If you are getting focused in 5v5, you damn well better be switching to frost presence. You might be able to get by in 2v2 without it, but even then I'm sure it is going to be worth it against a variety of comps. I really don't think DKs are going to be a facerolling, single presence, tunnel vision type of class at all.

Just posted a new pvp video as Rune Tap/Deep Frost, got featured on the warcraftmovies front page!!! Enjoy!

Arioch Rune Tap Frost PvP By Arioch

I've been using this build lately. It's purpose is to make white damage and crits hit as hard as possible by taking all the pure str buffing talents I can get too. Its been working good, I crit for 7k on cloth and really shines against melee classes too.

33/14/24

For extra burst I use the gargoyle, since his hits are based on your AP/STR, he hits really really hard with this build. I use it when I'm in trouble or if I am being kited. The playstyle is easy, open with Oblit to get your buff then put your diseases up and BS spam . The only problem I have is I dont really have any snares other than chains and for that reason the DnD glyph is totally amazing. I actually depend on it quite a bit. For world PVP so far I'm having a blast with it.

I really don't understand specs w/o Death Runes. How do you get around that?

Wow, awesome video Arioch. The first good DK PvP video I've seen. Looks like you respecced for PvE on armory. Can you post your PvP spec?

Actually in my previous version of this build I the 3 pts from annihilation in death rune mastery. When I last respecced I moved those over annihilation to see if I would miss it. So far I havent found that I miss it all that much. I like being able to Oblit anytime its up without consuming diseases.

I consider Rage of Rivendare pretty essential for my deep unholy builds. It is a big chunk of DPS. With the dispell reduction and the amount I use Plague Strike for Desecration I can't see missing Blood plague really being a problem.

A question about switching to frost presence against a melee class : are you switching your stuff as well (if not already in combat of course ), and using a tanking stuff ?

I wonder because while i was leveling, i used outfitter and i've configured it to equip all my tanking stuff automatically when i switch to frost presence .... but in a pvp scenario, i'm not sure this is a thing to do...

So, in a case like starting an arena against 2 melee dps, do you think it's more logical to switch to frost presence AND tanking gear or to switch to frost presence and pvp/dps gear ?

Thanks

(sorry for my english but it's not my mother tongue)

You can't do that.

You mean i can't change my stuff while in combat ? yes i know, that's why i said :

If you're talking of something else, please feel free to explain me your theory

I believe Diospadre meant you cannot switch gear(other than gear you could normally switch in combat) once you enter an arena. So, from that perspective, it's a non-issue.

In certain BG PvP scenarios (e.g. flag running) it would typically be worthwhile to switch to your tank gear for added survivability, though.

This was one of my first thoughts after seeing the PTR changes list. I was debating it for a while before that though. Obviously the other presences have some pretty obvious pvp-perks, but if your healer(s) get locked out or crowd controlled, you might not necessarily have the required frost rune to switch. This is especially after the fight has been going on for a longer time, as you have used empower rune weapon and quite possibly blood tap is on cd as well.

I think it'll depend a lot on the comp you are facing. If you are being attacked regularly it is probably worth it to sit in frost presence....if you are with a healer who is getting rolled then you will need to swap into unholy or blood and help him out. I wish we didn't need a rune to swap presences, it makes the process awkward.

There doesn't seem to be much talk about Blood as a PvP spec, so I tried out Blood/Frost and it was pretty good:

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft (44/27/0)

Points can be shifted around to get Abom's Might, it's just a rough template.

The main point of this build is the talent Hysteria to break CCs on both yourself and others. Best to inform any Rogues you play with to add a /cancelaura macro to Vanish as it can break stealth. Of course with a defensive dispeller it can be used as a castable Death Wish. You also have Lichborne for fears (as UD 3 fear breaks = lolpriests) It can also be funny to use it on a Rogue just before he saps...

The other major factor is the Endless Winter talent, which is the reason to go down so far down the Frost tree. 0 RP Mind Freeze is almost essential after being Frost for a while, and replacing IT with CoI in your rotation is a huge huge bonus. I find that having CoI generate Frost Fever means you don't really need reduced CD on Death Grip in the Unholy tree. 30% dispel resist is sorely missed, however.

Heart Strike after the patch will be great vs pets and cleave teams where 2 melee are usually chasing some poor cloth down.

For emergencies you have Vampiric Blood+Rune Tap, Mark of Blood, IBF.

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An alternative if you don't like the wasted points in Frost to get EW (of which there are many) is a Blood/Unholy build:

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft (51/0/20)

Most likely will be a better arena build than the above.

More burst with this build with DRW, arguably better than Gargoyle with buffs, plus all the nice lower tier Unholy talents.

More survivability with Will of the Necropolis, reduced damage and 33sec CD on unglyphed AMS. Unfortunately it won't save us from Kill Shot or Hammer .

Without EW, reduced Death Grip CD is necessary for us to ever consider catching up to a kiter. Basically you need one or the other, but both are a luxury.

