Anyone else saddened to see Frost Bomb become 99% worthless?

[Polarthief]

Idk about you guys, but there's actually one not-as-looked-at issue that's actually going to make me sad: Frost Bomb. But not for raiding, no, it's already crap there. I'm referring to its usefulness in Dungeons, CMs, and soloing.

I know I can't be the only one out there that feels the same, but Dungeons are actually a lot of fun when you go in with ToT gear and you clear through it super fast, on top of being able to tank mobs because you kill them so quickly. With the Frostburn change though, Frost Bomb will be shelved even worse than Incanter's Ward (or Rune of Power for Fire/Frost specifically), and quite frankly, I'm sad that they've taken this route.

Blizzard should be fully aware that Frost Bomb is already crap for raiding, and that its only real niche is CMs and Dungeons at this point. It also wouldn't be too hard to add a small bit of extra to Frost Bomb when Frost:

Frost Bomb's Damage is increased by X% [around 30-40%] against Frozen, non-player/non-player pet/minion, targets.

- Doesn't buff it in PvP nor Raiding (well, a very very small niche in raiding if there's a cluster of targets and you're Frost)
- Allows Frost Bomb to continue wrecking groups in Dungeons, particularly CMs. Note that this WOULD NOT be the first time they reverted a nerf due to CMs...
- Frost Bomb is barely used as it is. Why should Frostburn nerf it further?

[Deleted]

I am concerned by the fact it's more or less useless in raid.
On the damage, even without frostburn, when it shatter, Frostbomb is the biggest raw damage. You can see crit for 400k/500k, more with luck on proc.

But with T16 and Icicle, Brain Freeze is important because: it have 30% chance to proc Frigid Blast, give +20% damage to your next spell and create big damage icicle.
If you look at Proving grounds, why would you want to use it?

The problem with Frostbomb isn't his damage.
The fact: it's not a DOT, it can't be instant cast, it can't be multi-dot.
Why to choode it when you can have something that do the same damage, that you can have at near 100% up-time and that proc more.

[Argussonn]

The fact: it's not a DOT, it can't be instant cast, it can't be multi-dot.

This.

Making it instant alone would made it more in line with other two.

As for multi-dot: maybe some kind of 'every next simultaneously ticking application deals less dmg' mechanics could work (with removed cd of course).
Or something like this: you apply it instantly and it lasts for 12 secs (or until you apply another one) and the longer it stays on a target, the bigger dmg deals on explosion. But the mechanics of proccing brain freeze should be reworked in this case.

[IsrafaelMage]

The idea of DAT (Damage after time, as someone put it in pre-MoP discussions) is actually quite interesting, but it's very detrimental for raiding purposes. To compensate loss of proc generation for arcane/frost, they could make it something that you can control - i.e. give it 'base + stacking' damage components, latter of which would be certain % of the total damage done in the timeframe between the DAT cast and its expiry time. That would bring more burst to the opener and make gameplay more varied i think, compared to two other bombs.

[Smigel]

I think Frost Bomb is still good for solo content and Dungeons because it's very easy to ensure that it crits. It's going to do more damage, particularly when you have several mobs being hit, when you can time a pet-freeze right before it goes off. On your second Frost Bomb you can use Frost Nova, Ring of Frost or Ice Ward for the third, and throw in a Deep Freeze and you have more than enough freezes to ensure you're doing great damage.

Living Bomb and Nether Tempest do good damage if you spread them around properly, but I just really enjoy the control that Frost Bomb provides. It gives you reliable Brain Freezes, a great slow for when you're kiting mobs, and big big damage when it crits on a bunch of mobs. It feels the best out of the bombs when I'm playing Frost spec. It may not be so overpowering when Mastery goes away, but I think it will still feel like a great part of the Frost rotation.

[Phair]

Blizzard should be fully aware that Frost Bomb is already crap for raiding, and that its only real niche is CMs and Dungeons at this point.

Never even used frost bomb for challenge modes, running with the tank and tab dotting up the trash as it's being gathered up was better damage and even then once the mobs are gathered up, I spent all my globals on cleave lancing from frozen orb procs.

