DK Tanking, Frost Style

This one's for you, Amorgan...

First things first--there are really only 2 successful ways to spec as a DK tank: Blood or Frost. While Blood has some general benefits against single targets (ie. raid bosses), for everyday tanking, Frost is my spec of choice. It has some nice burst threat generation, bonus armor and great cooldowns to use on a consistent basis.

Thing #2-- Forget about DW tanking. Yes. You heard that right. I don't care how cool it looks, or that you're swinging faster and thereby generating more threat, or yada yada yada. I've played it. 2H weapons are better itemized for DK tanking--making it easier to hit and expertise cap. And, once these criteria are met, that big 2H wep should be hittin hard enough to make up for the faster swings of DW.

Peep the spec: FROST TANK

You have 3 utility points here. Personally, I'd take 3 points from Scent of Blood and trade for Morbidity for faster DnD cooldown. However, the added runic power means more runestrikes and froststrikes...so it's gonna mean a difference of single target vs. AoE threat...

Rotation(s):
Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-OB-BS-BS IT-PS-OB-OB RPDUMP = RS/FS
Multi-Target Rotation - DnD-IT-PS-Pest then TAB-HB/Pest/BloodBoil RPDUMP = RS/FS




Now that the niceties are over, let's get down to business. DK's aren't Pally's. We can't pull threat then go afk to make a sandwich. We don't have a swipe or cleave, and can't tab-sunder. Tanking is work, and we are a workhorse.

As dps gear increases, you'll find that holding threat on multiple mobs will be a chore. Technically, as dps gear increases, their dps output should increase linearly as well, allowing them to kill shit before it becomes an actual problem.

How to hold threat:
Apply diseases to everything. IT, PS, Pest. This, on top of a DnD is a good start. After the initial pull, pop Empower Rune Weapon to free up some abilities, or Blood Tap to use a Blood Boil. Utilize whatever abilities you have that affect multiple targets. The idea here is, the more damage you do to everything, the more threat you hold on everything. Keep an eye on diseases, and dont refresh until they're about to fall off. Runewatch is an excellent addon that will help you watch disease times...
And if you find yourself in a GCD situation with extra runic power, tab-Frost Strike to spread the love =)

Proc's: For extra burst threat, make sure to Howling Blast whenever you see Freezing Fog and Killing Machine up. This is a FREE Crit on everything in range. If you want to make attending to these buffs easy, pickup an addon called "needtoknow." It's a little bar timer that pops up for whatever buffs you tell it to, and counts em down till they expire. Put these two in, and when you see em pop up, HB without thinking.

Macro's: Rune Strike is your friend. Macro that shit to all of your abilities, and put em all on your bar. Its free damage and free threat.

#showtooltip SomeAbility

/cast SomeAbility

/cast !Rune Strike

This macro will cast your ability and then queue up runestrike. It's money.


Survivability: I like to tell new DK's to get used to using your taunt instead of Deathgripping. Taunt, lay DnD, and then apply diseases. This way, if one of your over-zealous dps pulls a mob off you, you can DG it back (which is like giving em the finger and a big F-U). This method basically just gives you some added utility if something goes bad. Also-- you have cooldowns for a reason. Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude, Trinks, Unbreakable Armor...these are all at your disposal. Use them consistently, and use them often. They're all on relatively short cooldowns, so unless you're waiting for a fusion punch to the face, make the healers life a little easier and pop em at will.

Other things to note: Gem for stam. Always. Our healthpools are noticeably lower than the other tank classes, and while added parry and dodge are nice, gemming for stam will allow you to live through that one extra hit...

Remember, DK's are about all damage, all the time. Maximizing it is the key to holding threat, and our CD's are paramount for our survivability. Do these things and you will succeed.

If you build it, they will come.