WotLK No FFB PvP Mage ?

[Imsonewb]

Hey guys,

I haven't seen any Frostfire mage in PvP so far.
Most of em are arc/fire.

I was wondering why ?
Imo, FFB is ****ing great, especialy against all those melees.

Have i missed a bug ?

[Ostlimpa]

There are so many reasons for this but i'll try list the main reasons:
1. FFB is powerful but only when it crits.
2. If you get interrupted both your frost and fire school gets locked.
3. It deals far too low damage for its absurd cast time compared to enemy instants like chimaera shot, judgement etc.
4. Going with a spec that boosts its damage forces you to give up a lot of other crucial talents.
5. Arcane/pure fire simply has more instants/quick casts. Sometimes in PvP you get a lot of free casting time but normally your average cast time is less than 1,5 seconds due to the high burst environment and "oh s**t" CDs.
6. You pretty much place all yours eggs in one basket by relying on one spell.
7. Due to how resilience works it gets double-penalized.
8. Its added bonus of checking against the lower resistance is useless because you hardly ever encounter someone who's resistances are not the same.
9. Slowest travel time in the air out of all spells, hence it takes time before it hits the target.
10. Difficult to fake cast when you intend to use it as you are forced to fake cast with your arcane school which is more than you can afford to get locked.
11. Useless for arena.

Edit: Hope this cleared some things for you.

[IVSakenz]

Ostlimpa spelled it out pretty well.. but the main reason is that it is too slow for pvp. All the other things I feel like players would live with and still go FFB.. if not for the fact that unless your hiding behind a group, it is extremely hard to get a FFB to actually cast because of all of the Add-ons out there to help with interrupts on casters..

So you will start to cast a FFB and all of a sudden a warrior charges you, and all your spells are locked for a few seconds..then your probably dead..

[Imsonewb]

Hey guys,

Okay I get your point of view,

Btw, I wasn't talking about arenas, mostly BGs, duels and World pvp.

The fact is, FFB spec is not supposed to cast any frostfire bolt except after a sheep / dragon's breath / nova (if can't be broken)
The big advantage, imo, comes from the frost talent tree that grants alot of kitting abilities.

- Bigger range for CoC, Frost Nova. It helps A LOT.
- Shorter frostspells cooldown
- easy procs on frost armor. Completely changes the fight vs ferals and rogues.
- easy pyro procs (shatter + scortch + fire blast)

I find it far easier against melee while still performing good against casters (shatter combo rocks, just use counterspell)

Also, FFB crits are HUGE and easy to land after a DB.

The only classes giving me big troubles are :
- Shadowpriests
- Hunters (whatever the spec)
- Healers in generals, but mostly druids

Classes i'm doing okay against :

- Warriors (except prot)
- DK
- Shamans
- Druids

Easywin :

- Destrolocks
- Mages
- Rogues
- Rets

I feel this spec very fun and rewarding. I feel a bit sad not seeing any.

[Ostlimpa]

Well a big reason for why you see so few rolling this spec is that very few play mage in the first place. Not to mention that Arcane offers better burst with shorter cast times.

[Kstx]

The only place where I would use that spec is on 2v as double mage with frost as partner. And only if you really know what are you doing.

If you wan't to play something different, try the Spirit Spec as fire :P

Hey guys,

Okay I get your point of view,

Completely changes the fight vs ferals and rogues. >> And lose the talent that enhance your mana shield against those classes? It's a big no go, if rogue or feral know how to play (jk, you will die to just 4 ambush).


The only classes giving me big troubles are :
- Shadowpriests >> Lovely priests
- Hunters (whatever the spec) >> More than doable with a 19/52 spec (fire with arc).
- Healers in generals, but mostly druids >> with FFB spec and full heroic pve set (0 Resilience) you can kill healers in duel. Not so usefull but well, it works.

Classes i'm doing okay against :

- Warriors (except prot)
- DK >> You need improved Counterspell, or there is no way you can win this.
- Druids >> Poor Druids..
- Shamans >> Poor shamans..(jk, poor Druids.).

Easywin :

- Destrolocks >> Just no. Easy with 19/52 fire spec
- Mages >> See Warlocks coment.
- Rogues >> Big Big no.
- Rets >> See Shamans comment.

I feel this spec very fun and rewarding. I feel a bit sad not seeing any. >> Play what is fun for you, you can master any class/spec to beat anything, but don't spec to beat any real good players with that spec, not as easy as others at least!

[rqtx]

FFB is worthwhile for a few type of players.

First realize this build is really RNG based. Also you should run 400+ haste with 39% crit, only obtainable with 4 pieces of T10 mainset at least. So basically, you do revolve around shatters but you can nuke with combust as well but if you do both, it can be a waste at times but usually is the best tactic.

FFB is worthwhile for :

Mages who play fast.

Mages who don't mind getting globaled a lot due tor rng failing or rng of enemy trashing you

Mages who enjoy the big boi crits (I've hit 20ks on 0 resil without zerker buff)

And of course, a playstyle that isn't static. or else you get trashed, you need to play unpredictable which is difficult in todays meta (Though not every time)

Edit : With 4 pieces of t10, consider resil gem stacking when you hit 39% crit/desired haste. or else rip you, also horde is kind of a must at least for me since i don't react perfectly 24/7 )))

[Icyheart]