Test Realm Patch Notes: 2.4.3

[Artega]

It isn't Frostbite that is not purgable. It's Ice Armor. Frostbite is the same as it's always been.

Please stop drawing conclusions based on the Armory. It doesn't show the extent of my experiences, and experience is not the only thing that matters in a discussion.

Are being intentionally obtuse here? Or is it just because you don't PvP much that you don't realize how massively this hurts Enhancement Shammies? Hell, it probably hurts all melee, even Rogues.

You realize that a mage has a 50% greater chance to crit against a frozen target, right? And that ice lance does triple damage against frozen targets? So that instant cast spell is now capable of doing six times normal damage (thanks to Ice Shards, before Resilience adjustments.) It's entirely possible to have Ice Lance - an instant-cast spell with a massive 36 yard talented range - crit for 2000 or more against high-resilience targets. Against low-resilience targets, it's not unusual to see numbers going beyond 3000.

Not only this, but because enhancement shammies and rogues - who dual wield and thus attack very quickly - are going to have a much higher chance to proc Frostbite. Rogues can probably get out of it if they need to via Cloak of Skill or their other get out of jail free cards, but for a shammy, the only option he has is to try and dispel ice armor, which they're seemingly intent on changing. This now leaves you with the option of either trinketing (and just being rooted with frost nova, freeze, or another frostbite proc a few seconds later) or bending over and grabbing your ankles.

Moreover, any melee attacking the mage will now be moving at 70% speed because of the chill effect; for Warriors and Rogues this isn't a major problem because they can just keep Hamstring/Piercing Howl/Crippling Poison on the mage and keep up just fine. But for Retribution Paladins, who will be reliant on Blessing of Freedom (which can be stolen or dispelled), and Enhancement Shamans, this is a serious issue.