Road to 100 - Which spec

[siaro]

OI!

just got around to beta, but i haven't got alot of time to test stuff out, so i'm curious if anyone has any info regarding which specc is "superior" for leveling(possibly 2 specs for diff parts).

i'm BiS geard lvl 90, so not sure if frost is a go-to, as imo, frost haven't got the on-the-move dmg i want, which for example fire does.
I also need the ability to kill some rares aswell, as they grant good exp!

I'll be leveling as quick as i'll be able as leveling in my opinion is the biggest huslte of every exp, so keep that in mind also!


Any tips will be appriciated!

/Equ

[Imnick]

Frost is always going to be strong for levelling because of Freeze/Frozen Orb/Blizzard combos that gather many mobs at once (especially once you get the Blizzard perk) but as a BiS geared level 90 you are going to burn through basically everything anyway so it's not going to matter that much.
Mythic SoO gear will last you well up through level 98 and mobs won't even tickle you, I don't think you're going to have to worry much about min/maxing.

[Deleted]

... and having a pet also helps. Frost was, is and will be the best spec for leveling

[Zenny]

Thanks to Supernova and the longer charge system, Arcane will also be a pleasure to level.

[Deleted]

OI!

just got around to beta, but i haven't got alot of time to test stuff out, so i'm curious if anyone has any info regarding which specc is "superior" for leveling(possibly 2 specs for diff parts).

i'm BiS geard lvl 90, so not sure if frost is a go-to, as imo, frost haven't got the on-the-move dmg i want, which for example fire does.
I also need the ability to kill some rares aswell, as they grant good exp!

I'll be leveling as quick as i'll be able as leveling in my opinion is the biggest huslte of every exp, so keep that in mind also!


Any tips will be appriciated!

/Equ

Since scorch got nerfed, Frost is actually just as mobile as Fire. Or even more mobile, depending on procs ofcourse. Ice Flows helps you out alot too. My recommendation would probably be to stay Fire for 1-2 lvls, then just switch over to Frost. Arcane will be viable too, but for powerlvling, Frost and Fire would be my safest bet.

[gallamann]

Frost would be my choice for fast 90-100. Use MI regardless of spec, Rares will just fall over. Also, since your are BIS don't expect to see any upgrades until level 99. As Frost and barring any drastic change at launch, Ice Nova is very nice, it flat out kills 50% of the mobs you attack (took my main from 90-92 again other day on beta)

[Imnick]

I wouldn't use MI for levelling at all times, because as IF is a passive and has no cooldown you can just carry a stack of books and keep the one that will increase your damage against random quest mobs, then open the talent pane for 3 seconds when you find a rare.
No point wasting the passive damage the rest of the time (or popping MI against quest packs, honestly).

[Mountain Called Monkey]

MI is only great for single target damage. IF is the most flexible talent in that row and when it comes to leveling flexibility is the most important aspect imo. Defiantly use MI for rares and hard to kill mobs but otherwise IF will be superior to the other two

[Xirrohon]

Leveling Frost. Youll lose too much Crit at 91 to try Fire, although I kind of feel like Fire will be a better farming spec than Frost at 100.

[gallamann]

You all are over thinking IF, honestly it's not going to kill a normal NPC in one Frostbolt. Sure go crazy with swapping talents if that's your cup of tea while leveling. On the other hand MI not only handles rares with ease, it allows bigger pulls, and acts as an oh shit button instead of fleeing. Heck you get into an area and need 10 mobs for a quest, pull, pop MI and keep pulling fodder into them for 40 seconds...

Real advantage while leveling is not in damage, it's knowing the quests and limiting your downtime. Someone who has never done quests and takes a break every hour for 15 minutes using IF is never going to outpace the person using MI who has done the quests and limits breaks to a minute or two.

[Imnick]

Why would you need to take a break every hour for 15 minutes as a result of using IF?

[rhandric]

I think the point is that the style of play, and not the talents, make a bigger impact on how long it takes to level.

[Imnick]

Oh that's certainly true, in my first post even I said myself that min/maxing while levelling as a BiS geared raider is a trifle pointless.
Might as well answer in the spirit of the topic though, if someone wants to maximise their damage on quest mobs then it's better to swap between IF and MI than it is to keep MI at all times. The substantial damage output is dampened in situations where they might actually die, and inferior to passive damage increases when you are constantly changing targets and casting AOE spells.

[Pocket Freye]

I would probably say Arcane, as you can just stay at 4 stacks of arcane blast between each mob and by the time you get to another mob your mana will be full again.

[Deztru]

Splitting Ice, Frozen Orb and on demand FoFx2 while questing makes frost really strong. Although for multible mobs and big pulls I actually think 4stack camping arcane using AE and NE would be really good too.

[Polarthief]

Frost due to its burst, slows, CC, and moderate mobility, or Arcane due to its super-heavy burst, spammable-and-instant Arcane Explosion for AoE, and Supernova for giant packs of mobs/CC. All Fire really has is Living Bomb, which is by far the best pull tool we have (all Arcane has is Slow or Arcane Barrage on a 3s cooldown, and Ice Lance is inferior), but doesn't have anything else really worthwhile for leveling.

[LocNess]

Frost due to its burst, slows, CC, and moderate mobility, or Arcane due to its super-heavy burst, spammable-and-instant Arcane Explosion for AoE, and Supernova for giant packs of mobs/CC. All Fire really has is Living Bomb, which is by far the best pull tool we have (all Arcane has is Slow or Arcane Barrage on a 3s cooldown, and Ice Lance is inferior), but doesn't have anything else really worthwhile for leveling.

Arcane Explosion helped a lot in MoP when there where 5,000 people camping mob spawns. I am going Frost so will have to deal with Blizzard and hope it is good enough to take spawns. I always go Frost for each expansion, the CC and slows make leveling pretty easy with little downtime, and then build up Ice Lance procs to 2 shot the next mob in line. Arcane Blast being glyphed to Slow makes it pretty great too, and Fire can get some nice chain kills with Pyro procs, but you will lose out on tons of crit as you level up.

[siaro]

Ahoy!

Reading all the comments i end up with what was to be expected. Frost all the way, as per usual.

The overall kit wins me over, i guess i was just hoping i didn't have to respec as i don't like frost. Then again, i dislike lvling more, so it could be worse. ish.
Did 90-100 in under 8 hours on beta, so it's not too long i'll have to play it anyway!

Thanks for all the replies, much appriciated.


/Equ

[funyroger]

I will probably go arcane. Built in slows, great burst (especially if maintaining 4 stacks), supernova is pretty damn op, nice instant aoe from Arcane Explosion. If it somehow will not work out then ill switch to frost, mainly for pet and freeze.

[Deleted]

I leveled as arcane on beta server, since you'll do nothing but spam AE for the first 3 levels (ilvl 567).
Supernova Crits 1 shot mobs up to 95, and with Glyphed AB, blazing speed/ice floes and double blink you can kill almost any rare/elite mob.

Imo, arcane is the leveling spec with most quality of life - thanks to slow, supernova and most of all, arcane explosion (glyphed as well).