Frost Mage Guide - PvE

[Cracka_Bob]

Frost Mage Guide:

• DISCLAIMER:
  I am not claiming that this is or will be the best spec. I'm just providing a little more in depth guide for those who choose to raid as frost.

Stat Priority:

• Hit (till capped) > SP > Haste > Crit
  
• Fresh 80's may or may not value crit just SLIGHTLY more than haste
  
  • Hit Ratings at 80:
    
    • Untalented - 17% (445.94 rating)
    
    
    • With Precision - 14% (367.25 rating)
    
    
    • With Precision and Heroic Presence - 13% (341.02 rating)
    
    
    • With Precision and Misery or Improved Faerie Fire - 11% (288.55)
    
    
    • With Precision, Heroic Presence and Misery or Improved Faerie Fire - 10% (262.32 rating)
  
  Specs:
  
  • Post 3.3.3:
    
    • 19/0/52 - your average frost spec
    • 18/0/52(+1) - this build provides a shorter cooldown on Cold Snap, allowing more uses on longer fights with one point left over for Ice Barrier or Enduring Winter whether you need the survivability or your raid needs another replenishment
      
  
  Glyphs:
  
  • Post 3.3.3:
    
    
    • Glyph of Eternal Water
    
    
    • Glyph of Frostbolt
    
    
    • Glyph of Molten Armor
    • Glyph of Frostfire - this can replace Glyph of Molten Armor at higher levels of crit
      
  
  Gems, Enchants and Profession Bonuses:
  
  • Gems:
    
    • Meta - Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
    • Red (or prismatic sockets) - Runed Cardinal Ruby (self explanitory)
    • Blue - Purified Dreadstone if the socket bonus is +7 SP or higher or if you need the meta requirements, otherwise use Runed Cardinal Ruby
    • Yellow - Reckless Ametrine if the socket bonus is +5 SP or higher, otherwise use Runed Cardinal Ruby
  
  
  • Enchants:
    
    • Head - Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
    • Shoulder - Greater Inscription of the Storm
    • Back - Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed
      
    • Chest - Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
      
    • Wrist - Enchant Bracers - Superior Spellpower
      
    • Hands - Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower
      
    • Belt - Eternal Belt Buckle
      
    • Legs - Brilliant Spellthread
      
    • Feet - Enchant Boots - Icewalker
      
    • 1h Weapon - Enchant Weapon - Black Magic
      
    • Staff - Enchant Staff - Greater Spellpower
  
  
  • Other Optional Enchants:
    
    • Back - Enchant Cloak - Wisdom
      
    • Hands - Enchant Gloves - Precision
      
    • Feet - Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality
      
    • 1h Weapon - Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower or Enchant Weapon - Accuracy
  
  
  • Profession Bonuses:*
    
    • Tailoring - Lightweave Embroidery (+51 Spellpower equivalent assuming 1/4 uptime)
      
    • Jewelcrafting - Runed Dragon's Eye (+48 Spellpower)
      
    • Alchemy - Mixology (+47 Spellpower)
      
    • Blacksmithing - Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves (+46 Spellpower)
      
    • Enchanting - Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpowerx2 (+46 Spellpower)
      
    • Inscription - Master's Inscription of the Storm (+46 Spellpower)
      
    • Leatherworking - Fur Lining - Spell Power (+46 Spellpower)
      
    • Engineering - Springy Arachnoweave, Hyperspeed Accelerators and Nitro Boosts (+44 Spellpower equivalent)
      
    • Skinning - Master of Anatomy (+20 Spellpower equivalent)
      
    • Mining - Toughness (no direct effect on DPS... only increases survivability)
      
    • Herbalism - Lifeblood (again, no direct effect on DPS)
  
  Spell Priority:
  
