Dual-Wield Frost Tanking Guide
"All is not lost. Not yet."
Hello, welcome to my guide! I am known by many names, but you would probably know me best by Lynea. If you know of anything that may be helpful for the guide, please feel free to leave a comment below! I am also happy to discuss my choices in tanking and always willing to help out where I can!
About myself; Many probably already know me from my well-known paladin guides or from in-game. I have always played a Frost DK (I refuse to play any other spec) since the start of Wrath on retail. While I do have minimal retail experience with Frost tanking, I have built up my experience with it especially here on Warmane. I have successfully tanked Lich King 25 and Halion 25 with my DK. I do have heroic experience on several characters, just not with my DK (yet).
Disclaimer;
Please note that Wowhead links are not always accurate. Use cavernoftime instead.
Table of Contents
- Gear and Stats
- Spells, Abilities, and Rotations
- Talents
- Boss Tactics and Other Information
- BIS Lists
- Change-Log
1. Gear and Stats
Weapons
Weapons are the biggest concern of a Frost DK. They are what allows you to keep threat, and that is a tank's #1 job. It is very easy to be confused by other tank classes and go the wrong way with your DK's weapons. It is imperative that when playing a Frost DK that you use DPS weapons, no matter your role, including tanking.
In short, Frost DK threat is designed around weapon damage. Slow speed DPS weapons will provide you with the greatest weapon damage available. Consider Havoc's Call and Bloodvenom Blade to be your role model for your tanking weapons.
Relics
There are two kinds. DPS and tank sigils. The DPS ones with strength are great for threat generation. If you don't have any problems with keeping aggro, then you will want one of the tank sigils instead.
Sigil of the Bone Gryphon can be quite punishing if the stacks ever fall off. The stacks will fall off if you die, or if you do not Rune Strike often enough, which can be a problem if you are tanking a fight where you have any down-time at all (Gunship for example).
Sigil of Insolence is often the tanking sigil of choice for the reasons explained under the other tanking sigil. The same logic applies to the DPS sigils if you are using them.
Trinkets
Anything with armor, stamina or resistances on them are going to be your best choices, by rule of thumb. The stats themselves will be explained later. Which trinkets are best for you will change depending on your overall gear set, and which boss you are tanking, which will also be explained later.
Armor and Jewelry
The bonus armor on Pillars of Might are too good to pass up. The set bonus of the Tier 10 is also too good to pass up, so combine the other 4 slots for the tier with Pillars of Might. The hands and the chest of the tier set also have enchanted armor, which is great. Generally, any item you can get enchanted armor on is considered best in slot for general purpose use, though it may vary when avoidance or spell resistances are needed.
List of enchanted armor items you will want to collect;
Gems
Don't be afraid to gem for the stats you need. Getting socket bonuses when you can while gemming for the stats you need is a great way to get a little extra stats to make up for what you would lose when gemming straight defense/stamina.
Enchants
Stats
- 540 Defense is the cap for raids, unless you use Rune of the Nerubian Carapace.
- 689+ Defense Rating will grant you the amount of Defense you need.
- 8% Hit (265+ rating) chance is the Hit cap for raids, which will prevent misses, including your taunt if you glyph for it like you should. Hit is calculated without debuffs on the target, Nerves of Cold Steel, Virulence or the Draenei racial. Spell hit is not listed because if you are melee hit capped, you will also be spell hit capped. With all the extra sources for hit via racials and talents, you will find that a Frost Dk will not require nearly as much hit rating as a usual melee. It is ok to go with 5% hit with the proper talents.
- 26 Expertise (162 rating) is the soft cap for raids, and will prevent the boss from dodging your attacks. Aim for this value, not for the 56 expertise cap.
- 56 Expertise (393 rating) is the hard cap for raids, and will prevent the boss from dodging your attacks and causing you to be parry-hasted by a boss. Expertise is calculated without racials and with 5/5 Tundra Stalker.
After these stat caps are reached (Expertise is important, but will be hard to cap), stamina and armor are your best stats inside ICC. Outside of ICC, these stats are still great, but becoming unhittable is more realistic without the Chill of the Throne debuff.
Note: There is a cap for armor. It caps at 75% physical damage reduction, which is roughly 49k armor, or 49,905.
2. Spells, Abilities and Rotations
Spells not mentioned are rarely used, or never used.
- Icy Touch is an excellent way to pick up single adds as it generates an enormous amount of threat for a single Rune, in addition to having a decent range. It is also your primary applicated of Frost Fever.
- Plague Strike is only used to apply Blood Plague.
- Blood Strike is a filler ability used primarily to convert your Blood Runes into Death Runes through Blood of the North talent.
- Obliterate can be used to assist in AoE threat by proccing Rime. Do not use this without both diseases up on the target.
