Avian Gamers Network

I'll clean up the mispellings and grammar later. I rushed it to get it posted tonight. Fel free to ask any questions. also, I'd like to hear how Fire and Arcane arefinding things.

Benefits of the Frost Talents
I can't really compare the Frost based Talents to the other trees as I have limited experience playing those talents. I was Fire based until I decided Frost was the way for me to go. For my explanation I will break my thoughts into 3 sections (Solo, Group, PvP)

Solo
Going out on a limb, I would have to suggest that Frost is (probably) the hands down best set of talents for the individual who solos. The slow down effect can allow you to get 3 shots off before the target closes to melee range. Lay down a good Nova (which ant class can do), back up and you can get an additional 1-2 shots in for free. Granted this can make for boring play, but it is effective and creatures will ultimately end up getting some resists.

Also, a not here. all damage is inflicted at point of imapct. You don't have to calculate damage over time to see if the enemy will die out (though I imagine the fire mages get pretty good at guessing that and rarely get hurt by a miscalculation).

When you get to the frostbite talent, the solo capabilities will become enormous. With 5 skill points every time a frost effect hits an oppenent, they may get frozen in place for up to 5 seconds. Alos with the shatter ability the 50% increase in crits means these guys must be feeling kinda helpless. This is even takes into ccount the frost armor you have on you. so while they do melee attacks, they can still get frozen. Just back up out of range, lay down an attack or take the time to run away.

Ranged attackers will be your true problem as the freeze doesn't stop them from attacking. But, I do believe all opponents have a 30% reduction in movement and a 20% reduction in rate of attacks.

Use Cold Snap for when you can't wait for the recylce time on your frost nova.

Groups
I don't know of any group that really won't like a mage (though we do need some downtime if we just flat out cast spells). Best advice is to slow down, spread out the effects and reserve your mana for non-atop action.

The cold effects mean the enemies will be doing less attacks if they have the cold effect on them (Have to confirm that as it doesn't display in the spell description, but I believe it to be true). The real trouble with most groups is they don't know how to operate (regardless of makeup) with mages as they tend to draw lots of agro.

I think all mage types are a great benefit to a group, polymorph, dampen magic, ... Fire doing the most DPS is probably favored by most people. Group dynamics really dictate how things work, but a well timed frost nova can hep a party escape any bad situation (non-talent based dependant though).

PvP
I'll let you know when I get there, but mages will have it rough against other mages for sure and melee fighters might as well hang it up unless they can get you to ignore your school of magic. I suggest opening with your non-talent spells to trick them.

Word of Warning
I find it very easy to go up against creatures 2 levels above me with hardly any resists. 3 levels above you et mixed results, but it can be a problem. 4 levels above and you better have plenty of backup.

I think the end game being the burning legion, Frost may very well prove to be an advantage, but that is just speculation on my part.

Cold immunes suck


Talents:
Improved Frostbolt - 5/5 points
Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.5 seconds. For any mage this specialization is a gimme. these should be the first 5 points you spend.

Permafrost - 2/5 points
Increases the duration of your chill effects by 1.5 seconds. While this skill is unnecessary, I'm not sure if the time is halved by certain levels

Ice Shards - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%. This will have larger payouts later in life and all the damage happens at point of imapact.

Winter Chill

Improved Frost Nova - 2/2 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 4 seconds. This is somewhat a filler, but those 4 seconds can come in handy at times and it is a prerequisite for Frostbite.

Piercing Ice - 0/3 points
This will add 2%, 4%, and 6% to total damage. I'm not sure the additional amount will really do much in the end. also, I do not know if this is to base damage or crits and +Frost/Mage damage items get used for the increase calculation. Still if you have nothing better to spend it on go for it.

Cold Snap - 1/1 point
When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all of your cold spells. I say it's a lifesaver.

Improved Blizzard
I don't see any real benefit for this except when you put 3 skill points into it. 35% slow seems like it might be a huge way to open up a fight. Still Blizzards costs are large, but a level 1 blizzard would be worth it if you are looking for purely slowing down opponents

Arctic Reach (up to 2 points)
Increases the range of your Frostbolt spell and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 10/20%. always a good idea, but not required. As a max/min person, I could probably allocate my skills to other areas. High content may change my mind regarding the matter.


Frost Channeling - 3/3 points
Reduces the mana cost of your frost spells by 15%. Minimizes downtime. If you have plenty of time then you might want to put these skills to a different use.

Shatter - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your frost spells against frozen targets by 50%. Note it is Frozen and not cold. Frost nova is guarenteed freeze if it takes effect, otherwise you need to rely on your Frostbite.

Improved Frost Ward
If mana is a problem, then you will need more than this to help out. Still, it might be useful at times. IMHO not worth the points.

