Kuni's WoD Frost Mage PVE Guide 6.2

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Frost PVE: 6.2

You cannot waste Icicles. Gaining a sixth will fire the oldest Icicle present. No need to track them.


Basics and Playstyle

Under the assumption of IN/RoP/PC, which is the standard single target build this patch, along with 4pT18. Priority is as such:

• Rune of Power
• Prismatic Crystal
  
  • Frozen Orb
  • Icy Veins
  • 4 stack Fingers of Frost-Ice Lance/2 stack Fingers of Frost-Ice Lance while Frozen Orb's ticking*
  • Ice Nova with 2 charges or the last charge if Prismatic Crystal is about to die
  • Other Fingers of Frost-Ice Lances*
  • Brain Freeze-Frostfire Bolt
  • Ice Nova with 1 charge
  • Frostbolt if you somehow don't have procs
• Water Jet
  
  • Brain Freeze-Frostfire Bolt at 2 stacks
  • Ice Lance if you're at, or will be at, 4 stacks of Fingers of Frost*
  • Frostbolt
• Fingers of Frost-Ice Lance if the buff is about to expire
• Brain Freeze-Frostfire Bolt if the buff is about to expire
• Ice Nova if you're about to cap out at 2 stacks, or the target is about to die
• Ice Lance if 4 Fingers of Frost*
• Brain Freeze-Frostfire Bolt
• Ice Lance at other levels of Fingers of Frost*
• Frostbolt

*If you have Tome of Shifting Words, cast a Frostbolt before any given Ice Lance, except in the case of the buff about to expire. For Prismatic Crystal's sub-list, optimal DPS with this trinket is to weave Frostbolt and Ice Lance back and forth, using Frostfire Bolt as they come.

As soon as you have multiple targets, you switch to UM/RoP/TV. You follow the same priority, except you simply use Frozen Orb on cooldown instead of saving it for Prismatic Crystal.

Pop Icy Veins, Time Warp, and trinkets as indicated by fight mechanics and common sense.

Stand in Rune of Power or keep Mirror Images on cooldown. Incanter's Flow is passive and requires no attention.

Comet Storm should be used on cooldown. I would make the argument that you should wait a cast or two to proc RPPM effects before hitting it on pull. Prismatic Crystal should also be used on cooldown, but save as many Fingers of Frost and Brain Freeze procs as you can without overwriting them. Thermal Void is ignored completely, as Frozen Orb lines up with Icy Veins anyway. Try and go into Icy Veins with at least one Fingers of Frost proc if at all possible.

Frozen Orb should be used on cooldown except when using Prismatic Crystal. Save Frozen Orb for use with Prismatic Crystal. It'll path roughly forward from you and slow down when it hits the first attackable target. The first impact will automatically grant you a fingers charge as well. It's also damned nice AOE, so try and aim it to maximize damage on as many targets as possible.

Your level 75 talents are Frost Bomb, which you should only cast when you've got at least one Fingers of Frost proc; Unstable Magic, which is entirely passive; and Ice Nova, which should be used ASAP if you have 2 charges, and with a trinket effect or 5 stacks of Incanter's Flow on the last charge.

Ice Lance with Fingers of Frost allows Ice Lance to benefit from Shatter and will launch your current Icicles set.

Frostfire Bolt with Brain Freeze up will let it benefit from Shatter.

Frostbolt is your filler spell.


Talents

Level 15:

• Evanesce is your "movement" by avoiding mechanics talent. Functions identically to Ice Block with the exception of not removing debuffs. Should allow you to bypass most ground effects in dungeons and raids, as well as any targeted effects as long as the buff is up before the cast finishes. Replaces Ice Block, however.
• Blazing Speed is movement through getting to your destination faster so you can continue to cast.
• Ice Floes is simply the ability to cast while moving, and arguably the best on the line if utilized properly.

Level 30:

• Alter Time has been changed to simply return your health and position, nothing else. Powerful in the right circumstances, but does not actively prevent death.
• Flameglow is passive protection. It's generally an okay, but not great talent.
• Ice Barrier returns relatively unchanged. Still fairly weak, and still on the GCD.

I've been finding more and more uses for Alter Time than the other two. The ability to return to where you were while running bad out of raid, a full heal after a large hit, it's fairly useful if you can think of use cases.

Level 45:

• Ring of Frost returns unchanged, still has a target limit of 10.
• Ice Ward has been buffed to have 3 charges and a short ICD between them. Fairly useful if you take Ice Nova, as it's essentially 3 Frost Novas on a 20 second cooldown.
• Frostjaw also returns unchanged, and remains a silence for as long as the freeze effect is unbroken.

