09-17-2005, 06:57 AM
LochnarITB,Sep 15 2005, 05:13 PM Wrote:I love my Ice Barrier. It has kept my squishie from being squashed many times. Saying Ice Barrier is not that useful is like saying PW:S is not that useful. Although it absorbs a little less damage and has a longer cooldown, its first cast function is essentially the same as PW:S. I have never regretted spending that point.
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Actually, it's identical to PW:S; so identical that they count as the same spell. If you're shielded with the max rank of PW:S, you cannot ice barrier - you get the "more powerful spell is active" message that a lower rank of PW:S would get.
Yeah, Ice Barrier is handy, especially in solo situations and lower-rank instances like UBRS. It makes a nice thing to pop up in the middle of an AoE fight, or to use if there's no priest around. On the other hand, over the long run, the situations where it saves you are going to be few and far between, and the majority of those situations are going to be where something went critically wrong solo. In raid instances, which is what Wildfire is speccing for, ice barrier isn't going to make a huge difference. If you've got aggro, a flimsy 826 damage barrier isn't going to save you from a Lava Surger kicking out 3.4k crits. Ice Block will.
Of the two, Ice Block is clearly the more powerful. If it were a choice between Ice Barrier and Arcane Power I'd select AP in a heartbeat. However, the matchup in question is Presence of Mind and Ice Barrier. PoM: good for Domo, and a slight DPS increase for when you PoM a frostbolt or fireball. Generally, more flexible overall. Ice Barrier: for when you get hit by RSTS and no heal is likely. Barrier isn't a solution to the eternal mage problem of overnuking and pulling aggro in raid instances, since either the mob's going to be taunted off you or you die. There are times when Ice Barrier will save you; there are going to be many, many more times where you put it up and die anyway, but don't remember it.
What it boils down to is that PoM/Ice Barrier is a matter of personal taste. Neither has particularly broad application in raid instances. It's just that Ice Barrier isn't a "got-to-have-it, rush-to-31" kind of talent like Mortal Strike or Innervate. No frost build should ever be built around the idea that you have to get to Ice Barrier; it's just not good enough to rate that kind of thinking.