[Frost] Undisputed M+ build (Ice cap + Frostwhelp Indignation)

[FrostyK]

I'm sure you have seen this spec around. This is currently the undisputed spec for M+. It has raw AOE output, burst or sustained, that NO OTHER class can compete. This alone, along with Death Grip and Brez, should makes you desirable for any M+. This going to be a quick TLR guide. For the uninitiated, this is how it goes


[Intro]
This spec is heavy AOE spec. When it comes to AOE, you should always be top dps. It still does relatively well in single target bossfight, however you cannot compete with classes who are specced for ST. This build abuses icecap and Frostwhelp Indignation. With triple Indigation traits and icecap, you are going to throw out massive AoE burst every 15sec or so. Frostcythe and Murderous Efficiency will ensure you are never rune starved and continues to trigger icecap


[Azerite Talents]
Frostwhelp's Indignation. All three piece should have this.
Icy Citadel. Aim for at least one
Frozen Tempest. Aim for at least one IF you are running Gathering Storm


Personally my pieces are 3 x Frostwhelp, 2 x Icy Citadel, 1 x Frozen Tempest. This mean, you are looking for very specific Azerite gears.

[Essence]
Main: Blood of the Enemy Rank3, no substitute. Farm it.
Minor: Lucid Dream


[Talents]
Cold Heart - This talent should provide you some single target damage. Aim for overlaps between Unholy Str/Pillar/Icy Citadel. 150k crit should not be uncommon
Murderous Efficiency - A must for this tier because you are going to take FrostScythe and Icecap. Frostscythe uses only 1 rune from Killing Machine. Along with Lucid Dream Minor, you should never run out runes.
Blinding Sheet- Doesn't matter what you take. I like Blinding sheet for the mass aoe interrupt.
Frostscythe- A must for this tier. Together with Murderous Efficiency, frostcythe will enable your icecap to come off cooldown pretty quick.
WraithWalk - Personal Preferences. Death Pact is good when you pull too much aggro from all the big AOE crits. I prefer Wraith Walk as it allows me to get from mobs to mobs faster.
Gathering Storm/Frostwyrm Fury - Frostwyrm Fury is great for Burst AOE and it is easier to play. Never underestimate the damage potential from BoTE + Frostwhelp Indignation + FrostwyrmFury. Gathering Storm provide more sustained AOE and ST damage. Overall, Gathering storm will provide higher DPS IF you play it correctly. As you will be spamming FrostScythe, remember to Obliterate once or twice to ensure Gathering Storm can reach 10 stacks. Take one Frozen tempest azerite trait if you are running Gathering Storm
Icecap - Your bread and butter. Frostscythe/Murderous Efficiency will ensure pillar will come off cooldown very fast. You can throw out HUGE dps with triple Frostwhelp's Indignation. The mastery buff will provide more damage for Frost Scythe.


[Stats]
Crit : most important stats. Aim for 25%<
Haste: while not as important as crit, try not to neglect it. You will still need enough haste to throw as many Frostcythe as you can. Go for 15%<
Mastery : take what you can get.
Enchant/gem for crit/haste. Whichever you are lacking.

[Playstyle]
AOE
rotation will always be
BotE => Pillar (Frostwhelp) => Frostwyerm Fury => Remorsless Winter
All Killing Machine should be spent on FrostScythe.
Spend all Rime procs Asap.
If you are taking Gathering Storm, throw in one or two Obliterate to get 10 stacks. You will not get to 10 stacks simply by spamming Frostscythe, unless you have Bloodlust or other haste boost.

Your biggest challenge with this built is TO NOT PULL EXTRA MOBS with Frostwhelp Indignation. Don't be a noob.

Single Target
Save your Cold Heart to properly line with Unholy Str and Pillar, pop Blood and go for 150- 180k crit. Under BotE, your frost strike should be dealing massive 30-40k DPS too. You should not fall behind too much in boss fights against other dps who know what they are doing.

[Astven]

I've played around with something similar some time ago but I could easily perform better and more consistent as Unholy. Frostwhelps feel terribly clunky because the range is just dumb and if your big damage numbers don't crit, you're kinda screwed.

If it would have worked and Frostwhelps wouldn't be so risky, it would have been good fun to play though. I couldn't get used to aim for a safe space before using Pillar.

[Mallone]

I've played around with something similar some time ago but I could easily perform better and more consistent as Unholy. Frostwhelps feel terribly clunky because the range is just dumb and if your big damage numbers don't crit, you're kinda screwed.

If it would have worked and Frostwhelps wouldn't be so risky, it would have been good fun to play though. I couldn't get used to aim for a safe space before using Pillar.

I never understood the need for a 40yrd range on it. Especially on a melee class. I'm hesitant to jump on it.
Also I agree that Unholy is just easier and more consistent.

