Contents

I. Introduction
II. Arcane Talents
III. Fire Talents
IV. Frost Talents
V. Speccing 101
VI. Arcane Builds
VII. Fire Builds
VIII. Frost Builds
IX. Conclusion and Version History

I. Introduction

This guide means to build on and update Alcaras’s guide in the post patch 2.0.1 environment as well as cover the topic of level 70 talent specs. This guide serves as both a source for good advice to those new to mage talents as well as food for thought for those that are more advanced.

The talent points are rated on a 1-5 star system for both PvP and PvE.
***** = If you are here, put points here. No argument. You have to be nuts not to.
**** = A very solid talent. Most of the time you will want this. However, an argument could be made against it.
*** = A mediocre talent. Not a waste of a point but could find better use elsewhere.
** = A weak talent that is at best situational. Avoid if possible.
• = Never.

Now lets get right to it…

II. Arcane Talents

Tier 1

Arcane Subtlety (2/2)
Reduces your target’s resistance to all your spells by 5/10 and all your Arcane spells cause 20/40% less threat.

PvP: **
My $0.02: Not a horrible talent for PvP. If you find yourself in a position where you have 1-2 points left over and no good place to place them, this talent point offers a solid filler.

PvE:****
My $0.02: Not a talent for everybody, this talent is a MUST for one of the most powerful PvE spec in the TBC environment. (I will explain in the PvE spec section) However, those who are deeply invested in either frost or fire should completely disregard this talent.

Arcane Focus (5/5)
Reduces the chance that the opponent can resist your Arcane spells by 2/4/6/8/10%

PvP: *
My $0.02: Most of the damage done in PvP is through Fire and/or Frost spells. This talent is doomed to the fate of oblivion by being eclipsed by a far far better talent: Improved Arcane Missile.

PvE: Build dependent
My $0.02: Usually not specced but shines in pure arcane builds.

Improved Arcane Missile (5/5)
Gives you a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Arcane Missiles.

PvP: *****
My $0.02: An incredibly versatile talent in PvP- whether you are deep in Arcane or not. Having Improved Arcane Missiles gives you a fighting chance when you are under fire. Examples include: Moonfire spamming druids, pesky hunters when your blink is on cooldown, 1v1 battles against other casters (interrupts their spell casting), and anytime someone sics a pet on you.

PvE:*****
My $0.02: You cannot hope better for a better tier 1 Arcane Talent. Given the options, this is your only for tier 1.

Tier 2

Wand Specialization (2/2)
Increases your damage with Wands by 13/25%

PvP: No stars
My $0.02: No.

PvE: No stars
My $0.02: Go away.

Magic Absorption (5/5)
When you resist a spell, you gain 1/2/3/4/5% of your max mana and increases all resistance by 2/4/6/8/10%

PvP: *
My $0.02: This talent might not sound very good to you and you would be right. It’s not. It’s horrid. A tad better than Wand Spec, but does not redeem it.

PvE:*
My $0.02: Bad. Very bad.

Arcane Concentration (5/5)
Gives you a 2/4/6/8/10% chance of entering a clearcasting state after damage spells hit a target.

PvP: **
My $0.02: What this amounts to in PvP is an app. 10% chance increase in mana. Which isn’t bad since PvP is very mana intensive. This talent is greater helped by the lack of other viable tier 1-2 talents. If anything it gets you to the next tier.

PvE:****
My $0.02: In PvE is where this talent point truly shines. Since you can choose to cast your most mana intensive spell (usually Arcane Missile) on a clearcast proc, this talent gives you significantly more than a 10% increase in mana.

Tier 3

Magic Attunement (2/2)
Increases the effect of your Amplify and Dampen Magic spells by 25/50%

PvP: ***
My $0.02: Not a bad option for PvP for that extra damage mitigation against casters. Dampen magic should always be used in any PvP environment.

PvE: **
My $0.02: If you are going to die because you drew aggro, dampen magic won’t save you. In fact, it might kill you due to the nerfed healing. However, Amplify Magic could give your tank that little extra boost against non-spellcasting mobs.

Arcane Impact (3/3)
Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Explosion and Arcane Blast spells by an additional 2/4/6%

PvP: ***
My $0.02: Not as bad as some would like to think. This talent point is actually improved from its last incarnation since now it also affects Arcane Blast. The verdict is still out on the utility of AB in a PvP environment but this has potential. Due to lack of better options, this is not a bad talent to put points into.

PvE: ****
My $0.02: My speculation is that Arcane Blast is going to be extremely good in boss fights. In this case, an extra 6% is nothing to scoff at.

Arcane Fortitude (1/1)
Increase your armor by an amount equal to 50% of your Intellect

PvP: ****
My $0.02: Depending on your gear this gives you 2-4% damage mitigation to melee/range hits. Due to lack of better options and the necessity to move further into the Arcane Tree, this is not a bad option at all.

PvE:**
My $0.02: An extra 150-200 armor won’t save you. But if you are at a loss for where to put your extra point, might as well put it here.

Tier 4

Improved Mana Shield (2/2)
Decreases the man lost per point of damage taken when Mana Shield is active by 10/20%

PvP: ****
My $0.02: If you are already this deep in the Arcane Tree, this is a must spec for you. Unless you have Ice Barrier, Mana Shield is what is going to save you. This talent ensures that your shield holds and still has enough mana left over to kill whoever needs to be taken care of.

PvE: **
My $0.02: Significantly less good in a PvE setting, it does give you a bit more survivability that you may find useful in a 5man 10man format.

Improved Counterspell (2/2)
Gives Counterspell a 50/100% chance to silence the target for 4 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.02: This is where the Arcane Tree starts to get really good. Some people swear by this. Some people won’t play without it. Those who don’t have it envy those who do. Even with the nerf, (now triggers global cooldown), this is still a fantastic talent.

PvE: ****
My $0.02: There will always be mobs that casts spells.

Arcane Meditation (3/3)
Allows 5/10/15% of yoru mana regeneration to continue while casting.

PvP: *
My $0.02: The mana regeneration won’t save you, and probably won’t add up to give you enough for even one frostbolt.

PvE: ****
My $0.02: A fantastic talent for PvE. Combined with Mage Armor, a 45% mana regeneration ensures that you can keep on going for longer.