What you miss from this spec is Obliterate not eating diseases, but you will probably be using all Frost runes for CoI and IT anyway. For this reason Epidemic is pointless.

EDIT: Frost/UD runes can also be conserved to regularly switch presences.

Do any of you find yourself if Frost Pres more than unholy now days?

Interesting style, but you are rocking tenacity a little too much for us to actually determine the viability of the spec from the WG footage. May I suggest releasing a second video with no footage from WG whatsoever, and just trying to get 1v1 matches with various classes that know you are there.


edit:

Glyphs displayed:

The DnD glyph is clearly a winner for large scale PvP, but I remain unconvinced for arenas.
I think the Blood Strike Glyph will be absolutely essential for any Frost PvP build due to Blood of the North and Chillblains synergizing so well with it.
Also, obviously Obliterate.


edit: Possible modified Unholy Build Post-3.0.8, Linky.

We want every strike to hit as hard as possible, and with the Glyph / Desecration it is entirely possible to get 4k + Blood Strikes here. It's an idea anyways, I am pretty sure that a frost build will be generally better, even without Virulence.

That is a stupid bonus. The runes we need most in pvp are frost ones for chains of ice. I cant imagine why I would want to use my frost runes for something besides COI (or another FU spell like obliterate). I am not usually fighting someone saying "Damn I wish I had just one more blood rune".

Why cant it be a bonus like "your frost runes refresh 1 second faster". Oh wait, that would be useful. I didn't think anything could be more retarded than 5 seconds off strangulate, but this comes close.

I haven't seen any discussion about a frost/unholy spec which I think might be viable for arena's.

Frost/Unholy - 3/32/36

The basic idea behind the build is to get frosts offensive abilities and unholys utility. Using high-crit chance obliterate, hungering cold, death coil, and sometimes icy touch as the damage abilities.

In Unholy this build offers most of the good pvp abilities: Ghoul, Bone Shield, Gargoyle and the other pvp oriented talents such as Unholy Command and On a Pale Horse.

This build could also be modified to include up to Imp Icy Talon's without too much difficulty.

Pros: Lots of utility abilities, Good survivability, Lots of ranged spells to help negate kiting
Cons: Less Damage with the loss of talents like Guile of Gorefiend and Tundra Stalker

That build is complete and utter crap, does not actually have hungering cold in it, manages to have 5/5 Necrosis in a PvP build, and also manages to have less survival tools that just going 51 Blood post patch.

[e] Just to contribute something of worth, other than tearing into you:

Howling Blast is a nice talent, but it simply doesn't have the raw damage output necessary to compare to either Scourge Strike or Obliterate talented, which your build cannot provide, since it can't get to Guile of Gorefiend.

If you are actually worried about survival that much, you should take another look at Rune Tap. A max Survival build probably involves Rune tap and Bone Shield. Lichborne really is not all that good.

Looks at a lot of these Frost builds, I don't see why you'd go deep frost and skip out on Frost Aura, 80 resistance for all of your teammates in every school of magic at all times just seems like something you'd want to provide.

I don't see how you would consider Lichborne to not be good. Other then the pvp trinket it's our only way to break fear, that alone makes it worthwhile. The fact that it offers a 25% evasion, self healing through deathcoil if needed, as well as the less important but still handy ability to break sleep and charm is just bonus. The only time that I could see it being a problem is against a priest or paladin, and even then it could be used to break fear then canceled.

About Frost Aura, it's nice but I don't consider it necessary, and there simply aren't the points for it in this build.

For Necrosis, without needing Outbreak it becomes more viable.

I agree the lower damage portion of the build would definitely be a large problem in a pairing such as healer / DK, where the DK has to do nearly all the damage. I'll be doing 2s with a elemental shaman though that can put out a lot of burst damage very quickly. This build is designed to work in conjunction with that by stopping healers, pulling melee away and snaring, harassing with the ghoul, and not dropping if focus fired. It also offers some pretty decent ranged burst damage to finish people off with a guaranteed crit howling blast, death coil, and gargoyle. It's not designed to win duels.

Setting up a macro to cancel Lichborne would be a good idea.
If you are going to be 2v2ing with an elemental shaman, may I suggest looking at deeper frost for more control of your opponents through Hungering Cold? Look into this

Big losses are obviously Rune Tap and the crit from blood, but Obliterate still rocks about a 50% critrate, you can still pressure from range with Deathcoil and Howling Blast if necessary, and you can put out very respectable spike damage up close, especially if you use the new frost strike glyph. You are mainly in unholy for the control elements, longer diseases, 25 second death grip, and the ability to do decent Deathcoil damage if you are stuck and getting kited.

I am pretty sure this build does exactly what your previous build did for you, with the only major loss being Bone shield, which really won't keep you alive on its own anyways. You can be immune to stuns for 18seconds as well, which becomes highly amusing against rogues.

Suggested glyphs for this build:
1. Frost strike
2. Blood Strike
3. Obliterate