DW frost: NP vs Defile on single target?

[Deleted]

Dear all,

I am new to frost DKs, my DK alt currently being at ilvl 670.

I read the summonstone guide which states the usage of both but doesn't exactly explain which one is better in which situation.

Now as I am still learning, I tend to take NP for single target because I don't have to juggle with Plague Strike then.

Does anyone have updated sims of the 2 talents for single target?

On another note, what is the best timing on using Plague Leech for NP, or do I just use it whenever all my runes are depleted?

I tried Gruul LFR 2 nights ago and ended up with 27.7k DPS at ilvl 667, but I seem to have screwed up using Plague Leech.

[LickMeh]

For all of these encounters as DW Frost, you will want to use Plague Leech with either Necrotic Plague or Defile depending on a few factors. Use Defile when you have acquired Empty Drinking Horn AND your Defile’s are consistently dealing a majority of its 10 ticks on your target(s). Otherwise, using Necrotic Plague is superior. For 2h Frost, Necrotic Plague is used for every encounter.

Source: http://summonstone.com/deathknight/frost/#hfcbossguide

Was a bit surprised myself to see this the other day. I was usually going Defile for ST or fights where adds wouldn't be up long

[v1rus]

Yea, I had been practicing with Defile and was rather upset to see that my DPS was slightly lower on ST. I knew I wasn't messing up either. After reading some posts other posts, I went back and re-read the guide to find out that NP was superior until you get EDH. Needless to say, I'm back to NP again. :P

[Deleted]

Thanks for the reply. They should have put that in the general guide, not the boss by boss!

Now I read on summonstone that Plague leech doesn't work well together with NP but they don't give an alternative. Sgould I use plaguebearer or UB?

[v1rus]

Thanks for the reply. They should have put that in the general guide, not the boss by boss!

Now I read on summonstone that Plague leech doesn't work well together with NP but they don't give an alternative. Sgould I use plaguebearer or UB?

Neither, you still want to use PL as Frost. NP is maintained and stacked purely from your Howling Blast usage, so even if you leech it off it is going to be stacked right back up due to your rotation. The value of the two extra runes fair exceeds the consequences of ending NP early.

As Unholy, you do not want to PL because it's possible to extend and maintain NP. You should use UB because it stacks NP very quickly. You then maintain NP through normal Festering Strike usage until UB is almost off cooldown, at which point you let NP drop and then reapply with UB.