Frost PvE- The How-To

[Zalinthel]

Hello everyone! Thanks to relatively recent bugfixes to http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572 damaging bosses and the http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50045, Frost PvE is actually capable now! In this guide, I'll tell you how to play it.

Talents:
18/0/53
http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#of0q...VIccofu0fzgfkt
This is your bread and butter spec. The only real alteration here is a point can be removed from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=16758 to get a point in http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11185, which allows it to proc http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 (significantly increasing your AoE DPS.)

Glyphs:
There are a number of options here, that I'll detail individually.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=42751
-Essentially mandatory. Just like other PvE Mages, http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=43046 is the go to, and this glyph makes it stronger.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=42742
-Assuming correct circumstances, this glyph is a significant increase to damage, at the cost of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842's slow (which can be relevant in certain encounters with adds.)
NOTE 1: Despite what may be thought, this glyph does not prevent http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 or http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 whatsoever.
NOTE 2: This glyph incorrectly removes the http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 debuff entirely (it is instead supposed to apply, but not slow at all.) This means that http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 can no longer self-trigger http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55340. If no-one else in your party or raid has a correct debuff to trigger TTW, then this glyph actually reduces your DPS.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50045
-Makes your http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=31687 a permanent buddy, at the cost of his ranged Frost Nova. For DPS purposes, this is a huge gain, and should almost never be skipped. There are a few things about this glyph worth mentioning however:
1.The Water Elemental (much like many other pets or guardians on Warmane) doesn't receive Avoidance, which is the 90% AoE damage reduction pets are supposed to have. In many encounters, this leads to the Elemental being unfortunately easily killed.
2. The Elemental doesn't behave like a pet, just a permanent term guardian. In short, it will not disappear and reappear while mounting, it does not increase in speed to keep up with you, and it does not despawn unless killed or you get rid of it. This is intentional.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=44684
-As we use http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610 every time http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 procs, this glyph is a notable, if not necessarily large, DPS gain. If there's nobody to provide TTW for you (meaning you have to skip http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=42742), this is the next best option.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=42754
-If for some reason you decide to skip http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50045, this should be used in its stead to maximize your Elemental's uptime.

Stat Priority:
Hit(Cap)>Spellpower>Haste>Crit>Spirit>Intellect
-Hit cap for Frost PvE is 14% thanks to http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=29440, which is 368 hit rating. Having a talented Balance Druid or Shadow Priest in your raid to provide Improved Faerie Fire or Misery respectively lowers your required hit to 11%, or 289 rating. If you're a Draenai, or are in a party with one, you can lower your hit requirement by 1% (down to 13% and 10%, or 341 and 263 rating depending on raid composition.) The Hit Cap is extremely important for Frost because missed spells do no damage. Additionally, missed spells cannot grant you Brain Freeze or Fingers of Frost, which is a further DPS loss.
-Beyond hit cap, raw Spellpower is huge for Frost. With http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572's massive scaling (over 200%) and Spellpower being the only stat that benefits your Water Elemental, it outpaces other stats.
-Haste is incredibly useful for Frost. With http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842's naturally low cast time for a primary spell (2.3 seconds after talents, compared to 3 seconds for a talented Fireball), Haste goes a long way. Additionally, since haste increases the amount of casts you can dish out, it effectively increases your http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 uptime, which is very important.
-Crit is a good stat, however Frost benefits less from Crit on gear than other specs due to http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983. http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 gives 50% extra crit chance on "frozen" targets, which includes all spells cast with http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 active. Because of this, you can eventually reach a point where spells that benefit from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 have over 100% crit chance, the excess of which is wasted. Don't neglect crit, but don't gem for it.
-Spirit can be essentially read as Crit Rating, thanks to http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=43046 (and associated glyph.) Assuming glyphed, Molten Armor translates half your Spirit to Crit. However, pieces with Spirit sacrifice other stats for it, and unlike many Mage specs, Frost has no while-casting mana regeneration, meaning in most cases gear with Spirit is sub-optimal.
-Intellect provides a very small amount of crit, and increases your maximum mana pool by 15 per point. Intellect will naturally be accrued on your gear, and you should never run into serious issues with mana. The mana from Intellect is important to your longevity; http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44557's Replenishment can usually sustain your mana pool through most fights. Never gem this stat.