Level 60:

• Greater Invisibility will still prevent your death should you pop it before taking a fatal hit, but it requires you to pay attention.
• Cauterize will do the same, but only absorb up to 200% of your max health while doing so.
• Cold Snap functionally reads Ice Block has a 3 minute cooldown, with a decent heal for soloing attached to it.

Cauterize is a great tool when learning new fights, Greater Invisibility tends to be better when you know what's coming. Cold Snap has very limited situational use when you absolutely need two Evanesce casts in a short amount of time. Double soaking M Gruul's slash, for instance.

Level 75:

• Frost Bomb has changed massively from a single explosion on a timer to a 12 second debuff that explodes whenever a frozen Ice Lance hits the target.
• Unstable Magic is a passive explosion that procs from both Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt.
• Ice Nova replaces Frost Nova with a DPS spell on a charge system.

Ice Nova is currently the talent of choice for single target, Unstable Magic for multi-target. Frost Bomb falls behind once you replace T17 bonuses.

Level 90:

• Mirror Image has been turned into a talent and heavily buffed to match. It retains the threat drop it had previously.
• Rune of Power returns as a 3 minute duration without the mana regeneration.
• Incanter's Flow is a passive that steps up or down every second, with 2 seconds at the lowest and highest points. 4-8-12-16-20-20-16-12-8-4 and repeat.

Rune of Power is technically the highest if you can maintain 100% uptime. Both of the others are very very close in practical usage, with Incanter's Flow ahead of Mirror Image.

Level 100:

• Thermal Void is entirely passive. The infinite Icy Veins strategy is dead.
• Prismatic Crystal places a target only you can hit. The Elemental and Mirror Images cannot see or hit it. Your goal is to place it close enough to the center of the boss's hitbox that Splitting Ice will cleave off of it.
• Comet Storm should just be used on cooldown. There's nothing special about it other than the location is set at time of cast. If the target moves, you might miss some comets.

Comet Storm isn't bad, especially in 5 mans where you won't be using Prismatic Crystal or Icy Veins on trash. Use it on cooldown, preferably after a couple of casts on pull to get your ring proc up. It's 700% SP coefficient, an extra 10-15% Intellect is amazing for it, and you likely won't lose an extra use.

Save Frozen Orb for Prismatic Crystal. Throw Frost Bomb on the target you're cleaving off of, if using Frost Bomb. Splitting Ice will trigger the explosion, and you don't want to waste Crystal's uptime on casting Bomb. Prismatic Crystal can now also be hit by pets as of 6.2. This includes both the Elemental and Mirror Images if you're using them. Don't Water Jet the Crystal, it will end early and make you sad.

Thermal Void is functionally passive. It tends to shine on multiple target fights, where you can get your surprisingly decent AOE buffed by it.

Glyphs

Glyphs are fairly self explanatory. Read them. Take what's appropriate for the situation.

Glyph of Icy Veins is currently mandatory. It also has a hidden 20% modifier to Fingers of Frost generation from Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt to make up for the slower cast speeds. 15% to 18% isn't huge, it just keeps it equal.

Glyph of Splitting Ice is almost always a DPS increase, there's usually some add at some point during a fight. This is also mandatory for Prismatic Crystal, as you can cleave off of the Crystal onto the boss if placed properly.

Glyph of Cone of Cold is questionable in my mind. It tends to beat out most spells at 3-4 targets, but Blizzard will reduce the cooldown of Frozen Orb, and it scales with number of targets hit. I haven't done the long-term math on this glyph, because I don't feel that it's strong enough to deserve a spot on any given fight.

Glyph of Water Elemental allows you to keep your elemental in range of the boss at all times. This is incredibly useful for both Water Jet and Freeze. Keep in mind that the AI can be a bit dumb, and will continually stand next to you, even if it means it can't DPS the boss due to line of sight issues.

Stats

Intellect>Spell Power>Multistrike>=Crit>Haste>Versatility>Mastery

That said, Haste, Crit before Shatter cap, Mastery, and Versatility are all incredibly close to each other in value; they will shuffle around depending on gear and talent selection. There's no way to tell you which is .01 better DPS than the others without simming yourself. There's a link at the bottom of the post to a great guide by Frosted on how to do that. As it stands, if it has higher ilvl than what you have and has more Multistrike and Intellect, take it.[/b]

Mastery is interesting. Our mastery stores a percentage of any Frostbolt or Frostfire Bolt damage event as an Icicle above your head. You can have up to five at any given time, the oldest one will automatically launch when you gain a sixth. They will all fire in a rapid barrage when you cast Ice Lance. For any normal circumstances, you will not need to pay attention to them. They're passive damage, much like fire's Ignite. They can be used to finish off low health enemies, if you have a decent judgement of how much damage is stored in them, though the only point I've seen this specific trick useful has been Proving Grounds. In general, they can be saved up, along with procs, to help burn down a high priority target quickly.