  • Post 3.3.3:
    Deep Freeze > Frostbolt > Frostfire Bolt > Ice Lance

• On FoF proc, continue casting Frostbolt (using 1st charge) followed by Deep Freeze (using 2nd charge) at the very end of the Frostbolt cast. NEVER STOP CASTING UNLESS MOVEMENT IS REQUIRED.
• If movement is required, use Ice Lance unless either Deep Freeze or Brain Freeze proc is available
• If Deep Freeze is on CD during FoF, use both charges on Frostbolt or if Brain Freeze is up, use one charge on Frostfire Bolt
• On Brain Freeze Proc, continue casting Frostbolt followed by instant Frostfire Bolt at the very end of the Frostbolt cast

Some useful macros:

Cooldown macro - useful at the beginning of a fight and on longer fights it can be used again towards the end on those crucial "burn" moments... also, its best to use it again after the Cold Snap macro but only if there is about 2 mins left on the CD of Mirror image (this will keep the 2 CDs closer together later in a fight)

#showtooltip
/cast Icy Veins
/cast <racial> <---- insert Berserking if you are a troll for example
/use 13
/cast Mirror Image
/petattack <---- this will force both your elemental and your mirror images to start casting

Ice Block macro - this can be used in dire situations, to avoid Festergut's puke debuff, etc. click once to Ice Block, click again to remove it

#showtooltip
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Ice Block

Invisibility macro - this is extremely useful to avoid putricides tear gas

#showtooltip
/cancelaura Invisibility
/cast Invisibility

Cold Snap macro - use this after you use Deep Freeze and Icy Veins

#showtooltip
/cast Cold Snap
/cast Frostbolt

Frost/Waterbolt macro - forces your elemental to attack your current target (do not use this if your pet is supposed to be on Kinetic Bomb duty during Blood Princes)

#showtooltip
/cast Frostbolt
/use Waterbolt

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

• Please, feel free to reply to this post with anything i may have missed.
• No trolling or bashing other posters (myself included).

To-Do List:

• Add BiS list for Frost. (suggestions welcome)
• Hope that this becomes a sticky

*Spellpower equivalents taken from http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t87978-raiding_frost_3_3_a/

[scism]

rofl... you posted this literally the minute i start searching for a frost mage pve guide..... (first time i search i found nothing, second time here you came)

Let me check the spec and think of any questions. I'm actually only going to use this for heroics probably (may try in raid and see how viable it is) 'cos i had niebelung drop this week and i want to have some fun in heroics xD

*Edit - OK. Few things:

1)I've not been frost since i dinged 80 so its taken a while to reaquaint myself with the talents :P
2)Would be good to note hit cap (14% unless i'm being stupid)
3)Please correct me if i'm wrong, but shatter only applies to frozen enemies and without frostbite or pet freeze there wouldnt be any (Except those hit by frost nova) - so would it be better to go for something like:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vck0cZZVIcckfz0fdgfkt
which would have artic reach, ice barrier and shattered barrier, dropping 2 in sotm (this is personal for me for soloing etc, the 3 in ice barrier and shattered barrier could be moved)

*Edit2 - confirmed this is freaking awesome in a heroic with niebelung ;D

[nerfproof]

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...nhcH,QMJ,11623

This should be the spec Frost mages use after 3.3.3. MA is great especially on HM's. There is no need anymore for Frost mages to spec into Spell Impact anymore as we wont be tossing out a free fireball anymore. And personally I think, for Frost mages anyway, haste should be a slight priority over spellpower since all of our dps relys on FoF procs. But other than that I thought this post well well put together and should deff get a sticky...especially since no one else took the time to give us a halfway decent frost post

[Deleted]

3)Please correct me if i'm wrong, but shatter only applies to frozen enemies and without frostbite or pet freeze there wouldnt be any (Except those hit by frost nova)

You are wrong, the talent Fingers of Frost makes use of shatter without the mobs being frozen.

