Reflecting on the Evolution of Frost Death Knight in Dragonflight & War Within Wishlist - Editorial

Frost Death Knight in Dragonflight: A Retrospective

As the sun sets on Dragonflight and The War Within looms on the horizon, it's time to reflect on the journey of Frost Death Knights in this expansion. Dragonflight brought about significant changes to class mechanics, providing an opportunity for Frost to evolve and lay a foundation for its gameplay in the next era. With significant changes coming to a halt, it's crucial to critically assess the current state of Frost and explore ways to improve it in The War Within.

Accommodating Multiple Playstyles

One of the primary challenges for the talent tree design in Dragonflight was accommodating the two distinct playstyles of Frost. The first, Breath of Sindragosa, focused on resource management, while the second, Obliteration, revolved around generating Killing Machine within Pillar of Frost. Additionally, the talent tree needed to support both dual-wield and two-hand weapon types. Overall, the talent tree succeeded in supporting multiple build types, allowing each to shine in specific niches. Obliteration became the dominant build for Mythic+ with its burst damage, while Breath of Sindragosa excelled in sustained cleave for raid encounters. This design ensured that Frost had alternatives available for different types of content.

However, the design came with its drawbacks. After changes in 10.0.7, dual-wield Obliteration builds became less competitive due to insufficient talent support. This resulted in the talent tree feeling static and limiting experimentation within each build.

The Lack of Flexible Talent Points

One significant issue that plagued Frost throughout Dragonflight was the lack of flexible talent points. The key build-defining talents, such as Breath of Sindragosa and Obliteration, were expensive to reach, leaving little room for experimentation. Tier sets further limited talent flexibility, resulting in stagnant builds with apparent disparities in talent balance. Frost players felt the need for more variation within each build, but the talent tree's structure restricted their options.

Additionally, certain talent nodes, such as Cold-Blooded Rage and Invigorating Freeze, felt inadequate in terms of impact and position within the talent tree. These talents acted as tax nodes, deterring Frost from taking more powerful talents. The talent tree needed rebalancing to provide players with meaningful choices and a greater sense of flexibility.

The Issues with Obliteration

Obliteration, one of Frost's distinct builds, had its share of problems in Dragonflight. Notably, the reliance on Cleaving Strikes, a ground effect ability with positioning requirements, made gameplay less enjoyable. Players couldn't control the position of enemies in group content, resulting in suboptimal usage of Obliteration. The overwhelming focus on Obliterate also diminished the importance of other AoE abilities, making the spec feel one-dimensional.

Another issue was Icecap, which reduced the spec's resilience against downtime. Forced downtime led to a loss of important buffs, making gameplay more punishing. Introducing a choice node that turns Icecap into passive cooldown reduction could help offset this penalty and offer better resilience against downtime.

The Challenges of Breath of Sindragosa

Breath of Sindragosa, Frost's other prominent build, faced its own set of challenges. One major drawback was the high uptime requirement, which made it difficult to sustain in content that didn't support constant uptime. While achieving good uptime required coordination in a group, the reward wasn't proportionate to the risk involved with Breath of Sindragosa. This led to a decline in the use of Breath of Sindragosa in Mythic+ content, where the risk outweighed the benefit.

In an attempt to curb the dominance of Breath of Sindragosa, changes were made in 10.0.7 to increase its Runic Power cost. However, these changes failed to significantly impact its uptime and instead made the build more punishing. To revive Breath of Sindragosa in The War Within, it should revert to its previous cost, and the resource economy needs rebalancing.

The Identity Crisis

Looking at Frost's gameplay in both builds, it becomes apparent that the spec lacks a compelling gameplay hook and meaningful utility. Obliteration and Breath of Sindragosa both suffer from an overload of resources, making the spec feel one-dimensional. Frost Death Knights need distinct gameplay identities that separate the builds and make each one more engaging and impactful.

Furthermore, Frost Death Knights lack meaningful utility compared to other classes. While having a monopoly on Death Grip is beneficial, grips have become forgettable in many encounters. In Mythic+, Death Knights often struggle to assist with certain affixes, relying on the rest of the group for solutions. To differentiate Frost Death Knights and enhance their utility, new abilities or enhancements to existing ones are necessary.

Conclusion

Frost Death Knights in Dragonflight underwent significant changes and faced unique challenges. While the spec successfully offered two distinct builds, there were drawbacks that hindered gameplay variation and limited talent flexibility. Moving forward, improvements are needed to refine each build's playstyle and enhance Frost's overall identity. The pieces for a well-designed spec are there, awaiting attention and polish.

About the Author

This blog post was written by Khazak, a dedicated Frost Death Knight player with extensive experience and knowledge of the class. Khazak is a moderator in Acherus, the Death Knight class Discord, and also contributes code and APL for Death Knights on SimC. They raid in the guild Agency on Zul'jin US and occasionally stream raids on Twitch. If you have any questions or comments about this guide, feel free to reach out to Khazak on Discord.

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