Crit soft cap is 36.33% raid buffed. This includes the 5% crit buff from Arcane Brilliance. Shatter is crit percent*1.5+50%. The math behind this is (((36.33-3)*1.5)+50)=100 after Blizzard's rounding is finished. You lose 1% crit against any target for every level higher than you are, before Shatter.

Multistrike is stat% chance, rolled twice, for a second/third spell fired at 30% damage. It's a slightly different version of Crit, and Multistrikes can Crit independently of the originating spell. Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt Multistrikes will also generate Icicles. Brain Freeze is now triggered from Frostbolt at 10%, and Frostbolt Multistrikes increase this chance by 25% for each Multistrike, up to 60% from one Frostbolt cast (primary 10% with two Multistrikes for 25% each).

Versatility is simply a flat damage increase, with half of the total as a damage reduction. It's a pretty good stat, and unlike most classes, it's one of our better stats.


Miscellaneous

SimulationCraft
We put an absolute absurd amount of work into getting SimC more accurate for mages. It's fine to use now.
Please learn how to simulate your character. It will allow you to not need to ask opinions on every little upgrade you get, and allows you to find out your own personal stat weights. A good video tutorial on how to do this is found here. A text tutorial by Frosted here.


If you guys see any issues or have any questions, feel free to post.

[Imnick]

I know SoO will quickly be behind us, but do you have any examples for bosses where Flameglow would be a good talent to take so I can revise my mental picture?
"15 damage instances in 25 seconds" is a nice number but still kind of hard to fit into my head as a "feeling", if you get what I mean.

Some bosses you can math out that yes, I will definitely be hit this often for the entire fight, but what about Immerseus, where the damage will come in the form of a DoT effect that may or may not be there, and as a ticking AOE which is only present in one phase?
And then, Malkorok feels like a boss that has a lot of unavoidable ticking AOE, but actually as it ticks once every two seconds... you will only get his 12-13 times every 25 seconds, which is less than 15, and all other damage is avoidable... So with even a tick instance as small as once every two seconds, is it not worth taking this talent? Or is it a case of comparing "how often am I going to use ice barrier to stand in void zones, vs how much damage I take from miasma from the rest of the fight"?

Perhaps it's something I am only going to be able to work out with a personal damage taken meter...

[Supersqueeze]

Multistrike > Intellect > Mastery >= Crit >= Haste

Mastery, Crit, and Haste are all really close for 6.0.

At a decent gear level, you have enough Haste that it starts to fall behind. Lower item levels will want Haste before Mastery and Crit.

Have a number for what a decent gear level is? 570, 575, 580?


Edit: Thanks Berlinia.

[Deleted]

Have a number for what a decent gear level is? 570, 575, 580?

I'd say you can reach that point at 565+, with appropriate itemization

[darkm857]

After the stat squish, what is a "good" and "amazing" dps numbers to see from 560 or 570 characters?

[Supersqueeze]

How come the stat priority here is different than the one Icy Veins has, that says was approved by you as well? I assume they rushed it?

[Deleted]

How come the stat priority here is different than the one Icy Veins has, that says was approved by you as well? I assume they rushed it?

Our current guides are for level 90

[Kuni Zyrekai]

How come the stat priority here is different than the one Icy Veins has, that says was approved by you as well? I assume they rushed it?

Functionally the same, the Icy Veins version is more general and in line with my note about lower gear levels. But yes, I should probably adjust it for everyone.

ETA: Fixed.

- - - Updated - - -

Flameglow

It its core, it's a question of if you want front loaded damage reduction with nothing behind it through Ice Barrier, or if you want to knock the edge off of all the hits you'll take. I'd personally grab it for most fights simply because screw spending a GCD on Ice Barrier.

[Deleted]

It its core, it's a question of if you want front loaded damage reduction with nothing behind it through Ice Barrier, or if you want to knock the edge off of all the hits you'll take. I'd personally grab it for most fights simply because screw spending a GCD on Ice Barrier.

