DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Frost Death Knight abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

• ObliterateView detailsIf 2 Killing Machine procs.
• Howling BlastView detailsIf Rime proc.
• Frost StrikeView detailsIf 5 stacks of Razorice.
• ObliterateView detailsIf 1 Killing Machine proc.
• Frost Strike
• Obliterate

Consume Killing Machine procs with Obliterate, prioritizing 2 stacks. Use Howling Blast for Rime procs and Frost Strike with 5 stacks of Razorice. Spend excess Runic Power with Frost Strike and use Obliterate as a filler.

AoE

• FrostscytheView detailsIf 2 Killing Machine procs.
• ObliterateView detailsIf 2 Killing Machine procs.
• Howling BlastView detailsIf Rime proc.
• Remorseless Winter
• Frost StrikeView detailsIf Frostbane proc.
• FrostscytheView detailsIf 1 Killing Machine proc.
• ObliterateView detailsIf 1 Killing Machine proc.
• Glacial Advance
• Frostscythe
• Obliterate

In AoE, prioritize Frostscythe for Killing Machine procs, followed by Obliterate. Use Howling Blast for Rime procs and Remorseless Winter on cooldown. Spend Runic Power with Glacial Advance or Frost Strike if Frostbane is talented.

Cooldowns

• Reapers MarkView detailsAlign with Pillar Of Frost.
• Pillar Of FrostView detailsUse on cooldown, ideally with trinkets or potions.
• Remorseless WinterView detailsUse on cooldown or align with Pillar Of Frost.
• Empower Rune WeaponView detailsUse to avoid overcapping or during Pillar Of Frost.
• Breath Of SindragosaView detailsUse with 60 Runic Power and Pillar Of Frost.
• Frostwyrms FuryView detailsUse before or during Pillar Of Frost.
• ObliterationView detailsActive during Pillar Of Frost to generate Killing Machine procs.

Use Reapers Mark and Pillar Of Frost together. Align Breath Of Sindragosa and Frostwyrms Fury with Pillar Of Frost. Use Empower Rune Weapon to maintain resources and Remorseless Winter on cooldown or with Pillar Of Frost.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.