Focus Magic: Everything tastes better with Frosting
Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 16:27 Written by Kuurg Tuesday, 27 July 2010 18:58
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It’s that time again. To put yourself through another column of Focus Magic. Oh the drudgery! This week, I think my favourite Mage spec deserves a bit of attention. The one and only, Frost! Everything from Raiding, to PvP, Levelling, gems, glyphs, enchants and how to summon the perfect Water Elemental. Let’s get going…
So let’s cut to the chase. Frost is undoubtedly the best spec for levelling by questing. It’s huge survivability and spells with a low mana cost really decrease the downtime you’ll have, and you can AoE grind with frost as well. The freezes, absorbsion and snaring effects that a Frost Mage possess can get you out of those tricky situations. And no one likes dying. Well, except Warlocks. They seem to have a habit of it. But I think one of the best things about levelling in Frost, is that it has the ability to kill off mobs at a pace rivalling Arcane and Fire, if not better. Mostly due to talents such as Shatter Frost Mages can deal out huge crits and obliterate mobs in under 10 seconds. If, however, you’re planning on levelling through dungeons, your best bet is probably Fire. Great fun and high single target DPS will have you topping your damage meters at the end of those boss fights. But we’ll go into more detail on other specs in future articles.
So after that gruelling journey to level 80, after what might seem a lifetime of experience gaining, it’s finally time to decide what exactly do you want to do with your freshly dinged Mage? A full-blown dedicated Raider, or a crazed PvP’er? Possibly a mix of both? In both aspects a Frost Mage can be very powerful when used correctly. Let’s start with PvP.
I used to PvP a lot on my Mage, as Frost. I partnered with a fellow Arcane Mage and we hit the 2v2 arena’s. Not the most versatile combination, but it seemed to work. And I can safely say Frost as PvP is thoroughly enjoyable, and great to play. Nothing sweeter than stunning that warlock who’s halfway through casting Fear, slowly bringing him to impending doom with those massive Frostbolt crits. Good times.
But PvP requires heavily on being correctly gemmed, enchanted and specced. Not to mention skill. It’s hard to learn how to get into a PvP mindset, but once you’ve got it, you’ll be slaying that opposing faction like there’s no tomorrow. A common Frost PvP spec is 20/0/51(http://www.wowhead.com/talent#ofcbrzMcZZAIbGobu0fdMfkt). This provides all the important aspects required to make a decent PvP spec, including silences, damage reductions and increased resistances, while still packing that powerful punch to send your enemy to an icy grave. One of the biggest factors of PvP is survivability. Common sense really, as you can’t do a lot when you’re dead. But Frost has a lot of that. Practise using the spec linked above, hone your skills in a few battlegrounds, challenge your friends to duels, go to Wintergrasp whenever there is a fight going on, do a few skirmish arenas, and you’ll soon find yourself being able to skilfully outwit any unknowing Warlock heading your way.
Ok, so a little overview of how to gem as a Frost Mage in PvP (Although this works for a Mage of any spec PvP’ing):
For your meta socket you’ll want Chaotic Skyflare Diamond. 21 Critical Strike Rating and + 3% Critical Damage is an incredible boost to your damage and with only 2 blue sockets required for it to work, it’s not too hard to get the required gems needed.
For your red sockets you’ll want Runed Cardinal Ruby. Bringing 23 Spell Power to the table, this really boosts your damage in PvP, helping you kill your opponents faster.
Blue sockets will require Mysterious Dreadstone. This is a Purple gem, so can fit into a Red or Blue socket, but stick to the blue sockets for this one. 12 Spell Power and 13 Spell Penetration on this beauty.
Finally, your yellow sockets will have you gemming for Reckless Ametrine. 12 Spell Power and 10 Haste rating, not only will your spells be more powerful, but they’ll be casting more often, too.
For your PvP Glyphs you’ll want Glyph of Evocation for a huge amount of healing whilst regaining mana, Glyph of Ice Barrier for increased Survivability and Glyph of Icy Veins to be rid of all those slowing effects so you can deal out some huge numbers. Don’t worry too much about your minor glyphs, but if you want to choose the most useful 3, go for Glyph of Slow Fall, Glyph of Fire Ward and Glyph of Frost Ward.
Here is a list of PvP enchants for your Frost Mage.
Headpiece – Arcanum of Dominance – This brings 29 Spell Power and 20 Resilience and can be purchased from the Wintergrasp Quartermaster for 40 Stone Keeper Shards.
Shoulders – Inscription of Dominance – Giving 23 Spell Power and 15 Resilience Rating for the low cost of 30 Stone Keeper Shards from the Wintergrasp Quartermaster, this enchant is probably your best bet.
Back – Spell Piercing – 35 Spell Penetration on this one, helping your spells penetrate the resistance bonuses your opponents may receive from spells such as Gift of the Wild and Various Paladin Auras.
Chest – Exceptional Resilience – 20 resilience on your chest, can’t complain.
