Frost Mage PvP Guide — The War Within (11.0.7)
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play Frost Mage in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, PvP talents, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.
If you were looking for TBC Classic content, please refer to our TBC Mage PvP guide.
Frost Mages' Place in the Meta.
Frost Mages are typically one of the strongest caster specs in PvP. Mages not only excel at getting crowd control and relentlessly slowing enemies, but they also have great burst damage. With short burst cooldowns and strong crowd control, Frost Mages are capable of controlling entire teams. One Polymorph can turn an entire game around. With the recent talent changes to Mages, the specialization has much more control and utility than in previous expansions.
Frost Mage Strengths and Weaknesses
- Great control
- Multiple defensive cooldowns
- Strong burst damage
- Relatively strong sustained damage
- Forced to cast crowd control spells
- Predictable burst damage
- Low Durability when out of cooldowns
Notable 11.0.5 Changes to Frost Mages
No notable changes for Frost Mages in 11.0.5.
Notable 11.0 Changes to Frost Mages
- New & Changed Mage Class Talents:
- New Talent: Barrier Diffusion
- New Talent: Inspired Intellect
- Time Anomaly has been updated. Now grants Brain Freeze instead of Fingers of Frost for Frost Mages.
- Supernova added to Mage class tree and now has a 45-second cooldown (was 25 seconds).
- Mass Slow has been removed.
- New & Changed Frost Mage Talents:
- New Talent: Death's Chill.
- New Talent: Permafrost Lances.
- Fractured Frost has been redesigned — while Icy Veins is active, your Frostbolts hit up to 2 additional targets. Now a 1-point talent.
- Death's Chill has been updated. While Icy Veins is active, damaging an enemy with Frostbolt increases spell damage by 2%. Stacks up to 10 times.
- Ice Barriers absorb increased to 24% of maximum health (was 22%). Hailstones is now a 1-point talent.
- Ice Lance damage increased by 12%.
Changelog
- 15 Dec. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (blitz): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 15 Dec. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (playstyle): Updated all damage rotations
- Updated opener rotation.
- Updated burst damage rotation.
- Updated sustained damage rotation.
- Updated defensives.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (comps): Updated best team compositions.
- Updated best 2v2 team compositions.
- Updated best 3v3 team compositions.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (blitz): Updated recommended talents.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (gear): Reviewed recommended gear.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (this page): Updated weaknesses.
- 19 Nov. 2024 (this page): Updated weaknesses.
- 18 Nov. 2024 (talents): Updated recommended talents.
- Updated talent descriptions.
- 21 Oct. 2024 (blitz): Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- Updated Recommended Talents.
- 21 Oct. 2024 (talents): Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- Updated Recommended Talents.
- 21 Oct. 2024 (this page): Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 21 Oct. 2024 (this page): Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 14 Oct. 2024 (gear): Updated Recommended Gear.
- 16 Sep. 2024 (gear): Updated Recommended Gear.
- Updated Recommended Embellishments.
- Updated Recommended Enchants.
- 15 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated Recommended Talents.
- 12 Sep. 2024 (talents): Updated Recommended Talents.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (races): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 28 Aug. 2024 (blitz): Page added.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (races): Reviewed for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (gear): Updated for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (talents): Updated for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (talents): Updated Recommended Talents.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (races): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (gear): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (talents): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024 (races): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (macros): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (comps): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (gear): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (talents): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 18 Mar. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (races): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (macros): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (comps): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (gear): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (talents): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, updated specific talent choices
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7. better aligned introduction
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7. better aligned introduction
- 10 Jul. 2023 (races): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (gear): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (talents): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 09 May 2023 (races): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (gear): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (talents): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (races): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (races): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Pre-patch.
- 31 Jul. 2022 (comps): Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 Jul. 2022 (gear): Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 Jul. 2022 (talents): Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 Jul. 2022 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 Jul. 2022 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (races): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (macros): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (playstyle): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (comps): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (gear): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (talents): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (races): Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (macros): Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (playstyle): Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (comps): Page updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (gear): Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (talents): Page reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (this page): Page updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 17 Nov. 2021 (this page): Page updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (races): Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (macros): Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (playstyle): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (comps): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (gear): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (talents): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 04 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1 of Shadowlands.
- 19 Mar. 2021 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 19 Mar. 2021 (gear): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 19 Mar. 2021 (talents): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 19 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated strength and weaknesses for Patch 9.0.5.
- 19 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated strength and weaknesses for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (macros): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (playstyle): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (comps): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (gear): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (talents): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 23 Dec. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands.
- 28 Oct. 2020 (talents): Updated PvP Talents.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (races): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (macros): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (playstyle): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (comps): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (gear): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (talents): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
Other PvP Guides
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved 3000 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
- How Much Have You Spent on WoW? A New Tool Helps You Find Out!
- Most-Played Classes in The War Within Patch 11.0.7!
- Clicking Through the Absurd World of WoW Keybind Setups
- All Datamined Class Changes in Patch 11.1 Build 58221
- Brann Bronzebeard Becomes a Tank in Patch 11.1 – Full Breakdown of Talents, Abilities, and Curios!
- Vicious Electric Eels in The War Within Season 2
- Glory of the Liberation of Undermine Raider Reward Revealed: Junkmaestro’s Magnetomech
- Rare Mount Eludes Player After 3500 Kills, but an Even Rarer One Drops While Waiting!