Frost Mage DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

The War Within brings fresh ideas and mechanics to all classes, and the Frost Mage in WoW The War Within is no exception. In this Frost Mage guide, we’ll introduce you to everything you need to know, including rotation, builds, specialization skills, hero talents, gearing, and leveling.

Frost Mage Overview

Frost has always excelled at limiting enemy movement while dealing reliable and predictable damage. Frost has always been a very potent choice for levelling and world content, given you can endlessly kite enemies with a multitude of snares and roots combined with damage on the move. Frost is great at quickly bursting down priority adds, either by holding onto Mastery: Icicles for Glacial Spike or by holding procs for a quick burst. Like all Mage specializations, Frost has high mobility and is fantastic at doing encounter-specific jobs and baiting mechanics. Between Ice Floes, Shimmer, and a variety of instant cast spells, high-movement encounters have minimal impact on Frost's overall output.

Frost Mage Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Strong single-target DPS
• Strong AoE DPS
• Good at killing fragile targets quickly
• Absurd M+ utility
• Incredible defensive utility for large single hits
• Great mobility and kiting ability

Weaknesses

• Cleave has to be talented for
• Very few talent options due to lack of nodes
• No way to deal with spread target damage
• Weak to rot damage

Frost Mage Basic Gameplay

Frost is all about generating and using procs. The gameplay is incredibly simple to understand.

Everything you do revolves around Fingers of Frost and Brain Freeze. If you are not currently spending the procs, you need to be generating them. Frostbolt generates both as your filler spell.

Frost Mage Changes in Patch 11.2

General Changes

• Time Anomaly has been removed.
• Inspired Intellect has been increased to 6%.
• A new Artifact Cloak, Reshii Wraps, was added. While it does not directly affect gameplay, it is mandatory for Season 3 content and interacts with Delve mechanics. Players should ensure they obtain it, especially on alt characters.

Frost Changes

• All damage increased by 10%.
• All Mastery values buffed by 40%, making Mastery significantly more effective on Frostfire and Spellslinger.

Frostfire Changes

• Meteor buffed by 20% and deals 40% extra damage to targets closest to the center.
• Excess Fire's Brain Freeze proc rate reduced to 50%.
• xcess Frost's Ice Nova damage increased to 200% of normal.
• Frostfire Burst damage increased by 50%.

New Tier Sets based on Hero Talents for Frostfire improve overall performance but do not alter gameplay:

• Mage Frostfire 11.2 Class Set 2pc
• Mage Frostfire 11.2 Class Set 4pc

Spellslinger Changes

• Splinterstorm now has a 10% chance to grant Brain Freeze.
• Spellfrost Teachings cooldown reduction now applies per-Splinter impact rather than a full reset.
• The previous damage buff from Spellfrost Teachings has been moved to the passive effect of Splintering Orbs.

New Tier Sets based on Hero Talents for Spellslinger require Cold Front to function, but do not significantly change playstyle:

• Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 2pc
• Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 4pc

Frost Mage Leveling Guide for The War Within

Frost Mage Leveling Playstyle

Frost Mage, being able to kite almost everything, can effectively kite and kill large swaths of mobs at once. Even if you wish to take it slowly and target one mob at a time, the fact that we have passive slows on almost everything we have means that we will be nearly untouched in outdoor content.

Frost Mage War Mode Talents for Levelling

• Frost Bomb is likely the best DPS talent in the War Mode selection. While slightly buggy and not fully interacting with all of our kit, it can still be Shattered.
• Ice Form changes Icy Veins into a 1-minute cooldown that only boosts your Frostbolt damage.
• Ring of Fire isn't a bad pick, but it caps out based on your own health against elite mobs, so it may not be as useful as it initially seems. Still strong enough to be a solid choice.
• Concentrated Coolness increases Frozen Orb's damage by 10% and allows it to be placed on the cursor.
• Snowdrift provides access to a stun that doubles as a freeze, allowing you to spam Ice Lance into the mobs.
• The rest of the talents have limited use in PvE content for increasing your damage in the open world, but can be situationally useful if you want defensive bonuses.

Frost Mage DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

© Wowhead

Copy the Frost Mage talents, paste them into the game.

