Frost Death Knight DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.5)
In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Frost Death Knight in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.5).
Frost Death Knight Mythic+ Guide for The War Within Season 2
In this guide, we will talk about getting the most out of your Frost Death Knight in Mythic+ dungeons, including the best way to set up your character, how your rotation may change, and tips and tricks for using your abilities most optimally.
If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our dedicated Mythic+ page below.
To learn more about the Mythic+ Meta, check out our Mythic+ Tier List below.
Frost Death Knight in The War Within Mythic+
Frost Death Knight is a solid, versatile Mythic+ spec that does not
need to sacrifice much Single Target to do optimal AoE. This means that we do
solid damage on both bosses and trash. Furthermore, our Cooldowns come up relatively frequently.
We have Pillar of Frost every 45 seconds and then either
Frostwyrm's Fury every 1.5min
or
Breath of Sindragosa every 2min depending on what we choose. Finally, we are incredibly
tanky which helps a lot when pushing higher keys.
Best Mythic+ Talents for Frost Death Knight in The War Within
For a more general overview of Talents for Frost Death Knight, please visit our dedicated Talents page.
We generally have two talent builds to choose from in Mythic. Either we pick
up Shattering Blade which requires little coordination from your party. Its
primary burst also comes quickly, making it useful even when pulls are short in lower keys.
The alternative is
Breath of Sindragosa which can work really well in a coordinated group.
It excels in longer pulls with a coordinated group effort where it can do a ton of good damage!
Still, Shattering Blade is what the top keys run and is what we recommend.
Mythic+ Utility for Frost Death Knight in The War Within Season 2
This section talks mostly about the uses of different spells. For in-depth explanations of all Death Knight Abilities and Talents, including these, check out our Spells page.
Utility of Frost Death Knight in The War Within
Interrupts, Stuns and Stops
Mind Freeze is your "kick" and your most important bit of utility in
Mythic+, used to stop enemy casts for the benefit of the group and especially
the tank. It is highly recommended to use a Focus Kick macro for this.
- /stopcasting
- /stopcasting
- /cast [@focus,exists,nodead][@mouseover,exists,nodead] [] Mind Freeze
This macro will kick your focus target if you have one, mouseover if you have no Focus target, and your target if you have neither of those.
To quickly set a focus target in hectic scenarios, we also recommend a Focus Mouseover macro.
- /focus [@mouseover]
Make sure that your UI shows your Focus Target's casts clearly so that you are always able to kick it on cooldown or in coordination with the rest of your group.
Stunning and "Stops"
Blinding Sleet is your "AoE stop". You blind all targets in a cone in front of you, disorienting them for 5 seconds.
Great way of stopping a big pack of mobs casting, especially if the cast is immune to standard interrupt.
Asphyxiate is your Single Target stun, lasting for 5 seconds. Not a
very common pick in our talent loadouts, but it's still a useful crowd-control tool.
Death Grip can both be used to help group up mobs, as well as
stop-cast them. Remember that you need to move the move a certain distance
to actually interrupt it, just so you do not use
Death Grip when
the mob is already on top of you.
Death Grip is notably also a defensive ability. With
Subduing Grasp,
it provides 6% DR against any target you use it on. Useful when you are mitigating
damage in boss fights or mini bosses.
Frostwyrm's Fury with
Absolute Zero stuns all targets hit
for 3 seconds. Not commonly used as a direct crowd control tool, simply a
nice "extra" from a spell that does a huge amount of burst AoE damage.
Other Utility
Raise Ally is a combat-ress that you can use to bring a dead teammate back
to life, even during combat!
Blinding Sleet,
Chains of Ice,
Remorseless Winter
and
Death and Decay with
Grip of the Dead all reduce the movement
speed of enemies hit, allowing us to help any tank that wants to kite the mobs.
Control Undead allows you to control an undead enemy in Mythic+. This is
primarily a crowd-control tool, allowing you to temporarily control and then release
a specifically difficult mob. It can also present an opportunity to do slightly more
damage, as your standard
Raise Ghoul does very little. Remember that you
cannot use
Raise Dead when you are controlling an enemy mob. Below is a
useful macro when you need to recontrol the mob (the spell only lasts for 2 minutes)
- #showtooltip Control Undead
- /target pet
- /script PetDismiss()
- /cast Control Undead
Dungeon Tips and Tricks for Frost Death Knight for The War Within Season 2
This section has Death Knight-specific tips and tricks that may not seem obvious for all dungeons' bosses and mobs.
Mythic+ Tips for Frost Death Knight in The War Within Season 2
Operation: Floodgate
Bosses
- Big M.O.M.M.A
- Use
Death's Advance and stand inside the boss when you get targeted by
Sonic Boom.
- Use
- Demolition Duo
- Follow Keeza Quickfuse as she jumps around and swap back to Bront when he stacks up.
- Leverage
Death and Decay when the bosses are stacked.
- Use
Icebound Fortitude if you get stunned by Bront's charge.
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell if you get targeted by
Kinetic Explosive Gel to help mitigate the damage.
