Frost Mage DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.0)
In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Frost Mage in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.0).
Frost Mage Mythic+ Guide for The War Within Season 2
In this guide, we will talk about getting the most out of your Hunter in Mythic+ dungeons, including the best way to set up your character, how your rotation may change, and tips and tricks for using your abilities optimally.
If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our dedicated Mythic+ page below.
To learn more about the Mythic+ Meta, check out our Mythic+ Tier List below.
Frost Mage in The War Within Mythic+
Frost Mage specializes in priority and single-target damage, with heavy burst AoE windows.
Best Mythic+ Talents for Frost Mage in The War Within
For a more general overview of Talents for Frost Mage, please visit our dedicated Talents page.
Best Mythic+ Talent Builds for Frost Mage
Frostfire in Mythic+
While Frostfire is slightly behind on sustained AoE and heavily
behind on single-target, many players will wish to use it due to the burst AoE
profile it provides, the relative ease of playing it, or just aesthetics.
Frostfire brings a shortened cooldown on our "AoE stop"
abilities, which, while lessened in impact this Season, are still very
valuable. Additionally the defensive node is a steady 5% maximum Health
increase to your
Ice Barrier, which is always welcome.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Frostfire in Mythic+ without Death's Chill
This is a variant of Frostfire without
Death's Chill,
which is a minor DPS loss, but many will enjoy to avoid the ramping playstyle.
While Frostfire is slightly behind on sustained AoE and heavily
behind on single-target, many players will wish to use it due to the burst AoE
profile it provides, the relative ease of playing it, or just aesthetics.
Frostfire brings a shortened cooldown on our "AoE stop"
abilities, which, while lessened in impact this Season, are still very
valuable. Additionally the defensive node is a steady 5% maximum Health
increase to your
Ice Barrier, which is always welcome.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Spellslinger in Mythic+
This is the go-to for those who wish to bring the highest DPS to the table
in Mythic+. While slightly more difficult to play than Frostfire,
the difficulty pays off.
The primary reason to take Spellslinger is the damage involved,
but there are very nice utility points in its favour as well. Turning
Alter Time into a sprint when paired with a cancelaura macro is
extremely welcome as Mage as a whole is one of the slower classes for long
distance transit. Additionally, both defensive node choices are very powerful
compared to most Hero Talent defensive nodes, although they take a bit more
planning than most.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Flexible Talents
Frost's talents are extremely rigid, so there is not much to change on that side of the tree.
The class tree side is extremely flexible, with Winter's Protection,
Tempest Barrier,
Incantation of Swiftness,
Arcane Warding, and
Cryo-Freeze all being flex points. Pick
whichever you like best. Arcane Warding is quite strong. Additionally,
Ice Cold can be talented out of if damage is getting so high that the
immunity is more valued, which has the potential to free up four points in the
final third of the tree.
Special note for Reduplication: many trash mobs in Mythic+ tend to
target random targets, and this point has the potential to be pretty good for
overall
Mirror Image uptime if you get particularly unlucky. This is a
hotly debated talent node, and I would not suggest it for the average player.
We do have enough spare points in the area to pick it up if you feel like it
may be useful, though.
Spellslinger itself only really has
Phantasmal Image and
Reactive Barrier as a choice. On the one hand,
Ice Barrier
casts at low health will provide a larger shield, which is great for sustained
damage Mages are usually weak to, but means that you get no benefit from
pre-shielding or shielding for single hits. On the other, adding two extra
Images and another 5% damage reduction is extremely powerful, especially with
the extra cooldown reduction from
Reduplication, but it requires you
to actually use
Mirror Image more often, which many are bad at. It
might not be available when needed due to the significantly longer cooldown
than Ice Barrier. Pick whichever you think will get more use, try both out in
different dungeons, have fun!
Mythic+ Utility for Frost Mage in The War Within Season 2
This section talks mostly about the uses of different spells. For in-depth explanations of all Hunter Abilities and Talents, including these, check out our Spells page.
