
Secondary Potion: [Indestructible Potion] (The gain from Bladed Armor is ~97 AP).
All cooldowns should be timed with Bloodlust (which your raidleader should be calling at the start of every fight). If for some reason you are saving Lust (Mimiron P2, for example), use cooldowns (sans potion) immedietly at the beginning of the fight and then again during Bloodlust.
You should be saving Blood Tap for when you use UA, so as to not affect the flow of your attacks. This can be done after using UA with a Frost Rune, or before if all your runes happen to be on cooldown.
Notes on [Indestructible Potion]: This should be used about 5s before you enter into combat on any given fight. This will result in you not being potion locked for that particular encounter and enable you to use another potion as soon as the cooldown expires. It should also be noted that the AP gains from the armor will not be calculated till your strength changes in value. This can be done via a simple weaponswap macro, cancelling and reapplying HoW or simply waiting for a FC proc.