Tier 5

Presence of Mind (1/1)
Instant- 3 minute cooldown. When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time of less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.

PvP: *****
My $0.02: One of the two Arcane “bombs”. For many it is the reason to go this deep into Arcane. The versatility of this talent is endless: Combine with Arcane Power for a quick 1-2 nuke, instant sheep enemies strategically, or use it to conjure water faster to impress the ladies. (if only you can use it to instantly teleport)

PvE: ****
My $0.02: Maybe not as key as PvP but this remains a powerful talent due to its versatility in a PvE environment.

Arcane Mind (5/5)
Increases your intellect by 5/10/15/20/25%

PvP:***
My $0.02: Solid talent for PvP. Nobody says no to more mana. And unlike many other talents this one COULD save you. However, many people opt to spec only 4 points into this talent just so they can get to tier 6+.

PvE:****
My $0.02: Very solid talent for PvE. Due to lack of better options, it is more than worth the 4 points to move to the next tier.

Improved Blink (2/2)
Reduces the mana cost of your Blink spell by 25/50%

PvP:*
My $0.02: Very disappointing, considering that it could be “Reducing the cooldown of your Blink spell by 25/50%” In which case, it would be much, much more useful. In its present state, it’s horrid. Someone petition.

PvE:*
My $0.02: Did I mention horrid?

Tier 6

Prismatic Cloak (2/2)
Reduces all damage taken by 2/4%

PvP: ***
Good solid talent. Think of it as a 2/4% increase in health. More stam never hurt.

PvE: ***
Still solid. Just might save you.

Arcane Instability (3/3)
Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 1/2/3%

PvP:*****
More damage! More Crit! Prereq for Arcane Power! What else can you ask for?

PvE:*****
More damage! More Crit! Prereq for Arcane Power! Did I say that already?

Arcane Potency (3/3)
Increases the critical strike chance of any spell cast while clearcasting by 10/20/30%

PvP:***
This talent is better than it sounds. Because the way it works with clearcast, 10% x 10% gives you a flat 1% increase to critical strike per talent point. Which isn’t spectacular but isn’t bad either.

PvE: ***
Again. Not bad.


Tier 7

Empowered Arcane Missile (3/3)
Your Arcane Missiles gain an additional 15/30/45% of your spell damage effects, but mana cost is increased by 2/4/6%.

PvP: **
My $0.02: Due to its shorter range and long cast time, arcane missile have situational use in PvP (as decribed earlier). For this reason, this talent point is not as good in a PvP setting.

PvE: ****
My $0.02: This talent points have the potential of lifting Arcane Missiles to the point of insanity. However, it is largely gear dependent. If you are a new 60 wearing greens, speccing this will actually nerf you.

Arcane Power (1/1)
When activated your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effects last 15% seconds.

PvP:*****
My $0.02: The other arcane “bomb”. When popped with spell damage trinket and Presence of Mind, this ability allows many mages to two-shot just about any class in the game.

PvE: ****
My $0.02: Not as good as PvP, this talent point is still solid in situations when your raid leader asks you to “DPS hard”.

Spell Power (2/2)
Increase critical strike bonus of all spells by 25/50%

PvP: *****
My $0.02: This talent makes people drool. Frost mages love it because it gives them 150% critical strike bonus. If you are already this deep into arcane, you have to be nuts not to spec this.

PvE: *****
My $0.02: Just as good for the same reasons. Watch aggro.

Tier 8

Mind Mastery (5/5)
Increase spell damage by up to 5/10/15/20/25% of your intellect.

PvP: ****
If you are going for slow, this is not a bad place to go. Assuming 400 intellect, you are getting 20 additional spell damage per point. Not bad at all.

PvE: ****
Not bad for the same reason.

Tier 9

Slow (1/1)
Instant cast
Reduces target movement speed by 50%, increases time between ranged attacks by 50%, and increases casting time by 50%. Last 15 seconds. Slow can only affect one target at a time.

PvP: **
Worse than it sounds. Speccing in slow means that due to your heavy investment in the arcane tree, you will be relying heavily on Arcane Missiles. It is not as good as you think for the following reasons:
1. Dispellable
2. White damage doesn’t hurt as much as yellow damage. Rogues are still going to mutilate you just as often.
3. Casters rely on instant cast for damage output anyway.
4. Rogues can vanish out of it, Warriors can still intercept you. Hunters will still kick your butt with their multishot silencing shot and arcane shot.

PvE: *****
It is better than it sounds for the following reasons.
1. Unlike players, mob rely heavily on white damage for their damage output
2. Gives you the ability to kite.
3. I heard it works on many bosses.

<Inconvenient Post in the middle of your guide>

III. Fire Talents

Tier 1

Improved Fireball (5/5)
Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.1 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: The bread and butter of the fire tree. Don’t leave home without it.

PvE: *****
For those starting out and have chosen the path of the flame, here are your first 5 points.

Impact (5/5)
Gives your Fire spells a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to stun the target for 2 seconds.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Another great talent point! Most fire mages pick up both tier 1 talents. Very frustrating for your opponents.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Not quite as good in a PvE setting but might give you that extra boost of survivability that you may need.

Tier 2

Ignite (5/5)
Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 8/16/24/32/40% of your spell damage over 4 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Another quality talent in the fire tree. This effectively increases your critical strike bonus by 60%. If fire is your primary source of damage output, this is another must-spec.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Other classes may complain that it breaks CCs, but we don’t care.

Flame throwing (2/2)
Increases the range of your fire spells by 3/6 yards.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Another must for PvP. Particularly useful to fireblast, allowing you to nuke your enemies from further away.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: Again, very solid. More distance between you and the mob = more damage you can do before you have to nova/blink.

Improved Fire Blast (3/3)
Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 0.5/1/1.5 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: In PvP, Fire Blast should be used every cooldown. 1.5 seconds means that you will Fire Blast 23% more often. Which is a good thing.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Not as good in PvE due to the low mana efficiency of the instant cast Fire Blast.

Tier 3

Incinerate (2/2)
Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire Blast and Scorch spells by 2/4%

PvP: ***
My $0.05: Although not a horrible talent, the overall damage increase due to this talent is relatively limited. There are better places to spend your talent.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Useful for fire mages with a scorch build. But again, nothing spectacular.

