Frost Death Knight Pre-Patch Guide for WotLK Classic

Last updated on Aug 27, 2022 at 10:30 by Sellin 3 comments

The Pre-Patch period of Wrath of the Lich King Classic is a time to allow players to level or gear up characters while experiencing some of the class changes of the coming expansion before its official launch. Here you will find recommended talents, gear, and some rotation tips for a Frost Death Knight when you can only reach a maximum level of 70.

1.

Overview

Death Knights are able to be made and playable in the Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch and while the general play style is quite similar to what you will be doing at Level 80, this page will go over how to play your Death Knight, Gear you should seek out during the pre-patch, how you should spend your talent points, and what consumables you should use if you are considering tackling some of the Burning Crusade raid content while waiting for Wrath to officially start!

2.

Talent Build

This talent tree is focused largely on getting all of the rotation-altering and stat-increasing talents from the Frost tree as you will likely be undergeared, so any static stat increases you can get are great and scale even better when you become more geared. Any Burning Crusade content you are doing in the pre-patch of Wrath of the Lich King will be significantly nerfed and you will likely be more focused on dealing as much damage as possible.

3.

Stat Priority

  1. Hit/Expertise to cap;
  2. Strength;
  3. Armor Penetration;
  4. Critical Strike;
  5. Haste.
4.

Rotation

The single largest difference between playing Death Knight at 70 and 80 is the lack of Empower Rune Weapon IconEmpower Rune Weapon, which offers you a significantly more powerful opener on bosses as you have access to twice as many runes.

4.1.

AoE DPS

AOE DPSing as a Frost Death Knight is extremely simple. Your main focus is to maintain your Frost Fever IconFrost Fever and Blood Plague IconBlood Plague diseases on as many enemies as possible using Pestilence IconPestilence while spamming Howling Blast IconHowling Blast.

4.2.

Single-Target DPS

Frost Death Knight single-target does use a rotation, but it is much more like a list of priorities as opposed to a strict rotation you must follow. There are many conditions to consider and below we will go over each of them and to optimally handle each situation. This rotation is assuming that you are using the talents recommended in the talents section of the Frost Death Knight DPS guide as the sub-spec you choose can greatly impact your Rune/Runic Power generation. You must always prioritize spending Runes over Runic Power; Frost and Unholy Runes should be spent on Obliterate IconObliterate — after Frost Fever IconFrost Fever and Blood Plague IconBlood Plague are applied — and it is crucial to always use both of your Blood Runes together to ensure they are synchronized.

Your priority list should be as follows:

  1. Make sure Frost Fever IconFrost Fever and Blood Plague IconBlood Plague are active;
  2. Cast Obliterate IconObliterateh;
  3. Use Pestilence IconPestilence if your diseases need to be refreshed; if not, cast Blood Strike IconBlood Strike;
  4. Cast Frost Strike IconFrost Strike if you have a Killing Machine IconKilling Machine proc;
  5. Only cast Howling Blast IconHowling Blast in a single-target situation if you have a Rime IconRime proc;
  6. Cast Frost Strike IconFrost Strike without a Killing Machine IconKilling Machine proc.
5.

Early Upgrades

Listed below will be a list of some items that are very powerful and require a relatively low time investment to get to help you get a bit more powerful during the Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch as you prepare to head to Northrend and continue your journey through WoW classic.

Slot Item Source
Helm
Back
Wrist
Gloves
Belt
Pants
Ring
Ring
Trinket
Trinket
6.

Consumables

Spicy Hot Talbuk Icon Spicy Hot Talbuk is your best well-fed buff if you are not Hit-capped, or use Roasted Clefthoof Icon Roasted Clefthoof if you are Hit-capped as your goal is to maximize your Strength.

Flask of Relentless Assault Icon Flask of Relentless Assault is your typical go-to against most all mobs. The exception to this is that when fighting Demons, Elixir of Demonslaying Icon Elixir of Demonslaying by itself is stronger than any flask and can be paired with a Guardian Elixir of your choosing.

Haste Potion Icon Haste Potion is your best choice as the added Haste allows for more melee swings to maximize your damage.

7.

Changelog

  • 23 Aug. 2022: Page added.
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