Quick Links
The Frost Death Knight specialization offers three distinct playstyles for endgame PvE content inWorld of Warcraft:The War Within. Players can choose between the Dual-Wield (DW) Obliteration build, the 2-Hand (2H) Obliteration build, and the Dual-Wield Breath build for Raids. In Mythic+ content, however, players should typically focus on the two Obliteration builds.
The DW Obliteration build offers fast-paced gameplay, leveraging frequent Killing Machine procs, Razorice-consuming Frost Strikes, and other Auto-Attack-focused talents. In contrast, the 2-Hand version of the Obliteration build is slower, but emphasizes powerful Obliterates to deliver most of its damage. Finally, the DW Breath build centers around the Breath of Sindragosa talent, aiming to maximize its uptime for high burst damage every two minutes. Here are the best talent builds for these three playstyles in Raid and Mythic+ inThe War Within.
Blizzard is expected to implement tuning changes across the board during Heroic Raid week and the launch of Season 1. This guide will be updated to reflect any changes that may affect Frost Death Knights.
TWW Frost Death Knight Raid Build: Dual-Wield Obliteration
The DW Obliteration Raid build is recommended over the other two playstyles due to its ease of execution and ability to excel in all situations. This build features a fast-paced and proc-heavy playstyle, driven by its fast Auto-Attack speed from using two 1-Hand weapons.
The main damage window revolves around thePillar of Frosttalent, which provides substantial Strength and Mastery while guaranteeing Killing Machine procs through theObliterationtalent. This synergy enablesArctic Assault, in combination withAvalancheand the Rune of Razorice enchantment, to quickly generate five stacks of Razorice. Frost Strike can then consume these stacks withShattering Blade. Dual-Wield also takes advantage of theIcy Death TorrentandThe Long Wintertalents due to more frequent Auto-Attack critical strikes. Faster Auto-Attacks also result in more consistent Killing Machine procs outside of Pillar of Frost and more frequent applications of Razorice.
Flex Points
There are two flex points in the Frost specialization tree that players can adjust based on the encounter. The first choice is betweenInexorable AssaultandFrostwyrm’s Fury. While Frostwrym’s Fury lags a bit behind Inexorable Assault in single-target situations, it offers great AoE burst for fights where that is needed. The second choice is betweenChill StreakandShattered Frost. Chill Streak excels in pure single-target encounters, while Shattered Frost is superior in fights with two or more targets.
Talent Choices
Currently,Deathbringer is the preferred Hero Talent treefor DW Obliteration, as Rider of the Apocalypse falls behind in output and requires sacrificing a talent point forAbsolute Zero.Rune Carved Plates,Painful Death, andDeath’s Messengerare essential talent choices, as their alternatives are weaker. The main decision for players lies betweenDark TalonsandWither Away. While Dark Talons is slightly ahead of Wither Away, it requires maintaining a high uptime onIcy Talonsto be the better choice. For encounters with significant downtime, Wither Away becomes the better talent option.
The class tree has a wider range of flexible talent choices that players can swap around based on the situation. While Crowd Controls (CC) and Interrupts are generally unnecessary in most Raid encounters,Blinding Sleet,Asphyxiate, andMind Freezecan be valuable when needed.Anti-Magic Zoneand its upgrade,Assimilation,are great choices when a defensive raid cooldown is required.March of DarknessandWraith Walkare both optional mobility talents that can be swapped out if other utilities are more beneficial.Null MagicandRunic Protectionare flexible talents that can be swapped out for encounters with little to no magic or physical damage intake.Soul Reapercan also be replaced, since its DPS increase is minimal in the DW Obliteration build.
TWW Frost Death Knight Raid Build: 2-Hand Obliteration
The 2-Hand Obliteration build falls slightly behind the DW version overall, but remains a viable option. This build relies on Obliterate as its primary damage source due to much slower applications of Razorice.The talent setup is almost identical to the DW version, but replaces Shattering Blade withEnduring Chill, as the 2H build will be less dependent on Frost Strike for damage.