Improved Flamestrike (3/3)
Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike spell by 5/10/15%

PvP: **
My $0.05: Good for those who have mastered the art of the PoM flamestrike + blastwave combo. Pretty worthless otherwise.

PvE:**
My $0.05: There are much better places to put your talents in the fire tree to get you to the next tier.

Pyroblast (1/1)
6 sec cast/35 yd range- Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 716-890 Fire damage and an additional 268 damage over 12 seconds.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: If nothing else get it for the coolness factor. God forbid you long cast it in a fight. Should only be used with Presence of Mind.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: A good opening shot when solo grinding. Again, this is a talent you “might as well” pick up.

Burning Soul (2/2)
Gives your fire spells a 35/70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces threat by 15/30%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Due to Fireball’s relatively long casting time, this is a must for PvP. This ensures that your fireball will still be dished out in a timely manner even if some pressure is applied to you.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: In a PvE environment, this is two great talents for the price of one. Due to the burst damage inherent in a fire build, the threat reduction could save you.

Tier 4

Improved Scorch (3/3)
Your Scorch spells have a 33/66/100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases the fire damage dealt to your target by 3% and last 30 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.

PvP: **
My $0.05: If your targets take longer than 5 scorches to kill, then you are doing something wrong.

PvE:****
My $0.05: Improved scorch is one of the most efficient (and fun) way to maximize damage potential in the fights that matters. (boss fights)

Improved Fire Ward (2/2)
Causes your Fire Ward to have a 10/20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active.

PvP: **
My $0.05: Although the thought of being able to get other mages to one shot themselves make me giddy, this talent is too situational for it to be solid.

PvE: *
My $0.05: Worse in PvE, as mobs are usually immune or highly resistant to their own magic.

Master of Elements (3/3)
Your Fire and Frost spell criticals will refund 10/20/30% of their mana cost.

PvP: **
My $0.05: Like clearcast, this is not overly powerful in PvP.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: A back of the envelope calculation tells us: Assuming 20% crit chance, 20% x 10% = 2% mana cost reduction. Comparable to clearcast, but not quite as good. You won’t miss it too much without it.

Tier 5

Playing with Fire (3/3)
Increases all spell damage caused by 1/2/3% and increases all spell damage taken by 1/2/3%.

PvP: **
My $0.05: Weak talent considering that there is an alternative in the same tier that effectively increases damage caused by 2% per talent without any drawback whatsoever. Why this talent needs to have one escapes me.

PvE: **
My $0.05: Still not good even though the drawback is less relevant in a PvE environment. You should expect more than a 1% increase to your damage ouput per talent point.

Critical Mass (3/3)
Increases the critical strike chance of your fire spells by 2/4/6%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: A fantastic deal. 2% damage increase for one point is better than what most talent offers.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Did I mention that this is very VERY good?

Blast Wave (1/1)
Instant/45 sec cooldown- A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 462 to 544 Fire damage, and dazing them for 6 sec.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: This is one of the reasons why people fall in love with fire. This talent has it all: coolness factor, utility, and omgwtfbbqpwntness.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: There will always be situations in instances where your leet AoE skill is called upon. This is your chance to shine.

Tier 6

Blazing Speed (2/2)
Gives you 5/10% chance when hit by a melee/ranged attack to increase your movement speed by 50% and remove all movement impairing effects. This effect lasts for 8 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Those who fail to see the power of this talent have not tried it. Here is a partial list of things that it can remove: Concussive shots, frost trap aura, rogue stuns, crippling poison, frost shock, intimidation, hamstring, etc. etc. etc. It also procs a lot more than you would expect it to. Gives fire mages a fighting chance against rogues and hunters. Besides, the coolness factor makes this talent irresistible.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Although not as useful in a PvE environment, it does offer you more survivability.

Fire Power (5/5)
Increases the damage done by your spells by 2/4/6/8/10%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Like critical mass, a 2% damage increase per talent point is an incredible deal.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Don’t leave home without it.

Tier 7

Pyromaniac (3/3)
Increase chance to critically hit and reduces the mana cost of all Fire spells by 1/2/3%

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Solid talent. I will take 1 talent per crit any day. Not quite to the level of fire power and critical mass, but the reduced mana cost is a nice bonus.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: Perhaps even better in PvE, when mana is often an issue.

Combustion (1/1)
Instant/3 minute cooldown- When activated, this spell causes each Fire damage spell you cast to increase your critical strike chance with fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Read: 50+% chance to crit for your next 7 casts. This talent is even better than it sounds.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Especially good for fire mages who like to “tank”.

Molten Fury (2/2)
Increase damage of all spells against targets with less than 20% health by 10/20%.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Assuming a 20% chance of you finding an opponent with less than 20% health, 20% x 10% = 2% overall damage increase. And like I mentioned before- this is a good deal.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Even better in PvE. The last 20% are usually the most crucial moments in boss fights and the extra DPS could prove all the difference.

Tier 8

Empowered Fireball (5/5)
Your Fireball spell gains an additional 3% of your bonus spell damage effects.

PvP: ***
My $0.05: By far the weakest of the 3 tier 8 talents, this talent is very gear dependent. Assuming an end game spell damage of 500, each point will give you a +15 damage increase to your fireball. Although not bad, fireball won’t be the only spell you will be casting in PvP so this talent is at best situational. If you are a level 50ish mage, this is a waste of your points.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Significantly better in PvE due to the larger dependence on Fireball spamming, but still not quite better enough to warrant a higher rating.

Tier 9

Dragon’s Breath (1/1)
500 mana/Instant cast, 20 second cooldown
Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 680-790 damage and disorientated for 3 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: People love this. Although sometimes tricky to aim, people are very happy with this 41 point. There seem to be a lot of talk about keeping the awesomeness of this talent on the DL, so I will let you be the judge. But just for the record: It’s

IV. Frost Talents

Tier 1

Frost Warding (2/2)
Increases the armor and resistnaces given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 15/30%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward a 10% chance to reflect Frost spells and effects while active.

