Frost Mage Guide for WoW Forever: Talents, Rotation and Leveling

Frost is the safest way to level a mage in Forever. Slows, freezes, Ice Barrier and Ice Block keep you alive. The rotation is very different from Classic: Winter's Chill now stacks damage for your Cone of Cold, Fingers of Frost lets you treat even bosses as frozen, and Ice Lance is no longer a filler because of its cooldown.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Frost leveling (points 7/0/44). Frost from 10 to 60 for AoE pulls with Blizzard and Frost Nova; only seven Arcane points. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Frost single target (level 60) (points 13/5/33). Level-60 single-target Frost build that spends its last points in Arcane for mana support (Improved Channeling, Arcane Concentration, Missile Barrage).
• Dungeons: Frost dungeons (points 9/5/37). Frost for dungeon pulls: Improved Blizzard and Arctic Reach for big groups instead of Arcane Concentration.
• PvP: Frost PvP (points 12/0/39). Deep Frost for PvP with Ice Block and Ice Barrier, twelve Arcane points down to Arcane Blast.

Where it ranks

• PvE DPS (raid): Rises from C to B: the newest simulation now rates Frost B, as do most new lists. Good control and Ice Barrier, which has also raised Frost damage since launch, but still little raid damage.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Ice Block and Ice Barrier protect you while casting, Frost Nova and Cone of Cold keep melee away. Three lists say S, one B.
• Leveling: Two lists say S, one A: Frost Nova and Cone of Cold lock groups in place, Blizzard clears them, and you conjure your own food and water.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

The new Frost mechanics

• Winter's Chill: every Frostbolt and every Fingers-empowered Ice Lance adds a stack to the target, up to five. Each stack raises the damage of your next Cone of Cold by 20% and adds 7% of your spell damage to it. The stacks only work for you.
• Fingers of Frost: your chill effects have a 15% chance to make your next two spells treat the target as frozen. Shatter then adds 50% crit and Ice Shards doubles the crit bonus. That gets you the Shatter combo on bosses, even though Frost Nova doesn't freeze them.
• Ice Barrier gives 15% more Frost damage for a minute when you cast it, plus another 5% while the shield holds. While shielded, getting hit doesn't push back your casts.
• Ice Lance shares an 8-second cooldown with Fire Blast and deals 300% more damage to frozen targets.

Single-target rotation

Ice Barrier about four seconds before the pull, then pre-cast Frostbolt. Stand close enough for Cone of Cold.

1. Cone of Cold at five stacks of Winter's Chill, with the next Frostbolt right behind it.
2. With one Fingers of Frost charge left, cast Frostbolt and queue Ice Lance so it goes off before the bolt lands. Both use the last charge, so two charges give you three empowered spells.
3. Recast Ice Barrier before the damage buff runs out.
4. Arcane Missiles when Missile Barrage procs. Frostbolt has a 20% chance to trigger it.
5. Frostbolt as filler.

Only use Fire Blast while moving, because it locks out your Ice Lance.

Multiple targets

Cone of Cold on cooldown, Blizzard in between. Cold Snap resets all Frost cooldowns: a second Cone of Cold, or a second Ice Block or fresh Ice Barrier when things go wrong. With a ten-minute cooldown, save it for exactly those moments. In a group, only Frost Nova when the mobs are on the tank, or you root them away from the tank.

Stats

Hit rating to 17% against raid bosses, 6% of which comes from 3/3 Precision. That leaves about 110 hit rating from gear. After that, spell power and crit rating. Ice Shards and Shatter make crit more valuable for Frost than it was in Classic. Frost Channeling cuts the cost of your Frost spells by 15%, but in raids you still run dry faster than an Arcane Mage with Arcane Meditation unless your gear is good.

Common mistakes

• Ice Lance as a filler. It belongs on frozen targets and Fingers of Frost charges.
• Letting Ice Barrier break or lapse, which costs up to 20% Frost damage.
• Not casting Cone of Cold right at five Winter's Chill stacks.
• Old macros and beta builds: Frost Blast is gone, and Piercing Ice is no longer a talent.
• Using Ice Block for damage. It is for mechanics, dropping threat and emergencies.

Leveling as Frost

Frost is the most relaxed choice and really comes together from level 30. Ice Lance unlocks at 20, Shatter and Ice Block at 25, Fingers of Frost at 30, Winter's Chill at 35 and Ice Barrier at 40. While leveling, 2/3 Precision (4%) is enough against mobs of your level.

Pull with Frostbolt at max range. When Frostbite freezes the mob, follow up with Frostbolt and an Ice Lance behind it. If it gets close, Frost Nova, a few steps back, keep casting, and let your wand finish. Classic-style AoE grinding only works in a limited way now, since Improved Blizzard slows by 40% at most. Small packs still work: Ice Barrier, gather, Cone of Cold, Frost Nova, Blink, Blizzard.

Raids and PvP

In raids, Frost has the most control of the three mages and survives best, but does the least damage and has no real burst cooldown. Winter's Chill only helps you, so there is no raid debuff. Frost Channeling cuts your threat by 30%. PvP is a different story: with Ice Block and Ice Barrier, Frost is rated A there.

Further reading

• Mage class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Arcane Mage, Fire Mage
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Mage talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link