Breath is undoubtably the most inconvenient way to play Frost. It causes you to in a lot of cases override a proper FDK rotation just to maintain breath for as long a possible.
That being said if its not tuned to be the biggest powerhouse option for FDK when is it ever reasonable to take? Or should it not be the best build for Single Target/AOE/Raid/M+?
Not really.
The “proper rotation” for Frost is to just mash Obliterate which Breath already does, just like any other possible build.
It’s not a Breath tuning issue it’s a KM Obliterate issue. Every single main issue of the spec, from “Baseline abilities feel weak” to “I do no damage outside of CDs” to “It’s unfun to AoE with DND” all stem directly from KM Obliterate doing literally everything and anything of value for the spec.
I started to respond but i think we just disagree to much to have a discussion to be honest.
Honestly breath can be the best build, the issue is that there are NO other viable builds right now with the drive-by oblit nerfs.
They really need to bring rider closer in line with deathbringer to open up more variety. Even if it was 2-4% behind, right now its just way too much of a gap.
The issue in my eyes isnt that breath is the best, its that its the best but such a large margin that nothing else is playable without trolling.
I don’t disagree with anything you said i just think there’s a very small percentage of the player base that prefer breath and would choose it if it was just 2% better and even less if it was 2% worse. Getting a perfect breath is rewarding but getting a bad breath is devastating.
The more rewarding they make the “risky” playstyle the more “worth it” it becomes to the point that it outshines every other build.
If they don’t make it worth is its just sets on the tree useless like the rest of the kit does now.
It would be different if it like had its use case. like breath is better for council and shatter is better for single target. right now breath is better single and aoe.
I wish breath was an aoe pick, and not bis for ST.
I also dislike breath aesthetically. Spewing ice is such a bad look for the class.
Making a 2h oblit focused build more competitive as an alternative to DW bos would be my easy solution.
The problem is Obliteration-focused builds take Shattering and/or Long Winter whereas BoS is free to invest in Obliteration AND BoS. I think Arctic Assault should be moved out and switched to Long Winter’s position but Long Winter should maybe also be changed so that it’s a more Frost Strike/Obliterate weave-focused capstone. Like, say, every Frost Strike/Glacial Advance grants Killing Machine. You can balance this around either procing on strike, Runic Empowerment proccing or when it crits.
Just an example.
I like how Breath is basically Voidform for Frost Death Knights. I wonder if Voidform is still a thing and is as strong for Shadow Priests.
At least it’s not S2M.
… Maybe not a good comparison but in terms of viability. Because otherwise, I still feel like spending global on RP doesn’t feel as strong as spending on runes.
At least Frost Strikes hits decently hard nowadays.
My experience with Legion/BfA void form is exactly why I hate breath. I hated Legion/BfA void form. The gameplay of costing a resource per second to extend a buff duration is not fun for me. Give me a buff with a fixed cost and a fixed duration and I’m fine with it. I don’t care for the Long Winter talent extending the duration of Pillar of Frost either tbh, but at least there is a limit and it doesn’t cost any resources to extend the duration.
Void form was changed to where it can be extended by 2.5 sec by casting Devouring Plague instead of costing insanity/sec to maintain it. It’s also a talent on a choice node w/ Dark Ascension, so it can be avoided completely. I miss shadow orbs.
Ive hated BoS ever since it hit live
I pray every expansion they remove it but theres alot of people who enjoy playing it
I don’t think it’s possible for it not to be the best ST option and AoE