Frost DK Tweaks

In the most recent patch notes (not yet live on Beta,) Death Knight Frost got a few tweaks. They're not really big changes, as I don't think we'll really be feeling all that much different, but they clearly want to really set down in stone the differences between the 2H and DW play styles.

Essentially, as was true in Mists, 2H is more about physical damage. We only have one real physical attack, which is Obliterate, but it hits like a freight train. Obliterate is thus getting buffed significantly when using a 2-hander (though I'd take this with a grain of salt, as this is more about class mechanics than tuning. Meanwhile, DW is much more about Frost Damage, which of course has always featured Frost Strike in a prominent role. Frost Strike is also getting buffed, dealing twice the damage baseline while only costing 5 RP more. Then, it will be further buffed while dual-wielding.

The core of the Frost Death Knight beyond the normal class things (like maintaining diseases and managing Runes) is making snap decisions when Killing Machine procs. You need to favor Obliterate for those procs if you're 2H and Frost Strike if you're DW, but also know when to fold 'em and use the less ideal strike so that you don't waste resources.

Honestly, this is pretty much how it is on live, but I think that by magnifying the buffs of Might of the Frozen Wastes and (what is currently called) Threat of Thassarian, it further incentivizes you to actually pay attention to the Killing Machine proc. Right now, on live, there's enough Haste and Crit floating around that you risk wasting resources or procs if you try to wait for the ability you actually want to use on Killing Machine to come up, and with at least 2H favoring Crit so much, the effect of Killing Machine is less immediately noticeable.

I think the per-half-spec buffs to the favored strikes should aid in making that decision-making more important, but we'll have to wait and see how things go when our crit percentages get higher.

One of the issues that DW Frost has run into is that, by stacking enough mastery, one can currently cut Obliterate out of the rotation. You lose Rime procs, but the idea is that you just spam Howling Blast with all your Frost and Death runes, and obviously consume the Runic Power with Frost Strike. You then maintain Blood Plague with your spare Unholy runes, or you cast Death and Decay if it's off cool down and Blood Plague's already up. With Runic Empowerment, keeping one of your Unholy runes unused will mean you'll always be refreshing a Frost or Death rune, which pushes more of your damage into those big, mastery-enhanced Howling Blasts. And then this of course means that you don't really need to worry about Killing Machine, because every proc will always be consumed by Frost Strike, as you won't even be using Obliterate.

The only real change I've seen in the beta to discourage this gameplay is that the Rime proc (though it's not called Rime anymore) now buffs Howling Blast's damage. Is it enough to get you to start using Obliterate again? I don't know, but I tend to favor 2H anyway, so it's just a straight-up buff from my perspective.

The other news is that Rune of Cinderglacier is being removed.

I think Blizzard has never really known what it wants in Runeforging. It's awesome that DKs have class-specific, free weapon enchants, but it's always kind of fallen into "I'm always going to use this rune." Tanks always use Stoneskin Gargoyle (actually, I think there's been some time when the parry rune was favored.) Fallen Crusader has always been favored by DPS, with only Dual-Wielders having the opportunity for a second rune, and thus squeezing in Razorice.

Even in freaking Naxxramas, where I think every single enemy was Undead (ok, there might have been a few beasts and humanoids,) Lichbane still didn't match Fallen Crusader.

So Razorice is getting buffed, both in its Frost Damage portion and its Frost Damage multiplier debuff. My guess, at least as to Blizzard's intention, is for Frost to use Razorice for both 2H and DW, and DW will continue to use Fallen Crusader on the off-hand (where earlier in the beta they seemed to be pushing Cinderglacier there.)

The problem with Runeforging is, because it replaces enchanting, it's got to be a long-term thing. I don't think I've ever seen a DK run back to Acherus to trade out rune forges for a specific fight. And that's actually probably for the best, as that could get really annoying, but it also imposes a limit on it as a class mechanic.

On the other hand, perhaps I should just shut up and be thankful for all the gold I'm saving on weapon enchants.