Gemming:
Red: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
Yellow: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40155 or http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40128
Blue: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40133 or http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
Meta: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41285
-All Red sockets should be filled with http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113. Yellow sockets can be SP/Haste or just Haste depending on your stat preferences and needs. Blue sockets are filled with http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40133 if the socket bonus of the item is 7 spellpower or higher (on items with 2 sockets), or 9 spellpower or higher (on items with 3 sockets.) If the bonus isn't high enough, ignore the bonus and use a http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113 instead. At least 2 http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40133 's are required in your gear to activate your Meta-Gem, so put them in the best possible locations to maximize stats.
Note: If you are a Jewelcrafter, use 3 http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=42144s in your gear

Enchants:
Head: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=44159
Shoulders: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50338
Cape: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47898 (Tailoring: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55642)
Chest: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=60692
Bracers: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44635 (Leatherworking: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=57691)
^-Blacksmiths also include http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55628 with a http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
Main hand(non-Staff): http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=59625 or http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=60714
Main hand (Staff): http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=62948
(Enchanters) Ring: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44636
Boots: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=60623 (if you need the Hit to cap) or http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47901 (Engineers: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55016)
Pants: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41602
Belt: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41611 with a http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
Gloves: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44488 (if Hit is needed) or http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44592
^-Blacksmiths also include http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55641 with a http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113

Consumables:
Food: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=34755, http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=43015 or http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=34769
Flask: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=46376 (Alchemists: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=47499)
Potion: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40211

Rotation:
Frost's rotation is fairly simple in concept, but takes quick hands and eyes to maximize. The rotation revolves around two talents: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545.

http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 gives your chill causing spells (http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842, http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11185, and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610) a chance to make your next http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610 instant and free. http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610 does similar damage to a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842, and as such this proc should be used quickly after it occurs, so as to not waste it.

http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 procs without http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 active should be used at the end of a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 cast. If it procs again, continue adding the procs at the end of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842s until you run out.

http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 gives your chill causing spells (http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842, http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11185, and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610) a chance to give you 2 charges of Fingers of Frost, which cause your spells to act as though your target were Frozen. This causes two important things: First, it enables http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 for the benefited spells, and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572 is enabled as long as you have charges active.

http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 however has a "ghost charge" mechanic that can be used. I'll explain:

Situation A: Mage casts http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842. He gains http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545. He casts two http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842s, which both benefit from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 and consume one charge per spell.
Situation B: Mage casts http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842. He gains http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545. He casts a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 and a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572, which both benefit from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 and consume one charge per spell.
Situation C: Mage casts http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842. He gains http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545. He casts a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842, which benefits from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983 and consumes a charge, leaving him with one charge left. He then casts another http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842, and casts http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572 at the end of his http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842 cast. Both spells benefit from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12983, but only consume one charge.

Situation C is what you want to do. This maximizes how many spells benefit from each http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 trigger.

In summary:

Single Target:
1. Spam http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842.
a. If http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 procs, check:
-Is http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572 off cooldown? If yes, cast http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842->http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842+http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572.
-If no, just cast two http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842s.
b. If http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 procs, cast http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842+http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610.
c. If http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 proc together, check:
-Is http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572 off cooldown? If yes, ignore http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 and cast http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842->http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842+http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44572
-If no, cast http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842->http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42842+http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610
d. If you have a http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44549 proc and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 continuously procs (which keeps leaving you at 2 charges), wait to http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47610 until you have one charge of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 left.

AoE:
This depends, but usually it's one of two things:
a. Spam http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940
or
b. http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42925(Rank 8)->http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926(Rank 9)->http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926's damage over time on the ground will tick with your http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940's damage, which on stationary packs will do substantially more damage than just http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940 alone will. Avoid using http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926 if the mobs are likely to move for any reason (the radius is much smaller than that of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940) or if the mobs will not live long enough for the dot to do all of its damage. Multiple ranks of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926 can be used (I only recommend 8 and 9 at most) to stack the dots.

Note 1: There is an AoE cap of 10 targets, after which AoE spells start doing diminished damage to each further target. http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926 's burn ignores this cap, meaning if your group is doing a particularly massive pull for some reason, it will easily outshine any other AoE damage option.

Note 2: If you have talented http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11185, then each tick of http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940 has a chance (per target!) to proc http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 , which adds 50% crit to the next tick. This adds a substantial amount of DPS increase in AoE scenarios, while also slowing the mobs to help keep them condensed. If at the end of your http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42940 cast you still have http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=44545 charges, they can be used on http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=42926 to amplify the critical chance of the initial damage, which is another significant boon.