PvP: ***
My $0.05: To tell you the truth: this talent isn’t half bad. Unfortunately it is rarely specced due to the strength of the frost tree. However, if you spec this, you could make the Blizzard design department very happy. They have taken incredible pains in the hopes that someone will put points into a talent that improves frost ward. My advice to you is this: lets keep points out of this until it becomes a 1 point tier 1 talent that have a 50% chance to instantly kill any enemy that dare lay a finger on you. Including bosses. Maybe then we’ll think about it.

PvE: **
My $0.05: Hopefully you won’t draw aggro in PvE. Hopefully you will be in Mage Armor. Hopefully you won’t need this.

Improved Frostbolt (5/5)
Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.1/.2/.3/.4/.5 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: The bread and butter of the frost spec, this significantly increases your damage output. Don’t leave home without it.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: For those starting out in frost, here are your first 5 points.

Elemental Focus (3/3)
Reduces the mana cost and chance targets resist your frost and fire spells by 1/2/3%

PvP: ***
My $0.05: A solid talent. However, due to the strength of the frost tree, this is (understandably) often overlooked and overshadowed by Improved Frostbolt.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: Even better in PvE, this helps your spells land higher level mobs as well as mana conservation.

Tier 2

Ice Shards (5/5)
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 20/40/60/80/100%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: This is the frost mage’s ignite and another bread-n-butter talent. Get it.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Get it. Lets move on.

Frostbite (3/3)
Gives your Chill effects a 5/10/15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: I love this talent. Here is a list of things that can proc frostbite: Frostbolt, Cone of Cold, Blizzard (improved), and Ice Armor. Against rogues, a frostbite proc off ice armor could mean the difference between life-and-death, as well as a free shatter. With shatter, this talent gives you an additional 50% x 5% = 2.5% additional chance to critically strike your target per point. Which like I had mentioned before, anything greater than a flat 2% damage output increase per point is very good. This talent have potential to shine even more with the introduction of Ice Lance.

PvE: **
My $0.05: Significantly worse in PvE as bosses could not be snared. However, great for trash. We could see a greater utility of this talent in the 5 man environment TBC.

Improved Frost Nova (2/2)
Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 2/4 seconds

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Frost nova’s cooldown is never short enough. Even if you don’t need it, you will use it to proc shatter. This talent increases both your survivability as well as your damage output significantly. This also means that you can pull the Frost Nova + CoC combo more frequently.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Most bosses are immune to freeze, which would be a waste of this talent. However, the extra survivability that this talent offers is no to be overlooked.

Permafrost (3/3)
Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 1/2/3 seconds and reduces the target speed by an additional 4/7/10%

PvP: *
My $0.05: Perhaps the weakest talent in the frost tree. Its effect is hardly noticeable. The chill effect from frostbolt is usually long enough.

PvE: *
My $0.05: Again, still weak.

Tier 3

Piercing Ice (3/3)
Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 2/4/6%

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Like I said before, a 2% damage increase per talent point is a great deal.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: More damage please.

Cold Snap (1/1)
Instant/10 min cooldown- When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on your Frost spells.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Frost gets its “bomb” early in the tree. Lets make a list of all the cooldowns it refreshes: Frost Nova. Cone of Cold. Ice Barrier. Ice Block. And even Water Elemental. That is potentially 5 cooldowns refreshed with one ability. This lends itself to a staggering number of possible combos. A good frostmages knows how to blow his/her cooldowns and always uses his/her coldsnap to refresh all five.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: There is a video of a frost mage soloing live strat all the way up to the Archivist. He could not have done it without coldsnap. Case in point.

Improved Blizzard (3/3)
Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target’s movement speed by 30/50/65%. Lasts 1.5 seconds.

PvP: **
My $0.05: Yes this makes Blizzard a great AoE spell. Yes it procs with frostbite. No you won’t be using Blizzard in PvP.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: In anticipation of the 5 man dungeon environment in TBC, this talent could potential shine.

Tier 4

Arctic Reach (2/2)
Increases the range of your Frostbolt and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 10/20%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Another staple for the frost build. Two talents for the price of one. Don’t leave home with out.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: More range = more survivability.

Frost Channeling (3/3)
Reduces the mana cost of your frost spells by 5/10/15% and reduces threat caused by Frost spells by 10/20/30%

PvP: **
My $0.05: Although not horrible, due to the fact that frost is already a very mana efficient tree, there are better places to spend your points.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: Frankly, you need it. Threat reduction is a essential part of all PvE builds. The mana cost reduction all but seals it.

Frozen Core (3/3)
Reduces damage taken by frost/fire effects by 2/4/6%

PvP: **
My $0.05: Weak talent. Although it could save you, it is lackluster when compared to Prismatic Cloak

PvE:**
My $0.05: Perhaps even worse in PvE, when damage don’t always fly at you in shades of blue and red.

Shatter (5/5)
Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targets by 10/20/30/40/50%

PvP: *****
My $0.05: Frost PvP is all based around this talent. I don’t have a back of the envelope calculation for you for the damage output increase offered by this talent, but all I can tell you is that it is A LOT. A good frostmage knows how to set up and milk its shatter for all its worth. A frost staple.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Not quite as good as PvP, I am going to go out on a limb and say that we can expect to see greater utility of this talent in the new smaller group TBC environment.

Ice block (1/1)
Instant/5 min cooldown – You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 sec, but during that attack you cannot attack or cast spells.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: A PvP talent all mages wish they had. Iceblock saves our butt when both our Blink and Frost Nova are all cooldown. In addition, it is a mass self dispel/decurse/deeverything. I don’t know how many times I have used it to dispel warlock DoTs and hunter Scattershots. Furthermore, you can coldsnap for it for a full 20 seconds of utter peace and silence. In addition, you can use this time of reflection to waitout the cooldowns that could get you out of your sticky situation. To be really annoying, summon a water elemental right before you go into Ice block.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: Other than the obvious use in mitigating aggro and survivability, a whole book can be written on the many creative use of iceblock in PvE environment, ranging from pulling to fall damage mitigation.

Improved Cone of Cold (3/3)
Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 15/25/35%

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Another solid talent. You will be relying heavily on your instant casts in PvP so Cone of Cold functions as another Fire Blast for you and should be used every cooldown if possible. As a result, this offers a significant increase in damage output. However, I could see Cone of Cold being less important with the introduction of Ice Lance.

