[Frost] Akraen's Comprehensive Guide to 5.4 Frost PvE (Advanced)

[Zildijana 3]

I used bouth magebombtracker and tmw. they work good for me =) Magebombtracker tells me how many I have dotted and tmw tells me if the target i hit is dottet.

[Nellas 0]

First off I would like to echo all of the thanks others have offered.  I have been following your research for quite a while and I have had so many questions answered.  Really invaluable.

 

I have recently rearranged my set-up to try out the 18960 haste breakpoint.

 

I am wondering if you still prefer NT over LB on single target fights like juggernaut and Malk (Heroic).  I remember a post on another site where you listed the mage bombs you used on heroic encounters in SoO and LB was basically never used (you suggested it if haste is below 15832 on juggernaut).

 

Are there any fights that you were using FB on that you now find another mage bomb more effective at this high haste build?

[durrtygoodz 60]

You never use NT single target, regardless of haste.

 

NT fights are spoils Fallen P's and Galakras. If you stack Shamans, that's NT too. Frost bomb can be used on Immerseus depending how you do it but that's about it.

[Zildijana 3]

I find Frost bomb very good for Galakras, since you need to focus shaman and bonecrusher. I felt like i get more singeltarget dps out but still aoe from bomb. I dont know if you guys agree or not, but i felt that was the way to go and have been doing that since I changed to frost from fire.

[Oltier 471]

I find Frost bomb very good for Galakras, since you need to focus shaman and bonecrusher. I felt like i get more singeltarget dps out but still aoe from bomb. I dont know if you guys agree or not, but i felt that was the way to go and have been doing that since I changed to frost from fire.

Frost Bomb is viable choice on that fight, indeed. But it's all up to personal preference.

[Zildijana 3]

Good to know =) I'v tryed NT aswell, but doting up everything all the time aint my style :P

[Akraen 230]

Yeahhhh once the hotfix happened (not the big one, but the one later on), when they lowered the explosion damage on LB but increased its DoT component it took the lead again. I tried to find exceptions to the rule but it just statistically doesn't work out even though you can have streaks of BF procs timed well enough to not miss them, yielding an overall DPS increase. If you don't mind chancing it, go for it-- but really LB should be used single target.

 

NT is technically best on 2 targets though.

[Liquidsteel 279]

You guys made me finally use my boost on a Mage to see what all the fuss was about. Gonna roll with frost for time being. 

 

Hopefully I won't be disappointed!  

[Oltier 471]

Hi - I posted on MMO-C but I read that you all moved the topic here!

 

I read this guide and I have some questions. 

Here is my toon: http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear/usa/tichondrius/blossom

I setup my AMR weights like this: http://i.imgur.com/O3M6nWC.png

Can you double check if this is correct? I am going for the 14,240 haste then rest to mastery build.

My problem is this: Another mage in my 10 man group is equal ilvl but using worse trinkets than I am (Normal-Purified Bindings and Normal-BBoY -- where as I am using Heroic-Purified Bindings and Heroic-KTT) and his AMR "Total Score" is WAY higher than mine (when I run it with the weights that I linked above). My Total Score is 474715 and his is 478852.

Can you give me some insight on why this is so? Should I still be doing more DPS than him (on paper)? I think it might be because of the BBoY having stats on the item so he has more room for reforging to other stats. I have a Normal-warforged BBoY but I think the guide says to use my KTT since it is Heroic and much higher ilvl than my BBoY. I feel like I am doing something terribly wrong with my AMR setup.

Here is the other mage's toon: http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear/usa/tichondrius/mageyoublink

Any help would be appreciated, thanks for reading! =)

Hershie, I moved your question to a separate topic, as it is not really related to the guide itself. This was, it will get more attention from other readers as well.

[durrtygoodz 60]

A bit OT but i'm streaming frost in 25m tonight, at least 13hc and doing garrosh probably, and im trying 18960 haste for a bit. If anyone wants to check how im playing the spec in a high-end raid: http://www.twitch.tv/frenikk

[Zildijana 3]

I decided to remove it all ^^

Edited April 15, 2014 by Zildijana

[Nellas 0]

Hiya!

 

Quick question about the 2pc bonus.

 

With the higher haste build is it still best to follow up BF with an ice lance even w/o a FoF proc (to maximize damage from the set bonus)?  I see some criticism being given to WoL logs that are submitted regarding ice lance casts w/o FoF.  If you are habitually sending an ice lance after BF then you number of ice lances cast is bound to be higher than your FoF procs.  Are you seeing more damage from casing frostbolt now?

Edited April 15, 2014 by Nellas

[durrtygoodz 60]

Hiya!

 

Quick question about the 2pc bonus.

 

With the higher haste build is it still best to follow up BF with an ice lance even w/o a FoF proc (to maximize damage from the set bonus)?  I see some criticism being given to WoL logs that are submitted regarding ice lance casts w/o FoF.  If you are habitually sending an ice lance after BF then you number of ice lances cast is bound to be higher than your FoF procs.  Are you seeing more damage from casing frostbolt now?

How could an ice lance without a FoF possibly be maximizing the 2 piece? 20% of nothing is, yeah you guess it, nothing.

