Playstyle & Rotation
The two hero talents, Frostfire and Spellslinger, have distinctly different rotations. I will present the rotation as a priority list, where you should cast the spells at the top first and work your way down. Before that, I will explain some basic Frost Mage interactions.
Shattering
Shatter increases the critical strike chance of your spells against frozen targets by multiplying it by 1.5 and adding an additional 50% critical strike chance. For example, if you freeze an enemy and then cast Ice Lance, that Ice Lance benefits from Shatter. However, most powerful enemies, such as bosses and dungeon minibosses, cannot be frozen.
Winter’s Chill functions as a simulated freeze. It is a debuff that makes the target take damage from your spells as if it were frozen, allowing them to benefit from Shatter even when the target isn’t actually frozen. Winter’s Chill is applied primarily by Flurry, and in AoE situations, by Cone of Cold if you have the Coldest Snap talent.
Lastly, the Ice Lance proc, called Fingers of Frost, makes your next Ice Lance deal damage as if the target were frozen.
Icicles
This is a passive effect that becomes important to track if you are talented into Glacial Spike, since Glacial Spike is only castable at 5 Icicles. Every Flurry, Frostbolt, and Ice Lance cast against frozen targets (including Fingers of Frost procs or Ice Lances casted into Winter’s Chill) grants you 1 Icicle.
Opener Frostfire:
- Precast Frostbolt
- Flurry as soon as the boss is pulled
- Icy Veins
- Comet Storm
- Frozen Orb
Single Target priority Frostfire:
- Flurry if you have just cast Glacial Spike and Winter’s Chill is not already active
- Flurry if you are at 3+ Icicles and Winter’s Chill is not already active
- Comet Storm if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy
- Glacial Spike
- Frozen Orb
- Shifting Power if the remaining cooldown of Icy Veins and Comet Storm is more than 8 seconds
- Ice Lance if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if you have a Fingers of Frost proc
- Frostfire Bolt
AoE Frostfire:
- Cone of Cold if your previous cast was Comet Storm
- Flurry if your previous cast was Glacial Spike and Winter’s Chill is not already active on the enemy
- Frozen Orb
- Blizzard
- Frostfire Bolt if Death’s Chill has less than 12 stacks
- Ice Lance if Excess Fire has 2 stacks and Comet Storm is ready
- Comet Storm if Cone of Cold is ready or if its remaining cooldown is more than 12 seconds
- Glacial Spike if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if Flurry is ready
- Flurry if Excess Frost is active
- Shifting Power if the remaining cooldown of Icy Veins and Comet Storm is more than 8 seconds
- Frostfire Bolt if Frostfire Empowerment is active and Excess Fire is not active
- Ice Lance if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if you have a Fingers of Frost proc
- Frostfire Bolt
Opener Spellslinger:
- Precast Frostbolt
- Flurry as soon as the boss is pulled
- Icy Veins
- Frozen Orb
- Ice Lance
Single Target priority Spellslinger:
- Flurry if your previous cast was Glacial Spike or Frostbolt and Winter’s Chill is not active on the enemy
- Comet Storm if Icy Veins is not active and Winter’s Chill is active
- Frozen Orb
- Glacial Spike if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if Flurry is ready
- Shifting Power if Icy Veins is on cooldown for more than 8 seconds
- Ice Lance if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if you have a Fingers of Frost proc
- Frostbolt
AoE Spellslinger:
- Cone of Cold if your previous cast was Frozen Orb or if Frozen Orb’s cooldown has at least 30 seconds remaining
- Flurry if your previous cast was Glacial Spike or Frostbolt and Winter’s Chill is not already active on the enemy
- Flurry if your Cold Front tier set buff is active
- Frozen Orb
- Blizzard
- Comet Storm if Icy Veins is not active
- Ice Lance if you have 2 stacks of Fingers of Frost
- Glacial Spike if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if Flurry is ready
- Frostbolt if Death’s Chill has less than 9 stacks
- Ice Lance if Winter’s Chill is active on the enemy or if you have a Fingers of Frost proc
- Shifting Power if Icy Veins is not active and the remaining cooldown of Icy Veins is more than 8 seconds
Cooldowns and Defensives
Gameplay Loop in Single Target
The gameplay loop for both hero talents revolves around building up Icicles to 5 stacks so you can cast as many Glacial Spikes as possible.You gain 1 Icicle stack for each Frostbolt, Flurry, and Ice Lance cast against frozen targets. Frostfire aims to shatter as many Glacial Spikes as possible, so you should always check if Winter’s Chill is active on the target or if Flurry is available before casting Glacial Spike. If you’re playing Spellslinger on the other hand, you must ensure that every Glacial Spike is shattered with Winter’s Chill.
