TBC Classic Frost Mage Guide (Phase 3)

Frost Mage is a ranged spellcaster in cloth armor. Its damage is built around Frostbolt. In TBC the tree was significantly buffed: Icy Veins, Summon Water Elemental and Empowered Frostbolt were added, and Cold Snap lets you use both cooldowns twice in a row. The Water Elemental added ranged control through Freeze. In a raid this is the weakest of the mage's three specializations, but the best for control, survivability, and in PvP.

• Summon Water Elemental — on cooldown; if summoned before Bloodlust or Heroism, the elemental also gets the haste
• Icy Veins — on cooldown
• Ice Lance — right after Frostbolt on a frozen target: triple damage and +50% crit from Shatter
• Frostbolt — main single-target damage
• Fire Blast — while moving, if the target is not frozen
• Molten Armor — keep it up for the critical strike chance
• Blink — instead of running when repositioning

AoE Priority

• Arcane Explosion — the safest option: the Arcane Subtlety talent cuts threat by 40%
• Cone of Cold — only when the tank has a large threat lead: threat reduction is just 10%
• Flamestrike — the most dangerous: no threat reduction at all
• Blizzard — low damage, take it only for the slow from Improved Blizzard and Permafrost

Threat reductions multiply together: Blessing of Salvation, Enchant Cloak - Subtlety and the talent together give about 41% of the original threat for Arcane Explosion.

• Summon Water Elemental — a damage cooldown; the elemental casts Waterbolt and can use Freeze — a ranged Frost Nova to set up combos with Shatter
• Icy Veins — a damage cooldown; don't activate it before a phase with running or stuns
• Cold Snap — resets all Frost cooldowns, granting a second Icy Veins and Summon Water Elemental
• Ice Lance — instant, castable on the move to keep the Winter's Chill debuff from falling off
• Remove Curse — removing curses from the raid
• Arcane Brilliance — keep it up on yourself and the group

Gnome

• Expansive Mind increases Intellect by 5%.
• Escape Artist instantly removes slowing and immobilizing effects. 1.5-minute cooldown.
• Arcane Resistance increases Arcane resistance by 10.
• Engineering Specialization increases Engineering skill by 15.

Human

• The Human Spirit increases Spirit by 10%.
• Perception sharply increases stealth detection for 20 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
• Diplomacy increases reputation gains by 10%.

Draenei

• Inspiring Presence increases the spell hit of the entire group within 30 yards by 1%.
• Gift of the Naaru heals the target over 15 seconds.
• Shadow Resistance increases Shadow resistance by 10.
• Gemcutting increases Jewelcrafting skill by 5.

Troll

• Berserking increases spell casting speed by 10–30% depending on how injured you are, for 10 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
• Beast Slaying increases damage against beasts by 5%.
• Regeneration increases health regeneration by 10% and lets you regenerate 10% of it even in combat.
• Throwing Specialization increases critical strike chance by 1% while wielding thrown weapons.

Blood Elf

• Arcane Torrent restores mana and silences enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. 2-minute cooldown.
• Arcane Resistance increases all resistances by 5.
• Arcane Affinity increases Enchanting skill by 10.

Undead

• Will of the Forsaken grants 5 seconds of immunity to Fear, Charm, and Sleep. 2-minute cooldown.
• Cannibalize restores 35% health over 10 seconds by eating a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse.
• Shadow Resistance increases Shadow resistance by 10.
• Underwater Breathing triples your time underwater.

Enchanting

Grants Enchant Ring - Minor Intellect — a very strong enchant that can only be applied to your own rings and stops working if you drop the profession. Plus Disenchant for breaking down surplus gear.

Engineering

Explosives like Dense Dynamite and Super Sapper Charge aren't subject to the AoE damage cap and weave into the rotation. It also provides Destruction Holo-Gogs, Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite, Zapthrottle Mote Extractor and Dimensional Ripper - Area 52.

Tailoring

Early on it provides strong sets with lots of spell hit — Frozen Shadoweave (Frozen Shadoweave Shoulders, Frozen Shadoweave Robe, Frozen Shadoweave Boots) and Spellstrike (Spellstrike Hood, Spellstrike Pants). By the end of T5, raid gear covers your hit and the profession loses its value. At 375 skill it unlocks the best leg enchants: Runic Spellthread and Golden Spellthread.

Leatherworking

Provides drums with 30-second buffs. Because of the Tinnitus debuff, they can't be received more than once every 2 minutes, so the profession's value has dropped noticeably.