Bit confused about Frost Mage's priority

Classes Mage
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So I have barely played this mage and I used my BFA boost on him since I’ve always played Warrior and Paladin and wanted to try something new. I’m revisiting him now after only playing him like a few months, and trying to get him some gear since he was way undergeared (something like 325 when I left him). it’s not bad so far but the way they use some abilities is a bit confusing to me, and right now I’m using the “easy mode” guide from Icy Veins that doesn’t use any of the extra abilities from talents until I get the hang of the class being a total newb to Mage.

I get that you always precast before you use Flurry (whether that’s Frostbolt, or Ebonbolt or Glacial Spike) so you use Flurry just as the cast finishes so both hit (I already do this with my Frostbolt spam build), and you immediately use Ice Lance afterward. That part I have down pat pretty much.

I read a guide (from 8.1.5 so it might change now with Essences) on Method’s site (and also on Icy Veins) that was talking about the priority when you’re talented for Ebonbolt and Glacial Spike and while I get a lot of it but some parts are a bit confusing:

The Method guide says (obviously this is with a Brain Freeze proc):

If you have between 0-3 Icicles use Flurry with Frostbolt or Ebonbolt

Why would you use Ebonbolt at 0-3 Icicles? Since it gives you Brain Freeze, shouldn’t it be saved for the situation where you have just gotten the last icicle and didn’t get a Brain Freeze proc, so you can force it for Glacial Spike? Is there a reason to use it earlier, and then if you somehow had 5 icicles without Brain Freeze just hope your next Frostbolt triggers it? If you use it depending on how many icicles you have, then wouldn’t the first cast of it always be at 0-3 (assuming you have none, to begin with)? So should you cast Ebonbolt before your first Frostbolt to get an early guaranteed Brain Freeze instead of saving it?

For instance, something like this as an opener?

  1. Icy Veins (and other cooldowns e.g. Berserking)
  2. Frozen Orb
  3. Ice Lance (from the guaranteed Fingers of Frost from Orb)
  4. Ebonbolt to proc Brain Freeze
  5. Frostbolt into Flurry + Ice Lance (from Ebonbolt’s guaranteed Brain Freeze; obv using any Fingers first so they don’t get wasted)
  6. Normal priority

Second, I take Comet Strike but I’m still not sure of where that fits in. It looks like it’s lower than Frozen Orb and procs, but higher than Ebonbolt and Glacial Spike in priority? So it should be done in that time period when there are no procs, and < 5 icicles (because if you had 5 icicles and no Brain Freeze, you would cast Ebonbolt instead of Frostbolt to force it)? Since it’s instant cast, I assume it gets used at the end of a Frostbolt (or maybe Ebonbolt) cast like normal? I have a macro for my elemental when I use him to cast Freeze, so I try to hit that before the comet lands (not always sure if it works haha)

So as you can see I have some of it down but some I’m just not sure of because I’ve never really played a mage or any caster really before. I might still stick with the easier build for a bit as I get used to the advanced one, but it seems fun. I don’t do anything seriously anymore: the occasional LFR (haven’t done any Mythic dungeons, let alone M+) is about it so it’s not a huge deal (the easy build should be perfectly capable for LFR) but I’d like to see the higher-end playstyles nonetheless.

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You’ve got the majority of it down.

I’ve seen some discussion as to whether saving Ebonbolt is actually a net positive or if you should just use it on cooldown. I, personally, save it because I hate when you go through a dry spell of eight frostbolts and no brain freeze proc, but if you’re in the camp where you cast it as often as possible then you should follow it up with flurry and then ice lance.

As far as comet storm goes, it will depend on how many targets there are. If there is only one, you should basically be using it on cooldown. Now, if you know you’ll need to move very soon you can hold onto it since it’s instant. No need to cast it at the end of a frostbolt, but you’re correct in using the pet’s freeze to try and shatter any mob that can be frozen.

You don’t have to use all of your procs before using comet storm. If you have two fingers of frost procs, I’d use one ice lance but holding onto one fingers proc isn’t a problem. Same thing with brain freeze as long as it won’t expire before you get to use it. Comet storm doesn’t generate any procs so no need to worry about overcapping.

It seems like you have a very solid handle on the spec and if you’re not doing anything higher than LFR, don’t worry too much about optimizing every single cast. Play with it for a bit and if you’re having fun you’ll naturally get a feel for where and when to use the abilities.

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Thanks mon. I’ll have to experiment a bit more with it and see!

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The FB/EB/GS into Flurry into Ice Lance is the core of the spec. Get that down consistently and you’ll do decent dps. The reason that works, BTW, is that flurry is faster than the spell used before it so it actually hits first, applying a chill effect, which shatters both your first cast as well as the ice lance.

For the 0-3 icicles thing, the idea is that you might as well use a brain freeze proc at that point instead of saving it for glacial spike. And if you use Ebonbolt, same thinking. Personally I question that since when I do it I frequently wind up with 5 icicles and have to sit there fishing for a brain freeze proc for what feels like too long. So, I’m not sure there’s a definite correct answer here, it’s still fairly random as to whether it will work out for you.

Personally for comet storm I use it on cooldown, and immediately hit the pet freeze right after on trash. Don’t bother with the freeze on bosses as they’re generally immune to it, making it a wasted cd. Both comet storm and frozen orb can and should be saved on fights where you know there’s some adds showing up soon. For 3 or more adds wait 'till they’re grouped up, then blizzard-comet storm-freeze-frozen orb-ice lance spam. If it’s a pure single target fight, use comet storm and frozen orb on cooldown.

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Thanks, sounds like I’m on the right track then! Mage is definitely more fun than I thought it would be.

I do notice sometimes Hekili suggests Ebonbolt when I already have a Brain Freeze proc, but I think it’s for back to back (I think EB generates an icicle?) so it might suggest it to do a flurry+ice Lance into glacial spike. I’m trying to wean myself off the add-on though.

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There is some tricks you need to learn that are extremely important to frost.

First, Frost mage can cast two instant cast flurry at once. To do this, you frostbolt spam until you have flurry, then you ebon cast. After the ebonbolt is released, you flurry while its traveling to the target, when it hits you will gain the second flurry, and be able to burst more into it.

this is probably the second biggest and most important thing to know about frost and its potential single target burst.

Out side of that, the biggest aspect of playing the class is doing damage while things are frozen. For this reason its best to run frostbite, and even at times two frost nova’s, as this will ca use things to shatter.

Others will argue that the utility from frigid is better, however, its situational. In the end, one givens more utility (slow) and the other more damage output.

Also another small overlooked aspect is Nova into cone of cold. Do not underestimate CoC. It is extremely powerful, and after a nova is dropped can do upwards of 120k damage per cast on nova’d targets (key point multiple targets).

Also ways lance to finish the rotation, never leading with it, its your sort of execute.

out side of that, Poly morph and counter-spell carry mage class, extremely hard, especially poly. You need to learn to use them at the right moments to secure kills.

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Now, this I did not know. CoC seems so weak when I use it. It never dawned on me to use Frost Nova first so they’re frozen.

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It looks like he’s talking about Burst of Cold, a pvp trait. Cone of cold in pve is only good damage against a large number of targets.

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Correct, talking about the pvp talent.

Imo, Coc itself has been strange over the years. It’s hit box is extremely buggy, much like that of teleport (over shimmer which does not have those issues).

This spell kinda needs to be reworked. I think its the animation itself, its deceptive and causes the player to intuitively except something that is not going to happen. Imo, rework this graphic. Maybe a forward shockwave would be better.

Better yet, delete it and add sleet storm.