Utility of Frost Mage in The War Within
Interrupts, Stuns and Stops
Counterspell is your "kick" and your most important bit of utility
in
Mythic+, used to stop enemy casts for the benefit of the group and especially
the tank. It is highly recommended to use a Focus Kick macro for this.
- #showtooltip Counterspell
- /cast [@focus, exists, harm,nomod] Counterspell; [nomod]Counterspell
- /focus [mod:ctrl][mod:shift/alt, @mouseover]
This macro will kick your focus target if you have one and your target if you do not. Additionally, this allows for assigning a focus target quickly by either holding Ctrl for your current target or Shift or Alt to assign to your current mouseover.
Make sure that your UI shows your Focus Target's casts clearly so that you are always able to kick it on cooldown or in coordination with the rest of your group.
Stunning and "Stops"
Dragon's Breath is our most reliable "AoE stop", which disorients all
targets in a short-range cone. While the cooldown is rather long, the cooldown
is reduced by
Ice Lance via
Time Manipulation.
We do have both Blast Wave and the option to trade
Dragon's Breath for
Supernova, but knocks tend to be less
reliable in actually interrupting the current action than an actual hard crowd
control like disorient.
Time Manipulation also does not work on
Blast Wave.
In an absolute last-ditch effort to stop something important, we can
Polymorph a target if vulnerable to it. This should not be utilized
unless it is an emergency, as it will heal the target, and it will start
casting again directly after it breaks.
While not utilized in our usual sets, we do have technical access to
Ring of Frost and
Mass Polymorph.
Other Utility
Greater Invisibility can not only be used to drop aggro and as a
damage reduction but also negate certain casts and channels on you. In some
cases, these mechanics will simply re-target someone else in the group, but
occasionally, the mechanic will be entirely negated with huge benefits.
Spellsteal can negate beneficial Magic effects
from enemy targets and occasionally grant them to you instead, although most
of the abusable steals have been nerfed to just let Spellsteal act as a dispel
instead.
Remove Curse, of course, can allow us to remove curses.
Energized Barriers is a strange talent that allows us to completely
negate any form of slow effect, which occasionally removes a dangerous mechanic
entirely.
As Frost Mages, we also slow anything we touch, which can be either good or bad, depending on how much your tank needs to move mobs or kite things.
Dungeon Tips and Tricks for Frost Mage for The War Within Season 2
This section has Mage-specific tips and tricks that may not seem obvious for all dungeons' bosses and mobs.
Mythic+ Tips for Frost Mage in The War Within Season 2
Bosses
- There are not any Mage-specific boss tips in here.
Trash
- You can drop
Boiling Flames from Venture Co. Pyromaniac with
Greater Invisibility.
- You can drop Reckless Delivery from Careless Hobgoblin with
Greater Invisibility, although he will still charge, so move out of the way after.
- You can
Spellsteal Rejuvenating Honey off of Flavor Scientists.
- You can
Energized Barriers off the slow applied by Royal Jelly Purveyors.
Bosses
- There are no Frost Mage specific tips for bosses in this dungeon.
Trash
- Rank Overseer's
Wild Wallop knocks mobs away when cast. Hit
Ice Nova just before it finishes the cast to prevent mobs from flying everywhere.
- Torchsnarl's
One-Hand Headlock can be dodged if you
Blink before his charge reaches you.
Bosses
Energized Barriers can remove
Castigator's Shield on Baron Braunpyke.
Trash
- There are a good amount of buffs to
Spellsteal off trash mobs in here, even if they do not give you the buff, the dispel itself is valued.
- You can break
Defend from Arathi Footman with any of our crowd controls.
- You can drop Lightspawn's
Purification beam with
Greater Invisibility.
- Sergent Shaynemail's
Lunging Strike can be avoided by simply moving while the cast is finishing if you are at any reasonable range away from her.
