What's better for raiding: frost or unholy?

[Mercane]

true large part of UH how well you do is rng even more if you use cast

Cast is dead for raiding. Clawing Shadows is the new meta, and as before it still boils down to RNG as Unholy has the widest DPS swing with the only other spec that swings harder being Outlaw. Both specs are brain dead easy to play, Unholy with 4pc is pretty goddamn close to 'outside my opener I just push whatever button I want'- I mean sure, building wounds with FeS/DC and popping them with CS is still the way to go, there's a lot more emphasis on maximizing DnD Cleave in NH than there was in EN.

With the same gear, both with BiS legendarys (I have Bracers/Ring he has Helm/Waist) I do 100k less than the Frost DK in our raid group.
We both do 100-200k less than the Ret Paladin and depending on play our warriors are somewhere between me (Unholy) and the Frost DK.

[Tojara]

I'd go with frost simply because BoS is very good on the majority of fights in NH. While you certainly can get more bang for you buck with good frost legendary items, you can still function to decent capacity without having them either, where unholy still kind of requires the bracers.

Summon sindragosa is massive burst as well, and useful on a handful of fights where you really need burst AoE. Spellblade comes to mind. It also seems to be the norm to get two sets of adds before blowing them up on Tichondrius, which summon sindragosa is perfect for.

Defensive wise I like both of the frost DK talents better than the unholy ones as well. Building an absorb with auto attacks is pretty strong, as is (fight dependent) dispelling yourself and having a larger AMS.

[Deleted]

Cast is dead for raiding. Clawing Shadows is the new meta, and as before it still boils down to RNG as Unholy has the widest DPS swing with the only other spec that swings harder being Outlaw. Both specs are brain dead easy to play, Unholy with 4pc is pretty goddamn close to 'outside my opener I just push whatever button I want'- I mean sure, building wounds with FeS/DC and popping them with CS is still the way to go, there's a lot more emphasis on maximizing DnD Cleave in NH than there was in EN.

With the same gear, both with BiS legendarys (I have Bracers/Ring he has Helm/Waist) I do 100k less than the Frost DK in our raid group.
We both do 100-200k less than the Ret Paladin and depending on play our warriors are somewhere between me (Unholy) and the Frost DK.

what i find for UH its aslo to Reliant on it cd's to do dmg, burst is good but long fight UH just drops of alot (excuse me if it has changed havent played UH in a while)

[Adlian]

Cast is dead for raiding. Clawing Shadows is the new meta, and as before it still boils down to RNG as Unholy has the widest DPS swing with the only other spec that swings harder being Outlaw. Both specs are brain dead easy to play, Unholy with 4pc is pretty goddamn close to 'outside my opener I just push whatever button I want'- I mean sure, building wounds with FeS/DC and popping them with CS is still the way to go, there's a lot more emphasis on maximizing DnD Cleave in NH than there was in EN.

With the same gear, both with BiS legendarys (I have Bracers/Ring he has Helm/Waist) I do 100k less than the Frost DK in our raid group.
We both do 100-200k less than the Ret Paladin and depending on play our warriors are somewhere between me (Unholy) and the Frost DK.

I fully agree with this, especially the last part.

[Mercane]

I'd go with frost simply because BoS is very good on the majority of fights in NH. While you certainly can get more bang for you buck with good frost legendary items, you can still function to decent capacity without having them either, where unholy still kind of requires the bracers.

It really doesn't, popping more than 1 wound seems very rare now, before where I would soul reaper on CD, even without runes and get at least 3 pops as soon as a single rune became available is no longer a reality. Since 7.1.5 I find myself actually pooling runes, or at least waiting for 3 to Soul Reaper because there's no guarantee that i'll get 3 wounds to pop otherwise. This has the very obvious result on my dps output.

I really wish they'd have taken the RNG element away from the bracers entirely and just had them pop an additional 2 wounds.

[Deleted]

I came here expecting people to promote their favorite spec and call the other one names, can't say I got suprised

Thanks for delivering

But both are good, most play Frost.

[Playintrafic]

they are pretty close to eachother so play what you want but frost is a no-brainer to play so if you got problems keepin eyes on mechanics that spec is the way to go

This guy is a bad DK.

That said, unholy is harder. But I'd play it if it was worth it, and there was a no pet option.

