Confusion on Frost Specs (DPS)Follow

Note: My DK is 60. I don't have ANY working knowledge of DKs besides playing with them in my raid and reading a lot about them.

The Story: A new DK in my guild was invited to Naxx last week. He was specced blood, and did between 800-1200 DPS. Looking at his gear showed the first problem; his gear choices seemed to be "anything with plate is good." Most of his items were green; his trinkets were from the beginning SK quests, and half of his items had parry, dodge, or defense on them. His spec seemed ok, but I remember hearing that blood is the most gear-dependent spec, and that frost was the least. I recommended he switch to spec, looked up a spec from Elitist Jerks, and gave it to him.

His spec: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=jfVMVZGMxtIxdRhoVosx

From this discussion (Frosty DPS discussion).

Yesterday, with a few upgrades (but not nearly enough, IMO) he ran heroic UK with some other guildies. He hit around 1.2k DPS... not a huge improvement, although a bit of one. After, the priest healer in the group asked me who gave him the spec, and I said I did. He said it had a few points misplaced. Perplexed, I looked up Elitist Jerks again... and noticed a completely different Frost DPS discussion: Freezing Hell Over: Frost DPS. This thread had three specs, including another 17/54/0 spec, http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=jfVMVZGLxthxdRhoVost.

I'll admit, I'm lost on where to look and what to choose to help this guy. He is VERY receptive to advice, but seems to not understand almost anything about his DK (his main is apparently an elemental shaman). Was I right in recommending frost for him? Or would unholy be better (it might be in 3.1, but I hear Scourge Strike is a little underwhelming right now?).

His armory: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Sen'jin&n=Dreadnaughte

Additional notes:
1. His spec has apparently changed once again to some strange combination of things. It is in none of the EJ threads.
2. Looking at his gear you can get an idea of what he used to have by looking at his rings, leggings, and trinkets. The hands were a hold-over from our Naxx run; even with the int and the fact that they're mail they were a big upgrade for him. He obviously still needs enchants and gems. He got a new helm, but I think he should go for the SPiked Titansteel, because of the meta.

I don't believe the 17/54/0 spec in Freezing Hell over is dual-wield, as it takes two-handed spec and skips Nerves of Cold Steel.

True, and I'll be suggesting something like that once 3.1 breaks, but we have at least a month before the next patch comes out. I'd like the DK to get used to frost spells and abilities before then (or any viable tree really; again, see my reasoning for frost in the OP), and to hopefully up his DPS above 1.2k before another month goes by.

Frost DPS spec can vary depending on raid make up (with or without Icy Talons, etc). This is the build I used for my DKs first Naxx with crafted blacksmith stuff and quest/instance blues and greens (4200 on Patchwerk that run, over 3 min kill).

Note: DPS will vary from raid to heroic due to raid buffs.

Something to consider is how comfortable the player is with the the spec and role in the first place. If he's new to melee and is constantly respecing he's just not going to hit any real potential until things settle down a bit. Even with the optimal potential spec, until a player is at ease with their role/class/etc they're going to lag a bit behind the curve. There's also gear level to consider: Blood is awesome at higher gear levels where as Unholy (especially 32/39 which is going away in 3.1) can do wonders with lower-grade gear. At least by proxy of an equally geared raid. "Optimal" spec varies.

My suggestion is for him to pick a spec and stick to it for a bit, then start running heroics like a bat outta hell. Even if the spec would be non-optimal it might be better to have one less thing to concern themselves with while they learn how to gear and how to melee.

Good luck!

Edited, Mar 2nd 2009 5:06pm by TherionSaysWhat

its ok, you wont recognize it when you see it. look on the bright side tho; youll get to meet new people every day!

Yeah, we were feeling cocky after we downed KT two weeks in a row and tried to sub in some sub-par members. It backfired a bit. Now that we have over 20 players we can stand to be a little discriminating in who we bring along :)