Frost DW tanking

[Boomsmack]

Is this still a viable tanking option? If so, what would be the best spec? All help is appreciated

[Solidshock]

After patch 3.3 YES! as they are bringing in one hand versions of "rune of the stoneskin gargoyle"

If u want a decent spec, type in Solidshock on the EU armoury, and check out my secondary spec, i think its the standard frost DW and should b good after patch 3.3!

Hope this helps!
Solid

[Tangier]

The main problem is getting 2 decent SLOW 1hd tanking weapons...

From the looks of the loot, there won't be any new slow 1hd tank weapons. So unless there is a nice threat bonus on the 1hd versions of "rune of the stoneskin gargoyle", your threat would be weaker than a 2hd build and have less total STAM.

Viable? maybe, but won't be as good as a similar 2hd tanking spec. And you need to use 3~5 talent points to be DW, which could be used better elsewhere. Unless the new 1hd rune of the stoneskin gargoyle has a threat bonus and migration bonus, I would pass.

Honestly, I am hoping that the new rune would turn fast 1hd to slow 1hd (with the same dps of course.)

[Solidshock]

The main problem is getting 2 decent SLOW 1hd tanking weapons...

From the looks of the loot, there won't be any new slow 1hd tank weapons. So unless there is a nice threat bonus on the 1hd versions of "rune of the stoneskin gargoyle", your threat would be weaker than a 2hd build and have less total STAM.

Viable? maybe, but won't be as good as a similar 2hd tanking spec. And you need to use 3~5 talent points to be DW, which could be used better elsewhere. Unless the new 1hd rune of the stoneskin gargoyle has a threat bonus and migration bonus, I would pass.

Honestly, I am hoping that the new rune would turn fast 1hd to slow 1hd (with the same dps of course.)

hmm.. fair points! however i assume the fast hits from tanking swords such as Peacekeeper's Blade from TOTC 5 Man Hc, would cause more threat that the slower 2 handed weapon

I may be wrong however, i only occasionly tank
Solid

[Boomsmack]

Thanks for the advice!

[Evolixe]

id say no,

as said before you have to spend talentpoints to be DW that counts for both dps and tank.. and you need 350 hit more then some1 with a 2h (if you want to be hitcapped wich is obviousely pretty handy..)

so feel free to try it out but i think theyll never catchup with the 2handers.

[rabbimojo]

Yes it's just fine.
Pre-3.3, it has to make a tradeoff between threat and avoidance, due to the lack of slow tank weapons.
3.3, as with 2hers, you can just use 2 good 1her dps weapons with the new runes, voila, threat and survival.

The three talent points you spend aren't a huge deal, as you get plenty of points to spend tanking.

I think my normal build is something like this, with the normal glyphs.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#j0EZhxe0A0I0c0fuzAo0gb

The EJ spec right now seems to be this guy:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#j0EbZ...fuzAo0g:sakM0m

Mostly it's a choice between various threat talents.
Depending on the content you're doing and whether or not you're having ST threat issues, different talents will work better. Scent of Blood can be really nice, or underwhelming. Personally, I like running heroics too much to drop Morbidity entirely, so I tend to sacrifice SoB.

Things people will tell you, and why they don't matter in most content:
Parry gibs:
-On any boss that can parry, parry hasting doesn't matter (IE, the real threat is not you getting 2-shot)
-Even DWing, you'll get parried no more often than a bear or warrior. This is even better with the RS addition to ToT.
High hit requirements:
-You only need the normal yellow cap, still. A few missed white attacks won't kill your TPS.
-If you feel like going over cap to make the spell hits less common, you get compensated for it with extra white threat.

One of the big perks of DW: You get to be sassy with runeforges and itemization. Need more TPS? Throw Fallen Crusader on the MH. Need more survival? Use an offhand tank weapon. Offhand speed is of relatively minor importance in your TPS, and with most guilds you can safely swap it out.

Frost has a really nice 'feel' to tanking, and has nice ST and AOE threat. Big fan.

[xanddra]

I'm DW frost right now, and I have almost 0 issues with threat. Hell, I pull off my Pally MT on the occasional single target fight if I don't pay attention to Omen. http://www.wow-heroes.com/index.php?...e&name=xanddra shows my gear, http://www.wowarmory.com/character-t...&gn=Delusional shows my talents.

Biggest thing people need to realize with DK tanking is that a large majority of our spells rely on weapon damage. Damage = threat. The more on the main hand, the better. Fast 1hs don't have as high of a top end damage, so the white damage stays even, but things like Plague Strike don't. ToT helps the higher output by adding in the offhand, so by having a pair of slow 1h like http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47314 makes up for the damage one would lose with a good 2h like http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47329 (Note that I'm using those as a reference. In this case, the glaive may be a better option for stam/EH due to that socket).

Post 3.3, DW Frost will be amazing with the new rune, like others have said. Even now, though, most have enough defense to spare those few points in other things.

2h DPS have been complaining that we're stealing their http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45868 and putting in 2 stam gems. Now we get to steal someone else's slow 1h weapons.

[Hedstone]

Semi-related side note: Go get 1800 in arenas, get the T1 PVP weap for tanking. Loads of stamina, sockets for either more stamina or to shore up any holes in your stats.

[eflow]

there's a lot of ways to make it work, theres no "win recipe".

Basically you need to know what you'll tank (heroics, random raids .. hard modes, etc), and gear up for whats best for it.

IT works ? Yes it does. I tank as dw since the launch and the only moment when it really WASNT viable was during ulduar (when they destroyed dw shadowfrost build and fucked up several frost talents, longer cooldown on HB, etc etc etc.). I tanked all the bosses in toc, 10 man and 25 man, and all hard modes (no we didnt killed anub since we lost several core raid members to aion / incredibly boredom of Toc) as dw frost without problems.

like people already pointed, there are several ways of making it work.

for example i have 2 sets, (they just swap weapons and trinkets/sigil): one for avoidance and one for threat.

Avoidance i usually prefer on fights like tanking beasts of togc25 (since they hit for a lot), 2 tanking weapons + 2% parry runeforge on them + dodge sigil. There's always a lot of tank swapping and MD's going on so threat is not an issue.

Threat i use for any other situation: 2 dps weapons (mh with fallen crusader since its my dps weapon as well) and OH with 2% parry + awareness sigil.
even in this set, with the current 245-258 gear i still have ~548 defense with dps weapons and around ~45-49 expertise. (with tank weapons i have nearly 560 defense, without one single defense gem ... lets face it, some 258 itens have nearly 100 defense rating).

long story short .. it IS viable, so if anyone can't make it happen, its because that person don't know how to, not because its "not viable"

[Lysah]

Dual wield also has a lot of flexibility to juggle weapons for fun enchants like blood draining and blade ward, if you're up to the challenge of keeping track of all of that.

DW was always a great way to tank, I don't do as much threat as a 2h DK (I use fast tank swords for the avoidance), but my chance to avoid an attack is like TBC bear form.

[Craas]

Yesterday when I looked at tanking weapons on wowhead I noticed that there is one "tanking" 1h weapon with slow attack speed 2,5 if I remember it correctly and that is Broken Promise from naxx25 Get 2 of those and you'll have nice damage from strikes and good migitation because now you gain dodge/hit/def/parry from your weapons

I was thinking to go with 1 tanking weapon (Broken Promise) and a little bit faster tanking weapon like Quel'serrar or whatever the one from onyxia is called (2,0speed).

Or then I could go with Broken Promise and a dps weapon :P thats a nice Migitation/Threat combination.

I have thought about going Frost tanking in next patch (at least try it)...

and I think it will be easier now to hold aggro when "Rune Strike" has 17% increased threat in next patch

Good luck guys!

[Meldanion]

id say no,

as said before you have to spend talentpoints to be DW that counts for both dps and tank.. and you need 350 hit more then some1 with a 2h (if you want to be hitcapped wich is obviousely pretty handy..)

so feel free to try it out but i think theyll never catchup with the 2handers.

Actually you need less hit for dual wielding, due to the talent in the frost tree that gives additional hit.

[Evolixe]

Dual wield also has a lot of flexibility to juggle weapons for fun enchants like blood draining and blade ward, if you're up to the challenge of keeping track of all of that.

DW was always a great way to tank, I don't do as much threat as a 2h DK (I use fast tank swords for the avoidance), but my chance to avoid an attack is like TBC bear form.

Runeblades are enchants so after 3.3 theres no more enchanting on that.
and the avoidance isnt getting nerfed for nothing in ICC, blizz wants us to have less avoidance.. dont try to get it up but stack stamina.

Actually you need less hit for dual wielding, due to the talent in the frost tree that gives additional hit.

depends if u want to be white or yellow hitcapped....

[Meldanion]

Runeblades are enchants so after 3.3 theres no more enchanting on that.
and the avoidance isnt getting nerfed for nothing in ICC, blizz wants us to have less avoidance.. dont try to get it up but stack stamina.

depends if u want to be white or yellow hitcapped....

White hitcap really isn't that important for dual wielding.