Cooldowns:
DPS:
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=55342
-Summons 3 extra "you's" that cast Frostbolts and Fire Blasts at their target. They do decent damage while they're out. Note that their AI is rather poor and they often tend to stand around doing nothing. If you have your Water Elemental summoned, ordering it to attack something via. the pet bar will also order your Images to do the same. Use it on cooldown, if possible alongside your other cooldowns.
Note: While Mirror Images is active, your threat is considered 0. When it ends, your threat returns to what it would have been if you hadn't used the images. This means you can A. Use Mirror Images to ignore threat temporarily, but also B. That if you generate enough threat during it, you may pull the boss as it ends, which could be disastrous.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12472
-Powerful haste ability that massively increases your casting speed. Use it on cooldown. Those with significant haste from gear, however, may wish to avoid using http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12472 during Bloodlust/Heroism. Spells below 1 second cast have wasted potential due to the hard cap on global cooldown of 1 second, so if your Frostbolt dips below 1 second during http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12472 and Bloodlust/Heroism, either use Icy Veins at a different time, or re-structure your gear to have less haste.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=31687
-For those without http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50045 , treat this like any other DPS cooldown, using it regularly. The Elemental does benefit from Bloodlust/Heroism if it is present before it's cast. For those with Eternal Water, your pet should be summoned as soon as you enter the instance. If it dies, it can be instantly re-summoned with the spell.If you have a Water Elemental summoned while using Mirror Images, ordering the Elemental to attack a target will also command the images.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11958
-A powerful, powerful cooldown. Enables you to chain two http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12472 back to back, use http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=45438 twice in a short time, as an immediate re-summon for your Elemental, and much more. It has a lengthy cooldown, so keep that in mind.

Defensive/Utility Spells:
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=45438
-Makes you invulnerable but stops you from moving or casting. Use it to avoid otherwise fatal damage, to shed aggro off of yourself, or just as a safety measure. With a hefty cooldown, use this wisely. Note that there is a 30 second debuff that prevents you from using this again (if you use http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11958) after you use it.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11426
-A massive shield on a low cooldown with a low mana cost. Use this to soak any incoming damage to yourself if need be at little cost. Thanks to the long duration, http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11426 can easily be maintained, and sometimes chained depending on when the shield is broken.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=67765
-Drops all threat after the duration ends, setting it to 0, which can let you DPS with impunity if used later in the fight. It drops threat each second of the countdown, so it can be used after pulling to try to get the offender to leave you alone. Can also be (rarely) used to save yourself a painful repair bill under certain circumstances, which is always handy.
-http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=43012 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=43010.
Much like http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11426, these spells can be used in certain fights to soak up damage. While not as powerful as http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=11426, they still help.
Note: If one puts points into http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=28332, these spells can potentially prevent massive damage and restore massive mana.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=12051
-Main method of regaining mana. Using it during a fight incurs significant DPS penalty, so if possible, avoid using it. That being said, restores a huge amount of mana very quickly. Using Ice Barrier before channeling can help ensure you don't get any pushback.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=33312
-Gives a shot of mana that takes no time at all to get. With 3 charges per conjure and a 2 minute cooldown, your mana gem is a valuable tool to your longevity. Try to use it only when you'll get full benefit of the restore.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=43020
-In desperate times, this little shield could very well save your life. It doesn't absorb a huge amount however, and is very mana intensive, so use only if dire.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=2139
-There are a number of mechanics that can be prevented with spell interrupts. Counterspell doesn't use the global cooldown, so it can often be used with no dps loss at all, and if using it could make a difference, do it.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=30449
-In PvE, a far too often forgotten spell. In many dungeons there are enemies that cast a wide variety of buffs on themselves that can be stolen, some of which are ridiculously powerful. Abuse this!

[Shorttemper]

Nice guide +for sticky. How much are your deep freeze crits assuming you're 6k+? I believe frost doesn't pull as much dps are other mage specs but how much do you pull on an average?

[TouhouTomTom]

nice guide :D

As soon as deep freeze was fixed I made a mage. Frost spec is so fun and deep freeze crits are nice to see :p

Couple of questions:

Is the water elemental getting correct stats from its owner because it seems like its not scaling correctly. Also should the water elemental benefit from what other pets have the 90% aoe damage reduction because it get one-shot off of marrowgar flames and its pointless to use it in any fight with aoe. Its a good dps boost to keep it up though just like any pet. Im just not sure if it should actually have the damage reduction buff itself or it just doesnt come with one. Never played mage on retail so i cant remember :p

Ty

[Jinxxgabe]

The Elemental seems to not be getting as much health as it should, but the damage scaling is fine since they fixed it. It is indeed supposed to have AoE reduction and be able to survive fights, but it doesn't.

[Offbeat]

Nice to see this thread, I've always been a fan of frost and used to raid with a die-hard frost mage back in retail (He levelled as frost back in vanilla and refused to switch to another spec unless the boss was frost immune).

The spec is obviously not the best dps spec there is, but it brings amazing utility and survival along with respectable dps. Too bad about the glyphed water elemental though, it's a sizable part of your dps lost.

One small thing though, can also move one point from Frost Channeling to get a point in Imp Blizzard - It's very rare that you will actually run out of mana, assuming you use your gems and evocation properly.