EU+US 101 Frost DK Artifact Progression

[Smash]

So it seems that I'm at an impasse with regards to my Frost DK's Artifact Weapon's Progression, and I need some advice from the community.

Until now, my philosophy with regards to Artifact Weapon progression was to go after as many golden traits as possible. The first golden trait I aimed for was Sindragosa's Fury, which from all my research was definitely the best of the three available. Following that, I decided to prioritize Hypothermia over Frozen Soul, and I've since put 2 points into Cold As Ice on my way there (currently at Artifact Rank 14).

But honestly, farming AK is proving to be a PITA, with my last point (Rank 15) taking me several weeks to grind - especially because my main method of acquiring AK to date has been Class Hall missions and looting treasure chests while questing. So now I'm no longer sure I'll ever reach the 2nd golden trait (which requires Artifact Rank 20!).

Also, after taking a closer look at my AW tree, and noticing that the majority of my damage when running dungeons is coming from Howling Blast, I'm now wondering if I should instead abandon plans to get the 2nd golden trait, and instead put the next 3 points into Blast Radius. Logic would suggest that a 10% buff to Howling Blast would benefit me much more than a 1% overall buff to Frost damage given by Cold As Ice, and probably is a much better use of AK if I don't plan on progressing past Artifact Rank 18, ESPECIALLY if it stacks with Rime.

So I now turn to you, the wonderful xpoff community, to give me your advice and thoughts as to what you believe to be my best course of action.

Also, can anyone tell me if Cold As Ice stacks with Rime, and if the stacking is additive or multiplicative?

Armory link: Frosticide

 

[Tiffymew]

I don't know if this was the best option, but personally I picked up Blast Radius after Sindragosa, basically because I knew I wouldn't reach that second gold trait anytime soon (or ever, lol) and it'd be a noticeable increase immediately.

 

[Kundis]

I don't know if this was the best option, but personally I picked up Blast Radius after Sindragosa, basically because I knew I wouldn't reach that second gold trait anytime soon (or ever, lol) and it'd be a noticeable increase immediately.

I did the same on my DK. And Blast Radius is just insane DPS both on AoE AND single target. If it pops, I hit it. It is my strongest 1 hit spell.

**Edit: Aside from Sindragosa lol.

 

[Warlockhomes]

5 man twink farm NL dungeon is what you need.

you can do the dungeon in about 4 minutes and there are always 2 chests in the dungeon with a chance to get 200 AP in each, so each run can be 0-400 AP per run.

this is a lot better than chests out in the world giving 25-95 AP

its still slow-ish .... but its a lot faster than running around the world grabbing chests from all over the place, it will help you get through your traits quicker

 

[Smash]

Thanks for all your responses. So far I am leaning towards going with Blast Radius over Cold As Ice, even if it means it will take me longer to reach my second golden trait. Long term, I would like to reach artifact trait 23, which is the point where I have two golden traits, but at my current pace that may take another year lol. More input is welcome, especially regarding stacking / non-stacking of Cold As Ice with Rime.

 

[Aelobin]

Also, can anyone tell me if Cold As Ice stacks with Rime, and if the stacking is additive or multiplicative?

Not the definite answer you're looking for but I'd assume multiplicative based on the tooltips.

 

[Smash]

Not the definite answer you're looking for but I'd assume multiplicative based on the tooltips.

Sorry I made a mistake...I meant to ask whether Blast Radius stacks with Rime - my bad. But yes I assume multiplicative as well but I'm just not 100% sure.

@Aelobin, do you know of a way to sim different talents and compare them against each other?

Also what options do you normally choose when running simc? Since I'm mainly using my DK to farm instances and always doing large pulls, I decided to use the following simc options (any settings not mentioned below were left on default). If I'm doing anything wrong please let me know:

Iterations: 25,000 (for greater accuracy)
Length: 100 (usually everything dies even quicker than this lol)
Vary Length: 50%
Player Skill: Good
Num Enemies: 5
Target Level: 5-Man Heroic
World Lag: 200ms

I then enable scaling to get stat weights and I also enable plots (although I still don't know how this feature works or what it shows / how to benefit from it).

 

[Soloing]

@Aelobin, do you know of a way to sim different talents and compare them against each other?

This is what I use for some quick comparisons: https://www.raidbots.com/simbot/talents

 

[Aelobin]

After you import your character you can copy the talents url into your browser, change it to what you want, then copy it back. You can do the same with your artifact data using Wowhead, in the form http://www.wowhead.com/artifact-calc/data:goes:here - then once you've changed things, click the "Link" button at the top right to get a new data string.

My sim settings are usually:
- 10k iterations (more than enough imo)
- 30 secs for burst (0% variance), 240 secs for sustained (25% variance)
- Elite player skill (simcraft is for "best case scenario" anyway, so no point trying to simulate player error imo)
- 1 enemy in Patchwerk fight style (but I only ever sim single target dps)
- Raid Boss for target level but I often add "target_level=102" to the sim profile (or overrides) to set it to a normal dungeon boss
- 25ms for lag (same reason as Elite player skill but it's also what I get in-game)

You can sim multiple versions of a character by adding "copy=insert_name_here" at the bottom of your profile and then making changes relevant to it below.

 

[YoungWalrus]

Can you link us your DK?

 

[Smashingbaby]

If I were you... maybe I'd work toward the heals of icebound fortitude. Instead of another golden. It gives you a chance to heal to full 3 times before the cd is up which is super nice for wpvp as well as soloing dungeons

 

[norcal313]

I have yet to sink a single point into blast radius and my damage is just fine. I get too many resists on 110s for it to be worth it at this point. PvE, that's a different story.

 

[Smash]

So just to update this thread, Blizzard nerfed Blast Radius to 6% per point, and that made the choice of going with Cold As Ice easy. Now that Cold As Ice is at 3/3, I may go with Ice In Your Veins next over Mirrorball.