[Oylo 0]

Hello everyone. Akraen thanks for this guide, it's amazing. Wanted to link my amr and a log from Iron Juggernaut last week and get some feedback. I'm trying to shoot for the 18960 haste break at this point, but I droped my two set to do it. Seems like a dumb idea and I haven't been able to test it out this week. At the time of the log I was running the mix build with 14242 haste and the rest in mastery with 25% Crit soft cap. Any suggestions are welcome, and again thank you.

 

https://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear/usa/boulderfist/oylo

 

http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/eu1wc0pmefmyaa99/details/18/?s=5962&e=6371

[Akraen 230]

Don't drop your 2pc! Why is this a thing?!?!?!??!?!!?

 

Who out there is trying to make me go insane, telling people to drop 2pc. Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

 

Don't!

[Oylo 0]

Don't drop your 2pc! Why is this a thing?!?!?!??!?!!?

 

Who out there is trying to make me go insane, telling people to drop 2pc. Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

 

Don't!

Lol, sorry. Dont lose your mind. I was just experimenting. I really wanted that WF Chest, but I have to drop H Shoulders for reg tier to keep my two set, which drops my mastery. Or I can go back to my H chest, Idk. So many numbers, so many decisions lol. I guess I should just go back to my original build. 14242 haste and the rest in mastery. 

Edited April 23, 2014 by Oylo

[ProtoSaura 0]

Hello guys

First of all, awesome guide Akraen, people should take this as a prime example for a superb guide.

I still have a question though.

Here's my character: 

Armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/wildhammer/S%C3%A0v/simple

AMR. https://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear/eu/wildhammer/s%C3%A0v

 

Now, I'm thinking about making the change from Fire back to Frost since Fire is not to my taste atm.

I'm aiming for the Mixture Build, since I'm not sure if I have the gear for a haste-build (14242 Breakpoint should be possible though?)

Now, for the stat weight, you assign crit a weight of 1.0 w/o mentioning the 25% cap. Do we just ignore it and favor haste/mastery over the crit cap or do we still go for it?

That's already my question :D

 

Thank you in advance for answering my question.

[Akraen 230]

Yeah you can just ignore the shatter cap. Though interestingly enough you can also go for it if you want (i.e. if your gear is mostly fire and you have trouble with reforges). Thing is, it's such a tiny DPS difference that it doesn't matter all that much :)

[ProtoSaura 0]

<3 Thank you for the quick answer.

My gear is pretty eh, I think i will actually perform better as frost with it than fire.

[Ayora 0]

I have sine questions that have just been leaving me stummped. With certain breakpoints for haste, how does each breakpoint affect the cast time of frost bolt? and how comes when people are asying that 14250 haste is there 50% haste when i have 15120 and that only equates to 45% of my haste? If that could be explained that would be great (:. pretty new to mage, so this would help a lot!

[Oltier 471]

I have sine questions that have just been leaving me stummped. With certain breakpoints for haste, how does each breakpoint affect the cast time of frost bolt? and how comes when people are asying that 14250 haste is there 50% haste when i have 15120 and that only equates to 45% of my haste? If that could be explained that would be great (:. pretty new to mage, so this would help a lot!

With haste, your spells' cast time decreases linearly up to the GCD. 14242 is the 50% haste, indeed. But this requires raid haste buff (moonkin aura, shadow priests shadow form) and frost armor.

[Ayora 0]

With haste, your spells' cast time decreases linearly up to the GCD. 14242 is the 50% haste, indeed. But this requires raid haste buff (moonkin aura, shadow priests shadow form) and frost armor.

So with this 14242 haste what does this have your frost bolt as casting, like the casting speed. With your build i see that you have 35% spell haste with out being buffed, then after being buffed what does it go to. I am currently sitting on 35.74% haste and with my frost armor i am 10% up and with the spriest in the raid i have the required 50% haste you are talking about, So once i achieve this goal, should i be dropping all the rest of the stats into mastery?

[TLTeo 29]

Mastery and haste are both very valid for Frost Mages; outside of the 14242 cap you can either choose to stack more Haste, or dump the rest into Mastery as you said. They are both valid gearing strategies, and both have their pros and cons. If you want to know more about the details of both builds, i suggest you just read this thread :)

[Nytemare 2]

So just got my 1st mage to 90 2hrs ago - now looking to start gearing her - No raid team right now - so figure my gear come from LFR, Flex (once I get higher), TImeless Isle (Tokens/Ordos/Cel)

 

Looking over the guide and was hoping for a more break down of talents, opener, rotation, etc.. 

 

Most of my gear for now will be limited to LFR/ Flex (once I get higher gear). As I have no raid team for this toon as of yet. 

 

So what build should I be going for Mastery or Haste? It seems I can break 9522 haste in SoO LFR gear/timeless one. So what one should I be aiming for?

 

Right now I have AMR set up to use the Max Mastery build you link on page 3 using those stats to get idea of what gear I on the look out for when I start doing LFR and working on my legendary quest

 

Also my profession = tailoring - thinking of Herb as 2nd one for the Haste CD but not sure. I also an ally worgen if any ally race really matters

Edited May 12, 2014 by Nytemare

[Storm 426]

In LFR/Flex gear most of this guide won't really apply to you. Your best bet is going to be going for the 9522 haste breakpoint and then stacking mastery. Crit is also viable at higher ilvl's, but I'm not sure how well crit translates to lower ilvl's. honestly the biggest thing as a new mage is focusing on your rotation. You'll gain or lose far more dps from your rotation than you will from how your gear is reforged.