PvE: ***
My $0.05: Although still good, you can rely less on Cone of Cold when dealing with mobs.

Tier 6

Ice Floes (2/2)
Reduces the cooldown of your Cone of Cold, ColdSnap, Ice Barrier, and Ice Block spell by 10/20%

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Cone of Cold: 10 seconds -> 8 seconds
Ice Barrier: 30 seconds ->24 seconds
Coldsnap: 10 minutes -> 8 minutes
Ice block: 5 minutes -> 4 minutes
You: Lose -> Win

PvE: ****
You: Death -> Life

Winter’s Chill (5/5)
Gives your frost spells a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to apply a Winter’s Chill effect, which increases the chance a frost spell will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.

PvP: **
My $0.05: Not good in PvP. Although it starts stacking faster than you think it does. However, not good enough to be worth 5 points. However, due to the bigger HP pool that all classes will have in TBC, we could see this talent come in for some use.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: On the other hand, this is a staple in PvE where mobs have more health and does wonders to your DPS against bosses.

Tier 7

Ice Barrier (1/1)
Instant cast- Instantly shields you, absorbing 977 damage. Lasts 1 minute. When shield holds, spells will not be interrupted.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: Both better and worse than you think. No, it won’t make you invincible, but it does make you less squishy. It won’t save you from dying, but it might make you stick around for a bit longer. And it is sure as hell better than mana shield.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: This could save you in PvE. No reason not to pick this up if you are already this far into the frost tree.

Arctic Winds (5/5)
Reduces the chance that melee and range attacks will hit you by 1/2/3/4/5%

PvP: *
My $0.05: Weak talent. Like Frozen Core, this is a lot worse than Prismatic Cloak and definitely not worth 5 points.

PvE: *
My $0.05: Again, not good at all.

Tier 8

Empowered Frostbolt (5/5)
Your Frostbolt spell gains an additional 2/4/6/8/10% of your bonus spell damage effects and an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to critically strike.

PvP: ****
My $0.05: If you are going for Water Elemental, this is a great place to put your points. It is not quite a 2% increase to your damage output, but it is close.

PvE: ****
My $0.05: Perhaps even better in PvE since Frostbolt is your most mana efficient damage spell.

Tier 9

Summon Water Elemental
492 mana/Instant cast
Summons a water elemental to fight for the faster for 45 seconds.

PvP: *****
My $0.05: This is an insanely good talent if used properly for the following reasons:
1. It is your most mana efficient damage spell.
2. It gives you a second Frost Nova.
3. That second Frost Nova is ranged.
4. You can use that second frost nova to combo for shatter/or just use it to snare.
5. For all practical purposes, your elemental is invincible. People don’t kill pets.
6. You can coldsnap for it to keep it for a full minute and a half.
7. Summon it, Ice block, grab some popcorn and point and laugh at rogue that is still attacking a block of ice.

PvE: *****
My $0.05: This is good in PvE for its mana efficiency as well as significantly higher damage output. I can see encounters in TBC that could prove difficult without our trusty little friend.

Spec 101

Mage spec is largely a question of personality. Most of us try different specs but more often than not find ourselves hopelessly attached to a particular tree. Those of us who are born fire stay fire, and those of us who favor frost seem to be frozen in it. The important thing is not to figure out which build/tree makes you the most powerful, but rather which makes you the most happy. For many of us, we already know our destiny, but just need to find the exact combination of point distribution to maximize our power.

For this reason, I have organized the builds to its focus on the three different trees. Inside each of these trees you will find the section further subdivided to Pure (41 talent point) and Hybrid (31 point talent from the tree + 21 point talent from another tree) builds and give variants for PvP and PvE. I will explain the philosophy behind each build and point out each strength and weaknesses. All builds featured are for level 70. Due to the proximity of the TBC release, I will not dwell on level 60 builds.

I find it important to point out that my PvE builds are designed with 5 man and 10 man instances (such as Karazhan) in mind and not with 40 man raids. Raid builds often have the idea of maximizing the potential of single-spell spamming while sacrificing talents that offer utility. As a result, many of these talents, (such as improved counterspell and shatter) are overlooked in raid builds. I envision that endgame content in TBC will rely heavily on the utility that these talents offer. As a result, “raid builds” are absent from this guide.

The build environment will change greatly with the advent of TBC, and I hope this could be the beginning of a comprehensive discourse on the topic.

With that, let’s begin.

VI. Arcane Builds

The Arcane Tree is for many a support build due to the relative versatility of its talents, affecting both frost and fire spells. However, because of that versatility, the arcane tree is plagued with mediocre to weak talent points in its lower tiers. However, the power and the strength of its upper tier talent points make the investment worth it.


The PVE Arcanist (Insane Missile Build- Pure Arcane)
(48/13 Arcane/Fire)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2550050300230140333125150520001000000000000000000000000000000000000

Arcane - 48 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Arcane Focus - rank 5/5
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact – rank 3/3
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Arcane Meditation - rank 3/3
Presence of Mind - rank 1/1
Arcane Mind - rank 4/5
Arcane Instability - rank 3/3
Arcane Potency - rank 3/3
Empowered Arcane Missiles - rank 3/3
Arcane Power - rank 1/1
Spell Power - rank 2/2
Mind Mastery - rank 5/5
Slow - rank 1/1

Fire - 13 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Pyroblast - rank 1/1

Philosophy-
This is the definitive PvE Arcane build for level 70. I call this build “Insane Missiles” because it is built completely around spamming arcane missile. Fire talents are included for the option of a PoMed Pyroblast as well as dealing with Arcane resistant mobs or fights that require the use of maximum range.

Strengths-
- Highest amount of sustained DPS in PvE environment. With full tier 2 at level 60, each Insane Missile tick for ~450 damage and crits for ~1100. The numbers becomes even more staggering when combined with Arcane Power.
- High chance for criticals. Arcane Instability and Arcane Potency helps with crits. Additionally, a PoMed Pyroblast can be casted after a Clearcast proc to for a healthy amount of burst damage. Arcane Instability and Spell Power further help the cause.
- Low chance of being resisted. Arcane Focus gives a good 10% increase to damage output for higher level mobs. No other tree offer anywhere close for spell penetration.
- Highest level of threat mitigation. 40% through Arcane Subtlety.
- Slow, Improved Counterspell are abilities that could prove very useful in the TBC environment. Rumor has it that Slow works on bosses.

