Glacial Spike build viable or myth?

[Daerron]

Hi guys, I am a new mage player (though been raiding since WOTLK). So some thing are still not very clear to me.

Main thing is: what frost build is strongest in pve atm? As I see it, there are 2 main alternatives: Icy Veains Extending build vs Glacial Spike build. I guess the first one is rather common, but GS build is rarely discussed in PVE (and even mages in my guild didnt know bout it before i mentioned).

So pros of IV build is high 2t cleave damage and somewhat mobility, cons being mediocre dps and very high possibility to fuckup on harderfights (due to mechanics/distraction)
Pros of GS build are insanely high spike damage (in mastery crit gear) with over 60 mln crits on Xavius (and 5k crits in my gear on usual boss), overall pds is hard to evauate for me atm, but my 850 mage (in subpar gear) is pulling over 300k dps on st, also it is extremely easy to play and hard to fuckup since lances are not used at all (except when i need to burst down low hp target). Cons are very specific gear requirement (but it is still closer to fire than usual IV build), mobility only via ice flows and weaker than IV build cleave (though still very strong since GS hits to nearby targets)

As u have guessed, i lean towards GS build, but need your thoughts. Have u tried both build? Which u find strongest? Is any of then real alternative to fire on pure ST (like Guarm)

[stevenho]

Ive played both builds, not a pro at frost but ranking 90+ so far in offspec.
GS is OK damage wise but it has one big problem - huge rng swings. You can be doing 500k one attempt and be down to 300k next attempt. The frustration from doing 300k far outweighs the joy of doing 500k.

[nickseng]

So pros of IV build is high 2t cleave damage and ...

Does the IV build take splitting Ice? I would have thought Frozen Touch was a no-brainer since it's FoF procs on demand, and you need it to extend your IV.

[Deleted]

Does the IV build take splitting Ice? I would have thought Frozen Touch was a no-brainer since it's FoF procs on demand, and you need it to extend your IV.

GS-Build takes SI due to the fact that you mostly ignore IL.
IV-Build takes SI or FT depending on Singletarget vs Multitarget.

[Daerron]

This is the GS build I was mentioning http://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc/mage/frost/cCDM
Splitting ice is taken due to increase of icicle damage and other talents being useless, lances are not desired to be used anytime (except heavy movement), cause they dont contribute to dps. Also fun fact: top 3 mage on guarm HC (and top 6 on myth) is GS frost mage (with wrong crit>mastery gear) https://www.warcraftlogs.com/ranking...e&difficulty=4
If he had say 30% crit 100% mastery (optimal stat balance) i guess dps would skyrocket

[Laronda]

I've tried the aforementioned GS build but I've definitely had the most luck with the TV IV-extender build. This is before and after I got the BiS Gloves.

I've also done extensive testing with Ray of Frost vs Bone Chilling and found BC to only just push ahead with my current gear. I've also found Frost Bomb to be an increase over Unstable Magic.

It's a shame because I love the GS build. those crits

[TLH]

Hi guys, I am a new mage player (though been raiding since WOTLK). So some thing are still not very clear to me.

Main thing is: what frost build is strongest in pve atm? As I see it, there are 2 main alternatives: Icy Veains Extending build vs Glacial Spike build. I guess the first one is rather common, but GS build is rarely discussed in PVE (and even mages in my guild didnt know bout it before i mentioned).

So pros of IV build is high 2t cleave damage and somewhat mobility, cons being mediocre dps and very high possibility to fuckup on harderfights (due to mechanics/distraction)
Pros of GS build are insanely high spike damage (in mastery crit gear) with over 60 mln crits on Xavius (and 5k crits in my gear on usual boss), overall pds is hard to evauate for me atm, but my 850 mage (in subpar gear) is pulling over 300k dps on st, also it is extremely easy to play and hard to fuckup since lances are not used at all (except when i need to burst down low hp target). Cons are very specific gear requirement (but it is still closer to fire than usual IV build), mobility only via ice flows and weaker than IV build cleave (though still very strong since GS hits to nearby targets)

As u have guessed, i lean towards GS build, but need your thoughts. Have u tried both build? Which u find strongest? Is any of then real alternative to fire on pure ST (like Guarm)

I've had surprisingly good numbers in dungeons, I've yet to do a raid so far so no idea there.

My ilvl is only around 846 so it's not the best, but it's enough to run in the 300k-500+k range depending on crits.