Wrist – Superior Spellpower – an extra 30 spell power = moar damage pl0x.
Hands – Exception Spell power – more spell power here, 28 to be precise.
Legs – Sapphire Spell thread – 50 Spell power and 30 Stamina is a great enchant to give you both damage and survivability.
Feet – Tuskar’s Vitality – 15 Stamina and a Minor Run speed increase.
Weapon – Mighty Spellpower – a huge 63 spell power on this one, but be careful, depending on your server, this enchant can be mighty expensive.
If you are an Enchanter you can also Enchant each of your rings for an extra 23 Spell Power each!
That just about does it for PvP. But before we go on to the raiding aspect of a Mage, check the video below, for some extra tips on playing a Mage.
Raiding as a Frost Mage can seem a somewhat silly decision when you have both Arcane and Fire to boost your damage in raids. But raiding is all about how you play personally, and what your preferences are. I can seem to output much more DPS as a Frost Mage than I can as a Fire or Arcane mage when raiding; I just enjoy the play style of Frost more than the other 2. Your stat Hierarchy should base itself on Hit Rating (Until capped at 368) > Spell Power > Haste Rating > Crit Rating. A usual Frost PvE spec is 19/0/52 (http://www.wowhead.com/talent#of0i0u0cZZVIccofu0fzgfot).
Your Rotation as Frost should be spamming Frostbolt until you get various procs. When Brain Freeze procs, chain cast a Frostfire Bolt with a Frostbolt, and when Fingers of Frost procs, chain cast a Deep Freeze with a Frostbolt. If Fingers of Frost procs while Deep Freeze is on Cooldown, just continue to spam Frostbolt. And your Water Elemental Should be up at all times. Take some time to practise this rotation on the training dummies, but note that Deep Freeze won’t actually damage the dummies; it will stun them, reducing your DPS dramatically. However, this is a different situation in raids, as Deep Freeze will damage the bosses, you can obtain 20-35k crits with Deep Freeze.
Frost Mage PvE gems are quite similar to that of a Frost Mage in PvP. Your Meta, Red and Yellow gems will stay the same (See above). However your blue socket gem will change into Purified Dreadstone, granting 12 Spell Power and 10 Spirit.
Glyphs for a Raiding Frost Mage are quite easy to figure out. You’ll want Glyph of Eternal Water, for a permanent Water Elemental! Glyph of Frostbolt for extra damage and Glyph of Molten Armor for increased Critical Strike Rating.
As similar to above, here is a list of PvE Enchants for your Frost Mage.
Headpiece – Arcanum of Burning Mysteries – 30 Spell Power and 20 Critical Strike Rating, this can be purchased from the Kirin Tor Quartermaster. Bear in mind you’ll need a revered reputation and at least 127g 50s to buy it. Worth it though.
Shoulders – Greater Inscription of the Storm – 24 Spell Power and 15 Critical Strike Rating on this one. Requires Exalted status with the Sons of Hodir and 100g to purchase. Again, well worth it.
Back – Greater Speed – 23 Haste Rating from this one helping your spells to be that much faster.
Chest – Powerful Stats - +10 to all your stats.
Wrist – Superior Spellpower – 30 Spell power for more damage. Yay!
Hands – Exceptional Spellpower – 28 Spell power from this one.
Legs – Brilliant Spellthread – 50 Spellpower and 20 Spirit makes for a happy pair of leggings.
Feet – Icewalker – 12 Hit Rating and 12 Critical Strike Rating can be that little extra push needed to get Hit capped.
Weapon – Black Magic – A chance on Spellcast to increase your haste rating by 250 for 10 seconds, this enchant is the best 1h enchant in the game for a DPS caster. Be careful of the Haste cap though, and be wary that Black Magic has a 35 second internal cooldown. For 2 handed weapons, do some experimenting between this and Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower. See which ones works for you and brings you the most DPS.
Finally, to increase your abilities as a Frost Mage, you’ll need to know how to Summon the perfect Water Elemental. Now pay attention, because this part’s tricky. First, you must spec into Frost far enough until you get the ability “Summon Water Elemental”. You must then browse your spellbook until you find this ability. Drag it onto your hotbars somewhere. Ok. This is the hard part. Click the “Summon Water Elemental” icon. Wow, you’re good at that! First time! Perfection! That Water elemental will serve you for your days to come as a Frost Mage, and will become one of your favourite spells in the whole of a Mage’s arsenal. Oh, and a little tip. If you don’t already, when you’re solo’ing, don’t forget to buff your Water Elemental with Arcane Intellect and Focus Magic (if you’ve specced into it).
But that brings this weeks edition of Focus Magic to a close. Next week, we’ll be exploring the scorching aspects of a Fire Mage. Until then, battle strong fellow Mages, slay any Warlocks that come your way! Peace out.
Got any mage related screenshots? Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and they could be featured in the next edition of Focus Magic! The more dead Warlocks involved the better! Remember to include your character name and Server. Please title the e-mail "FM Mage" or the e-mail may not get through.
