Deliciously Chilly: An Ode to Frost

It is perhaps fitting that I chose to convert from an Arcane/Fire cross-spec'd mage to a deep Frost spec just as winter was setting in, and the Scourge was getting ready to strike from Northrend. As a real-life human, winter is my favorite season, so I thought it only right that my character should have the ability to enjoy the cold and the snow and the freezing blizzards herself. I never used my frost spells much as a PoM/Pyro mage. But, after a brief transition period, I found to my delight that doing raw, freezing elemental damage really makes me feel... well, I'd say warm and fuzzy inside, but to stick with my metaphor I should probably say... deliciously chilly instead.

One thing I like about Frost spec is that it is so utterly distinctive: no other class has the range of frost spells that we mages do, or can do such wild and wonderful things with the powers of cold that we can. While other classes are busy honing their other abilities to take on the Lich King's frozen wastes, as a mage I use the very cold of the Icecrown for my own desires, and turn that cold back on its master to lay waste to the Scourge itself.

Nearly all mage abilities are showy: our spells wreak devastation upon our foes, and our damage counts are high. Used to seeing my lovely Pyroblast crits and my crackling Arcane Power buff and my lovely purple Arcane Missiles, I was a little nervous trading all those varied colors and explosions for the cold blue ice missiles which give the Frost tree its trademark. In fact, I put off respec'ing into Frost until I had more than 51 talent points to spend, so that I could immediately determine whether the tree was a good fit for me or not.

Any concerns I had about Frost being slow, or repetitive, or boring to use were dead and buried by the end of my very first battleground. And honestly, even with all the praise which the Arcane tree is getting these days, I felt it was finally time for this once-sworn PoM/Pyro mage to finally shake off her old spec and assume the mantle of the truly dedicated Frost devotee. And thus, what follows is my ode to all things chilly and wonderful.

Top Reasons to Love Frost Talents (to follow along, visit the WoW talent calculator here):

Frostbite. The very first talent points I spent went into this ability, because fully-spec'd, it gives you a 15% chance to freeze your target in place for 5 seconds upon landing any frost spell. Why is this important? Take a look at the next reason to love Frost...

Shatter. Before, I never understood why the Frost tree had so many ways to freeze opponents in place. We have Frost Nova, our Water Elemental can cast Freeze to root enemies in place, our Ice Barrier roots enemies when it breaks, and our Frostbite talent gives us an additional chance to freeze enemies on the receiving end of one of our frost spells. All of this is because when our enemies are frozen, we have a 50% chance to critically hit them with all spells. All. Spells. In an ideal world, mages cavort through Northrend, snaring everything in our path, then turning around and destroying all those frozen enemies with one mighty blast of Blizzard or Ice Lance.

Improved Blizzard. For a Frost mage, Blizzard does it all, from destroying vast groups of monsters while soloing, to devastating invading enemy forces in PvP. As a PoM/Pyro mage, I had absolutely no reason to use Blizzard, and buried it deep in my task bars. Now, it is my favorite spell to spam in BGs or multiple-mob encounters. Why? Because Improved Blizzard slows down your targets by 75% when fully-spec'd, making it much harder for that group of enraged enemies to reach you. And with Frostbite and Shatter, you can take enemies down to zero HP en masse without ever losing a beat.

[Note for Patch 3.0.8]: Come the new patch, Frost mages will have their Improved Blizzard slowing debuff reduced to 50%. This is not only a cause for mourning on the parts of mages everywhere, it's also a very good reason to invest fully in the next excellent Frost talent I've come to know and love...

Permafrost. What's better than having a Blizzard which slows your enemies down by 75%? Having a Blizzard which slows them down by 85%, of course, which is exactly what Permafrost does! Permafrost slows your targets by an additional 10%, meaning they have even more difficulty reaching you. And if they do reach you, you've got this next ability to throw at them...