However, I appreciate the effort of this post and I am still keen to give this frost spec a go, I just can't stand breath builds.

[Astven]

I never understood the need for a 40yrd range on it. Especially on a melee class. I'm hesitant to jump on it.
Also I agree that Unholy is just easier and more consistent.

However, I appreciate the effort of this post and I am still keen to give this frost spec a go, I just can't stand breath builds.

Definitely give it a go if You have the gear because it can be good fun. I later on tried 3x Icy Citadel with 3x Frozen Tempest iirc to avoid the Frostwhelps. The strength numbers are insane and it can be amazing on some pulls (I only play m+) but overall, unholy is just better.

[Rhaxus]

I never understood the need for a 40yrd range on it. Especially on a melee class.

it's as easy as running through the mobs and turning around before triggering it or facing a wall. i know there are many hunters who struggle with the concept of running through a mob group before using barrage, but it should come easier to a melee, who only has to take like 2 extra steps

[Astven]

it's as easy as running through the mobs and turning around before triggering it or facing a wall. i know there are many hunters who struggle with the concept of running through a mob group before using barrage, but it should come easier to a melee, who only has to take like 2 extra steps

Unless mobs cleave and you have to tell the tank to please turn them around or you skipped a pack or there's a patrol or you constantly have to move because of sanguine pools.

Of course it's all doable but it's not THAT easy and pretty stupid for a melee class.

[Th3Scourge]

I've been wanting to try a Frost M+ setup for tyrannical weeks but keeping myself on Unholy loot spec has limited my 1-hander options.

Unholy is the undisputed king of AoE and if you can funnel your FM stacks into a boss pull then it performs very strongly on single target as well.

[Rhaxus]

Unless mobs cleave and you have to tell the tank to please turn them around or you skipped a pack or there's a patrol or you constantly have to move because of sanguine pools.

Of course it's all doable but it's not THAT easy and pretty stupid for a melee class.

i usually do that as feral anyways to be able to typhoon enemies out of pools, which is probably why i don't find it as much of a hassle

[Astven]

i usually do that as feral anyways to be able to typhoon enemies out of pools, which is probably why i don't find it as much of a hassle

Me Orc, Orc smash!

[FrostyK]

Totally agree with the 40yard on Frostwhelp. With practices however, I think you can find a safe spot for every pull. You can always face in the direction that you came from so mobs have already been cleared. You have to be extra careful in Tol Dagor though as the whelp can clip through walls. Aside from that, I do not have any issue with the whelp after a few round of practice.

Blood of the enemy ensure high chances for crit. I have gotten a 90k AoE crit on Frostwhelp once against 5+ targets to be follow up with massive Frostwyrm Fury and Frostscythe spamming. It does not happen all the time but it does happen often. When it does, oh man... it feels good.

With icecap, you are going to be spamming frostwhelp almost every 15-20 sec or so, thus you should be getting reliable crits once in a while.

- - - Updated - - -

Definitely give it a go if You have the gear because it can be good fun. I later on tried 3x Icy Citadel with 3x Frozen Tempest iirc to avoid the Frostwhelps. The strength numbers are insane and it can be amazing on some pulls (I only play m+) but overall, unholy is just better.

The mastery bonus from frostwhelp stacks and will provide more damage than Tempest's bonus.
On a good run, my top 3 dps spells tends to be
1) FrostFever
2) Frostwhelp
3) Frostscythe/Remoseless Winter

The damage from Frost Whelp and the Mastery bonus cannot be underestimated, especially when stacked 3x. When procs are aligned, the frostwhelp damage can get bigger than Frostwyrm Fury. That is already excluding the Mastery Bonus

[Papzer]

Btw did someone do the math about gathering storm?
I don't really know if I should stack it with obliterate or just let it be during aoe.

With obliterate I would get fewer crits, so I would probably lose quite a few seconds on pillar, which means fewer frostwhelps, lower icy citadel duration, and because of that shorter overlap between icy citadel and pillar. How this compares to the +damage and duration on remorseless winter?

[Ange]

It is really hard to pull wrong for Gathering Storm/Icy Citadel, even if you dont use FSC and just keep Frozen Pulse with a solid uptime the overall numbers in any dungeon will be solid.

Sometimes I am shocked how good frost is looking in the overall damage meter with normal sized pulls with just IceCap/FrozenPulse and a few IcyCitadel and RW traits.
In tyrannical weeks even boss damage seems solid, the only issue what remains is melee uptime.

[Natureseer]

been running this for a month or two now just for fun with my m+ group. never realized i was creating the new meta xd

edit: only thing that sucks for this spec is acquiring the azerite gear. assuming you want the best combination (3x frostwhelp, 2x icy citadel 1x gathering storm) it is impossible to have this setup @445 without elite pvp ranking lol

[tru]

No troll...ppl still play frost?