Death knight talent problems.

[voz]

I have a level 80 death knight who i'v speced frost & use to tank Naxx25, and currently OT in ulduar 10. I have 30700 hp unbuffed, and with slight agro issues, not an over all bad tank.

I was looking over some talents, and woundering which ones are most efficient for frost dk tanking.

I see my guilds top frost DK tank with Rune Tap. He says he has zero agro issues & great advoidance. Im not sure why he picked up rune tap, i can guess its a mini Ohshit button, when he gets to low, Or possibly a small threat gen for aoe pulls.

I'v seen alot of frost builds posted on this site, which dips into the unholy tree for a teir or 2, and allmost never has Ravenous dead been picked. Its 3% str increase for 3 points. I have around 1000 str, thats 30 bonus str which scales with kings if im incorrect. Strengeth helps with everything, so thats why im so confused about people not picking it up.

Also I see alot of people picking up Bladed armor, for 5 points. Which for my armor does about (26284/180*5) 730 ap. I was thinking Necrosis which does 20% of my 1178-1443 would be a solid 200 shadow dammage. Unlike the 700 ap which can be reduced by armor.

Alot of people dont take icy talons. I know it doesn't stack with imp windfury, but my guild has ZERO enh shammys. I take it because i dont know what else to take.

For single target fights (boss's) I dont know which is better, Oblit, or howling blast. Oblit hits for about 4k, while HB only 3k. But is the threat more for HB then oblit? HB is frost damage which makes me think it has a threat multiplier.

More single target dps. Would using Howling blast during a KM proc be better then a frost strike. They are only about a 500-1k difference (Frost strike doing more damage) but again with the agro, does HB turn out more threat? Or should i should i not even use HB because oblit is better for single target threat.

For aoe threat. I start with a Deathchilled Holwingblast, throw down a d&d. From here, i dont know which is better, getting & keeping a blood plague up with Pestilence, which converts into a deathrune, or just keep spaming blood boil which doesn't convert into a deathrune.

I said earlyer i have a threat issue. The only addon which shows my tps is omen. It spikes at about 4k, and drops about 2k. But normaly stays at 3-4k. In 10man ulduar pug. Not really sure what i should be at, but the pally tank was 4-5k tps easy. Any ideas on how to improve my tps? Any addons or talents.

I also see Morbidity picked. Which allows D&D to be off CD the same time the effect is over. Is keeping D&D really good for boss tanking? or do people take it for the trash pulls?

my armory is The World of Warcraft Armory

I use glyphs of Howlingblast, Icy touch, & obliterate.

Thanks in advance for all the advice.

[Kurtosis]

You're further along than I am, but since no one else has answered, I'll offer a few thoughts. If I get anything wrong, corrections appreciated.

1. No Improved Frost Presence? Extra 2% mitigation, bringing your constant mitigation from 10% to 12% (Blade Barrier + Improved FP)? You could probably move that 1pt in Runic Power Master and the 1pt Chillblains into 2/2 Improved Frost Presence.

Don't need extra RP since you should spamming Frost Strike and Rune Strike constantly, your RP should never hit the cap.

And I personally don't find Chillblains particularly useful for tanking, at least not compared to some other things you have to give up to get it.

2. You don't feel RP-starved? Try a build with 2/2 Chill of the Grave, at least 2/3 Scent of Blood, and Glyph of Frost Strike (instead of Glyph of Icy Touch), and see how much more Frost Strikes and Rune Strikes you can get off, and whether that improves your single-target threat any.

3. Bladed Armor gives, in your case, 730 AP, which buffs your strikes (Frost, Oblit, Blood), autoattacks, spells (HB, IT, BB, DnD, etc.), and diseases, and it cost less filler points to get to than Necrosis (actually zero filler points, since Blade Barrier is required anyway). Necrosis only buffs your autoattack dmg.

4. Rune Tap. I haven't tried it in my frost tank build, but in my blood offspec build, even with 3/3 Improved Rune Tap and Glyph of Rune Tap, it's barely an oh-shit button. Only with 3/3 Improved Rune Tap, the glyph, and 5/5 Black Ice in a build like this did I find Rune Tap to be a real oh-shit button, and that buffs it in just about every way possible. I can't imagine that a single pt, unglyphed Rune Tap will make any difference in a tanking situation. If you have to use it, you're probably going to die anyway. Maybe raid-buffed it actually restores more than a few thousand hp?

