DK tanking in 3.3?

[xeroxide]

i like the slow mh/fast oh option. gives more runestrikes and nice threat... too lazy to swap out.

tbh tho, i still prefer blood for mt'ing, i feel more at ease with the rotation, not watching proc's etc... mind you for heroic tanking however, i usually run dw frost for speed/ease.

[hatchetman240]

i like the slow mh/fast oh option. gives more runestrikes and nice threat... too lazy to swap out.

tbh tho, i still prefer blood for mt'ing, i feel more at ease with the rotation, not watching proc's etc... mind you for heroic tanking however, i usually run dw frost for speed/ease.

I have to say that power auras addon is a godsend here. The minute you get a proc you get the notice to slam HB (or whatever).

[Royalite]

DW seems like more of a fun spec for when you have the expertise to pull it off. I started out dual wielding in ToC5 gear and mix heroic/conqueror emblem gear...the healers hated me for parry hasting the boss. They would accept me into the group due to my gear and health, but complain bitterly about how much damage I was taking.

This was before the talent change so maybe hitting the expertise cap is easier than it was in 3.2, but I would not recommend a new tank going DW unless they have the stats.

With 2h frost, I have no trouble holding threat, especially when I have a killing machine/rime proc.

I would hesitate to say faster swings with DW equals more rune strikes. Generally Blizz seems to favor the slow weapons for threat generation...or even with shammies they get more windfury procs with slower weapons.

It just seems you sacrifice stats for hit and expertise and sacrifice 6 talent points for threat generation over survivability. I have no doubt it is possible to tank just about anything as DW frost but how much do your healers have to pick up the slack? I am guessing no trouble modes it isn't an issue but on the hard modes?

[eloki37]

I would hesitate to say faster swings with DW equals more rune strikes. Generally Blizz seems to favor the slow weapons for threat generation...or even with shammies they get more windfury procs with slower weapons.

Windfury is on a proc-per-minute basis. Rune strike is every time you dodge or parry an attack directed at you. Naturally, the higher your overall avoidance, the greater the chance of rune strike being available. Now, if run strike were available 10% of the time, the only limiting factor would be the speed of your weapon. Faster weapon = more run strikes in a given time.

I have had no problems holding threat as DW frost so far, unless dps jump the gun and go all out before you land your first blow, and even them, I put out far more TPS than they are capable of sustaining.

As far as incoming damage goes, I'm sitting at about 28 expertise, and really haven't noticed an increase in parries honestly. DKs in general have always been known to have damage spikes though, and most people seem to lack the knowledge of how expertise works. Coupled with the skepticism of a "DW Tank", I've had to defend myself against my fair share of healers as well.

Overall, DW DK Tanking is promising, but with compromise. As you stated, we give up some defensiveness to gain a more offensive edge. That's why I'm "trying it out". I can always respec back to 2h any time I choose.

[Hughes]

If you plan on stickin to DW frost tanking, make SURE you have enough exp. Nothing like tanking mobs in ICC while DW frost and seeing an ungodly amount of parries scroll across your combat text.

[Bael]

Most people that prefer dual wield frost like to use tanking weapons in order to lower their damage and threat output per strike. To compensate I usually see them use the glyphed Howling Blast aoe rotation at all times and without exception. Typically this leaves their single-target threat severely lacking.

For those that seek respectable damage/threat per strike in a single-target situation, there's a preference toward dps-oriented one-handers using the new stamina/defense rune. With that rune any weapon becomes a tanking weapon. This has been and continues to be the case with two-handed frost thanks to the 2h stam/def rune. Presently I favor the Sharpened Obsidian Edged Blade for its expertise, crit, and elevated stamina while also being one of the slower weapons to cross my path.

Dual wielding can work well in the right hands even though I dislike it. Many people in the thread are trying to muddy the waters with debates about raiding, but for the purposes mentioned in the original post this is irrelevant. If you're new to tanking as a death knight, I'd have to say that frost has the mildest learning curve (though all trees are good for tanking). In the same way, if you're new to death knight tanking I don't recommend using two weapons right away. Using a two-hander complicates things the least and gives you a nice threat stick. As you grow comfortable with things, definitely give dual wielding a try to see if it's for you. In my case it wasn't, but do what you enjoy.

[Underbr]

Guys, what is the hit cap to DW?

[Apostolic]

32.8 rating gives you 1% hit, therefore you will require 263 hit rating (164 with Nerves of Cold Steel) or 8%, to be hit capped on special attacks. This means, contrary to what some might think DW builds actually require less hit to cap their special attacks than our two handed brothers. Special attacks include: Blood Strike, Plague Strike, Frost strike, Obliterate. (and others that we don't care about as DW)

Spell hit cap is 17% against level 83 (boss level opponents. The talent Virulence provides 3% hit for spells, the Druid talent Improved Faerie fire, or the Shadow priest talent Misery will further reduce this requirement by 3% (Hit debuffs do not stack.) The final result brings the requirement via gear down to 11%, at which point no spell will miss. Spells include Howling blast, Icy touch and Death coil.