- Swampface
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone during
Awaken the Swamp to help mitigate the damage. Also cycle personal defensives with
Anti-Magic Shell,
Icebound Fortitude,
Lichborne and
Death Grip to survive.
- Use
- Geezle Gigazap
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell if you are targeted with
Gigazap to help mitigate the damage and immune the DoT that otherwise follows.
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone during
Turbo Charge to help mitigate the damage.
- Use
Trash
- Use
Death Grip to group up the Darkfuse Demolitionists. They can easily get left outside of the pack since they simply cast continuously.
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when Bubbles casts
Backwash to immune the application of the DoT. Use
Anti-Magic Zone to help your team survive the damage.
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone during the
Warp Blood cast from the Darkfuse Bloodwarper.
Theater of Pain
Bosses
- An affront of challengers
- Use
Death and Decay as much as possible to cleave during the encounter.
Anti-Magic Shell can be used both to safely traverse the
Noxious Spores on the ground, or to help mitigate the damage from the
Searing Death debuff.
- Use
- Xav the Unfallen
- Save
Death's Advance for
Brutal Combo to dodge the AoEs.
- Use
Death and Decay when
Oppressive Banner spawns to cleave efficiently.
- Do not use your cooldowns just before
Blood and Glory to avoid wasting them on your teammate...
- Save
- Kul'tharok
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when you get targeted by
Well of Darkness to help mitigate the damage.
- Use
Death and Decay on the adds from
Draw Soul to help cleave them down quickly. Use
Death Grip and
Abomination Limb to help group them up if they spawn spread out.
- Use
- Gorechop
- Use
Death and Decay as much as possible to cleave on the adds that spawn.
- Use
Icebound Fortitude and
Lichborne if you get hooked by
Meat Hooks to help mitigate the damage.
- Use
- Mordretha, the Endless Empress
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell to help mitigate the damage from
Manifest Death. Also use
Death and Decay to cleave the adds and
Death Grip/
Abomination Limb to group them up.
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from
Echoes of Carnage as the boss reaches 50%, it deals heavy magic AoE damage to the party.
- Use
Death's Advance to immune to pulling effect from
Grasping Rift.
- Use
Trash
- Use
Death Grip to grip in and interrupt Blighted Sludge-Spewer when they cast
Withering Discharge. They frequently jump around which can make them difficult to interrupt.
The Rookery
Bosses
- Kyrioss
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell to help mitigate the damage from
Crashing Thunder.
- Use
- Stormguard Gorren
- You can use
Anti-Magic Shell to complete negate the
Chaotic Corruption mechanic. Use AMS and then stand close to the person with the debuff. When it jumps to you, you immune the application and remove the mechanic, very useful! You can do this on every other cast. It also works if you are the first target, simple transfer to someone else and then immune it when it jumps back to you.
- Use
Death's Advance to immune the pulling effect from
Dark Gravity.
- You can use
- Voidstone Monstrosity
- Use your
Pillar of Frost on pull but save your
Frostwyrm's Fury/
Breath of Sindragosa for the first
Void Shell break when the boss takes increased damage. It usually takes 45 seconds (depending on difficulty) and you want to put as much damage into the boss as possible during this phase.
- Use your
Trash
- Use
Death's Advance to negate the pulling effect from
Attracting Shadows cast by Coalescing Void Diffuser.
The MOTHERLODE!!!
Bosses
- Coin-Operated Crowd Pummeler
- Save your first set of cooldowns until the first
Footbomb Launcher set. This will align your 45 second CDs with every damage amp phase!
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell for
Static Pulse. You mitigate the raw damage and immune the DoT that would otherwise apply after the damage. You can also use
Death's Advance to avoid the knockback.
- Save your first set of cooldowns until the first
- Azerokk
- Make sure to leverage
Death and Decay as much as possible to cleave on the adds. Also use
Death Grip to keep them stacked.
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell for
Resonant Quake to mitigate the damage.
- Make sure to leverage
- Rixxa Fluxflame
- Use
Death's Advance when you are targeted by
Propellant Blast to immune the knockback.
- Be careful when using
Anti-Magic Shell, it will immune
Propellant Blast which is not something you want to do. You can pre-use it for
Azerite Catalyst to immune it.
- Use
- Mogul Razdunk
- DoT up both the adds in the intermission when they spawn.
Trash
- You can use
Icebound Fortitude if you get targeted by
Iced Spritzer to get out of the stun.
- You can use
Death Grip to help control Crawler Mines in the area before the final boss. Help out your teammates and create more efficient cleave!
Priory of the Sacred Flame
Bosses
- Captain Dailcry
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when the boss casts
Holy Radiance to mitigate the damage and generate Runic Power. Also use
Anti-Magic Zone for this.
- Use
- Baron Braunpyke
- We are really good at soaking up the
Sacrificial Pyre since we immune the DoT with
Anti-Magic Shell. However, it still soaks up a part of the shield so we can only soak a limited amount! The number of stacks you can trigger depends on the level of the key and your defensives. On a +16, you can soak 5 as long as you
Icebound Fortitude up. Keep an eye out on when you receive the DoT and stop soaking at that point. Furthermore, wait with using
Anti-Magic Shell until after
Castigator's Shield to avoid it soaking up your shield.
