Frost Death Knight Leveling Guide from 8 to 80 — The War Within (11.0.7)

Last updated on Dec 15, 2024 at 16:00 by Bicepspump 52 comments

On this page, you will find our Level by Level Frost Death Knight leveling guide for The War Within. Make sure to use the slider to make the guide adapt to your level. For more general leveling information, please refer to our Death Knight leveling guide.

1.

Runeforge Choice

When you get the option to Runeforge, make sure you apply Rune of Razorice Icon Rune of Razorice to your main hand and Rune of the Fallen Crusader Icon Rune of the Fallen Crusader to your off-hand. If you are using a Two-Handed weapon, then use Rune of the Fallen Crusader Icon Rune of the Fallen Crusader. You can also choose to run Rune of Unending Thirst Icon Rune of Unending Thirst intead of Fallen Crusader for heal and speed boost after you kill mobs. We recommend using a 2H weapon when leveling.

2.

Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

3.

Level by Level Rotation and Talents

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

Level: 70

Until you pick up Obliterate Icon Obliterate, your primary means of spending Runes is through Rune Strike Icon Rune Strike.

Depending on which race you picked, you will start at a different level, and have a slightly different intro:

  • If you picked an Allied Race then you start at level 10.
  • On the other hand, if you started with a non-allied race, you start at level 8.

You will start selecting talents at level 10, building your character as you gain one point per level to spend.

3.1.

Talents to Level Up as a Frost Death Knight

Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Your talent set up should be as follows.

3.2.

Rotation to Level Up as a Frost Death Knight

  1. Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay when fighting more than one enemy, to make your Obliterate Icon Obliterates cleave.
  2. Rune Strike Icon Rune Strike is your main damaging ability and Rune spender.
  3. Obliterate Icon Obliterate is your main damaging ability and Rune spender.
  4. Use Death Coil Icon Death Coil when you have 80+ Runic Power or no available Runes. You won't use this ability once you pick up Frost Strike Icon Frost Strike.
  5. Raise Dead Icon Raise Dead should be used off cooldown or for bosses/elite mobs.
  6. Use Frost Strike Icon Frost Strike when you have 80+ Runic Power or no available Runes.
  7. Use Frost Strike Icon Frost Strike when your target has 5 stacks of Razorice Icon Razorice
  8. Use Death Strike Icon Death Strike to heal yourself.
  9. Remorseless Winter Icon Remorseless Winter whenever there are 2+ targets or the target will last the duration.
  10. Abomination Limb Icon Abomination Limb to quickly group up and AoE down groups of mobs.
  11. Pillar of Frost Icon Pillar of Frost when you open on a pack.
  12. Frostwyrm's Fury Icon Frostwyrm's Fury should be paired with Pillar of Frost Icon Pillar of Frost and used on big packs, elites, or boss mobs.
  13. Empower Rune Weapon Icon Empower Rune Weapon should be paired with Pillar of Frost Icon Pillar of Frost and used on big packs, elites, or boss mobs.
  14. Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast to consume procs of Rime Icon Rime.

There are several passive abilities that you unlock through the leveling process that can change your play style and rotation.

  • Rime Icon Rime makes your Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast deal significantly more damage, making it worthwhile to use at any target count when you gain this buff.
  • Killing Machine Icon Killing Machine is a passive ability that gives your auto attack Critical Strikes the chance to make your next Obliterate Icon Obliterate critically strike.
  • Dark Succor Icon Dark Succor is incredible for leveling, allowing you to easily heal and stay at high health while chain-pulling packs and mobs.
3.3.

Frost Death Knight Defensive Abilities while Leveling

  • Anti-Magic Shell Icon Anti-Magic Shell is a very strong magic shield that also generates Runic Power. This should be used whenever magic damage is present to take advantage of the Runic Power generation.
  • Lichborne Icon Lichborne is a powerful ability for leveling, as it provides you with a good chunk of Leech. Use this cooldown to take advantage of the healing and try to pair it with high AoE or burst combinations.
  • Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude is an amazing defensive cooldown that should be used whenever necessary in order to keep you moving from pack to pack.
  • Raise Ally Icon Raise Ally cannot be used when solo leveling, however, it is fantastic in dungeon groups if you decide to level that way.
  • Death's Advance Icon Death's Advance is one of your only movement speed cooldowns making it incredibly useful when leveling. The secondary effects of this are not too useful in leveling scenarios, except for the passive that prevents you from being slowed past a certain point.
3.4.

Frost Death Knight War Mode Talents for Leveling

This section will go over the PvP talents for leveling content for Frost Death Knights.

3.4.1.

Frost Death Knight PvP Talents for Leveling

  1. Deathchill Icon Deathchill can help in large pulls to prevent mobs from all attacking you at the same time!
  2. Necrotic Aura Icon Necrotic Aura is a solid DPS boost since a large portion of our AoE is magical damage
  3. Bloodforged Armor Icon Bloodforged Armor is just a nice defensive boost. There are no other good talents.
4.

Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching level 80! Now that you have hit Level 80, we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level.

5.

Changelog

  • 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed and update for Patch 11.0.7.
  • 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
  • 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
  • 22 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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