Frost Death Knight Rotation Guide - Midnight Pre-Patch

By khazakdk Updated: 2026/01/20

Frost Death Knight Rotation in The War Within

Spend Killing Machine - Killing Machine is the foundation for all our damage. In addition to a guaranteed crit, it also triggers things like Arctic Assault, Bonegrinder, and Killing Streak.

Spend Rime - Cast Howling Blast with Rime as much as possible. Rime triggers Frostbound Will to recover Empower Rune Weapon faster, granting more Killing Machine procs.

Use Pillar of Frost off cooldown - Pillar of Frost has a relatively short cooldown and should not be held to avoid losing casts.

Hero Talent Choices The current recommendations in are:

Situation

Hero Talent

Link

Single Target

Mythic+

Best Frost Death Knight RotationHero Talent Master Switchesentire page'scurrent recommendation in all content is Best Frost Death Knight Single Target Rotation Please select a Hero Talent option to generate a Single Target priorityUse the ✖ markers to switch to common alternate talent picks based on your loadout.The build options used below are covered in the Talents page. Swaps not included should not change the priority in any meaningful way unless covered elsewhere. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes. OptionsPriorityKilling MachineBreath of SindragosaReaper's MarkOnlyPillar of Frostwithout RimePillar of Frost

Empower Rune Weapon if you have 2 charges

Pillar of Frost

Obliterate if you have 2 Killing Machine stacks

Howling Blast with Rime

Notes Notes

Watch your resources when Pillar of Frost is about to finish its cooldown, and save your Runes if you have less than 4.

Always use Reaper's Mark on the same GCD as Pillar of Frost instead of a Killing Machine generator when playing Deathbringer. The initial hit plus Wave of Souls do a hefty chunk of damage that we want to buff with Pillar of Frost.

Pillar of Frost is off the GCD, so pair it with either Frost Strike, Glacial Advance, or Howling Blast to immediately generate a Killing Machine. Use the highest priority generator for that situation. Or, if you already have a Killing Machine proc, pair Pillar of Frost with Obliterate.

If you are on your last GCD of Pillar of Frost and have less than 2 stacks of Killing Machine, then it is slightly better to generate a second Killing Machine instead of spending.

Best Frost Death Knight AoE Rotation Please select a Hero Talent option to generate a Single Target priorityUse the ✖ markers to switch to common alternate talent picks based on your loadout.The build options used below are covered in the Talents page. Swaps not included should not change the priority in any meaningful way unless covered elsewhere. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes. OptionsPriority

Empower Rune Weapon if you are about to reach 2 charges to avoid cooldown waste

Pillar of Frost

Frostscythe if you have 2 Killing Machine procs, or 1 proc and 3 Runes

Howling Blast with Rime

Empower Rune Weapon to generate Runic Power

Notes Notes

Your priorities are largely the same in AoE as they are in single target. Frostscythe replaces Obliterate, and Glacial Advance replaces Frost Strike at 3+ targets.

Frostbane's proc rate is heavily influenced by how many targets have five stacks of Razorice. Avoid switching targets and popping stacks to maximize the proc chance.

Best Frost Death Knight Opener Please select a Hero Talent option to generate an Opener sequenceUse the ✖ markers next to pick a fight style. Other talent options will populate underneath.The build options used below are covered in the Talents page. Swaps not included should not change the priority in any meaningful way unless covered elsewhere. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes. Fight StyleSelect a Fight Style to Generate a Sequence OptionsBreath of SindragosaSingle Target Sequence

Empower Rune Weapon

Proceed to normal priority

Sample Timeline Notes Notes

Empower Rune Weapon removes the need to setup for Breath of Sindragosa, especially with . Breath of Sindragosa refunds a charge at the start, so always make sure to use one before starting.

Grim Reaper guarantees a Killing Machine proc when casting Reaper's Mark, and Death Knight Deathbringer 11.2 Class Set 2pc grants another through Exterminate. Make sure to follow up immediately with Obliterate to avoid wasting any procs.

