Frost

If you're like me, then you are sick of hunting around the internet for a decent place to find information on Death Knights. Most sites are watered down and have odd pop ups, or are using some weird pvp spec.

This blog will show you how to spec your DK, what glyphs to use and what enchants to buy. I will also post rotations and some other basic info.

First, I will cover the basic cookie cutter dual wield frost spec. This will net you awesome dps, but remember you have a couple points left over. You have the option of picking for yourself depending on your personal playstyle which is the best. Here are a couple options and descriptions.

• Runic Power Mastery- With haste now becoming DW’s best secondary stat this talent is going to be near mandatory to prevent constantly capping your Runic Power. Whether to take an additional point from Improved Frost Presence to go 3/3 is going to come down to personal preference.
• Icy Reach- Extra range is always nice, especially when you’re running to/kiting a mob. In most situations this is only going to affect Howling Blast. If you find yourself never getting near the Runic Power cap you might want to give this a look but the points can be spent better elsewhere.
• Lichborne- Turning undead doesn’t seem that great and fights where the break/immune to fears, charms and sleeps rarely if ever come up. This does shine for some emergency self-heals when needed by pairing it up with Death Coil but at a high Runic Power cost.
• On A Pale Horse- Increased mount speed and reduced snare time. Not very raid important but the reduced snare times will help when it happens.
• Endless Winter- Essentially free Mind Freezes. In my opinion, this is a no-brainer, but I’m just a fan of interrupting bosses. Seems like the only option that will result in extra resources for either you or your raid members. This will depend on your raid composition and if your raid needs you to interrupt or not. If you find yourself doing PUGs often this is going to be a necessity.
• Chilblains- Either you love it or you hate it. Essentially gives your Howling Blast a snare and gives your Chains of Ice a 3 second root, which can be a blessing on adds. Taking this is going to depend on your raid size as other classes will have similar skills at the 25 man level. This is going to change your spec and you'll end up dropping points from Improved Frost Presence, Butchery or Epidemic.

Frost, Clicky

Remember our current DPS rating by spec with ilvl 378 (normal tier) gear:DW Frost > 2H Unholy >= 2H Frost
Also our current DPS rating by spec with ilvl 391 (heroic tier) gear:
DW Frost > 2H Unholy >= 2H Frost



So dual wield frost is the way to go for sure! Also remember DW is done in Unholy Presence. Always!
Your rotation will look something like this:

Single Target Priority
Diseases
Obliterate if both Frost/Unholy pairs and/or both Death runes are up, or if Killing Machine is procced
Frost Strike if RP capped
Rime
Obliterate
Frost Strike
Horn of Winter

Multiple Target Priority
Howling Blast if both Frost runes and/or both Death runes are up
Death and Decay/Plague Strike if both Unholy Runes are up
Frost Strike if RP capped
Howling Blast
Death and Decay/Plague Strike
Frost Strike
Horn of Winter

Once we have all this situated and specced the way that -you- want to, we have to figure out what we need to do good dps. How important is hit? Expertise? Should I reforge mastery or crit?

To be extra awesome, remember this is the most important setup for you. (this also goes for 2h frost, but as I stated previously it's damage is not as good as dual wield and it's even less than 2h unholy)

Strength > Yellow Hit to Cap 8% > Expertise to Cap 24 > Haste > Mastery > Crit

You will want to reforge -every- piece of gear into haste after you reach the hit and expertise caps, as frost requires delicious haste.


Gemming

Now that we have reforged, we need to make sure we have all the right gems.
-Every- red gem is going to be a Bold Inferno Ruby +40 Strength
If you need a purple gem, use the Etched Demon Eye +20 Strength / Hit Rating
Sometimes you need a yellow gem, don't buy mastery! Use Fierce Ember Topaz for the +20 Strength/20 Haste. Remember haste is your favorite stat.
Your meta will always be Reverberating Shadowspirit Diamond it has 54 strength and 3% increased critical damage.

Enchants

Slot DW Enchant 2H Enchant Notes Head 60 Str / 30 Mastery 60 Str / 30 Mastery Wildhammer/Dragonmaw revered. No competitive alternatives.
Cape 65 Crit 65 Crit No competitive alternatives.
Shoulder 50 Str / 25 Crit 50 Str / 25 Crit Therazane exalted. 130 Str / 25 Crit for those with Inscription, but no competitive alternatives otherwise.
Chest 20 Stats 20 Stats No competitive alternatives.
Bracers 50 Str 130 Strength for those with Leatherworking, but no competitive alternatives otherwise.
Gloves 50 Str 50 Str No competitive alternatives.
Legs 190 AP / 55 Crit 190 AP / 55 Crit No competitive alternatives.
Feet 50 Haste 50 Haste 50 Hit is an viable alternative; which you take ultimately matters on how you can best reforge your gear at the time.

I hope to write up a blog for blood tanking soon, but with all the changes in 4.3 I may just wait until then to do so. Happy Pwning Death Knights!