Once again,Inexorable AssaultandFrostwyrm’s Furycan be interchanged depending on the encounter. Players also have the option to useCryogenic Chamberin place of Enduring Chill, and swapping toWither Awayduring fights with AoE.Glacial Advanceis another talent that can be taken instead of Enduring Chill during heavy AoE situations and used in place of Frost Strike.
Just like Dual-Wield, players can swap around class tree talent points to suit their needs. Deathbringer also remains the best Hero Talent choice due to its superior output compared to Rider of the Apocalypse.
TWW Frost Death Knight Raid Build: Dual-Wield Breath
The DW Breath build centers around theBreath of Sindragosatalent, which delivers high burst damage every two minutes. This playstyle is quite challenging and may not suit every type of encounter due to the need to maintain high uptime on Breath of Sindragosa whenever it’s active. However, in the right hands and situations, the Breath build can achieve very high damage output.
In the past, Breath builds have struggled with damage outside of their Breath of Sindragosa windows. However, unlike previous expansions, Breath builds now also have access to talents likeObliteration, which improves performance when Breath is on cooldown. Apart from the usual choices betweenInexorable AssaultandFrostwyrm’s Fury, the main decision for this build is betweenArctic AssaultandThe Long Winter. While the damage difference is negligible, The Long Winter marginally outperforms Arctic Assault in pure single-target fights. On the other hand, Arctic Assault gains an advantage with each additional target, so it’s recommended to default to Arctic Assault if players prefer not to constantly swap talents between encounters.
The class and Hero Talent tree setups remain the same as the other two Raid builds, butMarch of Darknessgains added value in helping to maintain uptime of Breath of Sindragosa during high-movement fights.
TWW Frost Death Knight Mythic+ Build: Dual-Wield Obliteration
The DW Obliteration build is the best performer for Mythic+, and resembles the Frost tree setup used in the Raid version.Shattered FrostandFrostwyrm’s Furyare taken in place ofChill StreakandInexorable Assaultrespectively. This ensures that the Frost Death Knight can excel in both multi- and single-target situations, which is crucial for Mythic+. Unfortunately, there is no wiggle room in the Frost tree, as every point is mandatory for DW Obliteration.
The Hero Talent situation remains the same as the rest, with Deathbringer as the best choice.Rune Carved PlatesandDeath’s Messengerare better defensive talents than their alternatives, whilePainful DeathallowsReaper’s Markto align withPillar of Frost’scooldown. Unlike in Raid,Wither Awaybecomes the default option due to its advantage in AoE scenarios.
Mythic+ places a heavy emphasis on Interrupts and CCs, makingMind FreezeandBlind Sleetdefault picks in the class tree.Asphyxiatecan be added if the team requires additional stuns, whileAnti-Magic Zoneserves as a solid team defensive option.Control Undeadsees limited uses in Season 1 ofThe War Within, but can be valuable for The Necrotic Wake. If Asphyxiate and AMZ are not needed, mobility nodes likeMarch of DarknessandWraith Walkcan be used to help with high-movement fights.Blood Scentis also an option for survivability if no other utility is needed.
TWW Frost Death Knight Mythic+ Build: 2-Hand Obliteration
The 2-Hand Obliteration build has slightly lower damage output than Dual-Wield, but remains a viable option. Players can opt to run the exact same build as DW, relying onArctic AssaultandAvalancheto set up their Razorice consumption. Compared to DW, the majority of the damage contributions will shift fromIcy Death Torrent,Arctic Assault,Shattering Blade, andShattered Frosttoward Obliterate.
The recommended approach is to replace Shattering Blade and Shattered Frost withGlacial AdvanceandCryogenic Chamber. In this setup, players will substitute Frost Strike with Glacial Advance in the rotation when facing multiple targets. Another option is to useAbsolute Zeroinstead of Cryogenic Chamber, which provides more frequent burst AoE and CC at the cost of slightly lower overall damage.
The class and Hero Talent tree setup remains the same as in the DW version.
DW Breath build is not recommended for Mythic+ due to difficulties maintaining Breath of Sindragosa uptime in a dungeon environment.