- We are really good at soaking up the
- Prioress Murrpray
Anti-Magic Shell completely immunes
Blinding Light, no need to turn away even.
- Use
Blinding Sleet to help slow and control the adds that spawn at the start of phase 2.
Trash
- No specific DK tips here.
Operation: Mechagon
Bosses
- Tussle Tonks
- Leverage
Death and Decay as much as possible here to cleave.
- Make sure to swap away from Platinum Pummeler when it casts
Platinum Plating. Swap back when the tank stuns it with one of the hammers.
- Leverage
- K.U.-J.0.
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when targeted by
Explosive Leap to help mitigate the damage.
- Use
- Machinist's Garden
- You can use
Anti-Magic Shell and walk over the
Hidden Flame Cannon beam without taking any damage. This is very useful if you end up out of position when the ability shows up!
- You can use
- King Mechagon
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when targeted by
Mega-Zap. This mitigates the damage and immunes the DoT that otherwise follows.
- Use
Death's Advance to mitigate the pull effect from
Magneto-Arm. Also use
Anti-Magic Zone to help your group mitigate the damage.
- Use
Trash
- You can use
Anti-Magic Shell to immune the healing absorb from
Corrosive Gunk cast by the Metal Gunk mobs.
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from the following abilities:
Mega Drill cast by Waste Processing Unit.
Fiery Jaws cast by Junkyard D.0.G. Use
Anti-Magic Shell can also immune the DoT if you have it on before the mob jumps on you.
Short Out cast by Defense Bot Mk III.
High Explosive Rockets cast by Spider Tank.
Darkflame Cleft
Bosses
- Ol'Waxbeard
- Use
Blinding Sleet to help control the adds during
Luring Candleflame, it makes it a lot easier to kite them!
- Use
Death and Decay when the adds are stacked on the boss to cleave as much as possible.
- Use
- Blazikon
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell and
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from
Dousing Breath.
- Use
- The Candle King
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell and
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from
Eerie Molds. Try and coordinate with your healer to not overlap defensive party cooldowns.
- Use
- The Darkness
- Use
Lichborne to break the fear if the boss casts its fear (if the candle heat is depleted).
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when targeted by
Shadowblast.
- Use
Trash
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from
Quenching Blast cast by Wandering Candle.
Cinderbrew Meadery
Bosses
- Brew Master Aldyr
- You can use
Anti-Magic Shell to immune the application of
Throw Cinderbrew. There is a visual yellow mob that gets thrown on two players so keep an eye out and react if the blob moves to you.
- Use
Icebound Fortitude if you get stuck in a Crawling Brawl.
- You can use
- I'pa
- Use
Death Grip and
Abomination Limb to help group up the adds.
- Use
- Benk Buzzbee
- Use
Death Grip and
Abomination Limb to help group up the adds.
- Use
Death's Advance to avoid the knockback effect of
Fluttering Wing.
- Use
- Goldie Baronbottom
- Use
Anti-Magic Zone to help mitigate the damage from
Let It Hail!. This usually also triggers
Cindering Wounds stacks on players so will also mitigate that.
- Use
Anti-Magic Shell when targeted by
Burning Ricochet to mitigate the damage and immune the DoT that comes afterwards.
- Use
Trash
- No DK-specific tips here.
Affix Tips, Tricks and Management for Frost Death Knight in The War Within Season 2
This page mostly has Death-Knight-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. If you want general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.
How To Sim Mythic+ for Frost Death Knight
MDT Sim
MDT Sim is the best way to sim Mythic+ for Frost Death Knight. It allows you to sim an entire dungeon, pull-by-pull, with appropriate HP amounts and so on. In this way, you get a full picture within a single sim, of various target counts and durations. I have created a route that I feel is a good "average" of all dungeons that you can use. Drop the contents of the Pastebin into your Raidbots > SimC Expert Mode at the bottom > 'Footer'. Detailed instructions and more info on MDT Sim can be found on the MDT Sim Wago page.
On our Gear Page below, we have compiled BiS items for Frost Death Knight that also apply to Mythic+.
Changelog
- 21 Apr. 2025: Added extensive dungeon tips.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Reviewed and updated for Patch 11.1.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed and update for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for The War Within Season 1.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated talents for Season 4.
- 22 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Added note on Scythe usage.
- 15 Dec. 2023: Updated Obliteration KM priority.
- 15 Dec. 2023: Clarified DnD location in pillar for AoE.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2. Expanded on rotation significantly.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Updated talents for Patch 10.1. and removed Thundering affix mention.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated talent builds for 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.
More Death Knight Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Bicepspump, a semi-hardcore player raiding with Pescorus on Kazzak. He is heavily involved in the DK DPS theorycrafting community, testing hyoptheses and investigating the correct priority to use. He produces guide content on YouTube and frequently streams on Twitch.
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