The following compares the current state of Fire Mages to Frost Death Knights using the latest SimulationCraft data for end-game PvE in World of Warcraft The War Within patch 11.0.2.
Comparison
Category
Winner
Frost Death Knight
+11.75%
When simulating boss fight encounters, Frost Death Knights averaged 11.75% more DPS than Fire Mages (+179K DPS).
Frost Death Knight
+21.01%
When simulating AoE DPS, Frost Death Knights averaged 21.01% more DPS than Fire Mages (+172K DPS).
Frost Death Knight
+55.02%
Frost Death Knights have higher spike damage potential, achieving +2.9M more DPS than Fire Mages.
Spike damage is the peak DPS achieved in any given moment and is not sustained DPS.
Fire Mage
+1.12%
When upgrading the gear for both specs by +44 ilvl, Fire Mage DPS improved the most, +1.12% more than Frost Death Knight. In total, Fire Mages DPS increased by 66.2% and Frost Death Knights by 65.08%.
Frost Death Knight
+14.33%
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 14.08% for Frost Death Knights.
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 28.41% for Fire Mages.
When introducing occasional movement and real-world latency, Frost Death Knights performed better, as Fire Mages suffered a +14.33% DPS loss.
Fire Mage
When evaluating abilities used during boss encounters, Fire Mages had fewer damaging abilities in total, indicating a potentially less complex rotation.
The comparisons above highlight some of the key differences between Fire Mage and Frost Death Knight in the current meta, which can hopefully help you determine which spec to play or group up with.
Frost Death Knight
Fire Mage