Ice to meet you!

A few days ago, I was contemplating moving a character to a new server.  I decided that one of my Frost Death Knights (I have three 85’s) would probably be the most likely candidate.  So I picked one that had the most to offer – max professions, decent gear, and enough bells and whistles to make him both unique and interesting to use.

There was just one problem – his main weapon was a 2-handed sword.

If you have a Frost DK, you’re shaking your head in a knowing and understanding fashion.  If you don’t, you’re wondering why the Hell I would mention something as stupid as what weapon he was using.  Is it an ugly sword?  Did it clash with his outfit?

It’s hard to be a good Fashionista.

Okay, let me try and spell it out for you.  Much like a Fury Warrior using two one-handed weapons, a Frost DK with a two-hander is generally seen as sub-par.  You can do it, there are talents in the talent tree that make the option available, but it’s just flat-out less DPS.  In fact, one of the reasons many DK’s have had to switch to an Unholy spec is due to the lack of Heroic one-handed weapons available for DPS.  Two-Handers do not deliver adequate DPS for a Frost DK, end of story.

What was I to do?  He didn’t have the gold or mats to have a reasonable one-hander made for him, and there was nothing to be found on the Auction House.  That put me in a bit of a Catch-22 situation.  I would have to run dungeons (Normal or Heroic) and either hope for an adequate drop or earn the badges to buy a weapon.  But to run them and not get booted I needed to do decent DPS, which meant I needed an adequate weapon, which put me right back to square one.

Or did it?  I remembered experimenting with a somewhat controversial spec back in the day (and isn’t that what College is for – experimenting?).  The spec – the MasterFrost Spec – put out some very decent numbers.  This was a spec that involved reforging gear to Mastery, which was a flat-out buff to Frost damage.  Your Howling Blast would hit like a nuclear bomb, and Frost Strike would hit like a sizeable truck.  Obliterate would barely show up as part of the rotation (gasp!).  Could this be the workaround I was looking for?

After a bit of researching, I found some information to get myself set up.  I logged in, reforged as much as I dared, and queued up for my first dungeon.

I never looked back.  That’s where everyone else was on the Recount DPS meter – behind me.

I don’t know how effective this will be once 5.0 rolls over the Death Knight talent tree, so I’m hoping to have my DK geared somewhat properly by the time that happens.  But it just goes to show, ONCE AGAIN, that there are different ways to play World of Warcraft.  Try everything!  You never know when you’ll stumble across something that really works for you.

Or stagger into something that really doesn’t.