- Death Strike is the competition for Obliterate, as the two strikes use the same runes. Death Strike generates a little bit less single-target threat, cannot proc Rime, but can heal you for a significant amount when talented into Threat of Thassarian. Do not use this without both diseases up on the target.
- Howling Blast is a Frost tank's special and unique AoE. In most cases, it will be used to put a lot of threat on multiple targets when you need it quickly. It has other uses, but will be explained later.
- Frost Strike is an excellent single-target threat gain. Only use it when you have 60 or more Runic Power.
- Rune Strike is your primary source of single-target threat. Use it as often as you can. The threat it generates is absolutely massive.
Single-Target Rotation
- Icy Touch and Plague Strike to apply diseases.
- Blood Strike twice to convert Blood Runes to death runes and generate extra threat (only with both diseases up).
- Death Strike frequently, only with both diseases up and only if you need to heal.
- Frost Strike can be used as filler between runes at any point when you have 60 or more Runic Power.
- Rune Strike you want to use as often as possible.
Multiple-Target Rotation
There is no set rotation for this, but it is recommended that Howling Blast be used if you need a large amount of threat quickly. Death and Decay can also be useful here, but it is costly (but very good) for what it does. Pestilence is great if your primary target has both diseases up and you have the Blood or Death runes free for it.
Cooldowns
Unbreakable Armor is excellent for burst threat and mitigating heavy physical hits. With a 1-minute cooldown, this ability becomes very useful and should be used very often.
Icebound Fortitude is an all-purpose ability with a 2-minute cooldown. This is your 2nd best cooldown, use it wisely.
Anti-Magic Shell only reduces magic damage, and costs Runic Power. However, it only has a 45-second cooldown, and it gives you Runic Power when it absorbs damage. With its short cooldown, it can be used very often, and it should be.
Blood Tap can be used when you need a rune off of cooldown for an emergency. It can also be used with the Tier 10 Set Bonus for another defensive cooldown.
Death Pact can be used with Raise Dead (the standard Ghoul) or with Army of the Dead. With its long cooldown, Runic Power cost, and reliance on having an active undead pet, this should only be used in extreme situations when you need to desperately heal yourself.
Army of the Dead has an extremely long cooldown, and you cannot attack, dodge or parry while channeling the ability. The damage reduction portion does work, however. It can be used to greatly mitigate unavoidable hits, but should only be used when you are sure you are going to be hit, and can time it properly.
Empower Rune Weapon can be used for a number of things. It can be used for emergency Runic Power so that you can use Rune Strike, Icebound Fortitude or Anti-Magic Shell. It can also be used for some burst threat, helping you to generate Runic Power so that you can use a Frost Strike.
How to use your Runes
- Blood Runes? You will want to convert these to Death Runes as often as possible by using Blood Strike, Pestilence or Blood Tap. Leaving them as Blood Runes limits what you can use them for. If they are a Death Rune, you can use them for anything. The more often that you use your Blood Runes, the more up-time Blade Barrier will be active.
- Frost Runes? Icy Touch, Howling Blast, Death Strike or Obliterate use Frost Runes. These are your most important runes, and you will be using them the most often.
- Unholy Runes? These runes are only used for Plague Strike, Death Strike or Obliterate. So long as your Blood Plague is up on the target, you will only be using these runes for Death Strike or Obliterate.
Obliterate vs. Death Strike
Obliterate will get you Rime procs and more AoE threat. That is its only use.
3. Talents and Glyphs
Recommended Death Strike Build -- Open-wow link -- Evowowlink
Why or why not X or Y talent?
- Why not Scent of Blood? You can take the point out of Bladed Armor and put it into Scent of Blood if you want more Runic Power for more Frost Strikes. I don't find myself Runic Power starved very often, though, and Bladed Armor is a threat increase across the board for all abilities.
- Why not Runic Power Mastery? I rarely allow myself to pool 100 Runic Power. I am always using Rune Strike when it is available, and I often use Frost Strike when I have an excess amount of Runic Power (60 or more).
- Why not Black Ice? This talent may increase the damage of your diseases, Frost Strikes, Howling Blast and Icy Touch, but I don't find it very attractive since it doesn't affect my Rune Strike. If AoE threat is a problem for you, you may consider investing in this talent. Other than filler points, I wouldn't suggest it.
- Why not Lichborne? The only time you will need to get out of a fear is on Blood Queen Lanathel, which is easily negated with Anti-Magic Shell (which can be followed up by other cooldowns for her AoE). Also, the global cooldowns and Runic Power you would lose for healing yourself with this ability is not worth the time or threat. You would be better off using Death Strike, Death Pact or one of your various other cooldowns.
- Why Killing Machine 3/5? You won't be utilizing Killing Machine often enough to warrant a full 5 points, though 3 is often enough for even a DPS. Killing Machine is a great threat tool and really shines when used with Icy Touch or Howling Blast to pick up adds.
- Why no Merciless Combat? As much of a cool talent it may appear to be at first, it is useless for threat on most fights. It's definitely a threat gain when a boss is approaching death, but that is not when you will have threat problems. Threat problems almost always occur at the start of a fight.
- Why no Hungering Cold? The talent can be useful on certain fights, but it is very rare to have adds that the DPS in the raid are not padding their numbers on. It has no effect on bosses.
Glyph of Dark Command is a must.
Glyph of Unbreakable Armor is an excellent glyph if your gear isn't so great. But the greater amount of armor you have, the less valuable this glyph becomes, due to the armor cap at 75% damage reduction.
Glyph of Howling Blast is great for AoE threat, and makes you less reliant on Pestilence.
Glyph of Icy Touch is a great glyph on its own for threat, but it synergizes extremely well with Glyph of Howling Blast.
Glyph of Rune Strike can also be decent for single-target threat generation, but when you really need the burst threat (at the start of a fight), this glyph relies completely on RNG. So I prefer not to use it.
4. Boss Tactics and Other Information
Death Knight-Specific Boss Tactics and Tips in ICC
- Lady Deathwhisper: Howling Blast is great for picking up clusters of add spawns. Be prepared to taunt them. You can also Death Grip mind-controlled players out of melee range of the boss, which may save their life. You can also use Chains of Ice on the person to keep them from quickly going back into the raid. A frost resistance tanking set is also useful here for the phase 2 Main Tank.
- Festergut: Anti-Magic Shell can prevent stacks of Gastric Bloat if timed correctly.
- Rotface: Icy Touch excellent for picking up small oozes, especially since they can't be taunted. Big oozes can be taunted.
- Professor Putricide: Anti-Magic Shell can prevent stacks of Mutated Plague if timed correctly.
- Blood Princes: If you are not tanking with another Frost Death Knight, you should insist upon tanking Keleseth. Acclimation is amazing for tanking him. You should also pick up Dark Nuclei with Death and Decay or Death Coil, as the damage is small but generates sizable threat, and does not apply a disease to them.
- Blood-Queen Lana'thel: On transition phases, you can use Anti-Magic Shell to immune the fear she will cast, and you can follow up with Death Pact, Icebound Fortitude or Blood Tap if you have your 4-set bonus. Alternatively, if you do not have to worry about being feared into fire and dying, you can save your Anti-Magic Shell for the damage coming after the fear.
- Valithria Dreamwalker: Strangulate works well on the Lich adds. Howling Blast works great for Rot Worms. You can Death Grip Blazing Skeletons to interrupt their Lay Waste cast. You can also kite Abominations with Chains of Ice, if necessary.
- Sindragosa: Feel free to use Army of the Dead as a defensive cooldown in phase 3 of this fight. Try to use Anti-Magic Shell for as many of her Frost Breaths as possible, and use Unbreakable Armor on cooldown if possible.
- The Lich King: Avoid using Army of the Dead until phase 2. Beware of Defile. You can use Anti-Magic Shell to negate every other Soul Reaper (preemptive use is also effective, if you can time it right), though the other tank has to be on top of their aggro swapping. If you are caught with 2 Soul Reapers in a row, be prepared to pop another cooldown. Blood Tap with the 4-set bonus can be effective here. When off-tanking phase 1, Death Grip is extremely effective for getting control on the Shambling Horrors, but don't use this to get aggro. Instead, use it for interrupting their shockwave or placement. You may also use Chains of Ice on the last mob to have Necrotic Plague on it, so that you can get out of range, saving you from needing a dispel and preventing an additional stack of Plague Siphon on the Lich King. Chains of Ice and Death Grip are effective for Vile Spirits as well.
Consumables
Food: Dragonfin Filet; Rhinolicious Wormsteak; Snapper Extreme
Elixirs: Guru's Elixir (Battle Elixir) and Elixir of Protection (Guardian Elixir)
Flask: Flask of Stoneblood (Cannot be used at the same time as elixirs.)
Scrolls: Scroll of Strength VIII, Scroll of Agility VIII, Scroll of Stamina VIII
Macros
This is an example macro of what you should do with all of your melee strike abilities. It is important to have Rune Strike macroed into everything so that Rune Strike is casted as often as possible.
Originally Posted by Rune Strike macro
#showtooltip
/cast Blood Strike
/cast !Rune Strike
Death Pact macro for easy Ghoul summon and heal in 2 button presses.
Originally Posted by Death Pact macro
#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=120 Raise Dead, Death Pact