Frost Death Knight DPS Overview and Guide for Patch 11.1.7

Frost Death Knight Overview

Frost Death Knight is a Two-Hand and Dual-Wield plate DPS spec dealing physical and magical damage. It guarantees critical hits on Obliterate with Killing Machine, breathes ice with Breath of Sindragosa and Frostwyrm's Fury, and engulfs enemies in blizzards using Remorseless Winter. Frost excels at cleave damage without sacrificing single-target DPS, especially effective on 3-target cleave.

• New Frost Death Knights start at level 8 as a Hero Class.

• All races except Dracthyr and Earthen can play Frost.

• Players who enjoy resource management, reacting to procs, and cooldown windows will enjoy Frost.

More Facts and Background

• Death Knights start at level 8.

• Usable races exclude Dracthyr and Earthen.

• Usable weapons: Two-Hand Polearms, Axes, Maces, Swords; One-Hand Axes, Maces, Swords.

• Mastery: Frozen Heart increases Frost damage from spec abilities.

• Fantasy: Harnessing frozen powers, Frost Death Knights freeze their enemies' bones.

• Resources: Runes and Runic Power fuel abilities. Obliterate costs two Runes and generates Runic Power for spending on Frost Strike.

• Mobility: Limited, with Wraith Walk and Death’s Advance.

• AoE: Strong AoE through Remorseless Winter, Howling Blast, Arctic Assault, Breath of Sindragosa, Frostwyrm’s Fury, and Frostscythe.

• Defensives: Icebound Fortitude, Death Strike, Anti-Magic Shell.

• Unique mounts: Acherus Deathcharger, Deathlord’s Vilebrood Vanquisher, Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade.

• Armor: Strength Plate.

• Flavor: Starter transmog set Acherus Knight’s Battleplate (invisible belt).

• Can equip legendaries like Shadowmourne, Warglaive of Azzinoth, Sulfuras, and Thunderfury.

• Necrophile Tome teaches Corpse Explosion, sold by Dread Commander Thalanor in Acherus.

• Special zone: Acherus: The Ebon Hold, accessible via Death Gate.

Frost Death Knight Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Multiple playstyles with clear niches.

• Cleave talent builds don’t sacrifice single-target damage.

• Defensives available for all situations.

Weaknesses

• Susceptible to random forced downtime, especially with Breath of Sindragosa.

• Generally slow with few movement speed boosts.

Frost Death Knight Cheat Sheet

• Raid Deathbringer

• Raid Rider

• Mythic+ Deathbringer

• Mythic+ Rider

• Delves/Open World

Stat Priority

• Strength

• Critical Strike

• Mastery

• Haste

• Versatility

Weapons:

Aim for best-in-slot two-hand or dual-wield weapons, obtained from raids, dungeons, or crafted gear that maximizes your primary stats and damage output.

Trinkets:

Use high-impact DPS trinkets that provide either strong burst effects or consistent passive stats to boost your overall damage.

Consumables:

Always use consumables that increase your critical strike chance, mastery, or overall damage, such as potions, flasks, and food buffs tailored to enhance your Frost Death Knight’s performance.

Frost Death Knight Changes in Patch 11.1

Frost saw no meaningful gameplay changes. Slight survivability nerfs were offset by buffs to damage abilities, raising overall damage without altering gameplay.

Frost Death Knight Hero Talents: Deathbringer and Rider of the Apocalypse

• Deathbringer: Focuses on burst direct damage with stacking Reaper’s Mark and sweeping Exterminate attacks. Adds cooldowns and damage variance. Works best with Breath of Sindragosa builds.

• Rider of the Apocalypse: Summons Four Horsemen to swarm enemies. No additional buttons but requires Frostwyrm’s Fury to activate Apocalypse Now. Death Charge grants mobility. Suited for Shattering Blade builds. Offers predictable damage but struggles with downtime. Excellent for open-world and leveling due to mobility.

Playing a Frost Death Knight in The War Within Season 2

• Spend Killing Machine procs ASAP on Obliterate; core damage relies on this proc.

• Manage Runes and Runic Power to maintain a resource balance and avoid wasted procs.

• Use abilities like Pillar of Frost, Frostscythe, and Remorseless Winter on cooldown to maximize uptime and damage.

Gearing an Frost Death Knight in Season 2

Follow a stat priority roughly: Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste > Versatility. Use Raidbots to simulate your character for best results.

Best Professions for Frost Death Knight

Professions offer minimal DPS benefits; any profession works. For utility, Blacksmithing is recommended to craft armor close to BiS, Alchemy for consumables, and Enchanting for self-enchants.

Best Race for Frost Death Knight

• Horde: Mag’har Orc for Ancestral Call cooldown. Blood Elf is an alternative with Crit and resource gains.

• Alliance: Mechagnome for raw DPS with Combat Analysis. Draenei is a good alternative for Heroic Presence if Allied Race is unavailable.