How To Improve As Frost Death Knight — The War Within (11.1.0)

Because you can have 3 Runes recharging at the same time, any time you are holding 4 or more Runes, you are effectively capped on Runes and wasting potential Rune regeneration. There is never a point in your play where it would be valuable to not cast anything or where you need more than 3 Runes saved up; always keep 3 Runes on cooldown.

Similarly, every point of Runic Power you generate when already at maximum Runic Power is a fraction of a lost Frost Strike. There are instances when you will overcap Runic Power because you are prioritizing not overcapping on Runes, especially in AoE. This is fine and expected behavior.

When playing the Obliteration talent, your damage is highly dependent on your Pillar of Frost windows. If you mess these up ever so slightly, it will have a significant impact on your DPS.

It is crucial that you only use the correct abilities in your Pillar window. Some exceptions exist, but using things like Abomination Limb is a bad idea.

It is also important that you trigger your first Killing Machine as soon as possible. We recommend creating a macro that casts Pillar of Frost and then immediately uses Howling Blast, Frost Strike or Glacial Advance (one macro for each).

There is a macro that will prevent this from occurring, which is provided in the Macros and Addons section.

If you are running the talents Icy Talons or Unleashed Frenzy (you pretty much always will), then you want to make sure to use your Runic Power frequently. One way of doing this more easily is to naturally weave your abilities. Don't press multiple Frost Strike in a row, instead use an ability in between to better keep up your buffs!

If you are running the talent Breath of Sindragosa, then you have noticed it draining your Runic Power fairly quickly. To maximize the duration of your Breath of Sindragosa, you want to start pooling Runic Power properly before you cast it. For any non-lusted Breath, pool 100+!

Pillar of Frost amps up your damage significantly, making it really important to prepare yourself properly for the window. Make sure to save up some Runes and Runic Power before the ability comes off cooldown, so you do not end up starving in the middle of it!