Weakness-
- Low survivability. Little can be done for you if you pull aggro. Bring a good tank.
- Short range. There are no talents to increase the range of Arcane Missiles, which has a lower range than both fireball and frostbolt.

The last 10 points…

- Are in Fire

Ratings:
Power: *****
Survivability: *
Mana Efficiency: ****


The PvP Arcanist (Insane Missile Build- Pure Arcane)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?0250050312200142330125105523001000000000000000000000000000000000000

Arcane - 45 points
Arcane Focus - rank 2/5
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact - rank 3/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Mana Shield - rank 2/2
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Presence of Mind - rank 1/1
Arcane Mind - rank 4/5
Prismatic Cloak - rank 2/2
Arcane Instability - rank 3/3
Arcane Potency - rank 3/3
Empowered Arcane Missiles - rank 3/3
Arcane Power - rank 1/1
Spell Power - rank 2/2
Mind Mastery - rank 5/5
Slow - rank 1/1

Fire - 16 points
Impact - rank 5/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Pyroblast - rank 1/1

Philosophy-
This is a modified version of the PvE Arcanist that sacrificed the talent that would be more useful in a PvE environment for some of the survivability that could be found in the Arcane Tree. Insane Missiles will still be your primary source of damage. This is a good PvE/PvP dual purpose build.

Strengths-

- Like its PvE counterpart, if uninterrupted, this build offers a very high sustained DPS, critical chance, and burst damage through Arcane Power and Presence of Mind + Pyroblast.
- Slow can give you the edge in 1v1 situations.
- Versatility in PvE.

Weaknesses-
- Heavy dependence on Arcane Missiles.
- Lack of range and difficulty to respond without interrupting cast make this build messy to play in PvP.

Options: Move two points from Arcane Focus to Arcane Subtlety for more PvE viability.

Ratings:
Power- ****
Survivability- **
Mana efficiency- ****


The Nuker (PvP Arcane Hybrid)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2050050312200142300120053523001200013120000000000000000000000000000

Arcane - 33 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact - rank 3/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Mana Shield - rank 2/2
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Presence of Mind - rank 1/1
Arcane Mind - rank 4/5
Prismatic Cloak - rank 2/2
Arcane Instability - rank 3/3
Arcane Power - rank 1/1
Spell Power - rank 2/2

Fire - 27 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Impact - rank 2/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Pyroblast - rank 1/1
Burning Soul - rank 2/2
Playing with Fire - rank 1/3
Critical Mass - rank 3/3
Blast Wave - rank 1/1
Blazing Speed - rank 2/2

Philosophy-
This is a build for those who like to go out with a bang. Literally. This build offers you the most burst damage to a single target with its Arcane Power + Presence of Mind + Pyroblast combination. It also offers the most burst AOE damage with Blastwave, Presence of Mind + Flamestrike and improved Arcane Explosion.

Strengths-
- Highest burst damage to both single targets and AoE bar none. Power comparable to a nuclear bomb.
- Focus on Fire spells makes this a powerful PvP build.
- With ignite and spellpower, 210% critical strike bonus for those big numbers.
- Best range

Weaknesses
- 3 minute mage
- Low survivability compared to frost.
- Low Raid viability. Low threat reduction from Fire Spells.
- Extremely mana intensive.

Options:
- For more damage: Move two points from Blazing Speed to Fire Power.
- For more PvE viability: Move two points from Improved Mana Shield to Arcane Meditation and one point from Prismatic Cloak.

Ratings:
Power- ***** + * for the burst potential
Survivability- *
Mana efficiency- *


The Pro (PvP Arcane Hybrid)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2050050312200142300120000000000000000000000000505320310205011000000

Arcane - 33 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact - rank 3/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Mana Shield - rank 2/2
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Presence of Mind - rank 1/1
Arcane Mind - rank 4/5
Prismatic Cloak - rank 2/2
Arcane Instability - rank 3/3
Arcane Power - rank 1/1
Spell Power - rank 2/2
Frost - 28 points
Improved Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Ice Shards - rank 5/5
Frostbite - rank 3/3
Improved Frost Nova - rank 2/2
Piercing Ice - rank 3/3
Cold Snap - rank 1/1
Arctic Reach - rank 2/2
Shatter - rank 5/5
Ice Block - rank 1/1
Improved Cone of Cold - rank 1/3

Philosophy:
This is a powerful PvP build. This build strikes a great balance between power and survivability, combining the best of both trees.

Strength-
- Nuking Power. Arcane Power + Presence of Mind + Spell Power + Ice Shards dish out huge frostbolts.
- http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r93/nilechang/Ubercrit.jpg - in full T2
- Survivability. Both in the arcane and frost trees.
- High crit rate with Arcane Instability, Frostbite, and shatter.
- Versatile, with Presence of Mind and Counterspell.

Weakness-
- 3 minute mage- once cooldowns are blown, both damage output and survivability decrease significantly.

Options:
- If you don’t believe in frostbite- switch two points from frostbite to top off Improved Cone of Cold.

Ratings:
Power- ****
Survivability ****
Mana efficiency- ***

VII. Fire Specs

Fire is your damage tree. It has arguably the best lower tier talents and are an excellant place for low level mages to start putting their points. The middle tiers are the weakest in the tree but more than makes up for it with power high tier talents. Fire builds are selfish by nature, and consumes the other two trees only to serve its own means.


The Pyromaniac PvE- Pure Fire
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2000000000000000000000055523201230333105312510030000000000000000000

Fire – 55 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Impact - rank 5/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Incinerate - rank 2/2
Pyroblast - rank 1/1
Burning Soul - rank 2/2
Improved Scorch - rank 3/3
Master of Elements - rank 3/3
Playing with Fire - rank 3/3
Critical Mass - rank 3/3
Blast Wave - rank 1/1
Fire Power - rank 5/5
Pyromaniac - rank 3/3
Combustion - rank 1/1
Molten Fury - rank 2/2
Empowered Fireball – rank 5/5
Dragon’s Breath – rank 1/1

Frost - 3 points
Elemental Precision- rank 3/3

Arcane – 2 points
Arcane Subtlety – rank 2/2

Philosophy:
A spec for purists. This spec includes all the good and not-so-good fire talents and skipping only those that are completely unnecessary. It picks up the tier 1 talents from Frost and Arcane tree only to feed its own power. (very fire-like)

Strength-
- A good balance spec for those who like fire and wish to do both PvE and PvP content. No other spec can be so exclusively dependent on fire spells alone.
- High chance for criticals with big number is what this spec is all about. Also a fun spec to play that is not too mentally intensive.
- Improved Scorch + Molten Fury + Combustion on top of all the +damage and +crit talents can put up quite an impressive series of numbers in boss fights.