Frost bomb "used" to have a half decent raiding nitch when we could manually detonate it, it was very good choice for Elegon and for rages on Will of the Emperor if you had good trigger finger. It could still find a good nitch if they just removed the timer and let it be a high DPE instant nuke. I'd probably find myself using it more often on targets that need to be burned down in under 5 seconds.

[Akraen]

It's more challenging to use for no real gain other than not having to multidot.

The inherent problem with it is that it has a fluctuating cooldown and it may come off cooldown when you're mid-cast on something else. This is very clunky and feels wrong compared to the seamless play of LB and NT.

It's also very frustrating when soloing simply because when you stop to cast it/refresh it, the mob(s) are running towards you. As a squishy class that likes to keep distance, frost bomb isn't even good there.

[Kenbud]

Last night on Tortos we changed from the bat kiting strat to the killing start so I decided to mess around with Fost Bomb as arcane and I wouldn't call it useless. I was getting 1 million+ crits and bat damage was insane but we wiped because too many people were focused on big bat number and not killing turtles so after 1 wipe we went back to our old stray. It was a short lived experiment but the damage it can do as arcane is nuts.

[Libretto]

Oh my god. The ability is being nerfed by roughly 25% or so for CMs/solo play, but your damage to trash is being shifted elsewhere so who cares.

You've been shot down in flames several times in other threads on this issue, and now just decide to create an entire thread about it? Christ.

[voltaa]

Never even used frost bomb for challenge modes, running with the tank and tab dotting up the trash as it's being gathered up was better damage and even then once the mobs are gathered up, I spent all my globals on cleave lancing from frozen orb procs.

This is better OVERALL dps, but the point of frostbomb isn't to do the most damage, it's to do that largest single hits, in CMs you want burst damage over more damage since often times you have about 8-10 seconds to burn down a pack before your tank gets gibbed.

As far as frost bomb not having any use now, I am kind of ok with it just for the fact that I don't really care for the spell, I would rather have it be useless than be forced to use a cast time spell in place of my bombs.

[Smigel]

It's also very frustrating when soloing simply because when you stop to cast it/refresh it, the mob(s) are running towards you. As a squishy class that likes to keep distance, frost bomb isn't even good there.

Frost Bomb's slow somewhat makes up for this. You should be able to pick up the second or so it takes to cast Frost Bomb because the mob(s) are running slower towards you. Nether Tempest and Living Bomb don't slow the target.

[Akraen]

You have to be facing the target to cast it. That's much harder to maneuver than NT or LB.

I don't know why anyone would argue with me on this. Just go to the Barrens and test it.

[Smigel]

I like working with slower mobs.

[Akraen]

I like working with slower mobs.

2 seconds is incredibly short.

I get a lot more control out of the 6 sec slow from cone of cold (plus it is instant), and you have 2 novas, one which can be used at a distance.

I get that you like frost bomb. I want to like it too, but you're just not going to convince anyone that it is designed properly for any situation.

[Mastamage]

It's a clunky spell, at best. Being that NT and LB don't have a directional limitation make them far more superior.

[Smigel]

I'm offering up a different point of view. I think Frost Bomb is a really fun play style, and I think it's wrong to call it 99% worthless.

I've never been a fan of multi-dotting. Mages feel like a nukie-oriented class and Frost Bomb fits well with that mindset. It's very satisfying to see a bunch of healthbars just get instantly cut in half when it goes off, there's a lot to be said for that imo.

[Akraen]

Oh I love the idea of frost bomb. And personally I hate multidotting.

Frost bomb just falls short of the intended goal of its purpose.

[Kenbud]

You have to be facing the target to cast it. That's much harder to maneuver than NT or LB.

I don't know why anyone would argue with me on this. Just go to the Barrens and test it.

You do not in fact have to be facing your target to cast Frost Bomb.

[Deleted]

You do not in fact have to be facing your target to cast Frost Bomb.

I confirm it and it's like this from the start (like all bomb).

For me, it's 2 main fails are :
-- not being instant cast (up-time, movement, etc)
-- restricted to 1 target (most fight are multi-dot friendly actually)

[Akraen]

That's pretty comical then I've been turning around to cast it.

Doesn't make it any better.