[nerfproof]

rofl... you posted this literally the minute i start searching for a frost mage pve guide..... (first time i search i found nothing, second time here you came)

Let me check the spec and think of any questions. I'm actually only going to use this for heroics probably (may try in raid and see how viable it is) 'cos i had niebelung drop this week and i want to have some fun in heroics xD

*Edit - OK. Few things:

1)I've not been frost since i dinged 80 so its taken a while to reaquaint myself with the talents :P
2)Would be good to note hit cap (14% unless i'm being stupid)
3)Please correct me if i'm wrong, but shatter only applies to frozen enemies and without frostbite or pet freeze there wouldnt be any (Except those hit by frost nova) - so would it be better to go for something like:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vck0cZZVIcckfz0fdgfkt
which would have artic reach, ice barrier and shattered barrier, dropping 2 in sotm (this is personal for me for soloing etc, the 3 in ice barrier and shattered barrier could be moved)

*Edit2 - confirmed this is freaking awesome in a heroic with niebelung ;D

Yea man your spec is all wrong. That 1 point you have in Imp Blizzard is useless without those 3 points in Shatter. Also for PvE Cold as Ice and Shattered Barrier are skipped for other talents. Also after the patch those points into Spell Impact will be useless for PvE also. Mages dont use Icelance as it is now on the ghost charge and now that we will be ale to use a free FFB thats another reason to not spec into SI. Like I said in my previous post I reall think the spec below is the proper Frost PvE Spec.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...H,QMJ-Re,11623

[scism]

Nah its cool. Didnt realise blizzard procced of FoF (as i stated, long time away from frost :P). EJ article was useful - gonna respec tomorrow. I see myself using this spec in ICC on trash mainly - should be a blast

[Cracka_Bob]

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...nhcH,QMJ,11623

This should be the spec Frost mages use after 3.3.3. MA is great especially on HM's. There is no need anymore for Frost mages to spec into Spell Impact anymore as we wont be tossing out a free fireball anymore. And personally I think, for Frost mages anyway, haste should be a slight priority over spellpower since all of our dps relys on FoF procs. But other than that I thought this post well well put together and should deff get a sticky...especially since no one else took the time to give us a halfway decent frost post

thanks for the input on MA... on PTR i havent raided so i posted the spec i used (which doesnt have MA /facepalm) and i agree that MA is a better use of talents to move to the next tier than spell impact. (now updated)

and also, thanks for the sticky support

[nerfproof]

thanks for the input on MA... on PTR i havent raided so i posted the spec i used (which doesnt have MA /facepalm) and i agree that MA is a better use of talents to move to the next tier than spell impact. (now updated)

and also, thanks for the sticky support

Yea man np. T'was nice to see someone take the time to make a Frost Guide. I thought it was well put together.

[Cracka_Bob]

Added hit ratings as requested.

[Cracka_Bob]

Still waiting to see if DirewolfX will make it an official sticky :P (crosses fingers)

If not, then thanks for those who supported this post while it lasted (took me over 3 hours to put together since my internet froze after every few links)

[nerfproof]

Well considering the sticky that Swizzle made in the Mage FAQ's didn't include Frost, I think DireWolfx should either make this post a sticky or copy/paste this to the other one.

[Cracka_Bob]

Well considering the sticky that Swizzle made in the Mage FAQ's didn't include Frost, I think DireWolfx should either make this post a sticky or copy/paste this to the other one.

i sent him a message and his response was that he didnt want to "clog the forum with stickies"

which isnt really a valid point considering the other class forums have anywhere from 3 up to 7 or 8 stickies

[piecer239]

i'm sure this has been covered somewhere else... but... i've heard varying arguments as to which is more beneficial in 3.3.3: molten armor glyph or frostfire bolt glyph.

i would think the constant crit from molten outweighs the frostfire bonus?

[Swizzle]

the reason i didn't cover it is probably the same reason it wouldn't get stickied: frost isn't viable for end game PvE and for the most part, doesn't require much discussion outside of what i already covered.

[Cracka_Bob]

i'm sure this has been covered somewhere else... but... i've heard varying arguments as to which is more beneficial in 3.3.3: molten armor glyph or frostfire bolt glyph.

i would think the constant crit from molten outweighs the frostfire bonus?

It's in the post.

the reason i didn't cover it is probably the same reason it wouldn't get stickied: frost isn't viable for end game PvE and for the most part, doesn't require much discussion outside of what i already covered.