Weakness-
- Really not a strong spec for exclusive PvE or PvP.
- Weak in PvP as it is both lacking the tools that the arcane tree offers (presence of mind, arcane power, improved counterspell) as well as the survivability that frost may offer (improved nova, iceblock)
- Weak in PvE as it is lacking in threat reduction and mana intensive.

Ratings-
Power- ****
Survivability- **
Mana Efficiency- **


The Pyromaniac PvP- Pure Fire
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?1050050311200000000000055523001200003125010512000000000000000000000

Fire - 41 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Impact - rank 5/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Pyroblast - rank 1/1
Burning Soul - rank 2/2
Critical Mass - rank 3/3
Blast Wave - rank 1/1
Blazing Speed - rank 2/2
Fire Power - rank 5/5
Combustion - rank 1/1
Empowered Fireball - rank 5/5
Dragon's Breath - rank 1/1

Arcane - 18 points
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Subtlety- rank 1/2
Arcane Impact - rank 3/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Mana Shield - rank 1/2
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2

Frost - 2 points
Frost Warding – rank 2/2


Philosophy:
This is a fire spec with some serious PvP viability. The fat is trimmed from its PvE counterpart to focus on the 41 talent point that are most useful in a PvP environment. The rest of the points can then be used to pick up some survivability and utility from the Arcane tree such as Improved Mana Shield and Improved Counterspell. This is one of the only specs that you would consider Frost Warding, since it does offer you some extra protection against melee and your arch-nemesis the frostmage.

Strengths-
- A powerful fire intensive build for those who swear by Dragon’s breath.
- Although not as powerful as the Nuker in terms of instant burst damage, Combustion offers a more sustained burst that may be more powerful.
- Survivability is reasonable with blazing speed, improved mana shield, Dragon’s Breath, and increased armor.
- Improved Arcane Missile as well as Improved Counterspell are useful under pressure.
- One of the best builds for people who do equal amounts of PvP and PvE

Weaknesses-
- Like all balance builds, this build doesn’t do any one thing the best.
- Share many weaknesses with its PvE counterpart.

Ratings:
Power- ****
Survivability- ***
Mana efficiency- ***

Options:
If you like frostmages or if they just tickle you…move the two points from Frost Warding to Improved Mana Shield and/or Arcane Subtlety
For a PvE version of this build, move the two points from frost warding and one point from improved mana shield to Arcane Meditation. Also move the 5 points from Impact into Improved Scorch and Incinerate.


The Crit Mage (PvP- Fire Hybrid)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2050050312200140300000053523001200003125010000000000000000000000000

Fire - 33 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Impact - rank 3/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Pyroblast - rank 1/1
Burning Soul - rank 2/2
Critical Mass - rank 3/3
Blast Wave - rank 1/1
Blazing Speed - rank 2/2
Fire Power - rank 5/5
Combustion - rank 1/1

Arcane - 28 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact - rank 3/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Mana Shield - rank 2/2
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Presence of Mind - rank 1/1
Arcane Mind - rank 4/5
Arcane Instability - rank 3/3

Philosophy:
The Arcane Crit build picks up the + crit and + damage talents from each tree such as Critical Mass, Fire Power, and Arcane Instability. Together with combustion, this build is able to generate a freakishly long series of big numbers and top it off with a Presence of Mind + Pyroblast.

Strengths:

- A very strong PvP build that shines even more with a healthy amount of + crit gear.
- Ability to keep the best parts in fire as well as picking up some of Arcane tree’s best tools such as counterspell and Presence of Mind as well as mana conserving abilities such as clearcasting and arcane mind.
- A good balance of nuking potential and survivability.

Weakness:
- Build is very crit dependent, a certain amount of luck is involved.
- Lack the mana efficiency and the threat reduction necessary for raiding.

Ratings:
Power: ****
Survivability: ***
Mana Efficiency: **


The Bomb (aka the Shatter Mage or the Elemental Mage) (PvP Fire Hybrid)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?0000000000000000000000053523001200003125012000530320011205013000000

Video:
http://files.filefront.com//;6337063;;/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6992380272308224734&hl=en
(Level 60 version of this build is without combustion)

Fire - 35 points
Improved Fireball - rank 5/5
Impact - rank 3/5
Ignite - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Pyroblast - rank 1/1
Burning Soul - rank 2/2
Critical Mass - rank 3/3
Blast Wave - rank 1/1
Blazing Speed - rank 2/2
Fire Power - rank 5/5
Combustion - rank 1/1
Molten Fury – rank 2/2

Frost - 26 points
Improved Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Elemental Precision - rank 3/3
Frostbite - rank 3/3
Improved Frost Nova - rank 2/2
Cold Snap - rank 1/1
Improved Blizzard - rank 1/3
Arctic Reach - rank 2/2
Shatter - rank 5/5
Ice Block - rank 1/1
Improved Cone of Cold - rank 3/3

Philosophy:
The Shattermage hijacks the frost tree for its ability to freeze its opponents before exploding them with a big fireball. The build picks up all the survivability and freezing talents offered by the frost tree and even has 1 point in improved blizzard for additional ways to proc frostbite. However, it opts out the talents that increases frost damage, instead prefers to break a freeze with its juiced up fire spell. Shatter + Combustion = Crit, crit, crit, crit, crit crit crit crit. If played well, this build rivals that of The Pro in PvP and I believe it will be one of the most fun builds to play. However, it is also by far the most difficult of all builds to play.

Strengths-
- Like the Pro, it strikes a powerful balance between survivability and power.
- Highest crit potential of all builds (Shatter + Combustion + Critical Mass)
- The Fire build for the best survivability. (Iceblock + Improved nova + Arctic Reach + coldsnap)
- Combines the best of both the Fire and Frost trees.
- Fun!

