Hello, I have the basic combo down of Frostbolt > Flurry > 2 fingers of frost. But, what I can’t always seem to do is get the Flurry there before the frostbolt, how much dps am i losing because of this?
When I am standing at max range and not moving, it’s fairly easy to do, I cast frostbolt with a flurry proc, then I start mashing flurry so that I cast it the second frostbolt has left and even under those conditions, it barely gets there before frost bolt. Now add in moving and being closer to the boss, I cannot seem to get flurry there first.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Never hard cast Flurry. It is a DPS loss. Only cast it when you have a Brain Freeze proc.
Yes, I understand that, what I am saying is, all the sites are saying you immediately cast your brain freeze proc after a frostbolt with the idea that the brain freeze will hit the mob first even though you cast it after frostbolt, because frostbolt has a slower travel time. I am asking how important is it to make sure brain freeze hits first…because that is hard to do.
Oh. It is a DPS increase to cast it like that so that Frostbolt can benefit from Shatter. Frostbolt is mostly a filler that generates other effects, but dealing a 200% damage crit on frostbolt is a good thing.
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Does Flurry have to reach the target before frostbolt?
Flurry has to reach to apply so yes it must hit the target first. I however never attempt this and just ice lance after immediately after flurry because that always works.
Edit 1: You can try queueing up flurry by pressing it a little bit before frostbolt finishes, although you likely know this already.
Edit 2: Seems like they changed winter chill to be extended and apply 2 stacks so ice lancing isn’t the way to go anymore. I’ve also attempted what you’re saying about being closer and I see what you mean. But as long as I queue up the spell (to explain this means casting flurry after the gcd finishes but while STILL casting frostbolt) it only doesn’t work if I’m closer than the longest melee range.
Edit 3: As for dps this isn’t going to be something to stress about unless you’re taking the Deep Shatter pvp talent in a pvp situation. As long as you queue up flurry it either works or it doesn’t. Let it go there’s nothing more you can do. Just 360 jump cast your ice lances with fingers of frost while moving to a position where the combo will work.
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Thank you for all the information. I tested it too and couldn’t really tell a difference, but icy veins and wow head both say at distance if you cast flurry immediately after frost bolt, it should arrive first and that is somehow important, I just couldn’t figure out why. Thank you again.
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What those guides are saying isn’t untrue, but they leave out a detail. Flurry hits the target 3 times. Each hit of Flurry applies Winter’s Chill to the target (they refresh it), so as long as your Frostbolt lands before the third hit of Flurry, you can still follow up with 2 Ice Lances and be perfectly fine.
The reason they ask you to do this is because the Frostbolt will Shatter, adding in extra damage and don’t forget that Frostbolt also generates an icicle which you will launch with your follow up Ice Lance, which means extra damage.
The biggest benefit of preceding Flurry with a Frostbolt is because the Frostbolt may generate another Brain Freeze for you once it lands on the target, which is a great DPS tool for Frost. Frostbolt itself is a proc generator but its damage is weak. You always do better damage when you’ve got procs at hand.
So in a worst case scenario, you’re too close and Frostbolt landed before the Flurry did, generated a proc, but the proc got munched/wasted. In a best case scenario, as a non-melee the Frosbolt landed on the target before third Flurry, and you generated a free icicle, got shatter bonus, and potentially generated another Brain Freeze proc which you can use to further snowball your damage.
So yes, please always try to Frostbolt before BF-Flurry.
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This was changed on beta now Flurry applies 2 stacks of winters chill for your next 2 spells cast after. That is why they say to cast frostbolt then Flurry because Flurry has less travel time. Honestly I say thats in a perfect robot world and I dont think majority of players will be able to pull that off. So I will prob just cast 2 ice lances after flurry and not care too much unless my dps is just too bad haha.
Each hit of Flurry does this, though. It was like this, changed to not being like this, then reverted back to being like this.
Really? Blizz cant seem to make up their minds lol I didnt see if they changed it again so mb.
Yup it gets difficult to keep up sometimes, I agree. Hopefully they simmer down soon. As of right now (on beta), Winter’s Chill lasts for 2 spells or 5 seconds, whichever happens first. Each hit of BF-Flurry refreshes Winter’s Chill.
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Wow great answer Whispereessa, totally cleared it up for me, thanks.
Happy to help!
Just remember as long as you precede a BF-Flurry with a cast time spell (Frostbolt or Glacial Spike if you’re running it), then follow it up by 2 x Ice Lances, your DPS will more or less be a-okay. The rest is filling in the gaps, doing encounter-specific tasks, and min/maxing but the rotational crux of the spec is basically getting that proc management down.
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This right here is the concise explanation I’ve been looking for. Thank you.