Because it isnt "viable" doesn't mean it shouldn't be stickied for those who chose to raid as frost.... The reason I put viable in quotes is because you can still do considerable DPS as frost whether its the best spec or not.

[Geckomayhem]

Boot Enchant: Tuskarr's Vitality. I would recommend this for raiding over Spirit or Icewalker. You should be at the hit cap anyway and will benefit more from the greater survivability (both stamina and faster movement), as well as less moving time when you have to move, than you will from the minimal crit you would get from +18 spirit. Also, bear in mind that it is only worthwhile to cast spells on the move if you have procs: FoF or BF; in which case you would cast Ice Lance or -- post-3.3.3 -- Frostfire Bolt, respectively.

This is just a recommendation, but please include it as an option.

As it stands, Frost is the worst raiding spec still. Even with the Deep Freeze buff, it will still fall short in terms of DPS against bosses. But Frost does have a niche. It is good for trash; fun in heroics on packs of mobs; good for soloing; and suitable for Frost mage fans!

I was Frost through all of Naxxramas and managed to hold my own against other DPS classes (surprisingly). There are times when a mage player enjoys Frost. My current enjoyment derives from Arcane and managing cooldowns associated with that.

But I would like to see Blizzard buff Frost in Cataclysm, to the point that it is comparable to the other trees in PvE.

A little anecdote: I run Stratholme on occasion in hopes of the mount dropping. It is much easier as Frost spec than anything else, so I have a "farming" Frost spec that I use for this. My Deep Freeze has critted for almost 20k on the Baron. It is amazing to see such big numbers pop up! XD

[Kyrstlol]

Just wondering, I won't need any points in Arcane Meditation (17-50% OOC Regen) as a PvE Frost build?

[Swizzle]

this is a pre 3.3.3 frost build.
this is a post 3.3.3 build.

the patch doesn't change the way you would spec at all, it just changes 1 spell in the rotation. in other news, there is no BM raiding sticky or sub raiding sticky in the hunter or rogue forums respectively, and those 2 specs equate to frost.

[nerfproof]

this is a pre 3.3.3 frost build.
this is a post 3.3.3 build.

the patch doesn't change the way you would spec at all, it just changes 1 spell in the rotation. in other news, there is no BM raiding sticky or sub raiding sticky in the hunter or rogue forums respectively, and those 2 specs equate to frost.

Your post 3.3.3 spec is broken. Frost mages won't need to spec for Spell Impact anymore, you don't have 1 point into Imp Blizzard, PvE Frost Mage no longer need to spec for Cold as Ice anymore, and with how mana effecient Frost Mages are you dont need 2 points into Frost Warding. 1 point can go into Enduring Winter for replenishment and the other point can go into Clearcasting.


http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...nhcH,JQM,11623

This is the spec Frost Mages should be raiding with...period.

[Swizzle]

Your post 3.3.3 spec is broken. Frost mages won't need to spec for Spell Impact anymore, you don't have 1 point into Imp Blizzard, PvE Frost Mage no longer need to spec for Cold as Ice anymore, and with how mana effecient Frost Mages are you dont need 2 points into Frost Warding. 1 point can go into Enduring Winter for replenishment and the other point can go into Clearcasting.


http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...nhcH,JQM,11623

This is the spec Frost Mages should be raiding with...period.

so much fail in one post. spell impact affects ice lance. sure, you won't want to ever be standing there and using ice lance (this isn't pvp with shatter combos), but going off of the movement in ICC, i'm sure there will be moments where one will be moving with a FoF proc up. anyway, the points are better spent there than lol SotM. we're talking about lolfrost raiding here, not lolfrost AoE farm spec. no fight in this game will require you to stand there and spam blizzard. you could argue for gunship, but if you're speccing specially for just one fight, then kudos to you sir. cold as ice reduces the CD of 3 spells: one survivability CD (handy), one CD refresher (handy), and a pure DPS talent (very handy should your pet die etc etc), there is no better place to put those 2 points.
i also don't understand how you can say they don't need frostwarding for since mana isn't an issue then argue for clearcasting and replenishment.