Disappointed with Frost DPS at 70Follow

So, I've decided to seriously start playing my DK until 3.1 comes out. I leveled 55-70 as Unholy and really enjoyed it. My initial (uneducated) decision was based on my assumptions that Blood was very gear dependent and seemed to be somewhat similar to an Arms warrior, which I've played before, and that Frost was the tanking tree, and I already had a level 80 prot warrior. So I chose unholy for something different.

I read some of the FAQs here, and saw that there were really good DPS specs available in all 3 trees. So I figured I'd try them out. At 70, I was doing ~750 DPS while soloing as unholy. Not great, but nothing really seemed to live long enough to require more than one cycle of IT, PS, BS, BS, SS, DC. I'm sure my sustained DPS would be somewhat higher, but that's all I have to go on.

My gear isn't very good. It's all quest rewards that I've acquired in the early Borean Tundra quests, but I decided to try out this frost DPS build (it's basically a variation of 21/50 build that Theo has in the DPS FAQ). I know that Frost is more gear dependent that Unholy, but I figured it'd be fun to try out anyway. Wow, what a DPS hit after switching. I can't even manage 600 at this point. I suppose I'm not entirely used to the new rotation, but I can't seem to kill anything without Runes refreshing or getting lucky on crit strings. I'm using the IT, PS, BS, BS, OB, RP Dump followed by IT, PS, OB, OB, RP Dump if the mob isn't dead by the time the runes reset.

Granted, my gear sucks, but I just can't believe how big of a drop in DPS this was. Is my gear just too sh*tty to play this spec, are the last 10 talent points that crucial to the build, or do I just fail at Frost? I feel like there's this awkward gap in my rotation where I have nothing to do but wait until my runes refresh to start using abilities again. I never felt this way with unholy.

Anyway, Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

-Camel

4 Expertise was also lost in that decision.

And, you DO realize that you are losing 10% on your Icy Touches by not using them after Plague Strike, right?

Icy Talons is also mostly useless when leveling. Your mobs should be dead WAY too fast for you to ever even notice an increased swing speed. You can still take it if you really want to. It'll help some in longer fights. But anything single target should be over in seconds. And most of your mobs in a group will all be dying at the same time (so you won't be switching to them).

Lichborne is pretty hardcore right now, especially with AoE. I use it ALL THE TIME. Sure, it isn't like I am taking that much damage, but it means I can potentially move on to another pack of mobs without healing or sacrificing Oblit for DS.

Merciless Combat is also mostly useless. Everything but an elite will be dead in 1 strike (2 MAX) under 35% health. Oblits generally do 1k to 3k with bad gear (depending on level. Mine do about 2K noncrit at level 80, using an axe I got from Borean Tundra and geared for tanking, not DpS). Normal mobs have 10K health or so, I believe. So, they would have to have less than 3500 (or =) for you to get a damage boost. And, even then, 12% more damage probably isn't the deciding factor in whether or not your next ability kills it.

Endless Winter and Chillbrains make solo kiting elites ridiculously easy. Rotation is stupidly simple. CoI, HB, BB, BB, DC, repeat. They'll never hit you (especially if you are in Unholy Presence), and they'll take a ton more damage because you aren't HBing a FFless mob. Use your Ghoul whenever it refreshes, as well as other CDs. You will also have a free silence this way.

And Frost has one of the cleanest rotations around. PS->IT->Oblit/HB->Pest/BS->Pest/BS->FS->Oblit->Oblit->Oblit/HB->FS, repeat. There is, like, a one second gap in there I think (it is the same as any other tree, but you get two death runes easily all the time).

Here is a build you can try.

If you don't plan to ever solo kite elites, you can move the 3 points from Morbidity into Anticipation. You can then take the 5 from Endless Winter/Chillbrains and put it into Toughness (15% more armor means more from Bladed Armor and more mitigation) or Icy Talons (I recommend the earlier, as many spells use AP as a coefficient but haste only helps auto attacks). If you want, you can move 2 from Frost Aura to Frigid Deathplate. Your choice.

[EDIT]

Forgot a "not."

Edited, Apr 3rd 2009 5:06pm by idiggory

Wow, sorry about that. Here it is.

Like I said, there is a lot of room to change things around.

Yes... Now I'm just confused. I TESTED it last night (and that was AFTER clearing my cookies...) I'm assuming I should just not be posting when tired. ;.;

Take #459845. I'll just manually open it, to be safe.

Here.

Because, the lat post is like 400 up, I'll repost some details on things you can change based on preference.

#1. Endless Winter + Chillbrains -> Toughness. EW and Chill will give you a lot more control in PvP and kiting situations (such as elites), but Toughness will keep you going longer and increase DpS (through Bladed Armor).

#2. If you won't be kiting Elites (and, thus, aren't taking EW+Chill), then I would move the 3 points from Morbidity into Anticipation. This gives 3% dodge for more mitigation when soloing. Nothing special, but nothing to scoff at either. And it is better than 15% DC damage, because Frost will only use that when kiting.

#3. You have 52 in Frost. Frost Aura is 2 points, for 80 resist in all schools. This is pretty good in the long run, but you probably will never actually notice anything from it. Plus, with AMS, you will (read: should) never be taking that much magic damage when soloing. So, you have a lot of options with these two points. Only 1 has to stay in Frost. You can put that wherever you want (I suggest Frigid Deathplate, Toughness or Acclimation[both better and worse than it sounds]). You can then put the second point in that as well, or move it elsewhere. You could get +1% Strength from Unholy, 1% crit from Blood or Rune Tap for some self-healing every minute (useful if you don't want to sacrifice an Oblit for a Death Strike).

So, *my* build that sacrifices Elite kiting ability would personally look like this. Personally, I don't give a damn about Deathchill. I get KM procs on most of my HBs/ITs/FSs as it is. So, I keep the 2 points in Frost Aura and grab Rune Tap (Well, *I* would go for Acclimation or something, not liking Rune Tap, but it is probably a smart move). But, if you want Deathchill, you can sacrifice a point in Frost Aura for Rune Tap, if you want it.

Good luck, have fun and hope your build turns out well.^^

I found Frost to be my favorite build while leveling--hope you will also.