09-23-2005, 02:55 AM
The direct math, I don't know. But I do know from my magely experience that, overall, with a frost build, +damage is more effective. Without the base increase of Critical Mass, getting a high crit chance off of intllect and equipment alone is very, very difficult to do. And when you get it, with frostbolt's already low damage, you'll be seeing frostbolt crits--even with Ice Shards--lower than untalented fireball crits (though faster).
Furthermore, if you pick up shatter, you can trigger a pair of crits pretty much anytime you want (with a little bit of luck) by opening with a frost nova and laying down a frostbolt/cone of cold combo. So why bother increasing the frequency of crits as opposed to their power, when you've already got a way to increase the frequency beyond anything you could get with equipment?
Furthermore, if you pick up shatter, you can trigger a pair of crits pretty much anytime you want (with a little bit of luck) by opening with a frost nova and laying down a frostbolt/cone of cold combo. So why bother increasing the frequency of crits as opposed to their power, when you've already got a way to increase the frequency beyond anything you could get with equipment?