Hey Blizzard,
This is request from a friend of mine who mains Frost and was disappointed with the fact that they were losing the S3/S4 Tier set effect for Glacial Spike:
I think the frost mage seasons 3 & 4 tier set should be incorporated into “The War Within”, whether through hero talents or the normal talent tree. Here’s why~ The current tier set, where having two pieces make your glacial spike explode and four pieces give your glacial spike a 40% chance to proc brain freeze, adds interesting ability interactions and an objectively fun playstyle to the spec. Glacial spike is an awesome button to press. There is nothing more satisfying than absolutely obliterating a health bar with the press of a single key. That is, until now. Sending a glacial spike and watching it explode (courtesy of the 2-set bonus) in a large pack of mobs leaves nothing to be desired. The sound, visuals, and the fact that our damage skyrockets whenever we explode a spike on multiple targets provides a deep feeling of satisfaction unmatched by anything else frost mage has to offer. But that isn’t all!
Frost nova is an ability with little value in any content other than leveling and quickly becomes near-obsolete every expansion. It did have its uses, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a button that feels like it has more than a negligible impact. Ice nova was in a similar boat since its addition to the game. However, with the current tier set, both buttons can be used significantly more often than they ever were before. Finding ways to incorporate either nova to make your glacial spike explode for bigger numbers in any multi-target situation is a blast (no pun intended). It’s a rewarding break from the boring, repetitive playstyle of simple blizzard and frozen orb uptime. And while it’s up to the player whether or not they want to save novas for roots or use them for damage, it’s a choice. We’ve never had a choice until now. Now, as for the 4-set bonus, the 40% chance at proccing brain freeze does wonders for the flow of the spec. There is little worse than waiting for a flurry charge to come off cooldown and holding a glacial spike so you can shatter it. However, the chance that sending a spike will give us a flurry instead of having to wait lets us press the “fun key” significantly more often than before. Not to mention, the flurry charges we get from using glacial spikes allows us to send even more glacial spikes over the course of an encounter by helping us keep higher uptime on the winter’s chill debuff, in turn giving us more icicles over time.
In conclusion, this tier set adds nothing but positive things to frost mage. We can use our most famous ability in high-target situations, changing our rotation from monotonous to fun. Not only that, but two abilities drastically underutilized until now can now be used in more situations than ever before. And finally, the increase in flurry charges from the 4-set bonus smoothens the flow of frost mage’s playstyle. No longer do we have to sit on 5 icicles begging for flurry to come off cooldown so we can shatter it, and no longer are we spamming frostbolt to fill the time. Our rotation is now engaging and objectively fun, putting frost mage in one of the best, if not the best, spots it has ever been in. Please incorporate our Dragonflight season 3 & 4 tier set into the next expansion, TWW. There is a reason the player base voted to have this tier set a second time, after all.
Fix it to whatever format you want. Those are my honest thoughts, barring how great it is for higher-end players, about our tier set.
Let me know your thoughts!