Is Frost Death Knight Easy to Play

General Information

On this page, we explain how to easily play Frost Death Knight in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.2.5, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.

This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

2.

The Basics of Frost Death Knights

For those who are new to Frost Death Knight and are not sure what each ability does and how they interact with the Frost toolkit, we recommend checking out our Spell Summary guide linked below.

Frost Death Knights are a melee DPS specialization that deal strong single-target and AoE damage and which have a fairly simple and approachable playstyle. They can use either 2-Handed or 1-Handed weapons.

3.

Covenant Choice for Frost Death Knight

Covenants are an integral part to any classes gameplay in Shadowlands. Picking the correct Covenant for your given content is paramount for achieving success. We recommend picking up Necrolord for Breath of Sindragosa and Night Fae for Obliteration in raids. For Mythic+, we recommend Night Fae everywhere,

Soulbinds are also an important system within your Covenants. We recommend picking Plague Deviser Marileth for Necrolord since it offers the best damage in all scenarios. Here is our Recommended Soulbind Path. For Night Fae, I recommend picking up Dreamweaver. It is the option that brings the most utility and throughput! Here is our Recommended Soulbind Path for Night Fae.

For more information, please refer to our Covenant, Soulbinds, and Conduits page:

3.1.

Conduit Choice for Frost Death Knight

3.1.1.

Best Potency Conduits for Frost Death Knight

4.

Talent Choice for Frost Death Knights

Your main goal throughout fights will be to maximize your Obliterate usage while keeping an eye out for your two procs, Rime and Killing Machine.

You can also choose to run the Obliteration build, which is a competitive option compared to Breath of Sindragosa.

5.

Stat Choice for Frost Death Knights

1. Mastery;
2. Critical Strike;
3. Haste;
4. Versatility.

This can be different depending on your character's gear, so make sure you sim yourself, in order to find what your personal stat priority is. Breath of Sindragosa wants quite a lot more Crit compared to Haste. Obliteration prefers equal levels of Crit and Haste.

6.

Basic Rotations for Frost Death Knights

Note that the rotations listed below are not fully optimized for the highest possible output, instead making some sacrifices to ensure their ease of use. If you wish to put out the most DPS you possibly can, you should check out our dedicated Rotation page instead.

6.1.

Rotation Outside Cooldowns

1. Use Chains of Ice, if you have 20 stacks of Cold Heart (try to synergize with Pillar of Frost and Unholy Strength).
2. Use Remorseless Winter, if using Gathering Storm.
3. Use Howling Blast, only if you have a Rime proc.
4. Use Obliterate, if you have 4 or more Runes or a Killing Machine proc.
5. Use Frost Strike, if you have 70+ Runic Power.
6. Use Obliterate.
7. Use Frost Strike.

6.2.

Rotation During Breath of Sindragosa

This rotation is based on the following priority system.

1. Use Obliterate if you are low on Runic Power (less than 30 RP).
2. Use Remorseless Winter on cooldown (for Gathering Storm, if you have taken this talent).
3. Use Howling Blast, only if you have a Rime proc or Frost Fever is about to drop. It is safe to use at 50+ Runic Power, or when you have nothing else to press.
4. Use Obliterate if you are nearly capped on Runes or have less than 45 Runic Power.
5. Use Remorseless Winter.
6. Use Obliterate.
7. Use Arcane Torrent if you are a Blood Elf and it will not overcap your Runic Power.

6.3.

Opener for Breath of Sindragosa

1. Use Remorseless Winter.
2. Use Obliterate (use Howling Blast if you get a Rime proc).
3. Use Obliterate (use Howling Blast if you get a Rime proc).
4. Use your Covenant ability.
5. Use Pillar of Frost.
6. Use Breath of Sindragosa.
7. Use Raise Dead.
8. Use Blood Fury if Orc, Berserking if Troll.
9. Follow the "rotation during Breath of Sindragosa priority" (above).

7.1.

Opener for Obliteration

1. Use Chains of Ice at 20 stacks (if you have taken Cold Heart).
2. Use Remorseless Winter.
3. Use Obliterate (if you got an early Killing Machine proc).
4. Use your Covenant ability.
5. Use Empower Rune Weapon.
6. Use Blood Fury if Orc, Berserking if Troll.
7. Use Pillar of Frost.
8. Use Raise Dead.
9. Use Howling Blast.
10. Use Obliterate.
11. Follow the "rotation during Obliteration priority" (below).

7.2.

Rotation Priority during Pillar of Frost (Obliteration)

1. Use Obliterate (if you have a Killing Machine proc).
2. Use Howling Blast to generate a proc of Killing Machine (if you have a Rime proc or you do not have enough Runic Power to use Frost Strike).
3. Use Frost Strike to generate a proc of Killing Machine

7.3.

Rotation Priority outside Pillar of Frost

1. Use Howling Blast (if you have a Rime proc).
2. Use Obliterate (if you have more than 3 Runes available).
3. Use Obliterate (if you have a proc of Killing Machine).
4. Use Frost Strike (if you are about to cap Runic Power).
5. Use Obliterate.
6. Use Frost Strike.

8.

Cooldowns for Frost Death Knights

As a Frost Death Knight, you have 3 Core DPS cooldowns and 3 Talented Cooldowns. Below, we explain how they are best used.

• Pillar of Frost (Core) should be used on cooldown, stacking it with potions or any on-use trinkets you have. Alternatively, you can save it for moments when you need increased damage.
• Empower Rune Weapon (Core) should be paired with your Pillar of Frost windows. For Breath of Sindragosa, use it 5-10 seconds after you pop Breath of Sindragosa, making sure you start to starve slightly before you use it. For Obliteration, use it 3 seconds before casting your Pillar of Frost. This ensures you get full uptime of the Haste buff as well as helping pooling for the cooldown window.
• Frostwyrm's Fury (Core) should be used in synergy with Pillar of Frost (at the end of the cooldown window when your Strength buff is the highest) and on as many targets as possible. If you are running Obliteration, only use Frostwyrm's Fury in your Pillar of Frost window in AoE scenarios.
• Cold Heart (Talent) governs your Chains of Ice usage. Generally, use Frost Strike at 16+ stacks of Cold Heart. Ideally, time it with procs of Unholy Strength. You can also opt for using it with 20 stacks in your Pillar window, and then 10 stacks outside of it. This ensures you time the stacks nicely with each Pillar window.
• Breath of Sindragosa (Talent) should be used on cooldown. Always use in conjunction with Pillar of Frost and Empower Rune Weapon. Always be aware of any mechanics that could force you out of melee, so you do not need to run away right after using this cooldown. Once active, do not spend Runic Power on anything else. Ensure you have at least 60 Runic Power saved up before you use your Breath!
• Obliteration (Talent) alters your Pillar of Frost. Once active, spend every GCD either generating procs of Killing Machine or consuming said procs. Use Empower Rune Weapon 3 seconds before your Pillar of Frost.

• 31 May 2022: Page reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
• 09 Mar. 2022: Adjusted Soulbind paths.
• 20 Feb. 2022: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
• 01 Nov. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
• 29 Jun. 2021: Reviewed and updated for Patch 9.1.
• 10 May 2021: Reviewed.
  • Added talent cooldown usage.
  • Expanded on multiple parts of priorities.
  • Swapped Night Fae to Necrolord in recommended covenant.
• 05 May 2021: Fixed BoS priority.
• 09 Mar. 2021: Updated to now recommend Necrolord with the Emeni Soulbind as the best Covenant pick; updated the recommended Tier 15 talents for Obliteration.
• 24 Jan. 2021: Guide reviewed and completely updated.
• 23 Nov. 2020: Page updated for Shadowlands release, updated talents, stats, removed BfA-specific sections
• 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.

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