FROST DK FUNDAMENTALS COURSE

FROST DEATH KNIGHT PLAYSTYLE

Welcome to our Frost Death Knight damage course for The War Within, which is custom designed to equip you with all the essential knowledge needed to excel in PvP. So in this introductory video, we're going to be exploring what to expect from the Frost Death Knight playstyle and what's changed going into The War Within.

If you've enjoyed the Frost Death Knight playstyle in Dragonflight, then you're really going to be happy to know that the latest reworks to the spec have refined the hit-and-run approach.

For those new to Frost EK, it stands apart as the only melee spec other than Rogue focused on strategic hit-and-run tactics, rather than constantly tunneling one singular target. You're going to be focusing on setting up big goes, not unlike a Subtlety Rogue, and it's much more tactical than unholy.

The new Deathbringer Hero Tree truly complements the Frost Death Knight's hit-and-run approach. Every 45 seconds, which perfectly syncs with Pillar of Frost, you're going to be able to apply the Frost Death Knight's hit-and-run approach to your playstyle.

This ability stacks up and then detonates for massive damage once it hits 40 stacks. Better yet, if the target's health dips below 35% when Reaper's Mark triggers, it does an additional explosion.

With Deathbringer, your gameplay revolves around using Pillar of Frost and Reaper's Mark in tandem with a burst setup, and then retreating back to safety until these abilities are off cooldown. So if the hit-and-run playstyle isn't really your thing, you can tweak your Hero Tree to make it more effective.

You can also change the Hero Tree and talents to be more geared toward sustained damage. With the rework to our dual-wield talents and the addition of the Rider of the Apocalypse Hero Tree, Frost Death Knights can move into more of a sustained damage role.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT GOALS

Welcome back. In this video, we're going to be outlining some key goals for Frost Death Knight that you should aim to follow throughout your games.

Now, these are the objectives that top players strive to achieve in every single match. Now, one common mistake new Death Knights really do make is spending too much time setting up that perfect go.

So, our first goal is really simple here. Do a go as often as possible.

If the healer or DPS is hiding behind a pillar and there's no way to drag them in, then you shouldn't wait around hoping for the perfect opportunity to do a triple go. Instead, initiate your go on any two targets that are in line.

This forces that other target to move off of the pillar to try to help, which then gives you a chance to cross CC them or pull them into your go with a well-timed grip. And through this, the point we really want to emphasize here is that a go should happen fast.

There's no waiting around or hesitating because you don't have the absolutely perfect setup. As soon as those gates open, you want to be moving in and getting something started.

You won't always catch everyone in the go and that's totally fine. What matters is that within that first 10 to 15 seconds of the game, you are already looking to set up a go.

So, for our second goal, we're going to need to be using our crowd control effectively to assist our damage and create deadly kill windows. And to do this, we're going to want to try and be as disruptive as possible to generate pressure, which we can do in pretty creative ways.

You can death grip, use dark sim to steal their CC. You can even strangulate a DPS to stop them from popping defensives.

You can also go for the straightforward play too, like death charging straight to the healer for a blind or strangulate. Whatever you do choose, just make sure it's done for a purpose.

Our CCs are on long cooldowns, so don't waste them unless you got the damage ready to follow it up. Now, you're probably wondering though, what do you do between those goes?

Well, that's our third goal. Peel for your team.

You can use your CCs to kill your enemies, but you can also use your CCs to kill your enemies. You can also use your CCs to kill your enemies, but you can also use your CCs to kill your enemies.

The goal is to keep your team alive and buy them time until you're ready for your next devastating go. It's all about survival until Pillar of Frost.

You can actually use this to your advantage too. Since the enemy is going to be focused on chasing your team, you have the upper hand by controlling their positioning.

By consistently pulling them into a bad position, it makes it easier to set up your goes. And the idea here is that you can force enemies to stack or position themselves in a way that makes it easier to get a triple go.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT DAMAGE PRIORITY

Welcome back! Now that you have a broader understanding of both the playstyle and the goals of a Frost Death Knight in the arena, the next step is obviously learning how to deal damage effectively.

And it's important to remember though, that what we're about to talk about isn't a rotation, it's a priority system. Priority is the key word.

What this means for you, is that abilities at the top of this priority list should be prioritized over those further down. Now, your highest priority by far is Chains of Ice.

Yes, we know it's not a damaging ability, but there is a good reason why we're including it at the top here. The priority here is to keep that enemy slowed.

The biggest drawback to Frost is being locked into a pure melee spec. Unholy gets the luxury of 30 yard range on most of their abilities, but we just don't have that kind of range.

Now, the second priority we're going to talk about here is Howling Blast, if you need to apply Frost Fever or have a Rime proc. Frost Fever is important to maintain as it has a chance to give us four runic power, for every tick.

This can help you better prepare for your go, as a full runic power bar is going to mean more Frost Strikes can be used. This is especially powerful if you're pairing it with the Shattering Blade talent too.

After that comes Obliterate. You can use it with a Killing Machine proc or just to dump runes.

It does hit pretty hard now with all the buffs, but it's nothing game changing. Finally, we have Frost Strike or Death Strike.

These abilities are pretty much how we spend our runic power. The best way to determine how to best use these abilities though, is pretty simple.

If you're taking damage, you're going to need to use a runic power. If you're taking damage, use Death Strike.

If you're not taking damage, use Frost Strike. But you do always want to keep around 70 runic power in the bank.

That number doesn't have to be exact, it's just enough to make sure you've got enough for Death Strike when you absolutely need it. Frost Strike hits hard and it's one of your top damaging abilities, but you don't want to burn all your runic power on it and then realize you have to stay alive.