Ice Block - 1/1 point
You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 seconds, but during that time you cannot attack, move, or cast spells. This will help with timers and perhaps save your bacon at the right time. Do not use it when your life is too low as it might not make a difference.

Improved Cone of Cold
This could be a good combo with Frost nova, Shatter and Ice Shards. I really only use cone of cold in AoE situations.

Frostbite - 5/5 points
Gives your chill effects a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds.

Ice Barrier - 1/1 point
Instantly shields you, absorbing 455 damage. Lasts 1 minute. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted.



I haven't really brought it all together and I want to write more. I am trying to use Cosmos to record my hits to see how often I get crits. Right now it feel like 1 in 6 to 1 in 10. It happen quite frequently and I have taken creatures down on plenty of occassions before they even close within melee range.

I wonder if there is a way to determine crit % as mages rely on intellect and I don't see the % posted anywhere. Once you start seeing double digits, that 50% increase could be a huge factor.

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Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

Good post! What are your common attacks, in order? Got any good macros for your common opening salvos? I remember thinking that frost mage will probably be pretty powerful - everyone thinks of fire as so powerful, so I would definately design cold to be a bit better just to challenge the assumption.

I love these kind of guides, even if I don't play the character.

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--The Hermit

Remove frost channeling and ward, only 15% of the enemys in wow are frost try for Arcane Explosion Arcane missles the one under arcane missles put blizzard improved and improved cone of cold at level 1 put 1 in range increase solid level 60 Mage prooven in beta

improved blizzard now having a chill effect allots for the freeze talent of 15% freeze chance

my two sense

i plan to use cold as well once i acutally start playing...
maybe a lot of people assume fire spells to be better bc fire is supposed to be more dangerous - and combustion is in the fire tree, but i think that spell might be overrated. the fireball ist stronger though than a frostbolt.
anyways i was pvping at lvl3 when i was playing at a friends house the other day (against a dwarven pala) and frost armor won me the fight because it would slow the dwarf down so that i was alsways able to slip out of meele range and engage him with fireballs - the only problem was that to slwo down his movement he had to hit me, but at higher lvls that wont be a problem
what talent branche do you use to support frost?

Wuy-

All the spells are available to you even if you choose not to spend talent points in those tress. therefore, you could easily still use frost armor and cast a level 1 frostbolt spell to get the slowdown effect.

Delsana

(levle 60 mage in Beta?) I look forward to hearing more from you.

Frost Channeling is an option depending on you situation or patience level. It seems as though you will still need to spend some downtime between fights to get the mana back up to useable levels. So that's why I consider those points optional.

As for the leftover points, well I have to sit down (and very soon) decide where I want to spend those points. I have to respec becuse I do have some skills I would prefer not to use (like the 6% increase in damage. If they made it 12% for 3 points then I think it would be worth the points).

Yak-

I typically do not use macros and prefer to micro-manage my assaults. the Nostromo Gamepad makes this alot easier for me (over a keyboard).

additional advice, because you tend to back up when fighting mobs, make sure you have room and that you don't enter an areas that contain mobs

Typical fight 1 on 1 for melee

1. Open with Frostbolt
2. FrostBolt, Frost Bolt, Nova
3. step back, and frostbolt till dead.
4. I tend to use a level 3 frostbolt or Fireblast to finish guys off. Fireblast is instant cast, but costs for mana per casting.

When I encounter a 2 on 1 (with one being a melee)

1. I target the melee first and cast frostbolt.
2. I tend to polymorph the 2nd target after that while the first one closes being slowed. If the 2nd target is a caster, I hit them with counterspell whil they are casting to make them run towards me.
3. At this point you can choose how you want to deal with things? The first opponent is likely to be close to being on top of you. you can Nova and step back maximum distance and start attacking or take a little bit of melee damage, then nova. I think there is a huga advantange to nova first because it will then be available to you earlier for the next opponent.
4. Once the first is dead, you can move on to the second with any strategy you need to get the job done (primarily Frostbolt).

Another favorite strategy is to move closer to the sheeped opponent before the first target is down, target the sheep, cast frost nova, then cone of cold. This puts the first target down and has you focused on the right opponent. If you did it right you are out of melee range.

Combat with casters

1. Open with a frostbolt at maximum range
2. While they are casting their next spell go with Counterspell. This will usually force them to go into melee combat for the next 10 seconds. By the time they close to you, it will be 1-2 attacks by them before they regain their ability to cast (so frost nova might not be worht it).
3. Once they gain the ability to cast you can usually beat them going man-a-mano with them as you got the leg up on damage done.
4. If you need extra help, try using your Fireblast to get that extra bit of DPS. There is a cooldown of about 1-2 seconds before you can use any other spell, but it gets more in.

