Frost Mage DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.0.7
Welcome to our Frost Mage guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7. Here, you will learn how to play as a Frost Mage in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons: from the very beginning to maximizing your DPS.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Frost Mage guide.
Frost Mage Overview
Highlights of Dragonflight Changes to Frost Mage
Flurry is now on a charge mechanic with
Brain Freeze resetting the cooldown
Icy Propulsion is single target only but works outside of
Icy Veins being active
Hailstones brings Mastery scaling to
Ice Lance
Slick Ice,
Cold Front, and
Freezing Winds have all become talents
Ice Caller, the new name for Blizzard Rank 2, has been returned to 0.5-second cooldown reduction
Snowstorm provides us with an AoE nuke in
Cone of Cold
In addition, we have gained a lot of utility in the class tree. Some highlights:
Blast Wave as a knockback
Dragon's Breath as an AoE disorient
Greater Invisibility as both a second stealth and as a 60% damage reduction cooldown
Mass Polymorph as both a quick interrupt in an AoE pack if broken instantly, and usable as a skip when combined with
Ring of Frost
This is the short version, there are more changes to be detailed in the relevant pages within.
Frost has always excelled at limiting enemy movement while dealing
reliable and predictable damage. Frost has always been a
very potent choice for leveling and world content given you can endlessly kite
enemies, with a multitude of snares and roots combined with damage on
the move. Frost is great at quickly bursting down priority adds, either by
holding onto Mastery: Icicles for
Glacial Spike or by
holding procs for a quick burst. Like all Mage specializations, Frost has
high mobility and is fantastic at doing encounter-specific jobs and baiting
mechanics. Between
Ice Floes,
Shimmer, and a variety of
instant cast spells, high-movement encounters have minimal impact on Frost's
overall output.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strong single target and cleave damage
Great mobility and kiting ability
Good at killing fragile targets quickly
Fairly steady damage output
Incredible defensive utility
Absurd M+ utility
Relatively weak burst single target
Cleave has to be talented for, although along the path to an important talent
No way to deal with spread target damage
Dragonflight Changes for Mages
We are maintaining a list of changes for Mages, so you can see what changes with every patch of Dragonflight.
10.0.7 Changes for Frost Mage
There are no changes in Patch 10.0.7.
Leveling a Frost Mage
If Frost Mage is something that interests you, but you do not yet have one, you should check out the leveling guide for tips and information on spells gained on a per-level basis:
As you level, you will gain procs and cooldowns you will have to keep
track of. Our Macros and Addon section has some suggestions that do not
completely change the game UI but will allow you to keep track of things
easier. In addition, there are macros listed that will aid in certain things,
such as casting Blizzard at your mouse cursor location without
having to click.
Basics of Frost Mage Gameplay
Frost is all about generating and using procs. The gameplay is incredibly simple to get a basic understanding of.
Everything you do revolves around Fingers of Frost and
Brain Freeze. If you are not currently spending the procs, you need to
be generating them.
Frostbolt generates both, as your filler
spell.
If you are brand new to the spec, and do not wish to delve into the details right away, the Easy Mode page is a helpful starting guide that should be fairly easy to understand and execute:
If you are looking for a more in-depth explanation or simply wish to dive into the spec right away, the Talent and Rotation pages are where you should go:
How to Gear Up as a Frost Mage
Due to how Frost works, there is no hard rule for determining which piece of gear is better. The best option is to simulate your character and the accompanying gear options. That said, there are some helpful, generalized simulations on the Gear page:
End-Game as a Frost Mage
End-game looks somewhat different than leveling and casual content. Our Raiding, Mythic+, and PvP guides can aid you further once you are ready for end-game content:
Improving your Play as Frost Mage
If you find yourself behind your similarly-geared peers, but unsure as to why, there may be some information to glean from our pages on mistakes, tips, or how to simulate your character to optimize your character:
Frost Mage Viability in Dragonflight
Dragonflight sees Frost return as a great single target damage
dealer, which is now decoupled from being an uptime-or-die spec as it was
throughout Shadowlands. Icy Propulsion working outside of
Icy Veins's uptime means that fights that have enforced downtime are
not nearly as punishing as they have been in the past. Additionally, we have
become one of the best M+ specs in the game in terms of utility brought to the
team. Newly brought AoE knockback, AoE disorient, large-scale crowd control,
and even the ability to help our group skip entire trash packs with a bit of
skilled play. We still also bring Time Warp, double immunities, and mass
slowing. Combined with our expanded AoE potential, Frost is looking quite great
mechanically.
Changelog
- 20 Mar. 2023 (gear page): Added a note about Onyx Annulet.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (talents page): Updated default talent trees.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (enchants page): Added notes about Primordial Stones.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (Legendaries): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (mythic+ page): Changed the default talent tree.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Added some notes about Energized Barriers and updated the default talent trees.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (rotation page): Added notes about the Less Ice Lance rotation set.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (FAQ page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 20 Mar. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 10 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Phial choice, and added Rune choice.
- 23 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Raszageth tips added.
- 22 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Changed default build to Lonely Winter due to hotfix buffs.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for beginning of Dragonflight Season 1 with weapon enchant and food choice changes.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (spells page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Updated for beginning of Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Added a note about Lonely Winter/Water Elemental decision.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Updated Blizzard target values with/without Ice Caller.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Page added.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Legendaries): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Torghast): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Covenants and Soulbinds): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Castle Nathria page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Sanctum of Domination page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (Sepulcher of the First Ones page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 24 Oct. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 10 Feb. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Updated with the last minute Blizzard/Frozen Orb nerfs.
- 15 Jan. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page added with initial thoughts and information.
- 01 Nov. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 13 Jul. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Wording updated for live release of Patch 9.1.
- 25 Apr. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Page created with initial information.
- 12 Oct. 2020 (Ny'alotha page): Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 13 Jan. 2020 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
- 13 Jan. 2020 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
- 13 Jan. 2020 (The Eternal Palace page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
- 13 Jan. 2020 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
- 04 Sep. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Added clarification that Glacial Spike does not kill melee on Za'qul, and minor tips elsewhere.
- 20 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Updated with tips.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 12 May 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Updated tips and build recommendations.
- 14 Apr. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Guide added.
- 14 Apr. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
- 14 Apr. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
- 29 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Updated tips, both for hotfix changes and practical experience.
- 21 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added Battle of Dazar'alor guide for Frost Mages.
- 10 Dec. 2018 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
- 16 Oct. 2018 (Uldir page): Updated a few talent suggestions after having actually done the raid.
- 01 Sep. 2018 (Uldir page): Added Uldir advice.
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This guide has been written by Kuni, one of the best Frost Mages in the world, who raids in Mortal Desire.
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