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TBC Classic Frost Mage Guide (Phase 3)

by FourenUpdated 9 minutes read views

About the Class

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

Strengths

  • The best control, slows, and roots among mage specializations.
  • Powerful burst damage in both single-target and group play.
  • High survivability.
  • The best mage specialization for PvP.
  • Easier to gear than a Fire Mage.

Weaknesses

  • Requires more spell hit than Arcane.
  • Harder to gear than an Arcane Mage.
  • The weakest PvE specialization for the mage.

Stat Priority

Mage Frost Stats Priority
  1. 1Spell Hit
  2. 2Spell Power
  3. 3Spell Haste Rating
  4. 4Spell Critical Strike
  5. 5Intellect
  6. 6Stamina
  7. 7Spirit
  8. 8Mana per 5 sec.

Talents

Talents

Ability Priority

Abilities Priority

Threat reductions multiply together: Game iconBlessing of Salvation, Game iconEnchant Cloak - Subtlety and the talent together give about 41% of the original threat for Game iconArcane Explosion.

Important Abilities

Important Abilities
a damage cooldown; the elemental casts Game iconWaterbolt and can use Game iconFreeze — a ranged Game iconFrost Nova to set up combos with Shatter
a damage cooldown; don't activate it before a phase with running or stuns
resets all Frost cooldowns, granting a second Game iconIcy Veins and Game iconSummon Water Elemental
instant, castable on the move to keep the Game iconWinter's Chill debuff from falling off
removing curses from the raid
keep it up on yourself and the group

Best in Slot (BiS)

Best in Slot (BiS)
Slot
Recommended Gear
Source
Head
Dark Conjuror's Collar
Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau
Neck
Amulet of Unfettered Magics
Lady Sacrolash and Grand Warlock Alythess — Sunwell Plateau
Shoulders
Amice of the Convoker
Lady Sacrolash and Grand Warlock Alythess — Sunwell Plateau
Back
Tattered Cape of Antonidas
Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau
Chest
Fel Conqueror Raiments
M'uru — Sunwell Plateau
Wrists
Bracers of the Tempest
Kalecgos — Sunwell Plateau
Hands
Handguards of Defiled Worlds
Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau
Waist
Belt of the Tempest
Brutallus — Sunwell Plateau
Legs
Leggings of the Tempest
Illidari Council — Black Temple
Feet
Boots of the Tempest
Felmyst — Sunwell Plateau
Rings
Loop of Forged Power
Jewelcrafting
Mana Attuned Band
from timed-run chests — Zul'Aman
Ring of Omnipotence
M'uru — Sunwell Plateau
Trinkets
Shifting Naaru Sliver
M'uru — Sunwell Plateau
The Skull of Gul'dan
Illidan Stormrage — Black Temple
Weapon
Sunflare
Kil'jaeden + Brutallus — Sunwell Plateau
Grand Magister's Staff of Torrents
Felmyst — Sunwell Plateau
Wand
Wand of the Demonsoul
Trash mobs — Sunwell Plateau

Tier 6 Set — Tempest Regalia

Tier 6 Set — Tempest Regalia
Slot
Recommended Gear
Drops From
Head
Cowl of the Tempest
Archimonde — Hyjal Summit
Shoulders
Mantle of the Tempest
Mother Shahraz — Black Temple
Chest
Robes of the Tempest
Illidan Stormrage — Black Temple
Hands
Gloves of the Tempest
Azgalor — Hyjal Summit
Legs
Leggings of the Tempest
Illidari Council — Black Temple
Wrists
Bracers of the Tempest
Kalecgos — Sunwell Plateau (exchanged via Sunmote)
Waist
Belt of the Tempest
Brutallus — Sunwell Plateau (exchanged via Sunmote)
Feet
Boots of the Tempest
Felmyst — Sunwell Plateau (exchanged via Sunmote)

