Hi ya, never played a mage before but I just made one recently. I’m having a ton of problems I’m hoping people can help me with. As frost spec Ive watched videos of people showing how to aoe groups of mobs but I can never get it to work properly. I’m using the spec suggested but from step one I can never get it to work.
First off just trying to learn I grab 2 mobs and cast frost nova. It never freezes both mobs I’m always having to run and reset. If I ignore that fail I will try and use blizzard to slow down the mob that’s running towards me. Sometimes it works but most times he runs thru the blizzard like its a sunny day. Doesn’t slow down at all. To top it all off my cone of cold also doesn’t slow mobs down. I know someones going to say your not pointing it at them, well Ive tested it standing still pointing right at the mobs that are hitting me in the front. Doesn’t work.
Anyone know whats going wrong? Am I just expecting too much cause the videos only show perfect successes or what? Any and all advice and constructive criticism would be appreciated.
Are you fighting mobs at a higher level than you, or lower? Do you have the talent that reduces enemies’ chances to resist your spells?
Unfortunately, the other things you mentioned is due to leeway and spell batching. Missing cone of cold could be an issue (it has to be pointed at them before you turn away), but Classic has an issue with things not really working correctly.
Practice makes perfect, but are you level 28? That seems a tad low to be grinding, but I could be wrong.
I have rarely had issue AoEing mobs @ my level, and just below… Even +2 mobs are difficult and often result in resists. If there is a resist - run and reset and try again.
If they arent resisting - and you’re just missing mobs. Then (of course) pick up the increased frost range ASAP. Nova without the frost reach talent is pretty small radius.
Just a tip from my experience, aoe grinding isn’t a miracle . It basically drains your mana bar as if you’ve individually killed 2-3 mobs in succession.
The time saved is minimal due to drinking water recovery time. It’s fun though.
at level 28 you already are able to aoe farm with no problems, you should have 3/3 elemental precision, 3/3 improved blizzard, 2/2 improved frost nova and 3/3 permafrost (all this talents are important). your problem is likely to be your talents for what are you saying, if you dont have 3/3 imp blizzard is very difficult to do it
try pull 2-3 mobs below your level to know how to do it properly and then start to pull a bigger pack. and point the circle of blizzard inside the pack, if you miss it they wont slow down
This 100%. Additionally, with layering now off, good luck finding good AOE spots that are not camped.
I am currently leveling a mage with a single target frost build and find it to be a lot of fun. Am I leaving XP on the table? Probably, but it is certainly less boring to just quest/grind normally and I don’t have to worry about getting things “just right” to AOE.
With that build, if a mob has the blizzard slow debuff, it will not receive a cone of cold slow debuff.
YouTube and the like makes it look super easy but it does take practise.
Typically blizzard spec doesn’t have a lot of room for error but mages in general get easier the more talents you get. Cold snap and ice barrier are huge.
This. If timing the blizzard slow at 3/3 Imp Blizz with CoC is too difficult, you can always try going 2/3 Imp Blizz. That will allow CoC slow to override the blizz slow to maybe buy you some more time.
It changes up the strategy minimally too.
I leveled to 60 without using the AoE method and I couldn’t be happier with it. I did level as frost (more of a PvP hybrid frost then points into arcane build) but I went for shatter which I like for the higher crit chance. I found it to be more enjoyable for me, personally, than gathering up a ton of mobs over and over and over and over. I just quested, did dungeons, and single-target DPS destroyed things.
I’m a deep frost build now at 60 and still don’t have improved blizzard (I just don’t use it).
aoe builds are very useful late game to farm gold and during leveling stage to farm dungeons
and you can use an aoe spec with shatter/ice shards late game, its not optimal but you still can cause a lot of damage on single targets and farm gold easily
You dont NEED to AoE level as a mage. I leveld up JUST ahead of the large bulk of players and still, every AoE spot was either packed full of other mages or camped by Alliance who wanted to stop mages from AoE grinds.
I went single target shatter and was CLAPPING Alliance while leveling up, and I still hit 60 in 7 days and some change. Thats while leveling both professions to 300 and not being in much of a hurry.
If youre determined to AoE but cant get past the problems, maybe wait until about 40 when you get ice barrier so you have a little more survivability if a mob does resist.
AOR grinding is great when you can hit 4+ mobs. Otherwise its just as effective if you single target. Blizzard is a set number. It doesnt crit. Frost bolt can crit.
If you have a good grind spot solo its very efficient, however those spots are rare. And almost always there will be competition.
This is only true if you’re talking about blowing your mana bars on AoEing down 2-3 mobs.
The real efficiency gains become incredibly apparent when you’re AoEing 10+ mobs in one go, which is what the goal is when trying to really AoE grind quickly.
I honestly didnt start aoe grinding till around 35ish. I also had to farm mobs the same level or lower. Mobs that are the same level and higher are going to resist your spells and can grant you a corpse run if you pull enough.
Any lower than what I started was tough because I’d run out of mana before they died.
You just have to get the timing down and learn the nuances.
For instance: if mobs are chilled by blizzard and you cone of cold them, they will not be slowed by cone. I think this is what you’re encountering.
Alternatively: you can cone of cold kite forever by running circles around the mobs, sort of like 5-8 kiting a warrior. The cooldown comes back before the slow wears off. While doing this you can fish for clearcast procs with rank 1 arcane explosion and use the clearcast on a max rank AE or the next cone. Just puttin this out there so you know what all is possible.
As for mobs not being slowed by blizzard, this happens when you first drop a blizzard down. To avoid this, refresh it sooner so it doesnt wear off. Thats really all it is.
PS: aoeing sucks until 60. I never did it to level.