Frost Death Knight

The priority

1. Pillar of Frost — when it is ready
2. Frostwyrm’s Fury — right after pillar of frost starts
3. Empower Rune Weapon — at 2 charges
4. Obliterate — with 2 killing machine stacks
5. Frost Strike — when you have 1 or fewer runes
6. Obliterate — with killing machine
7. Howling Blast — with a rime proc
8. Frost Strike — at 75+ runic power or during pillar
9. Empower Rune Weapon — below 35 runic power
10. Obliterate — as your rune spender
11. Frost Strike — to spend runic power
12. Raise Dead — when nothing else is ready

Common mistakes

• Pressing Howling Blast without Rime — it costs a Rune for little gain.
• Letting Killing Machine sit at 2 stacks so new procs are lost.
• Using Frostwyrm’s Fury before Pillar of Frost.

What’s simplified

• Each turn is one decision (about one global cooldown). Cooldowns and buff durations are converted to turns, so timing is approximate.
• Runes regenerate at a flat 1 every 2 turns. Real recharge depends on haste and runs three runes at a time.
• Killing Machine is a fixed 25% chance per turn from auto-attacks.
• Obliterate and Frostscythe cost 2 Runes; Frost Strike and Glacial Advance cost 35 Runic Power. Empower Rune Weapon grants Killing Machine and 40 Runic Power.
• Razorice, Shattering Blade stacks and Frostbane are not modeled, so the "5 Razorice" Frost Strike condition is omitted.

Sources

• Method: Playstyle & rotation guide (Oct 13, 2026)
• Icy Veins: Rotation, cooldowns & abilities (Oct 12, 2026)
• Warcraft Secrets: Patch 12.1.5 content update notes (class changes) (Oct 13, 2026)

Rider of the Apocalypse with the Shattering Blade route (no Breath of Sindragosa). Deathbringer and Breath builds are not modeled yet. Reviewed Oct 15, 2026. A training aid, not a damage simulator.