Enchants, Gems, Consumables

Enchants
Head
Arcanum of Power
Shoulders
Greater Inscription of Discipline
or
Greater Inscription of the Orb
Back
Enchant Cloak - Subtlety
Chest
Enchant Chest - Exceptional Stats
Wrists
Enchant Bracer - Spellpower
Hands
Enchant Gloves - Major Spellpower
Legs
Runic Spellthread
Feet
Enchant Boots - Boar's Speed
Weapon
Enchant Weapon - Soulfrost
or
Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower
Gems
Slot
Recommended Gear
Comment
Meta gem
Chaotic Skyfire Diamond
requires 2 blue (or purple, or green) gems to activate
Red
Brilliant Crimson Spinel
Don Julio's Heart
jewelcrafting
Brilliant Living Ruby
until T6
Yellow
Reckless Pyrestone
Reckless Noble Topaz
Sunwell Plateau
Potent Pyrestone
Potent Noble Topaz
until T6
Veiled Shadowsong Amethyst
for hit
Veiled Nightseye
for hit
Blue
Purified Tanzanite
Timeless Shadowsong Amethyst
Timeless Nightseye
until T6
Fill blue sockets only to meet the meta gem requirement.
Consumables
Food
Blackened Basilisk
or
Poached Bluefish
or
Crunchy Serpent
or
Midsummer Sausage
Flask
Flask of Pure Death
or
Flask of Supreme Power
Potion
Super Mana Potion
or
Destruction Potion
Weapon Oil
Expired Wizard Oil
or
Superior Wizard Oil
Drink
Kreeg's Stout Beatdown
Other
Crystal of Insight
or
Scourgebane Infusion

Races

Gnome
Increases Intellect by 5%.
Instantly removes slowing and immobilizing effects. 1.5-minute cooldown.
Increases Arcane resistance by 10.
Increases Engineering skill by 15.
Human
Increases Spirit by 10%.
Sharply increases stealth detection for 20 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
Increases reputation gains by 10%.
Draenei
Increases the spell hit of the entire group within 30 yards by 1%.
Heals the target over 15 seconds.
Increases Shadow resistance by 10.
Increases Jewelcrafting skill by 5.
Troll
Increases spell casting speed by 10–30% depending on how injured you are, for 10 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
Increases damage against beasts by 5%.
Increases health regeneration by 10% and lets you regenerate 10% of it even in combat.
Increases critical strike chance by 1% while wielding thrown weapons.
Blood Elf
Restores mana and silences enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. 2-minute cooldown.
Increases all resistances by 5.
Increases Enchanting skill by 10.
Undead
Grants 5 seconds of immunity to Fear, Charm, and Sleep. 2-minute cooldown.
Restores 35% health over 10 seconds by eating a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse.
Increases Shadow resistance by 10.
Triples your time underwater.

Best Professions

Enchanting

Grants Game iconEnchant 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 Game iconDisenchant for breaking down surplus gear.

Engineering

Explosives like Game iconDense Dynamite and Game iconSuper Sapper Charge aren't subject to the AoE damage cap and weave into the rotation. It also provides Game iconDestruction Holo-Gogs, Game iconRocket Boots Xtreme Lite, Game iconZapthrottle Mote Extractor and Game iconDimensional Ripper - Area 52.

Tailoring

Early on it provides strong sets with lots of spell hit — Frozen Shadoweave (Game iconFrozen Shadoweave Shoulders, Game iconFrozen Shadoweave Robe, Game iconFrozen Shadoweave Boots) and Spellstrike (Game iconSpellstrike Hood, Game iconSpellstrike 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: Game iconRunic Spellthread and Game iconGolden Spellthread.

Leatherworking

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

Author

Fouren

Fouren

Fouren has been playing World of Warcraft for over 15 years. He is an active player with 12 Cutting Edge achievements under his belt, and has reached the top 1% and 0.1% multiple times on various classes. His main classes are healers, particularly Holy Paladin.

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