Pre-Combat Check Single Button Rotation Assistant Losses for Frost Death KnightAssisted Highlight

Hero Talent

With CDs

Without CDs

~5% DPS loss

~17% DPS loss

~5% DPS loss

~16% DPS loss

One Button

Hero Talent

With CDs

Without CDs

~16% DPS loss

~26% DPS loss

~19% DPS loss

~29% DPS loss

Assisted Highlight

Hero Talent

With CDs

Without CDs

~5% DPS loss

~18% DPS loss

~7% DPS loss

~19% DPS loss

One Button

Hero Talent

With CDs

Without CDs

~18% DPS loss

~28% DPS loss

~16% DPS loss

~30% DPS loss

Frost Death Knight Cooldowns Not Used by Rotation AssistCooldown section of this guide

Breath of Sindragosa

Raise Dead

Items such as potions and on use trinkets

Racial Abilities

Frost Death Knight Major Cooldowns Pillar of Frost‎ Pillar of FrostObliterationEmpower Rune WeaponKilling MachineObliterateKilling Machine Frostwyrm's FuryFrostwyrm's FuryFrostwyrm's FuryUnholy StrengthPillar of FrostPillar of FrostFrostwyrm's FuryPillar of Frost Reaper's MarkReaper's MarkPillar of FrostPillar of FrostWave of SoulsReaper's MarkExterminateReaper's MarkView ChangelogNavigation BarRelated GuidesTable of ContentsFeedbackDiscord server

Tags: PvE

Comments

Comment by Mcshimi

Great guide, missing a very important utility spell however, Raise Ally? Not sure why this is missed. I have noticed there are a lot of Utility baseline spells missing from these class guides overall, not sure if any mod will see this, but they should be edited to correct this missing data, especially since we are so early into the expac, ppl will still be using these for references.

Kind Regards, Shimi

Comment by daadaadaaren

I think there is a mistake under the Sacrificial Pact CD usage. It is not automatic, as far as I can tell. You have to manually cast it towards the end of the ghoul's 1 minute duration

Comment by DraethDarkstar

What's the breakpoint on Frostscythe vs. Obliterate with and without Death's Due / Killing Machine up?

Comment by DragonEyez

What about Frostwyrm's Fury? Is there a recommended usage of the spell?

Comment by Fraeyaa

Death & Decay is useless for Frost DPS. Waste of a GCD

Comment by Alexizonfire

You should probably mention that DnD is only a dps increase on, if i remember correctly, 4+ targets.
Also shouldn't rime procs rank higher than FS for ST rotation (especially as 2h)? Even in the case of rp capping?
In the case of rp capping, i would think the chance of losing a potential rime proc to be more detrimental than capping rp.

Comment by auramau

I don't understand why your AOE cleave rotation section with obliteration and with cooldowns talks so much about Glacial Advance. Glacial Advance was not recommended on the talents page for Obliteration AOE. Is it supposed to be viable? Why is it listed so prominently in the rotation guide but nothing is mentioned when you AREN'T running it?

Comment by evilmark443

What's the best usage of Abomination Limb? I was Night Fae in Shadowlands so Dragonflight is the first time I'm using it, right now I have it in a macro with PoF, ERW, and my trinket (DW Obliteration build).

Comment by Nudelz

There is a little mistake at Abomination Limb, you probably mean Dathea and not Diurna. :)

Comment by ChaosMonkey

Is the M+ AoE rotation the same as the Raid AoE rotation?

Comment by trog

You mention Fatal Fixation in your Obliteration Advanced Concepts section, but that talent did not make it to live.

Comment by ft451

Many thanks for this guide, it’s invaluable to people like me who’s trying to learn how to play Frost.

One question... When talking about ERW, “or whenever you are <6 seconds from fully recharged” refers to ERW recharge time and number of charges, doesn’t it?

Cheers!

Frost Death Knight Rotation Guide - Midnight Pre-Patch

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