Seeking a good frost/fire mage talent build

[Saralynelle]

focused more in frost vs fire. Anyone out there point me in the right direction here? I've been reading up the last couple hours and finding bits and pieces but nothing is starting to gel right for me. TIA!

[Savistik]

Given the upcoming dual spec patch, here's a good read: http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/02/14/arcane-brilliance-dual-speccing-your-mage/

I use the 0/51/18 raiding frostfire spec mentioned in that article with my +2 points in Dragon's Breath and Flame Throwing. The dps has been excellent (you can see my armory profile by clicking on my sig) with 9k+ in raids easily and regularly. Some people double up on Flame Throwing, but I don't see the benefit over the AE and stun capabilities of Dragon's Breath (crits from Dragon's Breath can be nice and high).

I also use the Glyph of Frostfire (2% dmg and 2% crit bonus on frostfire), Glyph of Improved Scorch (only need to cast scorch 2x to get the full "Improved Scorch" effect), and Glyph of Mana Gem (40% more mana from mana gems) because the insta-cast Pyroblast from Hot Streak is *not* mana-free. :D

[Namoric]

I have a 58 mage that I level when the rested XP is high and Morri's not playing with me.

I specced his undead boney ass all Frost.

The reason is I enjoy the AOE pulls that I can drop 10 - 15 mobs at a time and level like crazy. Not sure I've even done that many quests. Multi pulls bringing in a 1/2 to a full bubble of XP a pull and using 1/2 bar of mana. Hard to do at lower levels, but worth it around 20 or so.

[Akaela]

Fire mages can aoe farm now, its just way more dangerous. But Dragon's breath and blastwave give you an instacast flamestrike (also not free). CoC and DM also no longer share a CD so you can FN/COC/Blizz what ever survives the fire......then drink....alot.

[ThaMan]

I was thinking of retooling to a frost mage to try it out. Never went cold before ;)

[Methus]

Gave this a go with my 21 mage. I get the idea but im only finding things in groups of 5 or 6 to pull. It's good practice anyway. No Cone of Cold yet to help me finish them.

[Namoric]

here's what I do ...

Ice Shield myself (not sure what level you get that), get on my horse round em up.

Frost Nova while I'm on the horse (it knocks you off, saving time). Blink, take two steps. Turn around

Blizzard

Blizzard

Cone of cold, Frost Nova, Blink if they're not all dead

Take a couple steps, Blizzard... etc...

[Methus]

here's what I do ...

Ice Shield myself (not sure what level you get that), get on my horse round em up.

Frost Nova while I'm on the horse (it knocks you off, saving time). Blink, take two steps. Turn around

Blizzard

Blizzard

Cone of cold, Frost Nova, Blink if they're not all dead

Take a couple steps, Blizzard... etc...

Because i dont have a mount yet I use mana shield as well as ice shield but i completely forgot about using blink. that will help, thanks!

[Savistik]

No doubt frost is the control/farm spec and I fully intend to use it for my second spec, but after the last few patches, almost any of the specs have excellent leveling capabilities. They just require different techniques.

All things/equipment being equal:

Frost = most control over the most mobs at once, but slowest single-mob kills.
Fire = least control, but fastest single kills.
Arcane = excellent single-mob control and killing, but almost useless against more than 1, unless a humanoid/beast pair.

Arcane also has the best survivability while leveling or any other PvE since it has instant invisibility (aka Mage Feign Death).

[Urthh]

FYI they nerfed invis it no longer removes aggro just lowers you on the aggro table. Made me cry when I found out frost nova invis didnt work anymore.

[Morrigan]

FYI they nerfed invis it no longer removes aggro just lowers you on the aggro table. Made me cry when I found out frost nova invis didnt work anymore.

OMG that sucks - no more going ninja Trogdor. :(

[Savistik]

FYI they nerfed invis it no longer removes aggro just lowers you on the aggro table. Made me cry when I found out frost nova invis didnt work anymore.
Can you provide documentation for this? It's always lowered your spot on the table, but once it runs full course (or, if you're Arcane speced right, instantly) and you're fully invised, you drop out of combat and, assuming you're not in a party, off the agro table. It is also possible for in-process NPC actions to hit you as well.

I searched high and low for anything about it and can't find anything. I'd think mages would be super-nova on the boards if this happened.

[Urthh]

I searched for the post by Nebu where he said it was going to happen. I even asked others in CM if they noticed it and even the NE with shadowmeld were affected by it. Invis was never meant to take you off the aggro table just lower it. The closest post I could find was this.

"This ability will now properly restore threat when it is cancelled. In addition, it will correctly remove a player from combat if it is active when that player is the last person left alive that the creature hates. " Now this is listed under Shadowmeld but it was posted that both would be affected. I have yet been able to completely loose aggro using Invis since the last patch.

[Savistik]

"This ability will now properly restore threat when it is cancelled. In addition, it will correctly remove a player from combat if it is active when that player is the last person left alive that the creature hates. " Now this is listed under Shadowmeld but it was posted that both would be affected. I have yet been able to completely loose aggro using Invis since the last patch.
Sounds like it works as I thought. Mage invis does remove you from combat if you're solo or if everyone else in the party dies. It just doesn't last as long as hunter FD or rogue invises.

I guess the "fix" does remove the invis-and-eat maneuver, but it should still allow Iceblock-invis-to-escape if you're solo.