Gameplay Loop in Multi-target
In AoE situations, you want to keep Frozen Orb, Blizzard, Cone of Cold, and Comet Storm on cooldown as much as possible (only hold Comet Storm if Cone of Cold will be ready within the next 10 seconds). When all of these abilities are on cooldown, focus on building up to Glacial Spike as quickly as possible by using Ice Lance and Flurry, while keeping track of when one of your AoE abilities becomes available again. Since Frozen Orb and Blizzard have very short cooldowns in AoE scenarios, it’s highly recommended to either watch them closely or use a WeakAura tracker.
Cooldown Usage
Frost Mage doesn’t have many cooldowns to manage on either single target or AoE. Your most impactful cooldown, Icy Veins, should be used as soon as it’s ready. It doesn’t affect your gameplay, with the exception of AoE, where you want to stack Death’s Chill. The second most impactful cooldown, Cone of Cold with Coldest Snap talented, is only usable in AoE. To use it optimally, cast it as soon as it’s ready, ideally alongside Comet Storm or Frozen Orb. Other cooldown abilities, such as Frozen Orb, Comet Storm, and Ray of Frost, should also be used whenever they are available.
Defensives
Mage is by default the squishiest class in the game without using any defensives, but they also have access to some of the best defensives if used properly.
Ice Barrier: The most spammable Mage defensive. It places an absorb shield on you and has a 25-second cooldown by default, further reduced by talents such as Barrier Diffusion and Accumulative Shielding.
Mirror Image: My personal favorite. This ability grants 20% damage reduction for 40 seconds, casts spells at your enemies for very tiny damage, and can tank enemies if you generate aggro. Preferably, use this cooldown just before pulling a trash pack in a dungeon or before the pull in a raid encounter.
Ice Cold / Ice Block: The biggest Mage defensive cooldown. Ice Block makes you immune but also prevents you from casting anything, whereas Ice Cold grants 70% damage reduction, is off the GCD, and allows you to cast spells while active. Most Mage players prefer Ice Cold for this reason. It is on a 4-minute cooldown by default, which can be reduced to 3 minutes if talented into Winter’s Protection. Frost Mage can also use Coldest Snap to make Ice Cold or Ice Block come back up instantly. Use only when you are about to take a big hit.
Coldest Snap: A Frost Mage–only cooldown that instantly resets your Ice Barrier, Frost Nova, Ice Cold, or Ice Block. This ability is best used immediately after using Ice Cold or Ice Block, or just before you plan to use them again. It is an extremely powerful defensive but has a 5 minute cooldown.
Alter Time: One of the best Mage defensive cooldowns but extremely difficult to use. The first time you press it, it snapshots both your location and current health. Pressing it a second time teleports you back to the snapshotted location and health. Use this defensive when you are about to take a big hit, then press it again to restore your health and position.
Mass Barrier: Casts Ice Barrier on yourself and four nearby allies. This is primarily a group wide defensive, useful whenever raid wide or party wide damage is incoming. Avoid using it as a personal defensive, since you have your own personal Ice Barrier for that.