[Ravingmad]

Our frost DK is performing well on both single and AoE fights. I havent seen an Unholy DK for a while. But Unholy might pull better in highlvl content were mobs stays longer.

[raionyx]

Frost is typically going to give you better numbers from a "pick up and play" perspective.

Unholy can do well, but typically requires a very specific environment/gear scenario to do so.

I am the only remaining Unholy DK in my guild, but I perform on par with all of the other DKs who have converted to Frost, and presently out-gear me by anywhere from 10-15 ilvls. That said, I have the Unholy Bracers, which are the largest DPS increase for Unholy, even after the massive nerfs coming into 7.1.5. Typically on most fights in Heroic Nighthold I've been in the top 10-15 percentiles for my item level (Currently 885).

However, the Frost DKs I raid with are not exactly top notch, sitting anywhere from the 30th-60th percentiles.

TL;DR: A rather good Unholy DK several item levels behind can more or less keep up with several much better-geared Frost DKs who are more or less average. Which should mean at similar gearing situations, it becomes a question of skill.

[nathrizarri]

The spec/talent combination you like is the best raiding setup.

Raiding differs from other in game activities where sustained performance really matters. Playing a spec that you don't have fun will burn you out way faster than you think.

I have picked Frost at the launch when it was considered thrash, and I never used machine gun build aside from some "let's try something new" moments. I have had overdose amount of fun with gathering storm Frost build. Keeping yourself entertained and engaged as much as possible is the best favor you can do to yourself and your guild as a raider. You will spend your evenings after job school around 3 days in a week. This commitment is huge, make it mean something.

[Amalkatrazz]

Frost is typically going to give you better numbers from a "pick up and play" perspective.

Unholy can do well, but typically requires a very specific environment/gear scenario to do so.

I am the only remaining Unholy DK in my guild, but I perform on par with all of the other DKs who have converted to Frost, and presently out-gear me by anywhere from 10-15 ilvls. That said, I have the Unholy Bracers, which are the largest DPS increase for Unholy, even after the massive nerfs coming into 7.1.5. Typically on most fights in Heroic Nighthold I've been in the top 10-15 percentiles for my item level (Currently 885).

However, the Frost DKs I raid with are not exactly top notch, sitting anywhere from the 30th-60th percentiles.

TL;DR: A rather good Unholy DK several item levels behind can more or less keep up with several much better-geared Frost DKs who are more or less average. Which should mean at similar gearing situations, it becomes a question of skill.

And that being said, a 95% FDK outperforms an equally geared 95% UDK on most bosses (not significantly tho. Last time I checked log statistics, both specs were within 5% of each other on a majority of raid bosses).

[Nnyco]

This guy is a bad DK.

That said, unholy is harder. But I'd play it if it was worth it, and there was a no pet option.

what did i offend because i said ur spec is a no brainer?

[Deleted]

So my main is a warrior. But I do have a DK alt - and for some reason I think unholy is much more fun- even considering that I absolutely hate pet classes ! ... Perhaps I should invest a bit more time on frost and see if it grows on me..
From all I hear frost should in general be better for pve. Not to mention the huge burst potential in 3s arena.

[Saltysquidoon]

3/10 Mythic Unholy DK (terrible leggos and not enough mastery but I have a titanforged draught) I normally come about 5th on every fight behind our rogue, feral druid, spriest and DHs.

Frost appears to be going big but that would worry me as a dk since we aren't allowed to be good I would expect an old school gutting come 7.2.

[Maxweii]

Title says it all. not sure which to invest in alternative weapon AP, whether I should be putting it on BotFP or Apocalypse.

Pick whichever spec you enjoy more. They are both very competitive damage and pretty much right in the same area (upper middle pack)

[Deleted]

3/10 Mythic Unholy DK (terrible leggos and not enough mastery but I have a titanforged draught) I normally come about 5th on every fight behind our rogue, feral druid, spriest and DHs.

Frost appears to be going big but that would worry me as a dk since we aren't allowed to be good I would expect an old school gutting come 7.2.

Other dk in my raid is going frost and has no frost legendaries. It will be interesting to see how he gets on.

[Playintrafic]

what did i offend because i said ur spec is a no brainer?

Let me put in a way you might understand:

no ur jus dum m8

[Deleted]

I think we can all agree that mages smell.

[Deleted]

Other dk in my raid is going frost and has no frost legendaries. It will be interesting to see how he gets on.

I have no frost legendaries, good day sir.