Bosses
- There are not any Frost Mage-specific boss tips in here.
Trash
Remove Curse sees use in this dungeon.
Spellsteal also sees use on multiple mobs in this dungeon.
Bosses
- Big M.O.M.M.A.'s
Sonic Boom can be
Blinked over, and is likely the safest way to deal with it if you have some distance between you and the boss when it is cast.
Trash
- Venture Co. Surveyor's
Surveying Beam should be kicked ideally, but you can
Greater Invisibility to drop it targeting you in a pinch.
- Disturbed Kelp's
Restorative Algae can be
Spellstealed if some go off.
- Venture Co. Electrican's
Overcharge can be
Blinked out of if it does stun you.
Bosses
- Azerokk's adds will fixate ranged players. You can drop the fixate to another player with
Greater Invisibility, or you can just keep them slowed/rooted with your abilities.
- Rixxa Fluxflame's
Azerite Catalyst can be broken with
Greater Invisibility, preventing it from dropping extra puddles.
- Do not
Greater Invisibility her
Propellant Blast cast, as it will prevent you from clearing the platform.
- Mogul Razdunk's
Homing Missile can be
Greater Invisibilityed out of, if cast before the cast finishes. If cast after, it will instantly explode, usually dropping the debuff on the entire party.
Trash
- Stonefury's
Tectonic Barrier can be
Spellstealed.
- Venture Co. Mastermind's
Mind Lash channel can be broken with
Greater Invisibility.
- Venture Co. War Machine's
Charged Shot can ignore you entirely if you are invisible during the cast, preventing a lot of damage if you do not cast during it.
Bosses
- Xav the Unfallern's
Oppressive Banner can be removed with
Energized Barriers if absolutely needed, although at that point your teammates are likely about to die as well.
Trash
Remove Curse sees multiple uses in this dungeon.
- Shackled Soul's
Bind Soul can be removed with
Energized Barriers.
- Bone Magus starts the encounter with
Bone Shield. You should
Spellsteal any you are encountering, although be aware this will set your health to half when stolen.
- Battlefield Ritualist's
Unholy Fervor can be removed with
Spellsteal.
Bosses
- There are not any Frost Mage-specific boss tips in here.
Trash
- Mechagon Mechanic's
Overclock can be removed with
Spellsteal.
- Defense Bot Mk III's
Defensive Countermeasure can be
Spellstealed for a huge shield.
- During the maze, you can
Blink into the smoke, then
Alter Time to reset the cooldown and Blink to the end nearly instantly.
Affix Tips, Tricks and Management for Frost Mage in The War Within Season 2
This section has Mage-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. If you want general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.
Affix Guide for Frost Mage in The War Within
Ascendant Affix Management for Frost Mage
Blast Wave and
Dragon's Breath/
Supernova will make
short work of this affix.
Pulsar Affix Management for Frost Mage
We do not have anything of particular use here, although
Slippery Slinging can be used as a run speed buff as
Spellslinger.
Make sure to not overshoot someone who is running to you to end the affix,
either. Blinking past someone only for the affix to go off can be
quite bad, aim your Blink well enough that you don't confuse people coming to
end it on you.
Devour Affix Management for Frost Mage
Remove Curse is a valid dispel for removing
Void Rift.
Changelog
- 16 Mar. 2025: Updated with Season 2 dungeon tips.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 22 Oct. 2024: Added Season 1 dungeon tips with things we can deal with our utility casts.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for The War Within Season 1.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 15 Jul. 2023: Subzero nerfed enough to not be worth taking in most M+ setups.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5's rotational and talent changes.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Season 2, and added a section about affixes we can trivialize.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Changed the default talent tree.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 22 Dec. 2022: Changed default build to Lonely Winter due to hotfix buffs.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Added a note about Lonely Winter/Water Elemental decision.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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This guide has been written by Kuni, one of the best Frost Mages in the world, who raids in Mortal Desire.
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