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The most recent expansion ofWorld of Warcraftcompletely reworks the entire design of the talents system across all the classes in the game. This changeharkens back to the early daysof the game when talent selections had a lot more options branching out in various directions. Many players will be happy to knowthe talent tree is back!
Talent System Changes
The biggest change players will see is thatthere are now 2 treesin the Talents Menu. On the Left is the Death KnightClass Talent Tree, and on the Right is the FrostSpecialization Talent Tree.At the max level 70 inWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Players have31points to spend in Death Knight Talents and30points to spend in Frost Talents. The choices for different builds are vast and may be overwhelming, but in the end, there will always end up being a meta build that everyone will be playing.
Taking a look at the new Talents Menu on or afterOctober 25th, 2022, the day that these changes are implemented, the first thing players should look for is the drop-down menu in the bottom left-hand corner. Here players can Save, Share, and Select talent builds they’ve made. This is really useful to quickly swap between different talent builds between encounters to really maximize your performance. You’ll notice there is actually a “Starter Build” option already in this menu to help get you going.
Talent Builds For Frost Death Knights In WoW: Dragonflight
Firstly, let’s talk about the Class Talent Tree on the left. There isn’t a lot of movement with this Talent Tree as there are a lot of obvious choices for improved damage and only a few that provide some different utility depending on the encounter.
We’ve taken a close look at the talent trees and here are some of our recommendations for how to make the most out of your Frost Death Knight talent build.
Frost Death Knight Class Talents
As certain options are locked behind specific paths and point limitations (8 points spent to access row 5 and 20 points spent to access row 8) let’s go over the choices starting at the top of the talent tree and work our way down.
Row 1:
Chains of Iceis given by default.Death Strike, while it is generally not used for DPS it is taken simply to access talents in the next rows.Raise Deadprovides a ghoul for 1 minute and is the only way to accessBrittleandMight of Thassarianfurther down.
Row 2:
Mind Freezeis the primary interrupt.Anti-Magic Shellprovides magic damage mitigation and generates Runic Power.Cleaving Strikesmakes Obliterate a cleave ability when standing in Death and Decay.
Row 3:
Permafrostis generally going to be the standard choice in PvE to help mitigate damage.
Anti-Magic BarrierandEnfeebleare the only options in this row as the other options don’t directly improve damage.
Row 4:
Icebound Fortitudeis the only option on the left and it provides a good damage mitigation cooldown, it is also the only way to access a number of necessary talents further down.Veteran of the Third Waris only chosen for talents below. AndBrittleis a mandatory straight-up damage booster.
Row 5:
Merciless Strikesincreases Crit and is the better DPS option overAcclimation.Anti-Magic Zone,a defensive skill, and the only option, but will be used to generate Runic Power via the talent below it,Assimilation. Might of Thassarian, taken for obvious reasons (increased strength).
Row 6:
Gloom Wardwould be the standard selection for more damage mitigation, however,Proliferating Chillwill be mandatory on cleave fights thanks toCold Heartin the Frost Talent Tree.Assimilationwill be helpful in generating more Runic Power.
Row 7:
Runic Attenuation,another obvious damage booster for more Runic Power generation.Wraith Walkwhile not a direct dps improvement is the most direct path to getUnholy Bondas we are restricted by some necessary previous selections.
Row 8:
Insidious Chillto apply the melee speed reduction debuff and is the better DPS option vsBlood Drawto get toIcy Talons. Will of the Necropolisis better for damage mitigation and gives access toRune Mastery>Abomination Limb.
Row 9:
Icy Talons, Rune Mastery,andUnholy Bondare all necessary for improving overall damage.
Row 10:
Empower Rune WeaponandAbomination Limbare the clear targets for increased damage.Soul Reaperwon’t see much usage unless the execute phase needs to be cleared faster.
Frost Death Knight Specialization Talents
The Frost Talent Tree can be easier to visualize as this:Single-Target attacks on the far Left and AoE attacks on the far Right. There are definitely some key talents that are required, but there is quite a bit of flexibility in creating a talent build, or multiple builds, that works for you in any scenario.
Currently, there are 2 distinct play styles that have been found to have very similar performance in terms of damage output in Raids.
Obliteration Build
Use this code to import for a level 60 in Pre-Patch. Some final talents will be missing until you hit 70: BsPAdLUHklrTr3hBIcYWdbnCGTEAiEiASQISSIiIJJJRAkQCIJJJJpJBAAAAAAAAAAAA
Breath of Sindragosa Build
Use this code to import for a level 60 in Pre-Patch. Some final talents will be missing until you hit 70: BsPAdLUHklrTr3hBIcYWdbnCGHRAISICIBhIJhIikkkEEQCJISSSSSaAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Explanation Of Selected Talents
As it isstill early in the development of the expansion, there isn’t a lot of data available from boss encounter logs to really provide the meta build. Once we’ve had time to comb through the parses and leaderboards we’ll update this post to contain the Best Meta Talent Builds for both Raids and PvP in their respective sections.
Rows 1 through 4:
There isn’t any room for diversity here between each build.Runic Commandis an option to take in combination with Glacial Advance for a more AoE focused build.
Improved Obliterate, Pillar of FrostandImprovedRimeare the necessary choices in both builds.Glacial Advancecould see some play in strictly AoE encounters, and as it standsFrostscytheisn’t performing very well.
ObliterationBuild:
Breath of SindragosaBuild:
Cold Heartprovides some nice free extra damage withChains of Iceand will be really great for cleave fights whenProliferating Chillis selected.Enduring Strengthis a must-have for better DPS.Frostwhelp’s Aidisn’t performing very well at the moment leavingHorn of Winteras the better option for obtaining the second charge ofEmpower Rune Weapon.
There’s also some play to be had here for a pure AoE spec withBiting ColdandChill Streak,but the trade-offs needed to perform well in Single-Target encounters as well are too high.
There are 4 clear choices here for both builds,Murderous Efficiency,Inexorable Assault, Icecap, and Empower Rune Weapon.Icecap synergizes really well with the Obliteration Build, providing guaranteed crits while Pillar of Frost is active. Additionally, with the Obliteration Build, there is 1 remaining point that could go here, into Gathering Storm for instance, for better AoE.
Bonegrinderis going to be necessary for those big Obliterate Crits.Avalanchemakes applying Razorice to many targets really easy.
Row 9 and 10:
This is where each build gets its namesake from the last talents here. GrabbingCold-Blooded Rageto getObliterationorInvigorating FreezeforBreath of Sindragosa.Unfortunately,Frostwyrm’s Furyjust isn’t performing well in PvE but might see some potential uses in PvP.
And that’s all there is to it! Not so bad after all, eh?
Finally, at the bottom right of the Talent Menu there are three optional talents. These are Talents used in PvP and don’t have any effect on raid DPS.
Stay tuned for more WoW Dragonflight content as we’ll be adding more content and guides just like we’ve done with ourWotLK Classic Directory!