Frostfire Single-Target

Frostfire AoE/Dungeon/Delve

Frost Mage War Mode Talents

If you opt into War Mode, you gain access to Honour Talents while out in the world. Defensive talents will depend on how comfortable you are with your base kit and whether you expect to be attacked by other players. Since PvP is outside the scope of this guide, only the offensive talents will be listed here:

• Concentrated Coolness is a solid pick with no downsides.
• Ice Form is a fairly short cooldown, useful if you find yourself never actually using Icy Veins while out in the world, especially if you're trying to "save" it. It synergizes well with Deep Shatter, but requires you to have multiple freeze cooldowns lined up.
• Frost Bomb is a great choice, offering a nice delayed burst AoE hit that can be Shattered.
• Snowdrift works as a decent short-term stun, but the damage is underwhelming and requires targets to be very close. There are better options.
• Ice Wall deserves special mention. Having the ability to force line of sight or wall an enemy player, either in with you or away from you, is a powerful utility. This talent feels deceptively strong for area denial.

While there are some interesting Honour Talents, since they are restricted to the open world and are unusable in instances, they are generally not simulated. The above thoughts are simply the author's personal opinion.

Best Hero Talents for Frost Mage in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Frost Mage

Frostfire is ahead in raid. The practical difference is about 3% on average, and Spellslinger can get lucky with procs pushing it higher if you wish to gamble.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Frost Mage

Much like in raids, Frostfire is ahead by about 8% on AoE.

Defensively, it is a solid pick, with the only defensive talent being a flat boost to our Ice Barrier with no caveats. Additionally, from a utility standpoint, a cooldown reduction on Blast Wave and Dragon's Breath is a very welcome addition, even with the reduction in the importance of non-interrupt-based stops.

Spellslinger is again a bit of a gamble. You can get lucky Spellfrost Teachings procs and do significantly higher than expected damage, but you're sacrificing reliability for this. There is no real point to spec it with how far behind it is in Mythic+.

Defensively, Spellslinger has the potential to be stronger, but both options rely on either Mirror Image or learning how to manage your health to maximize the value of Reactive Barrier. The utility node offers either a sprint attached to Alter Time for its duration, which is a strong option, or a Displacement improvement, but since Displacement is a class talent we cannot really take due to positioning, it's less useful.

Frost Mage DPS Stat Priority

1. Intellect
2. Haste
3. Critical Strike (to 33.34%)
4. Mastery
5. Versatility
6. Critical Strike (after 33.34%)

Critical Strike proc effects will skew this. They will cause an effective drop-off as you near 33.34% due to the nature of being Shatter capped for part of the fight, but not all of it. This issue is why simming gear changes, rather than relying on stat weights, is the best option in all cases.

There is an interesting artifact at play with stat weights because of how SimulationCraft calculates them. This does not impact the simulation, but it does affect things that use your stat weights to estimate gear upgrades, such as Pawn. As you near the Shatter cap, the stat weight will seemingly gradually fall off. This is actually not true. What is happening is that the simulation is checking what happens if you add 115.5 of a stat, and how much gain per point that would be. As you get closer and closer to the cap, the sim will see that as a lower and lower average gain because more of the simulations are run beyond the cap. In reality, the change is sudden, and can be viewed by running a stat graph while near the Shatter cap.

No stat should ever be hard stacked. Everything works in tandem with each other. Haste is great, but there comes a point where slower, yet more effective damage per cast time spells would be better, through stacking Mastery to improve Frostbolt's damage. However, if you were to do the opposite and stack Mastery to the exclusion of Haste, you'd find that faster, slightly weaker casts would be more beneficial than heavily stacked Mastery with very slow casts. This is the primary reason stat weights are not static and change with every piece of gear.

Stat Explanations

Intellect is your "primary" stat, meaning that you use it instead of Agility or Strength, though it is not always the best in every situation. It provides you with Spell Power, which increases the damage of your spells.

Versatility is a flat-out damage done increase and damage taken reduction.

Critical Strike increases your chance to Critically Strike. Keep in mind that your chance to Critically Strike with many spells is increased by Shatter, a Frost-specific passive ability.

Mastery: Icicles causes Frostbolt and Flurry casts to store an Icicle, dealing damage based on both your Mastery stat and Spell Power. Ice Lance will also create an Icicle if specced into Hailstones. Icicles are unleashed either passively by Ice Lance casts or actively with Glacial Spike (if talented). Mastery also increases the damage of your Frozen Orb, Blizzard, Comet Storm, Ice Lance, Glacial Spike, and Ray of Frost.

