patch 2.1.0 and what it does to a mageFollow

Well ive downloaded the new path and their is of course a lot of changes. There is a lot of things to deal with as the big nerf of Ice Block and the big gain - faster cs cooldown.

Anyhow I would like to focus this thread on one subject: arctic winds in frost tree.

It now means increased damage (1. pct. per point) and decreased chance of melee hit (one per point as well)

Is this new talent a must?

For information im doing mostly pvp but I like to raid from time to time. My spec is 44 frost/ 17 arcane.

I cant seem to loose any more points from frost tree since I have all ready lost frost channeling, permafrost, and elemental precision for getting cs.

Is shatter the next one up or should I forget about arctic winds?

pls help




lvl 70 mage

You do not want to lose Frost Channeling nor Elemental precision for raids, and you do not want to give up permafrost for PvP.

Arctic winds is now a very good talent, and I'm sure there's a way to reasonably get it without sacrificing too much.

Fire damage is still the way to go for raidin'

When i was concentrating on Arena's i took artic winds even without the now increased damage, 5% dodge is pretty much, especially since Mage's natural dodge due to agi is very low.

Now as deep fire its also nice PvPing, Blazing speed procs quite a lot, maybe its also something to think about. Dont know how deep fire works out in Arena's.

Edited, May 24th 2007 9:14am by Sjans

Just let him know alternative options, deep fire is quite nice, nicer than i thought and i actually take blazing speed over iceblock now with the hypothermia nerf. The new mana shield is nice for DoT's while trying to drop ooc.

BTW playing WoW again to the side, i missed people and LOTRO plays sooooo clunky. (gameplay wise, it runs smooth for the rest)


Edited, May 24th 2007 9:21am by Sjans

I actually gave up Imp Counterspell for Arctic Winds. Improved Counterspell is tough to drop for PvP, but I think it's worth it. A 5% damage boost is very noticable. If you do a lot of Arena though you may want to keep Imp CS and drop something else. I dropped Permafrost too but I dont remember what for. I went so long without it as Arcane/Frost that I felt it wasn't necessary anymore. Frost Channeling and Elemental Precision are way too good for PvE to give up imo. I think I was considering dropping Ice Floes, Arctic Reach and maybe a few points in Shatter or Frostbite to get Imp. CS, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it.

Here is my current build. http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Rf0VZZVAGcofxowqt You'll probably notice a slight bias towards PvE.

On a side note: I agree with MyTeddy about early Arcane and especially hate spending those 5 worthless points between Clearcasting and Imp. CS when there are so many useful talents in Deep Frost :-/

To Fug, Ive never been crazy about middle of the road Arcane builds. You're missing out on quite a bit in Deep Frost, and Arcane is really nice when you start putting 25-33 talents into it. If you really like those Arcane talents I'd recommend putting a few more in to get to Arcane Power and Spell Power. Also the Water Elemental has not bugged out on me once since the patch. It's so good for all aspects of the game that it's hard not to recommend picking it up when you're so close. A working Water Elemental is probably the single best talent in any tree with only Ice Block coming close (and Ice Block is strictly defensive while WE is Offensive and Defensive).

Fire works great in PvP. I don't have Blastwave OR Dragon's Breathe (OH NOES HE DID WHAT?!?!?) and I work very well in all PvP aspects, arena's included.