Frost Death Knight Playstyle and Rotation Guide

All rotations are for the builds that I have provided in this guide. There are a lot of variables on openers and rotations depending on what talents you play, so for user readability I will be writing out the rotations/openers for the current best and most optimal builds.

• Riders of the Apocalypse
• Deathbringer

Basic Gameplay Loop

The foundations of Frost revolve around the two core resources of Death Knight, runes and runic power. Spending runes will generate runic power, and spending runic power will have a chance to replenish your runes so you can generate more runic power. Runes are mainly spent on Obliterate, Remorseless Winter, Reaper’s Mark, Soul Reaper, Death and Decay and Frostscythe. Obliterate will be the main ability you use to spend runes, as it has no cooldown and is greatly empowered by Killing Machine.

Killing Machine is a random proc that is triggered by auto-attack crits or via the talent Obliteration. Killing Machine procs are a vital part of Frost's damage and consuming it triggers multiple talents/effects such as Arctic Assault, Murderous Efficiency, Bonegrinder, Enduring Strength, etc. Due to it mainly proccing from auto-attack crits melee uptime is vital to Frost's throughput.

Runic power is a resource that is spent on Frost Strike, Breath of Sindragosa, Glacial Advance and Death Strike (for self healing). Each point of runic power spent has a 2% chance to generate a rune via Runic Empowerment. For example, Frost Strike costs 30 runic power, so it has a 60% chance to generate a rune with each use.

Outside of this cycle of resources, your Obliterate casts will have a chance to generate a Rime proc, which empowers Howling Blast to deal additional damage and not cost any runes (it will also apply a stack of Razorice if you are using the Avalanche talent). Howling Blast itself is not worth using as it doesn’t do enough to justify the 1 rune cost, so you will only want to use Howling Blast when you have a Rime proc. Rime procs are important because Howling Blast is the main way which you will apply Frost Fever to your enemies, which can trigger Brittle and has a chance to generate 5 runic power when it deals damage.

Frost’s gameplay in multi-target scenarios remains mostly the same, except you will want to use Death and Decay to gain Cleaving Strikes, which makes your Obliterates cleave up to 2 additional enemies. You will also put a lot more emphasis on sustaining your Remorseless Winter via Gathering Storm.

Cooldown Usage

Generally speaking, cooldowns are best used as frequently as possible and with other cooldowns/buffs. A big key to doing good damage across all classes is to stack as many buffs and cooldowns together as possible, so they are all doing their maximum output when used. With that in mind, let's go over Frost’s cooldowns, what they do and how you will want to use them.

Pillar of Frost

Most of the time you always want to use Pillar of Frost on cooldown. If you are playing Obliteration then make sure to pool 3-4 Runes before Pillar of Frost, so you are not rune starved during your Obliteration window. There are times during a boss encounter where you might delay using Pillar of Frost to get the most value out of the cooldown, which is fine so long as you don’t lose an overall use during the encounter. You want to use Remorseless Winter and Reaper’s Mark before you start your Pillar of Frost window. Both Obliteration and Breath of Sindragosa share this rule. For Obliteration you want as many globals as possible in your Pillar of Frost to consume and generate Killing Machine procs with Obliterate and Frost Strike / Glacial Advance. Using abilities like Remorseless Winter and Reaper’s Mark (which don’t trigger Killing Machine procs) will waste potential Killing Machine consumption and generation during Pillar of Frost.

Breath of Sindragosa on the other hand does not have the same reason as Obliteration, but will still follow this rule. Remorseless Winter doesn’t generate much runic power and Reaper’s Mark is better off being used before Breath of Sindragosa and Pillar of Frost, so that every tick of Breath of Sindragosa can benefit from Wave of Souls.

Empower Rune Weapon

You generally use your Empower Rune Weapon with Pillar of Frost when playing with the Obliteration talent, but if you are using Breath of Sindragosa then you should use Empower Rune Weapon alongside Breath of Sindragosa instead, so you can keep your Breath of Sindragosa going for as long as possible.

It is worth noting that Empower Rune Weapon instantly gives you 1 rune and 5 runic power when used, so make sure you are not going to overcap and waste the rune / runic power before using it. Empower Rune Weapon should always be used as a cooldown ‘enhancer’ as it were, it’s not a very strong cooldown on its own but has a great impact on your other cooldowns.

