07-18-2005, 11:48 AM
So, I have a 59 mage (will be 60 within an hour of playing, soon as I can buy a game card). For all of this mage's career, he has been a fire/arcane mage. Because being able to tear an enemy player down to 20 percent life in under five seconds makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Note that this is one clue that my biggest concern is PvP.
But, I have been considering the usefulness of a frost build. Because Ice Block is just that good. Barring your average "I'm gonna run into that group of enemies and start AoEing" levels of kamikazeism, in solo and small group PvP, the majority of the deaths I have suffered could've been avoided through use of Ice Block. And everybody knows a living mage is a little bit more dangerous than a dead mage. That and the frost nova and frostbolt/cone of cold combo with the shatter and ice shards talents just makes me a happy panda (maybe not quite as much as a fireball, fireblast, PoM-pyroblast combo with ignite and impact).
So, I am asking for opinions, as I imagine that there are more experienced mages around. (Maybe not in PvP. Freaking carebears. :) <-- means I'm joking)
For reference, here is my current build:
Fire Mastery
Improved Fireball Rank 5
Impact Rank 5
Ignite Rank 5
Flame Throwing Rank 2
Pyroblast Rank 1
Improved Flamestrike Rank 3
Critical Mass Rank 3
Blast Wave Rank 1
Fire Power Rank 5
Fire Total: 30
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
And a couple of builds that I am mulling over:
Frost Mastery
Improved Frostbolt Rank 5
Ice Shards Rank 5
Improved Frost Nova Rank 2
Cold Snap Rank 1
Improved Blizzard Rank 3
Arctic Reach Rank 2
Frost Channeling Rank 3
Shatter Rank 5
Ice Block Rank 1
Improved Cone of Cold Rank 2
Frostbite Rank 1
Frost Total: 30
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
And:
Frost Mastery
Improved Frostbolt Rank 5
Ice Shards Rank 5
Improved Frost Nova Rank 2
Cold Snap Rank 1
Improved Blizzard Rank 2
Arctic Reach Rank 2
Shatter Rank 5
Ice Block Rank 1
Frost Total: 23
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Mind Rank 4
Arcane Instability Rank 3
Arcane Total: 28
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
As for the first one, I am not sure if I should keep Frost Channeling. The lower cost is useful, but I certainly won't be using ONLY ice spells, and I could use those points to finish off Improved Cone of Cold, or improve my Frostbite chance. The third point in Improved Blizzard is a bit iffy as well. Overall, though, it seems a decent build. Heavy on snares, bumping both the crits and survivability quite a bit. But, I tried an incomplete version of this back in my fourties, and while the crits were nice, the lack of Critical Mass made them much, much more rare, even with Shatter. More Frostbite may increase that, as well as finally backhanding some people into bringing me along on some DM Tribute runs, for the nice spell crit increases. And without the fairly consistent crits I had gotten used to, it was a bit of a stretch getting used to it. In the beta version of this build, however, I lacked Presence of the Mind, which will add much damage, and I wasn't particularly adept at abusing Ice Block. So my feelings may change on another try.
The second one seems nice, as I've gone far enough into arcane with it to increase global crit chance, which, as I said, was a factor in my last respec. But that leaves out a few of the less necessary, but still desirable, talents in the frost tree, just to make up for a weakness in a tree that I'm suddenly not focusing on.
Thoughts, opinions, flames, death threats?
But, I have been considering the usefulness of a frost build. Because Ice Block is just that good. Barring your average "I'm gonna run into that group of enemies and start AoEing" levels of kamikazeism, in solo and small group PvP, the majority of the deaths I have suffered could've been avoided through use of Ice Block. And everybody knows a living mage is a little bit more dangerous than a dead mage. That and the frost nova and frostbolt/cone of cold combo with the shatter and ice shards talents just makes me a happy panda (maybe not quite as much as a fireball, fireblast, PoM-pyroblast combo with ignite and impact).
So, I am asking for opinions, as I imagine that there are more experienced mages around. (Maybe not in PvP. Freaking carebears. :) <-- means I'm joking)
For reference, here is my current build:
Fire Mastery
Improved Fireball Rank 5
Impact Rank 5
Ignite Rank 5
Flame Throwing Rank 2
Pyroblast Rank 1
Improved Flamestrike Rank 3
Critical Mass Rank 3
Blast Wave Rank 1
Fire Power Rank 5
Fire Total: 30
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
And a couple of builds that I am mulling over:
Frost Mastery
Improved Frostbolt Rank 5
Ice Shards Rank 5
Improved Frost Nova Rank 2
Cold Snap Rank 1
Improved Blizzard Rank 3
Arctic Reach Rank 2
Frost Channeling Rank 3
Shatter Rank 5
Ice Block Rank 1
Improved Cone of Cold Rank 2
Frostbite Rank 1
Frost Total: 30
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
And:
Frost Mastery
Improved Frostbolt Rank 5
Ice Shards Rank 5
Improved Frost Nova Rank 2
Cold Snap Rank 1
Improved Blizzard Rank 2
Arctic Reach Rank 2
Shatter Rank 5
Ice Block Rank 1
Frost Total: 23
Arcane Mastery
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Evocation Rank 1
Improved Mana Shield Rank 2
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Mind Rank 4
Arcane Instability Rank 3
Arcane Total: 28
Total
Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60
As for the first one, I am not sure if I should keep Frost Channeling. The lower cost is useful, but I certainly won't be using ONLY ice spells, and I could use those points to finish off Improved Cone of Cold, or improve my Frostbite chance. The third point in Improved Blizzard is a bit iffy as well. Overall, though, it seems a decent build. Heavy on snares, bumping both the crits and survivability quite a bit. But, I tried an incomplete version of this back in my fourties, and while the crits were nice, the lack of Critical Mass made them much, much more rare, even with Shatter. More Frostbite may increase that, as well as finally backhanding some people into bringing me along on some DM Tribute runs, for the nice spell crit increases. And without the fairly consistent crits I had gotten used to, it was a bit of a stretch getting used to it. In the beta version of this build, however, I lacked Presence of the Mind, which will add much damage, and I wasn't particularly adept at abusing Ice Block. So my feelings may change on another try.
The second one seems nice, as I've gone far enough into arcane with it to increase global crit chance, which, as I said, was a factor in my last respec. But that leaves out a few of the less necessary, but still desirable, talents in the frost tree, just to make up for a weakness in a tree that I'm suddenly not focusing on.
Thoughts, opinions, flames, death threats?