That's why Frost Strike does sit a bit lower on the priority list.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT BURST SEQUENCE: DEATHBRINGER

This is the video that you have been waiting for, as in this next section of our Frost Death Knight course, we are going to be breaking down the exact sequence you want to be following in order to set up the highest burst damage possible.

Now, to do this, we are going to be providing you with two different sequences depending on your hero talent tree, starting of course with Deathbringer. Before you burst, you're going to want to make sure that you have full runic power and at least several runes.

You want to start your burst with a Deathgrip into a blind to give yourself time to set up your burst. First, you'll push Breath of Sindragosa, then you'll use Pillar of Frost into Reaper's Mark.

Because we play the Grim Reaper talent, this will also give us a Killing Machine proc. You'll then use a charge of Empower Rune Weapon into an Obliterate.

You'll then use Froststrike, and then you'll use the Grim Reaper talent to set up your burst. You'll then use Froststrike, and then you'll use the Grim Reaper talent to set up your burst.

You'll then use the Grim Reaper build into another charge of Empower Rune Weapon, and then Obliterate. With both charges of Empower Rune Weapon on cooldown, alternate between Obliterate and Froststrike or Howling Blast if you have a Rime proc.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT BURST SEQUENCE: RIDER OF THE APOCALYPSE

So in our previous video we covered how to burst when using Reaper's Mark in conjunction with the Deathbringer tree, and in this video we're going to be swapping to the Rider of the Apocalypse tree which is a little bit more passive.

Now just like before you're going to want to start your burst with a Deathgrip into a blind to give yourself time to set up your burst. Next use Frostworm's Fury.

We want to use this first because it summons our Riders of the Apocalypse. Afterwards use Pillar of Frost along with Empower Rune Weapon into a Froststrike and from here it's the same as before and then Obliterate into another charge of Empower Rune Weapon and then Obliterate.

With both charges of Empower Rune Weapon on cooldown alternate between Obliterate and Froststrike or Howling Blast if and only if you have a Rime proc.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT OPENER

Now let's move on from all of this theory and get straight into the practical. On the opener, you want to start by identifying two things, who you want to kill and who you want to grip.

It's crucial to have a target you can reliably lock down, as it makes setting up a clean go so much easier. Now you're going to notice that the death knight immediately starts by running toward the enemy team, instead of just waiting for the enemy to push into them.

We really thrive on momentum, and getting into the fight early allows us to start dealing damage quickly and begin cycling through your offensive cooldowns as quick as possible. The death knight gets to the healer and uses blind.

For frost, blind should be used to lock down one or two targets. From there, you can follow it up like we see the death knight do here.

They grip the next target into a frost worm stun. This is the classic frost EK go and something you want to really do every single game.

From here, they pop pillar with all their cooldowns and just shred through the enemy team. Getting clean goes is huge for frost, especially with your dragon.

A clean opener usually results in one of two outcomes. You're either going to force every single cooldown, or you land a kill because the damage comes in so fast the enemy barely even has time to react to it.

Right after the dragon stun, the death knight throws out strangulate on the healer. You always want to change strangulate off a stun, but you can also use strangulate to start a go with pillar if no one else has CC.

The best part is that strangulate is off the GC. So you can use it instantly if the healer tries to trinket the stun.

Now in this case, the dragon saves trinket for the strangulate, which leads into the monk re-stunning the trinket. This forces out emerald communion and ice block from the mage.

You won't always get extra stuns on the opener from your teammates, but when they do connect, it's absolutely brutal. Especially when each global can chunk 20-30% of someone's health.

The death knight is now in the best spot possible here. Neither the evoker, nor the mage has their big defensives left.

That opener, it really sets the pace for the rest of the game. From here, it's all about chipping away at the rest of their cooldowns until you line up a go where they've got nothing left, and that is when you close it all out.

FROST DEATH KNIGHT WIN CONDITION

All right, so far in this course, we have outlined our goals in Arena, provided you with a straightforward damage priority, thoroughly explored each and every ability, and then covered how you should be approaching openers.

Now, though, it's finally time to bring it all together and demonstrate precisely how you should use all of this knowledge to win your games. Your win condition remains largely the same, whether you're playing Rider of the Apocalypse or you're playing Deathbringer.

Now, Frost Death Knight is a cooldown-dependent class, and while Rider does offer some extra sustained DPS, it is primarily putting pressure on the healer's mana bar rather than securing the game-winning kill here. That's the idea.

Now, ultimately, the key to victory, though, it still revolves around executing your go properly, so that's going to be key. Setups with Pillar of Frost, they're going to be your primary win condition, especially when you have Frost Wyrm's Fury.

Now, as demonstrated in the opener video, at least two players need to be involved in the go, but three is really going to be optimal. The setup for the go remains consistent, and you can do this every time.

First, position yourself on the target using Blinding Sleet to lock him in place, and then grip into Frost Wyrm's Fury. If you're trying to set up a triple go, you can grip the healer into a blind.

If you want to blind after the grip, it's going to be crucial to ensure that the target actually lands before you use Blinding Sleet. If you push it while the target is mid-grip, the blind is going to miss because the character's position isn't fully registered until they've planted their feet.

Now, once the targets are blinded, you can either use your own stun, Frost Wyrm's Fury, or have one of your teammates use theirs. Much like a Rogue, you need to be constantly watching your opponent's defensives and their trinkets.

Think about it. If you know your win depends all on a strong burst setup, are you going to target the player who has every defensive ability and a trinket ready, or the one who has literally nothing left?

The answer is pretty dang obvious. Between your burst attempts, make sure to track who has used their trinket, who's out of defensives, who might try to peel you, and who you can survive until your next Pillar of Frost.

This awareness is going to be crucial, as it allows you to plan your next move strategically and maximize the effectiveness of your burst windows, which is our win condition.