Combat with Ranged opponents
[*]close range so you can use fireblast, but open with frostbolt, then immediately hit with fireblast.
[*]Use fireblast whenever ready, otherwise frostbolts. [/list]

Ranged people tend to do more damage as you get no free time in for attacks. therefore you want to maximize your damage whenever possible.

Other odds and ends

• Frost Nova locks them down, but they can still use ranged attacks (spells, thrown weapons/bows)
• Also, each time they take damage while frozen in place, they can be released (so you may not have the full time the spell indicates)
• Mana shield is your friend when you are taking hpysical damage. I don't use it often, but I love it when I need it.
• More later...

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Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

Remember just cause your frost dont just use frost use Flamestrike Firebolt, Fireblast, Arcane Missles, Arcane Explosion and all that shit

you have 3 spell tiers for most casters if you cancel one they wont run in melee they have other tiers you rarely ever see me use holy in duels or pvp with my priest i use shadow all the time only way you can actually stop me from casting spells and attack you melee which will kill you since i have high melee damage with my staff or mace and offhand orb

a few tips vs priests

1. See if they heal themselves alot or have their hands glow gold alot if so then counterspell / shield bash / silence them when doing that
2. See if they use shadow magic alot, tending to mean they are shadow talent especially if a big blue beam shoots at you that is mind flay and is a shadow talent spell, if so then counterspell that and they will fall back so smite and or holyfire.
3. Always dispel buffs on enemys and dots on yourself the shadow priest has 1 dot that is SW painand a great damage spell 2 if your undead and that cant be countered and heals the undead priest for the damage it does to you each second, watch out for the Vampiric Embrace curse it heals them for 20% of all the shadow damage they do to you.
4. ALL PRIESTS WILL FEAR YOU, this is what is their best skill and wins it for them i fear at start cast a dot mind flay for slow and then a curse and mind blast then if i see they can counter i cast a smite they think im gonna heal and they silence that by that time i cast more shadow, be prepared for the fear.
5. Frostbolt is incredibly weak vs casters because all of them tend to be able to heal someway except mage so be very careful when dealing with casters cause more then not they heal themselves

Would you believe that I get in three shots before the enemy closes too, as a fire mage? I fire the big slowcasting fire boulder first (forget name) then immediately chain 2 fireballs. The third generally fires before the crit is to me and he is now down to half health. I arcane missile then fireblast to finish. Uses up about 2/5ths of my mana and health generally. I could shield but I don't want to waste mana since it recovers slower.

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"Chatfield, I think there's something wrong with our bloody ships." Admiral David Beatty, upon watching the battlecruiser Queen Mary explode at the battle of Jutland.

My name is Tobias Smith and I approved this post.

I believe you Rho/Roh/Roe?

I typically have no health lose and about 2/5 mana gone or less. I can typically go at 3 targets in a row before needing a rest.

Is there a way to get Cosmos to save the damage you do to a flat file? i'd like to be able to do some calculations.

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Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

Well I studied this quite a lot and for the grind I am going Fire/Arcane. Main reason is higher burst DPS. Kill them before they get to me. once I hit 45+ I may respect back to frost for end game I I think that is a better Instance/group build.

It seemed most of Frost if crowd control and Fire is DPS. I may regret this later but for now it is rare that a Mob gets close to me.

my attacks are:
1v1
Firebolt x2
Freeze
move 10 yards away
firebolt x2 Mob is dead

group is just a variation on this. I am huge on crowd control so I guess it seems odd I didnt go Frost but for now at least the basic crowd control tools I have seem to be doing the job well.

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Moge

Mmm 4 firebolts suppose the enemy resists one and now your auto of mana because you cant shoot any more.. you need more tactics better skills and better attacks

mix in a frost bolt or something cause if the enemy sees firebolt after firebolt hes probably going to quickly come up with a counter idea

lets take a look into the world of Fire

Firebolt
Fireblast
Blast Area of Effect Skill
Combustion
Pyroblast
Flame Strike

now for the world of Frost

Frostbolt
Cone of Cold
Blizzard
Frost Nova
Cold Snap
Ice Barrier
Ice Block
Frost Armor
now for the world of Arcane

Arcane Missles
Arcane Explosion
Counterspell
Dampen Magic
Amplify Magic
Conjure Food
Conjure Drink
Portals
Teleportation
Arcane Intellect

With my mage (in duels) I will usually polly my opponent before inflicting any damage, which makes sense, then when I'm at a comfortable range I'll send a frost bolt at them to slow them down, send a few firebolts until they close they close the range then use frost nova, step back, and strike them with arcane missles.

Question on arcane skills and clothing

does the amoutn added to arcane damage get added to each missile? if so, that would make a hige impact on the total output of damage (something I would forsee the devs changing over time).

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Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue