The following compares the current state of Frost Death Knights to Shadow Priests 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
+8.12%
When simulating boss fight encounters, Frost Death Knights averaged 8.12% more DPS than Shadow Priests (+124K DPS).
Shadow Priest
+5.11%
When simulating AoE DPS, Shadow Priests averaged 5.11% more DPS than Frost Death Knights (+44K DPS).
Frost Death Knight
+7.94%
Frost Death Knights have higher spike damage potential, achieving +424.7K more DPS than Shadow Priests.
Spike damage is the peak DPS achieved in any given moment and is not sustained DPS.
Shadow Priest
+1.79%
When upgrading the gear for both specs by +44 ilvl, Shadow Priest DPS improved the most, +1.79% more than Frost Death Knight. In total, Shadow Priests DPS increased by 66.87% and Frost Death Knights by 65.08%.
Shadow Priest
+5.89%
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 8.19% for Shadow Priests.
+ Movement and latency lowered the DPS by 14.08% for Frost Death Knights.
When introducing occasional movement and real-world latency, Shadow Priests performed better, as Frost Death Knights suffered a +5.89% DPS loss.
Shadow Priest
When evaluating abilities used during boss encounters, Shadow Priests had fewer damaging abilities in total, indicating a potentially less complex rotation.
The comparisons above highlight some of the key differences between Frost Death Knight and Shadow Priest in the current meta, which can hopefully help you determine which spec to play or group up with.
Frost Death Knight
Shadow Priest