PvP Frost Spec

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Post by Godwolf

It's actually not a bad topic, and luckily I can help you! I hope.

Firstly, the reason you don't see a "cookie cutter" frost build everywhere for PvP is that there isn't a 20/0/51 build as there was in Wrath. There are a lot of good specs for different playstyles and comps and what you run is going to depend on how you want the game to go.

But, let's start with the core build. Any spec you run, as long as you're frost, should have THESE http://wowtal.com/#k=ffgwXos.aei.mage. talents. You can argue against some of them, especially the extra crit and to a lesser degree shattered barrier, but that's a very good build from which to work.

Now, a more complete but still pretty much core build is this: http://wowtal.com/#k=djq3PHU.aei.mage.

The only legitimate change you should make to that, honestly, is moving one point between Permafrost and Piercing Ice.

That's your basic mage build, and wherever the rest of your points go is purely flavor, but those choices will be based around two (Three, occasionally) different talents: Impact, Improved Blink or Invocation (Rarely).

An impact build: http://wowtal.com/#k=SHRRJQ2Q.aei.mage.

Improved Blink build: http://wowtal.com/#k=kqbK2DfQ.aei.mage.

The Invocation build simply takes two points from IB and puts it into Invocation. More burst, less control and survivability.

All the builds have their strengths and weaknesses and for every time Impact does something amazing for you, you'll be wishing you had Improved Blink and vice versa.

As a quick note, Reactive Barrier is rarely used by mages for a few reasons. 1) Because it doesn't actually do anything but give you a very mild crutch. It's a talent that casts a spell for you in very limited situations that you could honestly just cast yourself. Or avoid the need to cast it all together with a bit of foresight. 2) It doesn't work if you're cast.... Yeah. Amazing... Not to mention the fact that Ice Barrier just isn't very good in the first place anymore. 10k absorbs in a game where everyone is white swinging for that much is just pretty meh. I mean, healthpools tripled and Ice Barrier absorbs, GLYPHED didnt' go up at all. So whoopdeedoo.

Secondly, mana shouldn't be an issue with Mage Armor, Evocate and Mana Gem. Typically Mage Armor alone is enough to keep you high enough, even with occasional Mana Shields.

EDIT: Get rid of Glyph of Cone of Cold. The damage boost on such a weak spell in the first place is meh. Get glyph of Frostfire Bolt unless your playstyle really, really likes the ranged slow, but honestly... Yeah, the damage is too nice on FFB to ignore. You'll also need Glyph of Polymorph instead of Ice barrier or Icy Veins.

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Post by Godwolf

Nnoutaja does make it pretty clear about Mage Armor. But, now, I do want to make it clear that with the changes to armor (0 mana cost), you can and SHOULD be juggling armors around to suit the situation. Pretty much any comp with spammable Magic-CC will want Mage Armor. For instance, if you see a warlock or a mage, put it up. To a lesser degree, Mage Armor either increases mobility or reduces damage from all Spriests, Survival hunters, Death Knights, Ret/Prot Paladins, Enhance/Ele shamans, Balance druid and of course Mages/Warlocks.

However, Ice Armor is very strong. Don't underestimate the benefits it provides, ESPECIALLY against double melee or pet teams. The extra armor is 3-4% less damage directly against physical attacks, an attack speed debuff on the attackers, puts a mild slow on them (The tooltip reads 30% for me with Permafrost max'd) and spams the attacker with Magic debuffs which will drain their healer of mana from dispels, will protect your more important spells (Poly, counterspell, DF) and just give you more breathing room in general. Against some teams, you'll find a marked difference in your ability to win a game with Ice Armor up, especially as most melee teams train the mage.

At the same time, if you go OOM while using Ice Armor, you lose. So don't wait until you're at 4k mana and your gem/Evocate are on cooldown to switch. Pick the high pressure situations and the opener of arena to hang around in Ice Armor with.

Molten Armor isn't bad, either. It's a bit herpish, IMO. I think if you're going really offensive against a hybrid team, it has it's place. The reduced crit chance is nice, I do believe it can proc Impacts, the extra damage is actually not horrible, all things considered either. Not to mention the 3% crit and 9% crit during shatters it offers.

Play it by ear. Find what works best for you. If you're amazing at mana management and dealing with magic CC, you may find that a different armor than Mage Armor would suit you. But mage armor is definitely the armor to use while learning, as managing your armors in a heated game can be difficult.

As far as FFB goes, meh. I think the real issue with FFB as a slow rather than damage is the uptime is meh, the slow is meh and relying on a slow with relatively bad proc chance is just bad policy. You can plan your damage around a heavy FFB hit. What's to plan using a ranged slow that will only be up occasionally? Besides, the DoT from the Glyph is great against stealthies AND against dispel protection. And since your kill target will already be slowed, the damage and dispel protection is definitely what you want.

Post by Stenenis

You only need 1 point in Enduring Winter, the mana reduction isn't really useful.
Improved Counterspell is a must.
Blazing speed has such a low proc rate that it's next to useless
Permafrost and a point in Piercing chill could be useful too, if you think you'll need them.

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Post by Nathanyal

Oh sorry i forgot to mention, for PvP.

well... The thread is named PvP Frost spec...

Ever think that it said Frost Spec before then the OP went back and added in the PvP part? Because thats what happened since I was here when this was first posted. Great way to sound like a @#$%^& though.