Is frost the recommended for TBC questing?

[Nalam the Venom]

Hey.

Just wondering if frost is more ideal than fire when going into Hellfire peninsula (for whenever TBC launches)

[Cracked]

Fire is actually okay for questing because you wont be pulling that many mobs at once. Frost is still way more mana efficient unless you have high crit though.

[Nalam the Venom]

Fire is actually okay for questing because you wont be pulling that many mobs at once. Frost is still way more mana efficient unless you have high crit though.

I don't intent on doing any thing "AoE" it's mostly if surviability (Barrier & block) is better than the extra dmg from fire.

[Cracked]

I don't intent on doing any thing "AoE" it's mostly if surviability (Barrier & block) is better than the extra dmg from fire.

That's hardly an issue for mage unless you mean PvP too. The point of frost is that you need to drink less often than fire and thus have less downtime.

[Kyriani]

I don't intent on doing any thing "AoE" it's mostly if surviability (Barrier & block) is better than the extra dmg from fire.

In TBC all mage specs get Ice Block so being Frost is not a requirement for that spell anymore. You'll just have to rely on Mana Shield instead of Ice Barrier if you decide not to go Frost. Just figured I'd let you know that since you mentioned Ice Block as one of the reasons to be Frost.

[procne]

With ice barrier, spells slowing enemies down, additional nova from the elemental - yes, frost has much better survivability.
Also, I think frost dmg vs normal mobs is on par with fire, thanks to nova from the pet and shatter combos. And this is something that frost loses in raids, since bosses cannot be frozen

[Swizzle]

In TBC all mage specs get Ice Block so being Frost is not a requirement for that spell anymore. You'll just have to rely on Mana Shield instead of Ice Barrier if you decide not to go Frost. Just figured I'd let you know that since you mentioned Ice Block as one of the reasons to be Frost.

He's probably talking about double block from Cold Snap.

[Kyriani]

He's probably talking about double block from Cold Snap.

Ah that's true! You do need to be Frost to do that.

[DarkAmbient]

One of my memories from TBC is meeting a random gnome mage in STV. He was absolutely wrecking mobs with his fire spells and having a blast, no pun intended. Frost has always felt quite dull to me, except when you get those sweet shatter crits. Frostbolt is just a dull spell really, at least with fireball you're actually burning the shit out of your enemies.

[C20]

One of my memories from TBC is meeting a random gnome mage in STV. He was absolutely wrecking mobs with his fire spells and having a blast, no pun intended. Frost has always felt quite dull to me, except when you get those sweet shatter crits. Frostbolt is just a dull spell really, at least with fireball you're actually burning the shit out of your enemies.

That's true. Shatter combos were the effective way to play frost (maybe they still are, I haven't maged it up for many years). Not having to drink between every pull was one of the best benefits of frost. Even if it's damage is lower than fire, and it feels slower to play, it's got much better uptime. If drinking between pulls isn't a concern, then fire would be the way to go.

[endorus]

Frost was good for leveling, though you'd see a lot of AP-PoM pyro mages too, though that may have been a carry-over from vanilla rather than actually being good. I leveled as PoM pyro, switched to arcane in T5/T6 and then to fire in late T6/Sunwell.
Played frost in PvP.

Modern min/max and theorycrafting may suggest otherwise.

[Cracked]

Frost was good for leveling, though you'd see a lot of AP-PoM pyro mages too, though that may have been a carry-over from vanilla rather than actually being good. I leveled as PoM pyro, switched to arcane in T5/T6 and then to fire in late T6/Sunwell.
Played frost in PvP.

Modern min/max and theorycrafting may suggest otherwise.

If you have high crit it actually makes sense to go for the +50% crit damage talent deep in arcane. But I guess you would need naxx gear or equal to use it well.

[xogen]

I leveled back in real tbc as fire from 10-70 but I was a noob with 0 clue xd. Fire is cooler :P. I played frost for 2 lvls in hellfirepeninsula when my talents reset on wotlk prepatch but I went back fire.

[Kumorii]

Frost is "easier", but not by much or of significant if you ask me. Having leveled several mages back in the tbc days I found them being equal in speed if not faster as fire. Either way I find the differences to be negligible so just go with what you enjoy.

[JeckThron]

this is really nice!