Reaper’s Mark

Reaper’s Mark should always be used on cooldown, and ideally alongside Pillar of Frost. Both are perfectly synced when you are using Icecap and Painful Death. They are also synced when you use Swift End and do not spec into Icecap. You should use Reaper’s Mark just before Pillar of Frost, because it’s better to have more globals for other abilities such as Obliterate and Frost Strike.

Frostwrym’s Fury

The use of this cooldown differs depending on which hero talents you are using.

Riders of the Apocalypse

In single target scenarios, always use Frostwyrm’s Fury right BEFORE Pillar of Frost so that your Riders are active as soon as you start your Pillar of Frost window. In multi-target, you want to use Frostwyrm’s Fury AFTER Pillar of Frost, because Frostwyrm’s Fury does a lot of damage when hitting multiple enemies, so it’s worth giving up the first global during Pillar of Frost.

Deathbringer

Frostwyrm’s Fury use should always be used during your Pillar of Frost so it can benefit from the strength buff. For the best possible result, it is worth waiting for a Rune of the Fallen Crusader proc during your Pillar of Frost before using it. However, if you get very unlucky and don’t get a Fallen Crusader proc during Pillar of Frost, then use Frostwyrm’s Fury 2 seconds before Pillar of Frost ends.

Breath of Sindragosa

As this is one of your major cooldowns that can be easily punished, you generally want to always use this on cooldown with the condition that you plan ahead during a boss fight and make sure that you can sustain your Breath of Sindragosa for at least 30-40 seconds. Sometimes bosses will have mechanics which apply to random players, in which case you just have to hope that you don’t get the mechanic or pre-immune the application with Anti-Magic Shell. Empower Rune Weapon has the same cooldown as Breath of Sindragosa, so you always want to use them together or very close to one another. If you have a lot of runic Power / runes banked up, then you can delay using Empower Rune Weapon for a couple of seconds, just so you don’t overcap and waste resources (which are vital for Breath of Sindragosa uptime).

Horn of Winter

Horn of Winter is only used as a resource topper, so you only use it when you really need the extra resources. Typically this talent is used with Breath of Sindragosa, and you want to use it when your Empower Rune Weapon is no longer active, and when you are <50 runic power and <2 runes. As Breath of Sindragosa is a 2 minute cooldown and Horn of Winter is a 45 second cooldown, you can use Horn of Winter for your next Pillar of Frost window (so you have runes to spend during Pillar of Frost) while Breath of Sindragosa has 45=> seconds remaining on its cooldown.

Important Buffs

Icy Talons

This is very important to maintain throughout an encounter, not only for auto attack damage but also for Unleashed Frenzy (has the same trigger as Icy Talons), gaining Runic Power from Runic Attenuation, and triggering Killing Machine, Icy Death Torrent and The Long Winter from critting auto attacks. You spend Runic Power through Frost Strike, Glacial Advance, Breath of Sindragosa or Death Strike (for self healing) to sustain Icy Talons. During Breath of Sindragosa (if talented), you will easily be able to sustain Icy Talons because it’s constantly spending Runic Power, so by sustaining Breath of Sindragosa you also sustain Icy Talons.

Razorice

Most of your damage is Frost damage, which makes Razorice a very important debuff to manage. Razorice is applied by Rune of Razorice, Glacial Advance and Rime procs (when you have the talent Avalanche) stacking up to 5 times.

When playing with Breath of Sindragosa, you will want to always maintain 5 stacks of Razorice as it’s a major throughput loss if you drop Razorice and then have to rebuild back up to 5 stacks again. Breath of Sindragosa typically doesn’t use Rune of Razorice either, so getting back up to 5 stacks will take quite a few Rime / Killing Machine procs (if you are playing Arctic Assault)

If you are playing with Shattering Blade your Razorice management changes completely, due to your Frost Strikes clearing your Razorice once it reaches 5 stacks. When you are playing with Shattering Blade, you will often want to have Rune of Razorice to rapidly reapply Razorice to your target, getting as much uptime on Razorice as possible while still getting value out of Shattering Blade.

Gathering Storm

It can be difficult to sustain Gathering Storm outside of Empower Rune Weapon or Bloodlust because it does take a lot of Runes to keep ramping up Remorseless Winter with Gathering Storm. However, you should always strive to maintain as many stacks and uptime on Gathering Storm as possible, especially in multi-target scenarios.

Defensive Cooldowns / Utility

Abomination Limb

While Abomination Limb is a damage cooldown, it doesn’t do much damage and is only really pressed as an extra form of damage on a low priority, it does better damage in multi-target scenarios but its real strength is its ability to gather enemies together. Death Knight is generally a class that excels in mob control, and Abomination Limb is one of those tools that a Death Knight is known for. If you are in a single target encounter with no adds then you can just use this as a damage cooldown, however if there are adds then you will want to hold it (unless the adds spawn 2 minutes or so in, then you can use it on pull for some damage) so you can utilize Abomination Limbs utility and multi-target damage.

Anti-Magic Shell

Anti-Magic Shell is one of the best abilities in a Death Knight's toolkit. It makes you immune to many magic auras and debuffs and prevents heavy amounts of magic damage when used correctly. If you pre-use Anti-Magic Shell before walking over a magic-based floor effect, it will make you completely immune to the damage and any additional effects it may apply to you while walking over it. It's important to note that using Anti-Magic Shell only prevents the application of magic debuffs and does not remove them once they have already been applied to you. So make sure you use Anti-Magic Shell before a debuff is applied. When absorbing magic damage with this ability, you also gain Runic Power, which can also be used offensively for a slight DPS gain. When in magic damage-based fights, Anti-Magic Shell is insanely strong, and taking the talent Anti-Magic Barrier allows you to use it more frequently, as well as increasing its duration and absorb amount.

Icebound Fortitude

Icebound Fortitude is your main heavy mitigation ability that makes you immune to stun effects. This can be very useful in encounters that have stun mechanics. It has a 2 minute cooldown, so make sure to plan out your uses to get the most value out of it.

Anti-Magic Zone

Anti-Magic Zone is a raid/party defensive cooldown for magic damage. It loses value based on how many allies are within it, so it will not be as strong in raids but it's worth using along with some other healing cooldowns as an extra safety measure. Its cooldown can also be reduced by using the talent Assimilation.

Lichborne

On its own, Lichborne is only beneficial in niche situations where you will be Feared, Charmed, or put to Sleep. However, when using the talent Unholy Endurance it becomes a valuable extra mitigation ability that you will want to use in high-damage encounters. Leech in general scales a lot better in multi-target scenarios compared to single target, but it’s still very good to have either way.

Death Grip

Death Grip is an iconic Death Knight ability that makes them stand out from other classes in the game. No other class can grip enemies into specific positions, making Death Knight very strong in add control encounters. Make sure to always keep an eye out for enemies outside of the rest and grip them in so your group and cleave them down with the rest. It's also an effective way to interrupt a target from casting, even if they are uninterruptible, as it counts as a form of CC and not an interrupt.

Death's Advance

A Death Knight's main weakness is mobility. Death's Advance usage is a key part of what makes a good Death Knight player. It's your only mobility spell if you are not talented into Wraith Walk, so it is crucial to use it at the right time. It also makes you immune to knockback effects which can be incredibly strong in certain encounters. It can also be greatly empowered by the Riders of the Apocalypse talent Death Charge, which increases your movement speed by 100% instead of 35% as well as all of the other benefits of Death's Advance, so with this talent you are one of the fastest classes (mobility wise) in the game.

Raise Ally

Along with Druids and Warlocks, Death Knights are one of the only classes in the game that can resurrect an ally during combat. Raise Ally is an instant cast, and costs less resources compared to other classes, so it’s generally the best combat res if you need to get somebody back into the fight ASAP.

Death Strike

After taking a heavy hit of damage, you can heal a significant amount after using Death Strike, making your healer's life a lot easier and maybe proccing Runic Empowerment afterwards. Use this ability after taking a large amount of damage if you are out of Refreshing Healing Potions and Healthstones.

Chains of Ice

Another helpful tool for Death Knights to use is Chains of Ice, which is very strong when an add needs to be slowed or kited by your tank. However, it does come at the cost of a rune, so using this too much will often leave you rune starved. Make sure only to use it when it's needed or called for. If you have multiple targets that need to be slowed simultaneously, consider using the talent Grip of the Dead instead of applying Chains of Ice to multiple targets.