Key Issues: Mana and PvP Performance
The current state of Frost Mages in PvP is severely underperforming in all aspects. Ice Lance is tickling the enemy, and we must rely heavily on Fingers of Frost procs and the hope of a Deep Freeze and Hot Streak proc. However, with the Hot Streak moved to the helm, this potential has been removed. Every change does not have to revolve solely around PvE. An eight-minute cooldown on Evocation and a two-minute cooldown on mana gems are laughable in the current game. Casting times exceeding two seconds are unrealistic in today’s instant-cast meta.
It is time to address these issues by increasing the damage of Ice Lance and the proc chance of Fingers of Frost. Additionally,using a three-second cast Frostfire Bolt is mostly impossible in PvP sod. We are also forced to use Chronostatic Heal in PvP due to the overwhelming burst damage from other classes, which leads to immediate deletion without it, also needs reconsideration. Good runes on the belt remain unusable in PvP because of these constraints.
My extensive dueling over the past few days reveals that while a full fire spec allows for successful bursts against players with Deep Freeze and Hot Streak, a frost spec, preferred by many PvPers, is ineffective against most classes unless all fire runes are used. This results in quickly running out of mana and spending the rest of the time drinking. It is crucial that these issues are addressed in the coming weeks imo.
Rune Issues and Suggestions
Ice Lance:
- Currently underwhelming with low proc DPS. Living Bomb is more viable even for Frost specs.
- Suggestion: increase the dps of ice lance and Fingers of Frost proc chance.
Hot Streak:
- Moving Hot Streak to helm drastically reduces Frost Mage effectiveness in PvP. Deep Freeze with Hot Streak allowes for competitive burst damage which all other classes have.
- Suggestion: Integrate Hot Streak into the Pyroblast talent or make it a base ability.
Living Flame:
- Ineffective due to slow travel time, allowing targets to evade.
- Suggestion: Spawn on target and increase speed to previous levels.
Frostfire Bolt:
- The Burning Soul talent should provide a 100% chance to avoid casting time loss, not 70%. Casting a 3-second spell in SoD is gg no re.
- Suggestion: Adjust Burning Soul talent to 100% and reduce casting time while also reducing damage and mana cost accordingly.
Mana Depletion:
- Master of Elements talent adjustment from 10/20/30 to 15/30/50 and reduce mana costs for Cone of Cold, Fireblast, Pyroblast, and Ice Barrier.
- Mages face severe mana issues compared to other classes. Increase conjured water/food to scale with SoD. Evocation 2 min cd, Gems 1 min cd.
Feet Runes: Chrono, Brain Freeze, Spell Power:
- Mages need to rely on Chrono in PvP to survive. Increase Ice Barrier to scale with SoD burst damage and offer gear with more stamina so we can use the other runes as well.
PvP is an important part of the game and should be considered in class changes and balances. The recent PTR duels show that while many classes have strong burst potential, Mages require multiple conditions to align for effective bursts, making them underwhelming to play. Also, thank you for the hard work you guys put in.