Haste reduces the cast time of your spells. This is particularly beneficial for Frostbolt, as it increases your chances to get procs and the rate at which you generate Mastery: Icicles. Haste also lowers your base Global Cooldown and the cooldown of Blizzard. Additionally, Haste increases the cast speed of your Water Elemental and Mirror Images.

How Exactly Icicles Work

• One Icicle is produced for each Frostbolt or Flurry cast. You can have a maximum of 5 Icicles. Generating a 6th Icicle will automatically fire the oldest one.
• Ice Lance will rapidly fire all currently held Icicles, as well as any Icicles generated before the barrage ends, at the target.
• Icicles disappear after 60 seconds if not spent or if you do not generate new ones. They can Critically Strike and interact with Shatter.

Glacial Spike

• Mastery: Icicles functions a bit differently when you have the Glacial Spike  talent.
• Glacial Spike  requires 5 Icicles to cast and consumes all 5 Icicles. Ice Lance will no longer fire Icicles in a barrage.

Frost Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-Target Rotation for Frostfire Frost Mage

1. Cast Icy Veins.
2. Cast Flurry when there is no Winter's Chill on the target and you have just cast something that will benefit from it, or you have both Excess Fire and Excess Frost.
3. Cast Comet Storm if Flurry was just cast.
4. Cast Glacial Spike.
5. Cast Ray of Frost if Winter's Chill is on the target.
6. Cast Frozen Orb.
7. Use Shifting Power when Icy Veins, Ray of Frost, Comet Storm, and Frozen Orb are on cooldown for at least 10 seconds longer.
8. Cast Ice Lance if you have Fingers of Frost, or there is Winter's Chill on the target.
9. Cast Frostfire Bolt.

Single-Target Opener for Frostfire Frost Mage in The War Within

1. Pre-cast Frostfire Bolt at 2 seconds on the countdown.
2. Cast Flurry to start the cooldown and to Shatter the prior Frostfire Bolt.
3. Frostfire Bolt should land, and the boss encounter should have begun at this point.
4. Activate Icy Veins and Time Warp if popping on pull.
5. Cast Comet Storm.
6. Cast Flurry again to consume Brain Freeze ahead of Excess Fire munching the proc.
7. Cast Ray of Frost.
8. Cast Ice Lance.
9. Cast Ice Lance again.
10. Cast Frozen Orb.
11. Cast Shifting Power.
12. Cast Glacial Spike when you hit 5 Icicles.
13. Follow your normal priority, as indicated below.

Frostfire AoE Rotation for Frost Mage

1. Cast Icy Veins.
2. Cast Frostfire Bolt until you have 9 stacks of Death's Chill.
3. Cast Cone of Cold directly after a Comet Storm.
4. Cast Frozen Orb.
5. Cast Ice Lance if you have 2 stacks of Excess Fire and Comet Storm is ready to cast, so you do not munch Excess Fire procs.
6. Cast Blizzard.
7. Cast Comet Storm if Cone of Cold has more than 10 seconds left on its cooldown, or Cone of Cold is ready to combo with.
8. Cast Glacial Spike.
9. Cast Flurry if available and Winter's Chill is not on the target, or you have both Excess Fire and Excess Frost.
10. Cast Frostfire Bolt with Frostfire Empowerment if you do not have Excess Fire.
11. Cast Shifting Power if Icy Veins and Comet Storm have more than 10 seconds remaining on their cooldowns.
12. Cast Ice Lance if you have Fingers of Frost available or Winter's Chill is on the target.
13. Cast Frostfire Bolt.

Frostfire AoE Opener for Frost Mage

1. Cast Icy Veins.
2. Cast Blizzard.
3. Cast Frozen Orb.
4. Cast Frostfire Bolt until you have 9 stacks of Death's Chill.
5. Cast Blizzard again.
6. Cast Comet Storm.
7. Cast Cone of Cold.
8. Cast Frozen Orb again.
9. Cast Ice Lance to consume Excess Fire's second stack.
10. Cast Blizzard again.
11. Cast Comet Storm again.
12. Cast Shifting Power.
13. Follow your normal priority, as indicated below.

