Icecap vs Avalanche

[nathrizarri]

A point that I want to make is Icecap vs Avalanche. All guides suggesting Ava over Icecap due to it's raw damage contribution but talents like Gathering Storm/Frostscythe/Glacial Advance/Obliteration has indirect syngergy with Icecap.

Icecap increases the Pillar of Frost buff uptime therefore increasing the damage contribution of these talents.

More Frostscythe during pillar, more damage from Fscythe.
Having 2 Pillared RW in a minute instead of 1, net gain to RW and even further to GS talent.(around %20 crit levels)
Glacial advance is similar to Fscythe, although It competes with resources in a negative way for Icecap to benefit.
Obliteration is similar to RW/GS. Especially around %20 crits I consistently reduce the CD of Icecap to 40ish seconds which helps me do alot more damage with RW/Obliteration.

but the guides that I came across don't pay much attention to this. I do not have any math data with me atm for the current situation to make a solid comparison but I forsee Icecap gaining more over the course of expansion due to the abilities that It effects tied to the weapon damage and higher AP% compared to avalanche's flat AP damage.

[Scarzi]

icecap by a mile.

[Shogol]

icecap by a mile.

Well that cleared things up... I am also curious which one is the best, but Ava will obviously give you more burst damage, and Icecap probably pulls ahead on longer fights. I can see Icecap destroying Ava in every situation when we get the legendary bracers though.

[Gr1mdark]

Well, actually the guide in Icy does talk about Icecap.
What it says is,
"Icecap is close to Avalanche, and may even be better when you have the Icon Nothing but the Boots artifact trait."

So we all have the trait, which means, that it really can pull ahead in longer fights.

[Tyrean]

Well, actually the guide in Icy does talk about Icecap.
What it says is,
"Icecap is close to Avalanche, and may even be better when you have the Icon Nothing but the Boots artifact trait."

So we all have the trait, which means, that it really can pull ahead in longer fights.

Which is why people don't take Icy Veins seriously. Stuff like this they slap together in their guides without any real thought into it.

Icecap reduces the CD of Pillar when you crit with obliterate, scythe and frost strike. That artifact trait increases the critical hit damage of oblit and scythe.

crit damage != crit chance.

I think the intention of the talents is that you would want icecap for sustained single target and avalanche for multitarget burst. Which actually is better for each scenario would be up to sims to help us figure out but right now I just don't think the sims are up to par to make absolute judgements. There are only a handful of people for which this really matters though, and I can tell you that pretty much none of those people are playing frost.

[Gr1mdark]

Which is why people don't take Icy Veins seriously. Stuff like this they slap together in their guides without any real thought into it.

Icecap reduces the CD of Pillar when you crit with obliterate, scythe and frost strike. That artifact trait increases the critical hit damage of oblit and scythe.

crit damage != crit chance.

I think the intention of the talents is that you would want icecap for sustained single target and avalanche for multitarget burst. Which actually is better for each scenario would be up to sims to help us figure out but right now I just don't think the sims are up to par to make absolute judgements. There are only a handful of people for which this really matters though, and I can tell you that pretty much none of those people are playing frost.

Than where should i look for good guides?

I guess the meaning begind this is that if oblit gets a dmg buff, it is even better for overall dmg when you hit with it harder and it also reduces your cd on the pillar?
Dunno

[gixxpunk]

At my current gear (840) Avalanche beats Icecap at single target and aoe. Checked with simc nightly from yesterday. Difference at single target is ~3k DPS.

[nathrizarri]

I am using Gathering Storm build and Icecap not only gives me an extra stun but allows my talent pick to do %15 more damage.

Results are so far so good, things will be a bit messy IF I get my hands on Koltira since that will crowd my rotation alot if I pick murdereous.