Scumbag :P

[Song]

Sooo I'm 584, and have 48% haste 48% mastery, unbuffed. Is there a place to stop stacking either stat? I'm a little confused as to how much haste/mastery I want, and what to gem for. Currently gemming like *all* haste and haste and crit.

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Scumbag :P

Always.

Sooo I'm 584, and have 48% haste 48% mastery, unbuffed. Is there a place to stop stacking either stat? I'm a little confused as to how much haste/mastery I want, and what to gem for. Currently gemming like *all* haste and haste and crit.

For you, I'd probably drop some haste gems to mastery. You don't want to go too far above 50% buffed.

[Song]

For you, I'd probably drop some haste gems to mastery. You don't want to go too far above 50% buffed.

Thanks for the reply! Ok so, I re-gemmed abit and now buffed, I'm at 50.94% haste, 70.97 mastery. 1.3sec FB cast time. Sound about right? Orrr more mastery. xD

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Sounds good.

[gallamann]

567 is my Mage, put on KTT over Black Blood. Then I set AMR to go 50% haste. Sitting at 45% haste raid buffed and 70+% mastery, 32+% crit. Used IN and MI, was top 3 all nite with boomkin at 1 and feral or myself 2. Overall happy considering lack of MS

Felt 50% haste was important for 90 play as it allows mor frostbolts and therefore more chances to proc FoF and BF

Edit - I did try frost bomb on dummies, but felt it really needed waterjet and PC. Not a fan of RoP and need a working weak aura addon to leverage IF so MI was default. IN is nice and gives you another button to mash that is instant

[Deleted]

567 is my Mage, put on KTT over Black Blood. Then I set AMR to go 50% haste. Sitting at 45% haste raid buffed and 70+% mastery, 32+% crit. Used IN and MI, was top 3 all nite with boomkin at 1 and feral or myself 2. Overall happy considering lack of MS

Felt 50% haste was important for 90 play as it allows mor frostbolts and therefore more chances to proc FoF and BF

Edit - I did try frost bomb on dummies, but felt it really needed waterjet and PC. Not a fan of RoP and need a working weak aura addon to leverage IF so MI was default. IN is nice and gives you another button to mash that is instant

TMW works!

[Kuni Zyrekai]

need a working weak aura addon to leverage IF so MI was default. IN is nice and gives you another button to mash that is instant

IF one shouldn't be hard to make, it's just stacks.

[Acapella75]

Did everyone abandon frost for fire/arcane? Besides KTT, what is our BIS gear looking like now? AMR is being wonky and incorrect about a lot of stuff atm.

[Deleted]

Hi, i have a doubt about the use of frost bomb for ice mage, isent more correct cast it only if you have already 2 charges of fingers of frost ready? isent a istant cast so use it and for 12 seconds dont take a single finger of frost is a loss of dps

ty

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Hi, i have a doubt about the use of frost bomb for ice mage, isent more correct cast it only if you have already 2 charges of fingers of frost ready? isent a istant cast so use it and for 12 seconds dont take a single finger of frost is a loss of dps

ty

Your level 75 talents are Frost Bomb, which you should only cast when you've got 2 Ice Lances banked;

Fairly sure I covered that, if I'm reading you right.

[Faay]

Hey guy´s.
Been playing competitive frostmage this whole expension and was planning on keep playing frost, but after last night trying out the new spells/talents i´m not sure anymore. Frost mage used to have great aoe ability´s, but it just feels like we lack a lot of it atm..
From the 75 talents i can personally say that IN does the most dmg for me in almost all scenarios. Followed by FB. It is imo not worth taking yet and will probably be a better choice with T17 2 set. UM did by far the lowest dmg. Not sure why tho.
When using IN, i have great openers, topping the meters, but after BL and MI and my charges of IN being used, it feels like we run out of steam and fall behind on dmg.

A question. Is it still a must to have 50% haste raid buffed? I assumed it would be, so our forstbolts are being casted faster resulting in more FoF/ BF procs. I changed some pieces of gear and regemmed back to haste to be able to reach that, but it leaves me with only 59% mastery. Not sure if this is the way to go.
And what are you guys gemming? Atm i use full haste in yellow, haste/crit in blue and haste/mastery in red (to get some of the mastery back)

I don`t want to give up on frostmage that easily, just because they made some changes. Everything is balanced for lvl 100 i guess so we will have to see. It would be great to find a way to make frost work for the coming 4 weeks though, so please share your thoughts
I will raid mythic tonight and will do an update here on how it went compared to other classes.

Greetings Xavea