White hits have a hit cap of 27%. The talent Nerves of cold steel reduces this by 3%. At this point, no white hits (or any attack for that matter) will miss. This cap is not reasonable to reach for any DK, and should not be attempted. However, keep in mind that gaining hit over the spell hit cap still has a dps value as it will allow more white damage, more blood caked blade procs, and more Killing machine procs.

[Underbr]

so, in the last, the cap is 24% with Nerves right?

[Slai]

this is my first post on MMO so yea... I 2hd frost tank on Slai of Earthen Ring look up his gear its not standard but it works fine for me i out threat the shit out of DW frost tanks, i can overtake warriors and catch up to pallys(in most fights on pallys) i've only got 2 pieces of t9 badge gear rest is uld25 to heroic gear only 32khp unbuffed 41k 25 raid buffed and work a trinket/talent CD rotation to reduce dmg taken to cover for my lack of HP

[Alkore]

I have two tanking specs. A 2h Blood for 25 man, and a DW Frost for my 10 man hc group. Only reason I have it as my OS is because we recently kicked our main Enh Shaman in the guild. We still have Enh Shamans in our 25 man group, but with the loss of him in the 10 man hc group, I now provide the Melee Haste, especially since the other Enh Shamans are tied up in other groups.

Tried it tonight in ICC10, and it was quite nice. Was pulling over 10k TPS on Saurfang and found the Lady Deathwhisper fight to be a joke for adds control.

http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sh...Blade&n=Alkore

Not to set anything aside, but I still think Blood scales better with raid buffs that Frost does, but I'm not denying the profit that Frost can bring, especially in a situation like mine.

Also, regarding heroics, go Frost. It's faceroll compared to Blood. Blood requires minor attention to detail, Frost is just a joke. WAY too easy with my gear.

[Wardley]

Ok, so the next question then, is any suggestions for easy one handed weapons to get to switch from a 2 hander to duel wielding frost spec tanking?

At the moment I've got Ironsoul but to switch over, from what I understand, I need 2 slow 1 handed weapons? Maybe the Tankard o'Terror (still available in the AH at the moment) and then the Ironforge Mace you can get with champion seals? Would they be worth the swap? My basic maths would seem to say that I'd be loosing some stamina with this swap though....

At least until I get some lucky breaks in H FoS for the mace that drops in there?

[Raptorg]

Guys, what is the hit cap to DW?

5%.

[Deleted]

imo blood, however frost is nice aswell but in the start you need hp and the self heal is nice and doing some amazing dmg
did 3.7k dps in full 232 tanking gear (with faction champs 25 axe) on Patch 10 (as MT ofc)

[Nuremphya]

Ive switched from blood to frost, currently using Quel'Delar MH and Black Icicle OH. Lost about 1.5k to 2k hp, but the gain in threat aswell as mitigation was worth it.. apart from getting groups with people who are fascinated with HP..

[Gracin]

Thinking about switching over to dw frost tanking. I have http://www.wowhead.com/?item=48663 and http://www.wowhead.com/?item=50191, gonna be a lil low on hit and exp for the time being, but I leveled as dw frost and find it more fun than swinging a two-hander. This is the spec/glyphs I was considering for tanking heroics, any comments?

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#j0xhZ...fuzAocg:sTamMV


Armory: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...in&n=Frostease

[Trork]

guys....our weapons of choice in DW is the same weapon of choice on our 2H, we go for DPS weapons. No faster then 2.5, why? Because (im guessing here) 90% of our spells are instant and based on weapon damage, so a weapon with 1.5s attack speed deals 350 max damage, while a 2.6 weapon speed deals 650. this is where you will see the difference.

Since we got the 1 handed Stoneskin gargoyle we can enchant our weapons with this and get capped with some extra HP as well.


so, for all of you who got normal warrior/pally tanking 1Hers, try and go for example with 2 Ghoulslicers first, they got some expertise, good damage, and are easily obtainable. and also looks badds hehe. well, give it a shot =)

[Voodooknyte]

I don't know about anyone else here but I am using dual Rimefang's Claws and never have any issues with threat. I just tested using 1 nighttime in my main hand and found no difference in threat at all. Another weird thing I have found is I don't get parried at all in 5 mans and I am not even soft caped. I have only 24 expertise rating. This is my armory if anyone cares http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...ing&n=Tetsigah. Oh I think I might know why I don't get parried it might be because of Rune strike being macored to all my regular moves. Since it cant be blocked dodge or parried so many of my auto attack become rune strike it might push them off the table. I am really curious if any other frost Dual wield DKs have encountered this phenomenon or if its just me.

[Voodooknyte]

Bump

[Raptorg]

I don't know about anyone else here but I am using dual Rimefang's Claws and never have any issues with threat. I just tested using 1 nighttime in my main hand and found no difference in threat at all. Another weird thing I have found is I don't get parried at all in 5 mans and I am not even soft caped. I have only 24 expertise rating. This is my armory if anyone cares http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...ing&n=Tetsigah. Oh I think I might know why I don't get parried it might be because of Rune strike being macored to all my regular moves. Since it cant be blocked dodge or parried so many of my auto attack become rune strike it might push them off the table. I am really curious if any other frost Dual wield DKs have encountered this phenomenon or if its just me.

24 expertise is capped in 5 mans.