Proc Management

Use Fingers of Frost and Brain Freeze as they come: Fingers of Frost through straight Ice Lance casts, and Brain Freeze through the primary Frostbolt > Flurry > Ice Lance > Ice Lance combo.

For further details on how and why the Frostbolt > Flurry > Ice Lance > Ice Lance combo works, refer to the FAQ section.

When talented into Glacial Spike, Flurry timing becomes a bit of a game to see if you can land Glacial Spike within the combo. If you finish casting Ice Lances and are at 4 Icicles, you should instead Flurry into Glacial Spike, skipping the initial spell in the combo.

Additionally, Comet Storm and Ray of Frost should both be held for Flurry. For Comet Storm, ensure that the comets finish falling within the Winter's Chill window. You can space this out by using Flurry > Ice Lance > Comet Storm > Frostbolt > Ice Lance. The Frostbolt provides extra time, and the second Ice Lance will land before Frostbolt unless you are extremely close to the target.

Ray of Frost, on the other hand, should be cast into the second charge of Winter's Chill at most gear levels to maximize efficiency.

Frost Mage DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Frost Mage in The War Within

You should use Culminating Blasphemite in one socket. Then, ensure you have one gem of each type in other sockets to maximize the Crit effect, ideally Quick Ruby, Quick Onyx, Quick Sapphire, and Masterful Emerald. Fill in remaining sockets with Masterful Emerald.

Truthfully, Culminating Blasphemite's actual DPS contribution is so minor that it is nearly irrelevant. An alternative option is to run Elusive Blasphemite for the extra run speed, following the same logic as choosing Speed enchants over Avoidance. This is a personal choice if you feel it is worthwhile.

Best Flask for Frost Mage in The War Within

You should be drinking the Flask of Alchemical Chaos at all times.

Best Potion for Frost Mage in The War Within

Your stat potion should be Tempered Potion. Use these when you will do the most damage with your abilities, likely during your cooldowns and/or Bloodlust/Heroism. You can also obtain Fleeting Tempered Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

You should keep a stock of Invigorating Healing Potions to use when at low health, and if you have a Warlock in the group, grab their Healthstones and use them as well. Do not macro these together, they are best used separately! You can also obtain Fleeting Invigorating Healing Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

Best Food for Frost Mage in The War Within

You should be eating from a Feast at all times, either Feast of the Divine Day, Feast of the Midnight Masquerade, or Hearty Feast of the Midnight Masquerade.

If Feasts are not available, eat Outsider's Provisions, Beledar's Bounty, Jester's Board, or Empress' Farewell instead.

In addition, if you can afford it, you should use Crystallized Augment Rune to increase your primary stat. Augment Runes are expensive, and disappear on death, so use them wisely!

Best Enchants for Frost Mage in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Legs	Sunset Spellthread
Boots	Enchant Boots - Defender's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Frost Mage DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Frost Mage

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Augur's Ephemeral Wide-Brim	Forgeweaver Araz/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Neck	Ornately Engraved Amplifier	Great Vault
Shoulder	Augur's Ephemeral Orbs of Power	The Soul Hunters/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Critical Strike	Main Story
Chest	Zealous Warden's Raiment	Great Vault
Bracers	Consecrated Cuffs with Writhing Armor Banding and Crit + Versatility	Crafted — Tailoring
Gloves	Augur's Ephemeral Mitts	Soulbinder Naazindhri/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt	Burrower's Cinch	Great Vault
Legs	Augur's Ephemeral Trousers	Loom’ithar/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots	Interloper's Silken Striders	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Signet of Collapsing Stars	Great Vault
Ring #2	Logic Gate: Alpha	Plexus Sentinel
Trinket #1	Azhiccaran Parapodia	Great Vault
Trinket #2	Diamantine Voidcore	Fractillus
Weapon	Voidglass Sovereign's Blade	Nexus King Salhadaar in Manaforge Omega
Off-Hand	Vagabond's Torch with Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and Haste + Versatility	Crafted — Inscription

Best Trinkets for Frost Mage in The War Within Season 3

Raid Trinket Tier List for Frost Mage

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

S-Tier

• Diamantine Voidcore
• Azhiccaran Parapodia
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky

A-Tier

• Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope
• So'leah's Secret Technique

B-Tier

• Ara-Kara Sacbrood

C-Tier

• Naazindhri's Mystic Lash
• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• Astral Antenna
• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• Araz's Ritual Forge

Anything lower than this, just do not use.

