Post by danroe
So, I've read the following somewhere. Can´t find the exact source, but it was a statement by a blue on how to bring Frost right on par with Fire and Arcane
Adding Frostfire Bolt to Brain Freeze is something wich gets suggested a lot
Let's compare both assuming a cookie-cutter + Brain Freeze frost build:
http://ptr.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vck0cZZVIccofucc0gfktFireball:- Spellpower Coefficient: 100%
- Damage Modifiers: +12% (Torment the Weak)
- Critical Strike Modifiers: 150% (Base)
Frost Firebolt- Spellpower Coefficient: 81,43%
- Damage Modifiers: +6% (Piercing Ice), +5% (Arctic Winds), +5% (Chilled to the Bone) => 16%
- Critical Strike Modifiers: 200% (Ice Shards + Base)
Assuming 2000 spellpower and no raid buffs
Fireball will hit min for 3235 (rounded up) damage and max for 3508 (rounded up) damage.
It will crit min for 4853 (rounded up) damage and max for 5262 damage.
Frost Firebolt will hit min for 2727 (rounded up) damage and max for 2861 (rounded up) damage.
It will crit for min 5454 damage and max for 5722 damage.
On a solo / pvp situation where critical chance is not high, Fireball is a better choice.
Now let´s consider a mage with 3000 spellpower and 40% crit chance in a 25 man group with all buffs up. (+13% spelldamage (Earth and Moon), +5% crit chance buff (Moonkin Aura), +5% crit chance debuff (Imp Scorch), +3% crit chance (Heart of the Crusader), +300 spellpower (Demonic Pact), +6% crit chance (Focus Magic ))
Final Stats: - 59% Critical strike chance (+ 50% from shatter during Fingers of Frost gives you 100%)
- Haste is ignored due to both spells being considered instant
FireballFireball will hit min for 5300 (rounded down) damage and max for 5609 (rounded down).
It will have a 64% (100% during Fingers of Frost) chance to crit min for 7950 damage and max for 8413 damage.
Frost Firebolt will hit min for 4558 (rounded up) damage and max for 4713 damage (rounded up).
It will have a 61% (100% during Fingers of Frost) chance to crit min for 8963 damage and max for 9240 damage.
Pros and ConsFireballPros:
- Higher non-critical, thus relying less on RNG
Cons:
- Lower critical damage, thus making Frost Firebolt a better option in raids (unless RNG hates you)
Frost FireboltPros:
- Higher critical damage, thus making it a better option in raids (unless RNG hates you).
- Freezing effect adds a chance to obtain a Fingers of Frost / Brain Freeze proc.
Cons:
- Lower base damage, thus relying more on RNG.
- Instant Frost Firebolts will have PvP implications, since putting Fireball in the talent when it was created was Blizzard's way of telling us that they don't want us to throw instant slows wich also hit hard.
- Potential scaling issues.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, any feedback is welcome.
DISCLAIMER: All calculations were made using Windows (TM) calculator. If any number is wrong, please post a reply with a correct calculation!
- Kaoz
This post was made by me in the Blizzard public Mage Forums (EU). I felt Wowhead users / theorycrafters should also get get the right to comment on it Edit: WoW Public Forums and Wowhead use different formatting!
Edit2: silly typo
Edit3: Miscalculation on Frost Firebolt due to glyphs