Can we just get f******* deep freeze instead of this abortion of a move.
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Have you tried it? It looks fun to use on paper
I have. It really sucks.
Does it have a limit on the number of targets you can stun? And once you cast it, shouldn’t it activate even if you’re stunned?
It shouldn’t have a target cap and it should still stun while you are stunned, but if it ever goes off like that then your opponent pretty much turned their brain off and stood on top of you despite you not being able to do anything.
If they step out of the zone for 1 second, it won’t stun anymore. You need to chase them down and use other forms of CC to guarantee that stun. You are a ranged caster that would need to stand on top of your target for 3 consecutive seconds. This is terrible both as an offensive stun and as a defensive “get-off-me” button.
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As it exists right now, Snowdrift actually has so much counterplay that it almost certainly won’t be good against decent players even in scenarios where it reaches its maximum potential effectiveness. It’ll probably be okay in 1v1 and maybe even get some use in 2v2, but I don’t see it ever being useful in larger settings.
Snowdrift also reinforces Frost’s current design of being most optimally played defensively. The ability doesn’t help the primary thing Frost is struggling with - lack of aggressive playmaking potential. Mage doesn’t have the tools to make this ability work aggressively (nor should it), so its main usage will be in denying space, in which Frost already has plenty of utility.
Given the amount of counterplay Snowdrift has, it most likely won’t be worth the talent slot in organized PvP. It’s cool that they’re trying new things, and actually are skirting around the idea of giving Mages a proper stun again, but I just don’t feel like this hits the mark. It feels like a compromise against reintroducing Deep Freeze because Dragon’s Breath is available for Frost. I’d rather Dragon’s Breath remain Fire only and Frost get Deep back in its tree (and Arcane get something too, like Improved CS or PoM Poly).
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That being said, I feel like the Mage dev might currently have their hands tied on this - Dragon’s Breath was most likely introduced for all Mage specs in order for them to have equal viability in PvE, specifically M+. This isn’t likely to be reversed to maintain spec identity/uniqueness, and even less likely to be reversed for PvP reasons. This means that we’re stuck with PvP talents being our solution, and there’s obvious balance concerns with Frost simultaneously having access to Deep Freeze, Dragon’s Breath, and Shimmer.
It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.
That ability in an epic battleground could be filthy. Pretty sure you could mix it with ice floes + ray of frost combo if you want to get that stun.
It looks fun to use.
Also, it looks pretty strong against melee characters. If you manage to pull it off, you force them to stay away for at least 4 seconds.
I think all of you are being a bit harsh with it.
I doubt it. FDK already does that exact same thing but with way better tools and being melee in the first place. [Snowdrift] is literally [Remorseless Winter] and if you don’t believe me, go take a look at their PvP talent for it. Although it needs to damage targets more times in order to stun, it lasts longer and DKs have better tools to keep targets in melee range like [Abomination’s Limb] and [Death Grip] as well as the best slow in the game in the form of [Chains of Ice].
You really don’t want to jump into a bunch of people as a caster.
Not really. It needs to damage the target for 3 consecutive seconds for the stun to work, meaning if they step out of it even for one second, they are good.
beta discount remorseless winter vs chad deep freeze
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Guess we will see. I think it has potential. It has been a while since we’ve gotten something new.
I have tried it. In practice you sacrifice your position for an incredibly telegraphed play, it is incredibly easily to not get stunned by snowdrift and it requires you to commit a ton of moves to get the stun. As a follow up stun its fine but still poor because again, it is really REALLY easy to avoid and it requires you to put yourself in terrible positioning. As a “get off me” move it doesn’t work because all the melee you’d supposedly be using it to force off you just have to dip out of it for 1.5 seconds and then they won’t be stunned. If you’re committing more to get the stun on them, its not a sweat for them.
It also doesn’t really help with what mage wants. For all the places that you can benefit from snowdrift, DB ring is just as good. I really never thought a stun could perform as poorly as snowdrift does.
Even venruki is falling off using it based on the stream he did on beta a few days ago.
All 3 specs should have both. Every class is getting an insane deep kit. Mage shouldn’t be the exception. If anything it should be a choice node of dragon breath vs frostjaw.
To me the most irritating part of this ability is that it requires both a successful cast and 3s consecutive maintenance to be successfully activated. Most other CC in game is simple - press a button, (perform a cast time / wait a delay) and get the effect, but this one is for some reason not. Even its analogue Remorseless Winter has no cast time and even though it requires more ticks, DK is a melee class itself and it is not hard for DK to stay in melee range with all their grips.
Snowdrift could be acceptable though with 2 things taken into account:
- Being made instant cast, applying a stacking debuff that lasts X seconds (so that is cannot be countered by just running out of it for 1 second) and usable on allies, so it is more efficient as a defensive and in battlegrounds (as you could use it on allied melee that rush the enemy frontline)
- It should not be used as a justification to keep Mages from ranged unbreakable CC. MM Hunters with comparable to Mages burst got AoE ranged silence, pet stun and their own ranged stun, so one gimmicky melee range AoE stun for Frost only is definitely not enough.
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They could also stop trying to reinvent the wheel and implement deep freeze.
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Jesus, if hunters got all of this then there’s no reason Frost couldn’t have both Deep Freeze and Dragon’s Breath.
I also like the idea of the talent node for Dragon’s Breath being a choice between it and Frostjaw.
I’ve become increasingly aware that they refuse to allow Deep Freeze to exist in retail WoW because of Rune of Power. That toxic chalk drawing is creating a fear that if Frost could lock someone in a stun, they could one-shot them with a Shatter combo, so we’re not allowed to have nice things anymore.
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