Remember, you need to go lonely winter, drop the elemental. Make SURE to get splitting ice since glacial spike can cleave and hit multiple targets just like ice lance. And for gearing and stats? Drop haste, you want mastery and crit. More crit for more glacial spike crits and more double dipping of crit enhanced frostbolts as feedstock for glacial spike. Haste does not double dip there, crit does, as well as int but int comes standard.

I've seen damage spikes on bosses as high as the 700k+ range for relatively short fights with icy veins and time warp.

PS, one of the perks of a glacial spike built focusing on crit and mastery is... those stat weights are IDENTICAL to an arcane build, so it creates a natural off spec to dabble in.

PSS..S

The main thing that sucks, not that it matters with my crap no legendary gear, is that most of the frost buffs relate to ice lance for the frost legendaries, and that is not the focus for a glacial spike build. The flurry/blizzard is out of left field for all frost dps specs as far as I can tell. Blizzard really needs to expand the bonuses so that more builds can take advantage of the legendaries.

[Daerron]

I guess second Time warp legendary ring is also ok for this build =)

Generally i thought mastery is way better then crit, but doule dipping crits make sense. I guess even vers is somwhat okay cause of double dipping.

[Drathmar]

Splitting ice is taken due to increase of icicle damage and other talents being useless, lances are not desired to be used anytime (except heavy movement), cause they dont contribute to dps. Also fun fact: top 3 mage on guarm HC (and top 6 on myth) is GS frost mage (with wrong crit>mastery gear)

Also you take SI because on any 2 target fight it helps massively as your GS cleaves the same as ice lance would.

Second, you do cast ice lance, but you only cast it at 3 stacks of chain reaction.

It is a hugely swingy build if you go the crit > mastery route, but it can have more spikes due to crit. Mastery > Crit has more reliability, but doesn't spike as often due to critting all your frost bolts into a crit glacial spike.

[Tobs92]

I played this build ever since the beginning of the addon.
I go for haste/mastery being at 41% / 53% and 15% crit, which so far works really well.

At an iLvl of 862 with the Vashjr gloves and the time warp ring I pull a sustained dps of around 400k dps with highest burst numbers being at 800k-900k.
Timing the Rune of Power, Frostbolts and Ebonchill for Glacial Spike will grant massive crits for up to 5 million damage, and non crit rarely being below 800k. The range of the damage is quite high, but even at the lowest never truly low.
Due to good shatter on adds in boss fights, or mob groups many adds barely stand a few seconds before they die, making trash often very easy.
There are many positive aspects about this spec, at least for me. It definetely works if played well and the right gear is equipped.

[pies1]

How's frost pair with arcane as far as gearing goes? Both value mastery highly.

[arukas]

I'm currenty gearing my alt mage and this build seems quite interesting. Rotation wise should I completely ignore Ice Lance? What about Brain Freeze?

[Ham on Rye]

Hi guys, I am a new mage player (though been raiding since WOTLK). So some thing are still not very clear to me.

Main thing is: what frost build is strongest in pve atm? As I see it, there are 2 main alternatives: Icy Veains Extending build vs Glacial Spike build. I guess the first one is rather common, but GS build is rarely discussed in PVE (and even mages in my guild didnt know bout it before i mentioned).

So pros of IV build is high 2t cleave damage and somewhat mobility, cons being mediocre dps and very high possibility to fuckup on harderfights (due to mechanics/distraction)
Pros of GS build are insanely high spike damage (in mastery crit gear) with over 60 mln crits on Xavius (and 5k crits in my gear on usual boss), overall pds is hard to evauate for me atm, but my 850 mage (in subpar gear) is pulling over 300k dps on st, also it is extremely easy to play and hard to fuckup since lances are not used at all (except when i need to burst down low hp target). Cons are very specific gear requirement (but it is still closer to fire than usual IV build), mobility only via ice flows and weaker than IV build cleave (though still very strong since GS hits to nearby targets)

As u have guessed, i lean towards GS build, but need your thoughts. Have u tried both build? Which u find strongest? Is any of then real alternative to fire on pure ST (like Guarm)

Reading your post, and then reading your thread title, you seem to not know the difference between viable and optimal. Please look both words up in the dictionary, and then come back and let us know which of the two you actually mean.

[TLH]

I dropped a bit of mastery (around 60% mastery now instead of 70%) because I just could not stand the ultra slow cast speed. Back up to around 20% haste now, still not as nice as the haste builds but feels better.