Frost mage A frost mage is a mage who mainly invests talent points in the frost tree . Through use of freezing and chill effects , a frost mage is able to keep enemies at range and kite mobs . They possess high - damage single - target spells such as Frostbolt and Ice Lance . Frost mages are also well equipped for AoE grinding : through use of Cone of Cold , Frost Nova and Blizzard , they are capable of dealing significant damage while sustaining very little . Signature Talents . Though frost does not have the damage potential that Fire spells do , a number of talents improve frost damage to a respectable level . Frostbolt is the frost mage ' s primary damage tool , as it can slow enemies as well as dealing high damage . The frost tree has many talents and abilities that improve survivability in PvP and PvE situations . Some popular talents are : One potent source of mage damage is through frozen targets . At level 66 , mages learn the Ice Lance spell , which deals considerable damage to frozen targets . Furthermore , through the Shatter talent , mages can gain a significant chance to crit on frozen targets . An important frost mage tactic is frost kiting . Frost mages are capable of kiting single mobs such as certain tough elites , as well as large groups of mobs with AoE . A number of talents improve the mage ' s chill effects : Solo PvE playstyle . The general efficiency of frost combined with its survivability make it a decent spec to consider for leveling and general grind ing . The Frost mage relies heavily on kiting in solo PvE . The general goal is to keep mobs snare d with Frostbolt or Cone of Cold to keep distance from them , as well as Frost Nova to root mobs in place and get to maximum casting range . The mage ' s primary damage spell will be Frostbolt , but also Ice Lance at higher levels . The general game plan when soloing a standard , non - elite mob is to first pull with Frostbolt , and cast more Frostbolts until the mob is in melee range . Next , freeze the mob in place with Frost Nova and gain distance to repeat with more Frostbolts . Fireblast is also good to mix in when its cooldown is available . Because it is an instant cast , it can be cast on the run while moving away from the target . Cone of Cold is similar in that it is instant and can be cast on the run , and has a stronger snare than Frostbolt . However , it requires melee range and is somewhat less mana efficient , so should be saved for when the stronger snare is necessary . Frost is well suited to soloing elite level mobs . These mobs normally hit too hard and have too much HP to solo toe to toe . By kiting , the mage can keep the elite at a distance and never take damage , and can deal as much damage as his mana pool can provide . With frost , it ' s possible to kite large amounts of mobs at once to greatly increase grinding efficiency . This technique is called frost AoE grinding , and incorporates Cone of Cold , Frost Nova and Blizzard , particularly with the Improved Blizzard talent to keep multiple mobs snared and at a distance . Understanding snares . Only one snare can take effect at a time on a mob , and it is always the one that slows the most . Frostbolt is the weakest frost snare a mage has , apart from 1 / 3 Improved Blizzard . Cone of Cold is stronger , and with 3 points in Improved Blizzard , Blizzard becomes the strongest . With only 2 points in Improved Blizzard , Cone of Cold is just as strong as Blizzard , which lets these spells overwrite each other . It ' s important to know which spells have stronger snares than others , because if a stronger one is present then weaker ones will not take effect . One common example is using Cone of Cold in conjunction with Frostbolt . Frostbolt ' s snare will not overwrite Cone of Cold even if there is merely one second remaining of the Cone of Cold debuff , as Cone of Cold slows by 10 % more . If you cast Frostbolt on a mob afflicted by Cone of Cold , it will do its damage , but once the Cone of Cold debuff wears off , the mob will move at full speed . Similarly , Cone of Cold will not replace a fully - talented ( 3 points ) Improved Blizzard snare , but it will replace 2 / 3 Improved Blizzard , though , as mentioned , 2 / 3 Improved Blizzard can also overwrite Cone of Cold . For reference , here ' s how much each spell slows by : End - game dungeons and raiding . End - game content before the expansion placed a high priority on frost damage for mages , with some enemies being completely immune to fire , such as in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair . As a result the typical pre - expansion end - game mage was very likely to be specialized as a frost mage . This is no longer always the case . With the inclusion of spell penetration , and new raid dungeons such as Ahn ' Qiraj and Naxxramas with fewer enemies that are entirely immune to any one school of magic , end - game mages can be found with almost any specialization . A frost mage will use Frostbolt as a primary source of damage in most end - game situations . This spell ' s DPS is normally lower than Fireball , but many talents in the frost tree boost the damage to a respectable level . Piercing Ice and Arctic Winds will directly boost all frost damage by a combined 11 . 3 % . Ice Shards will boost damage from critical strikes , and Empowered Frostbolt and Winter ' s Chill will increase critical strike chances . Because many bosses are immune to freeze effects , talents such as Shatter and Frostbite are not as important , but are still effective when clearing trash in a dungeon . Most dungeons have AoE situations that can be handled by any mage , however a frost mage has the added benefit of being able to kite at the same time , improving the chance of surviving these situations . Frost has good mana efficiency which is further improved by talents Elemental Precision and Frost Channeling . This allows a frost mage to focus less on intellect and a deep mana pool in favor of more spell damage and spell haste gear . In many end - game situations , survivability is a factor as the entire group or raid will be taking damage . Frost mages have extra survivability with the Ice Barrier and Ice Block abilities . Ice Block has the added advantage that it can purge most harmful debuff effects , which might not otherwise be purgeable . Some examples are the garotte ability used by Moroes , and the Living Bomb ability used by Baron Geddon . The frost mage ' s Water Elemental is a great source of damage in raid encounters . For 45 seconds it does a good amount of damage , while causing no threat for the mage and only using a small amount of mana for the initial summon . As of patch 3 . 3 , the Elemental can be permanent , see below . The pet ' s damage and mana pool scale with the mage ' s gear , so its damage will increase as gear improves . With Cold Snap , the pet can potentially be summoned twice in a single fight . Water Elementals may do around 10 % of the Frost mage ' s total damage . They are immune to many types of AoE raid damage , and most if not all Frost damage . In the 3 . 3 patch , an effect was added to the Deep Freeze talent , which now causes significant damage against a single target if that target is immune to stun ( including most dungeon and raid bosses ) . When used alongside Fingers of Frost , Shatter , and Cold Snap , it is possible to produce short , very powerful bursts of damage . Also in patch 3 . 3 , Glyph of Eternal Water was added , giving PvE Frost Mages a permanent pet class . In a solo situation , overall DPS can be increased slightly by casting Focus Magic on the Water Elemental , as well as Arcane Intellect . As of 3 / 1 / 2010 , there is no pet food available to increase DPS from Water Elementals , as they do not melee . While Frost builds are generally agreed to be behind Arcane and Fire builds in terms of dps , patch 3 . 3 . 3 closed that gap some . Frostbolt received a roughly 5 % buff , and Brain Freeze was changed to allow Frost Mages to use the better scaling and slowing Frostfire bolt . Frostfire bolts can also trigger Brain Freeze whereas the previously used Fireball could not . While most ICC raiding Mages use the Arcane tree , Frost does have its users . Frost mages bring two raid buffs though they are not unique . They bring the replenishment effect and increased spell criticals . They also have a little better survivability with their Ice Barrier . It ' s generally agreed that Hit is a Frost Mage ' s best stat up to the hit cap . Other stats are ranked as follows : Spell Power > Haste > Spell Crit > Spirit > Intelligence > Mp5