5. For single target fights, I spam Oblit and Frost Strike, or Blood Strike to convert Blood Runes, use Icy Touch or glyphed Howling blast to keep Frost Fever up, and try to use Deathchill and KM on Frost Strike.

6. As Frost, with Glyph of Howling Blast, I don't bother with Blood Plague. The only Frost ability it buffs is Oblit. I haven't had threat issues yet where that extra ~11% Oblit dmg is required, especially not at the cost of having to use up runes and GCDs on Plague Strike and Pestilence. Not having to do a lot of work to keep up diseases lets me turn my attention elsewhere, like situational awareness, positioning, etc., which is invaluable, especially to a new tank.

[Dargath]

I see my guilds top frost DK tank with Rune Tap. He says he has zero agro issues & great advoidance. Im not sure why he picked up rune tap, i can guess its a mini Ohshit button, when he gets to low, Or possibly a small threat gen for aoe pulls.

It's a preference thing, really. Pick what works for you.

I'v seen alot of frost builds posted on this site, which dips into the unholy tree for a teir or 2, and allmost never has Ravenous dead been picked. Its 3% str increase for 3 points. I have around 1000 str, thats 30 bonus str which scales with kings if im incorrect. Strengeth helps with everything, so thats why im so confused about people not picking it up.

I preferred Scent of Blood for the extra rp generation. Since I took it, I noticed a great increase in available rp for rune strike and frost strike, which is always good. 30 strength isn't really all THAT much and, for me, isn't worth forgoing the talents I like in the blood tree.

Also I see alot of people picking up Bladed armor, for 5 points. Which for my armor does about (26284/180*5) 730 ap. I was thinking Necrosis which does 20% of my 1178-1443 would be a solid 200 shadow dammage. Unlike the 700 ap which can be reduced by armor.

Bladed Armor provides a much more reliable return on its investment as all of your attacks benefit from attack power.

Alot of people dont take icy talons. I know it doesn't stack with imp windfury, but my guild has ZERO enh shammys. I take it because i dont know what else to take.

It's fine to take when you need to advance further down the tree. It's certainly not a requirement for tanking.

For single target fights (boss's) I dont know which is better, Oblit, or howling blast. Oblit hits for about 4k, while HB only 3k. But is the threat more for HB then oblit? HB is frost damage which makes me think it has a threat multiplier.

Obliterate is superior for single target threat. Outside of aoe pulls I only use HB on Rime procs.

More single target dps. Would using Howling blast during a KM proc be better then a frost strike. They are only about a 500-1k difference (Frost strike doing more damage) but again with the agro, does HB turn out more threat? Or should i should i not even use HB because oblit is better for single target threat.

Frost Strike is superior.

For aoe threat. I start with a Deathchilled Holwingblast, throw down a d&d. From here, i dont know which is better, getting & keeping a blood plague up with Pestilence, which converts into a deathrune, or just keep spaming blood boil which doesn't convert into a deathrune.

For aoe pulls, I usually D&D>IT>PS>Pest>HB>BB>BB. You can really do whatever you like here as long as you keep aggro.

I said earlyer i have a threat issue. The only addon which shows my tps is omen. It spikes at about 4k, and drops about 2k. But normaly stays at 3-4k. In 10man ulduar pug. Not really sure what i should be at, but the pally tank was 4-5k tps easy. Any ideas on how to improve my tps? Any addons or talents.

Paladins generally generate more threat. 3-4k isn't bad for you. You'll put out more threat in a 25 man, as you'll have much more for buffs.

I also see Morbidity picked. Which allows D&D to be off CD the same time the effect is over. Is keeping D&D really good for boss tanking? or do people take it for the trash pulls?

I don't use it. D&D isn't useful for bosses.

[Jaeden]

For Km procs, and all RP that isn't eaten by Rune strike, use it for Frost Strike. The exception is when getting low on your FF debuff. Single target Oblit and blood strike.

Buy the badge belt and put a socket on it. Once socketed and gemmed you will have higher stam and a couple more points in others, like expertise :P

*edit* And as always, macro Rune Strike into your abilities. Good threat not on the GCD.