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Frost Mage

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

S-Tier

• Araz's Ritual Forge
• Astral Antenna
• Azhiccaran Parapodia

A-Tier

• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• So'leah's Secret Technique

B-Tier

• Naazindhri's Mystic Lash
• Ara-Kara Sacbrood

C-Tier

There is a steep drop-off after the B-Tier trinkets for AoE. Anything beyond this drops a solid 1.5% below Ara-Kara Sacbrood, and should not be taken if possible.

 

 

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Frost Mage

The Tier Set is comprised of 5 items, all carrying the Augur's Ephemeral moniker. Unique DPS bonuses for each Hero Talent are unlocked when wearing 2 and 4 pieces from the set:

• Mage Frostfire 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Meteor, Frostfire Burst, and Frostfire Bolt deal increased damage and apply a DoT. This effect is completely passive.
• Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Ice Lance and Icicle damage increased. Ice Lance and Splinters have a chance to grant a stack of Cold Front. Passive, though it requires investing into Cold Front for the stacks to work.
• Mage Frostfire 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Glacial Spike launches a Pyroblast at any target hit, which also applies the DoT from the 2-piece bonus. A passive addition to the already passive effect.
• Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Frozen Orb damage waves can add a stack of Cold Front. Additionally, when Cold Front activates, you gain 8% increased damage for 10 seconds. Another passive buff to spells you already use.

The Tier Set Bonus is absolutely mandatory for competitive play, and you should prioritize obtaining it. You can use the Matrix Catalyst to convert regular items (such as from Mythic+) into Tier Items.

You only need 4 pieces out of 5 to unlock both bonuses. The recommended setup is to skip the Chest piece. See the BiS List for further details.

Addons for Frost Mage

Weak Auras

• Spellslinger Predictive Splinterstorm Aura

Boss Mods

• BigWigs Bossmods
• Deadly Boss Mods

Name Plates

• KUI Nameplates
• TidyPlates

Damage Meters

• Skada
• Details

Extra AddOns

• Decursive
• Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
• DeathNote
• Doom CooldownPulse
• Angry Assignments

WeakAuras for Frost Mage

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Frost Mage and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Frost Mage Frequently Asked Questions

How do you Shatter Glacial Spike?

Frost Mage is unique because its spells calculate critical strikes at the moment of impact, not when they are cast. This allows spells like Glacial Spike or Frostbolt to benefit from Winter’s Chill, even if they are cast before Flurry is applied.

The optimal rotation is as follows:

1. Cast a slower-traveling spell, such as Glacial Spike or Frostbolt.
2. Immediately cast Flurry after the first spell.
3. Follow with Ice Lance.

This combo ensures that the initial spell shatters under Winter’s Chill and that Ice Lance also benefits from the frozen effect. Because Frost’s spells check their critical status upon impact, cast Ice Lance immediately after Flurry to avoid missing the frozen window due to travel time.

Is there a Critical Strike cap for Frost Mage? How much do I need?

Yes, there is a Shatter cap at 33.34% Critical Strike, where all spells considered frozen will always crit. Beyond this, there is an absolute cap of 100%.

The exact amount you need depends on your gear and build. Simulating your character with tools like Raidbots will help determine the optimal Critical Strike for your current setup. Simulation is always more reliable than general stat weights, even for soft caps like the Shatter cap.

Is there a Haste cap for Frost Mage?

There are no practical Haste caps to worry about for Frost Mages. While there is a theoretical GCD cap at +100% Haste, it is unattainable in standard gameplay. Historically, Frost Mages have interacted with this cap due to Icy Veins, but the GCD cap was adjusted from +50% to +100% during Legion, making it irrelevant in most scenarios.

Soft caps related to specific mechanics, such as the number of spells within a trinket effect or a boss vulnerability window, exist but are not significant in regular play.

Which Race is the Best for Frost Mage?

The differences between races for Frost Mages are minimal, with less than a 1% gap from the best to the worst. If maximizing performance:

• Dwarf is optimal for single-target damage.
• Void Elf offers strong performance in both single-target and AoE.
• Lightforged Draenei excels in raw AoE due to their burst racial.

Ultimately, the best race is the one you enjoy the most or looks best for your transmog setup!