Weakness-
- Lack utility offered in the Arcane tree
- EXTREMELY difficult to play since it is a combo based build that requires careful planning and setting up- refer to Dysic's video for an idea. Takes a real "Pro".

Ratings:
Power- ****
Survivability- ****
Mana Efficiency- **

While there's no way in hell I'm reading all that, I'll support this thread out of sheer respect for your effort in making it.

VIII. Frost Builds

The Frost Tree is solid all-around. Not only that almost all of its talents have synergy with one another. The more points you put into frost, the better each individual talent gets. For this reason, those who spec in frost tends to spec deep into the tree to maximize its potential.


The Ice Queen (PvE- Pure Frost)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2050050210230000000000000000000000000000000000505020310235010251051

Frost – 44 points
Improved Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Ice Shards - rank 5/5
Improved Frost Nova - rank 2/2
Piercing Ice - rank 3/3
Cold Snap - rank 1/1
Arctic Reach - rank 2/2
Frost Channeling - rank 3/3
Shatter - rank 5/5
Ice Block - rank 1/1
Ice Floes - rank 2/2
Winter's Chill - rank 5/5
Ice Barrier - rank 1/1
Empowered Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Summon Water Elemental - rank 1/1
Arcane - 17 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Arcane Concentration - rank 5/5
Arcane Impact - rank 2/3
Arcane Fortitude - rank 1/1
Improved Counterspell - rank 2/2
Arcane Meditation – Rank 3/3

Philosophy:
This rivals the PvE Arcanist in terms of its raid viability, sacrificing a chunk of its power for great survivability.

Strengths:
- Good long term output damage with Winter’s Chill and Water Elemental in boss fights.
- Best mana efficiency of any build with Frost Channeling Arcane meditation, and clearcasting.
- Best survivability with IceBlock, Ice Barrier, and extra nova from Water Elemental.
- Improved Counterspell important in PvE encounters.

Weaknesses
- Lacking in the sheer burst power present in the other builds.

Ratings:
Power- **
Survivability- *****
Mana efficiency- *****


The Ice Queen (PvP) (Pure Frost)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-mage/talents.html?2050000000000000000000005023200000000000000000535320310205013201051

Frost - 42 points
Improved Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Elemental Precision - rank 3/3
Ice Shards - rank 5/5
Frostbite - rank 3/3
Improved Frost Nova - rank 2/2
Piercing Ice - rank 3/3
Cold Snap - rank 1/1
Arctic Reach - rank 2/2
Shatter - rank 5/5
Ice Block - rank 1/1
Improved Cone of Cold - rank 3/3
Ice Floes - rank 2/2
Ice Barrier - rank 1/1
Empowered Frostbolt - rank 5/5
Summon Water Elemental - rank 1/1
Arcane - 7 points
Arcane Subtlety - rank 2/2
Improved Arcane Missiles - rank 5/5
Fire - 12 points
Impact - rank 5/5
Flame Throwing - rank 2/2
Improved Fire Blast - rank 3/3
Incinerate - rank 2/2

Philosophy:
This is an extremely powerful PvP build. I wouldn’t put it on the level of The Pro or The Bomb, but I could be proven wrong. The necessity to use the cooldowns and the water elemental wisely make this build a difficult one to play. More than any other builds, this build is based solely on milking shatter for all its worth. The points in fire are there for one reason and one reason only: Fire Blast. The PvP gloves offer into the expansion gives a 5 yard increase to Fireblast. That with Flame Throwing extends the range of fireblast to 30 yards, which by the way is the range for Arcane Missiles. This heavy investment in frost rewards it players with an impressive damage output as well as survivability offered by no other trees.

Strengths:
- All the best talents in the Frost tree- streamlined for maximum damage and potential for shatter.
- Small investment in the Fire tree gives frost a very juiced up Fire Blast.
- Survivability matched by none.
- Water Elemental is simply amazing in PvP. Use it to set up a shatter from ranged.
- Unstoppable in a player who maximize cooldowns and coldsnap potential.
- Best build against rogues. Summon water elemental and ice block. Watch rogue beat on your ice block and then dies. Never gets old.

Weaknesses:
- Lacking in burst damage
- Require micromanagement of Water Elemental (its stupid)
- Ice barrier, Ice block, Cone of Cold, Frost nova, Water elemental, Water Elemental’s Frost nova, Fire Blast and Coldsnap = 8 cooldowns to keep track of.

Ratings:
Power- ***
Survivability- *****
Mana efficiency- ***

Why are there no Frost Hybrid builds?

Frost Hybrid means that you took Ice Barrier (the weakest of the three 31 point talents). The alternative “The Pro” (Arcane/frost) and “The Bomb” (Arcane/Fire) are both much more powerful than anything Frost Hybrid can come up with.

X. Conclusion and Version History

I welcome constructive criticisms as well as any other creative builds that I may have overlooked.

1.0- 1/7/07

Space Reserved for More Content

Are you sure Arcane Missiles can proc Clearcasting off each wave? I thought i remember reading that Cc was only effected off the inital spell cast itself. I dont use AM, so forgive my ignorance, just curious.

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Q u o t e:
Are you sure Arcane Missiles can proc Clearcasting off each wave? I thought i remember reading that Cc was only effected off the inital spell cast itself. I dont use AM, so forgive my ignorance, just curious.

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You are correct. In fact AM procs CC the LEAST because you only cast it once every 5 seconds as oppsed to every 3 or 1.5 or 2.5 seconds.

Duly noted. I will see to those changes.

you are so bad at making talent specs!

Just musing aloud, but i think you underrated Improved Blizzard's use in PvP. Being able to hit all foe's with 200 damage a second, plus slowing them down up to 70% is godly when used properly. Also, i think Permafrost is an "all or nothing" talent. If you get 1/3 its really meh, but if you get all three and couple the fact that it stacks with CoC's snare AND improved Blizzard.. its actually fairly sexy!

All in all, really good write up. When i first started playing my Mage i read the previous Mage guide several times and it helped map out my talent build. So, cheers for making an updated version!

^_^

You forgot

III. Fire talents