Ice Barrier. I hate Mana Shield. I really do. Since I played a priest first, Mana Shield feels like such a cop-out, a cheap date of a spell which looks pretty when you ask it out to dinner but by the end of the night has not only consumed all the money in your wallet but is trying to suck out your brain too. Blizzard threw Mana Shield at mages in a claim to make us less squishy, but really they wound up giving us a spell that only makes us more vulnerable, because it drains the thing we need more than hit points alone to survive: our mana. There is no logic behind giving the most mana-hungry class of all a shield ability which eats away at our mana, unless they just like to see us use Mana Shield and then run madly around the battlefield, robes flapping, trying to dodge the enemy while being unable to cast anything because our pretty blue bar is empty.

Enter Ice Barrier, which to me is even better than that most famous of all priest spells, Power Word: Shield. Ice Barrier has a minute-long duration. At its very best, PW: Shield has a 30-second duration. Like PW: Shield, Ice Barrier absorbs damage (up to 3,300 at rank 8) without draining mana. But Ice Barrier has something even more elegant and delicious up its sleeve: when properly-spec'd in its companion talent Shattered Barrier, Ice Barrier ensnares your enemies, giving you either time to run away, or time to blast their faces with your Shatter crit combos.

Summon Water Elemental. The signature talent for Frost mages, and for a reason. Properly spec'd, mages can have a nice, friendly (if a bit squelchy) pet join them in combat for up to a minute every 2.4 minutes. The best part? Damage done by your elemental does not add to your threat.

Cold Snap. It's nice having an emergency button, and Cold Snap is just that - it clears the cooldown on all recently-used Frost abilities. I use it in PvE when additional foes join the fight and I need to re-snare all of my attackers or reset my shields. I use it in PvP when I need to summon my Elemental again, when someone breaks through my freeze early, or when I'm suddenly on the receiving end of some nasty crits.

Deep Freeze. I'm going to be controversial and leave this talent on my list. Yes, it got nerfed big-time before Wrath launched, and yes, it's situational, but I like it. A lot. There's nothing like mages who can stun a frozen target, thus preventing them from doing damage, and then keep on blasting away with the damage spells, getting Shatter crits. Because Deep Freeze presents yet another option to, well, keep your target frozen for an extra 5 seconds. It's useful when soloing, it's useful when doing PvP, and it's even useful when clearing trash mobs in dungeons.

Top Reasons to Love Frost Spells (to follow along, visit wowwiki here):

Ice Armor. I didn't use this spell much as a PoM/Pyro mage, and with good reason. Why slow your enemies when you can just pop Molten Armor and crit them to death? But for Frost mages, Ice Armor acts as an offensive frost spell, and thus can trigger your freeze ability. If an enemy hits you, they have a 15% chance of being encased in ice and unable to move for 5 seconds, without you having to do anything at all. The freezing proc for Ice Armor is great for battlegrounds, especially Warsong Gulch flag runs. It can also be a good, if unpredictable extra escape card when trying to get out of difficult PvE situations.

Ice Lance. Who doesn't love a spammable instant-cast spell which can be cast while on the run and does triple damage when targets are frozen? Like Blizzard, Ice Lance is probably of only passing use to non-Frost mages, but for those who have followed the winter's chilly call, it's a formidable ally.

Ice Block. Ice Block is the mage's panic button. We use it in PvE when we gain aggro and mobs come racing at us intent on sending us to meet the spirit healer. We use it in PvP to avoid spells, attacks and big angry red hunter pets which would otherwise kill us. But the nice thing about being Frost spec'd and using this spell, is that paired with Cold Snap, you can use Ice Block a lot more frequently, including at least twice in every arena battle.

Mages are a power-hungry class, no doubt about it, and most of us got into this business for the huge crits, devastating spells, beautiful fireworks, and sheer spellpower of which the class is capable. Having blasted my way through 70+ levels of faster-than-light Pyroblasts and the incredible boosts to spell crit and damage of the later Arcane tree, I am happy to say that the power, control, and utter beauty of Frost is now my spec of choice. Happy winter, everyone!