WotLK FROST Death Knight PvE DPS Guide [3.3.5a]

[Muus]

i just figured that the procs from blood caked blade can help on other stuff other than the damage itself, like, keeping the fallen crusader closer to 100% uptime, or making trinkets proc as soon as they are out of icd instead of 4s after it and some other secondary stuff related to melee strikes you cause on the boss, im definately keeping it

[Gnimo]

Just did comparison on both Rotations, these are the results:
(sadly cant link imgur pic, rip)
-2x, 3.5min Test Runs on IF dummy, one right after another

-Obli > Obli > Obli > FS > FS > FS rotation:
Total DMG - 1972k, 9.5k DPS
100 Obliterates
76 Frost Strikes (55 Crits, 21 Normal Hit - 72.4/27.6%)
10 Howling Blasts (7 Crits, 3 Normal Hits)

-Obli > FS > Obli > FS > Obli > FS rotation:
Total DMG - 1922k, 9.2k DPS
100 Obliterates
76 Frost Strikes (61 Crits, 15 Normal Hit - 80.03/19.7%)
11 Howling Blasts (8 Crits, 3 Normal Hits)

So, overall conclusion, its the same, more or less.
The DMG diference was there only because of the diference in Uptime on Fallen Crusader, and diferent DBW procs.
(as u can see, even tho the DPS diference is 300, the DMG will be almost the same, so DPS =/ everything, focus on DAMAGE DONE)
Even tho i did split FSs in btwn Obliterates, the one that didnt got more overall Crits (its all up to RNG as said).
U will most defenetly have more Howling Blast procs if u split Obliterates and Frost Strikes, which can be good on AoE Fights.

Again, overall, they are both exactly the same on single target DPS.
If u want u can try out both
Obli > Obli > Obli > FS > FS > FS
and
Obli > FS > Obli > FS > Obli > FS
rotations and see which one suits u the most.
There is nothing special in eather one of them.
Just make sure u learn atleast 1 and u will be fine.

Best of Luck. :D

[haythamkalid10]

[Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet] - M [Relentless Earthsiege Diamond] + R - 50atkp 20crit
[Lana'thel's Chain of Flagellation]- Y (10str10hit)
[Sanctified Scourgelord Shoulderplates] - R - 40atkp 15crit
[Varian's Furor] - R - 23haste
[Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate] - R + [Nightmare Tear]
[Toskk's Maximized Wristguards] - R + R - 50atkp
[Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy] - R + R + R - 15expertise
[Coldwraith Links] - Y (10str10hit) + R + R
[Sanctified Scourgelord Legplates] - R + R - 75atkp 22crit
[Apocalypse's Advance] - R + R - 12hit12crit
[Might of Blight] - Y (10str10hit)
[Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance] - R (20strength)
[Deathbringer's Will]
[Sharpened Twilight Scale]
[Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings] - R - Razorice
[Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings] - R - Fallen Crusader
[Sigil of Awareness]
Thanks to Rifokelt for this Itemisation. :D

R gems are [Fractured Cardinal Ruby]
Y gems are [Etched Ametrine] and [Fierce Ametrine]
Helm + Shoulders + Chest have [Fractured Dragon's Eye] gems in them.

Total of:
-1744 Strength
-1396 Armor Penetration (99.74%).
-193 Haste (7.65%)
-239 Hit rating (7.29% melee / 9.11% spell)
-26 Expertise (173 rating)
-36.65% melee / 23.16% spell Crit
without buffs.

or

Itemisation number3:
[Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet]
[Penumbra Pendant]
[Sanctified Scourgelord Shoulderplates]
[Might of the Ocean Serpent]
[Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate]
[Polar Bear Claw Bracers]
[Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy]
[Coldwraith Links]
[Sanctified Scourgelord Legplates]
[Apocalypse's Advance]
[Frostbrood Sapphire Ring]
[Ashen Band of Endless Might]
[Deathbringer's Will]
[Sharpened Twilight Scale]
[Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings]
[Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings]
[Sigil of Awareness]

Total of:
-1830 Strength
-1393 Armor Penetration
-203 Haste
-242 Hit rating
-26 Expertise
-35.50% melee / 23.42% spell Crit
without buffs.
As Draenei.
As Orc u will have 11 more Strength cos u wont need to gem 10exp in order to cap it.

what the better i see Itemisation number3: giev more strnge ???????

Razorice enchating on main sword ????

if Itemisation number3 the better same enchating number 1 ?????

[Gnimo]

The Strength diference is something that is not relevant that much.
More Strength wont always mean more Attack Power, and Attack Power is what dictates ur DMG.
1 strength simply gives u 2 attack power, nothing more...
When it comes to other itemisations, they will all do the same amount of DPS (moreorless).
The only diference is which items u can afford to get.

The things u should go for is:
237 hit
26 expertise
1400 armor pen
those are the caps u want to reach.

Note: if u can get armor pen to 1200+ with 237 hit and 26 expertise u should do so...
1200 armor penetration gemming will do more DPS than Full Strength gemming from what i saw in the last couple of days.

But again, things wont matter that much. Aslong as u fix ur Rotation and do proper spells when its needed, u will be fine. :D

Edit:

I really need to fix the whole itemisation part of the guide soon, since some people got the wrong idea from some comments i made.

[dailybs]

This is the best guide, also I recommended it to Mercy to get this guide in Frost dk section of dk guides, idk why it isn't there when it's such a wonderfull guide.I really improved my frost dk dps thanks to the guide, thank you Gnimo :))

[Gnimo]

Thanks for the kind words. Im glad i could help...
Guide still needs some updating and i got couple of things id like to add, but im a bit short on free time and i cant update it while using my phone with which i ussualy spam these forums. :D
Once im completely done with it i might ask for it to be added there...

NOTE:
Guide is updated and FDK PvP section is added.
It contains some basic info on spec, itemisation, and playstile.
(im not a gladiadar pro pvper, so if any of those kind of players notice some mistakes, feel free to correct me)
I also added a Rune/Runic Power section and how **** works, just for some extra info on it in case u didnt know...

I will most likely focus on Unholy Guide atm and leave this one as it is...
Will ofcourse recheck some things during the week and reread it in couple of days, but i most likely wont update it untill UDK guide is done, since im rly slacking on it.

Best of Luck bois and grills, i think u have every info u need to know in the guide now, so pls no dumb questions. :D

[forumuser5546]

Q: why is it we choose sigil of awareness than virulence?

Isnt 200 str(400AP) better than increasing Obli damage by 336?

[Gnimo]

The DMG increase on Obliterate is HUGE. Its not simply just 336 DMG done...

U can test them urself tbh and see which one is better on the long run.

Altho, if u have Hard Time spamming Obliterates u should use Virulence. I wouldnt suggest doing this tbh, since this means u need a lot of work on ur rotation skills. Try to work a bit harder on mastering it before u take an easy root and do a lot less DPS with Virulence.

[forumuser5546]

Im using Awareness but I just dont get why it pumped my Obli my an insane amount than Virulence

[Gnimo]

Guide should be completed.

I will try and rework Unholy PvE guide for this weekend (should have the time on sunday 95%).

If u notice something that is wrong in this guide, or any mistakes i made, pls do tell me in comments so i can fix it asap...

Best of Luck. :)

Edit:

I wont answer any of the future questions like: "why this, why that",
since u have all the information u need when it comes to a DK as a whole in this guide.
(something most of good DKs nowadays didnt have and something they had to dig up for years)

As said in the guide, if there is something that is unclear, just read the guide again.

If Rifokelt wants to asnwer those questions, feel free to follow his advice on the matter.

[MaXiMuS54]

Idk about putting 1 talent into BCB, seems pointless if you don't go at least 2/3

[RememberHonesty]

Hello,

Thank you for the guide. I took my time to read up everything that fits in my head from all your guides, tank ones included.
I am an oldschool WoW player, had my prime time at retail vanilla (10, 12 or so years ago). Now playing Wotlk and the DK class (that always somehow cought my interest) as well as new to pretty much all dungeons and raids starting from BC to Wotlk, it makes me very confused and overwhelms me big time when it comes to handling my runes, the turning bloods into death runes while also managing bars with 20+ skills, abilities and other items as shortscuts. Basically, I have 2 more or less big questions to this, if you or someone else could help me:

1. I not just read the guides I also watched lots of videos, as well as the optimal rotation one you posted from Raziel. It looks so hard to accomplish, never thought a DPS has to be looking out for so much (played prot-war tank in vanilla retail times). Back then, the elitist dps meter faction was just about to start since no dps meter was available. Today, it seems like every raid guild demands perfect rotation for maximum output/input of every single player. Is this true, am I forced to learn all this like some sort of study just to get to enjoy playing with others in raids (I'm willing to learn, or else I wouldn't read guides. But people tell me I shall read dungeon mechanics etc. too and I am just like... lolwhat, when studying in RL I have no time to read docents of walls of text for every single raid and dungeon just to be on par with long time WoW veterans, while still not knowing how it works out in practise) ? Is there room for mistakes, room for a noob like me, and is it also possible to let others just learn by doing thus giving me a chance still without puting in the effort of no-living the game to catch up?

2. Coming back to the massive amount of shortcuts, I want to play a Frost DK DPS in PvE (and Dual Spec UH DK for PvP or maybe a Blood DK for PvE tanking - though that is currently too much since I still know practice of things too little) and I would love to have as few shortscuts as possible. Can you recommend me some good and easy to use/overlook macros? This would really help me out, if that is even possible.

[Sky]

Hello,
I want to play a Frost DK DPS in PvE and I would love to have as few shortcuts as possible. Can you recommend me some good and easy to use/overlook macros? This would really help me out, if that is even possible.

Hey,
The first thing that comes to mind that could help you in what you're looking for is not a macro, but an addon. It's called CLC DK.
This is a neat little addon that will recognize your talent tree and offer you a priority system that adjusts on-the-go. If you want to min/max your frost dk, this is most likely not the best way to do it, however this does make your life easier!

It's customizable to some extent, and looks like this.
A quick search brought up a video to see it in play.

Hopefully this helps!

[angrylol]

Hello

You don't need all that IT-PS-BS blabla robot crap. There is nothing rocket science about DK.

Play. You will start to see when and what. This "double resource omg omg" is easy, it is designed to be played.
Don't try to do "perfect rotation", that's not necessary at all. And that's not how it works outside simulations.

1. Keep diseases up. Icy Touch and Plague Strike.

2. Obliterate is your "smash smash" skill. It uses Frost and Unholy Runes, so you can do it twice and wait for rune cooldown.

3. In magical unicorn world would be perfect if you use Icy Touch and Plague Strike only once each encounter to get both diseases on target. Then you refresh them with glyphed Pestilence - which uses one blood rune and turns it into Death Rune.

4. Other Blood Rune - use it for Blood Strike, which is not strong skill, but it will turn other Blood Rune into Death Rune. Now you can use those Death Runes for additional Obliterate. It will revert those runes back into Blood Runes - most likely you will hit two times Blood Strike - to turn Blood runes back into Death runes for Obliterate. This is that spot where Frost DPS spec becomes "hard" because you have very little time if you want Pestilence+Blood Strike and on next rune cooldown Blood Strike x2, because your diseases on target at that time will be almost half duration left. So it goes, once Pestilence to refresh diseases + Blood Strike and next time 2x Blood Strike. To get those extra Obliterates.

That is all about runes. After some time you will see how and when you can use Blood Tap and empower Rune Weapon and such. For example Blood Tap+ Unbrakeable Armor, so you don't lose that one Frost Rune for Obliterate.

5. Runic Power - spend it when your runes are on cooldown(Frost Strike or even Death Coil in some situations). After time you will start to see when and on which bosses you should keep some 20 Runic Power for defencive and such.

I use modifier macros, so I can reach all skills nice, fast and easy. But you have to put some time in to for muscle memory to kick in.
Examples:

/cast [nomod] icy touch
/cast [mod:shift] plague strike

/cast [nomod] pestilence
/cast [mod:shift] blood strike

etc, so you can have all that piano at fingertips.

Just play, you can't go in and nuke 20k dps first time playing. It will come by playing.

[Abra]

4. Other Blood Rune - use it for Blood Strike, which is not strong skill, but it will turn other Blood Rune into Death Rune. Now you can use those Death Runes for additional Obliterate. It will revert those runes back into Blood Runes - most likely you will hit two times Blood Strike - to turn Blood runes back into Death runes for Obliterate. This is that spot where Frost DPS spec becomes "hard" because you have very little time if you want Pestilence+Blood Strike and on next rune cooldown Blood Strike x2, because your diseases on target at that time will be almost half duration left. So it goes, once Pestilence to refresh diseases + Blood Strike and next time 2x Blood Strike. To get those extra Obliterates.

wat

The only point where you would use BSx2 is if the blood runes are unconverted, the target is about to die and you are out of RP.