Frost Mage Review of Spellslinger Hero Talents – Shatter Enemies to Splinters

Our Frost Mage guide writer, Dorovon, offers an early review of the Spellslinger Mage Hero Talents that truly embraces what it means to be a Frost Mage by enhancing the the core rotation rather than disrupting it by trying to mix in too much Arcane.

Frost Mage First Impressions: Spellslinger Hero Talents

Blizzard recently revealed many new Hero Talent Tree previews, which included the Spellslinger tree that will be shared by Arcane and Frost Mages in The War Within. This tree provides Mages with an option that maintains the fantasy of being a pure Frost Mage. In terms of gameplay, the tree has some issues, but provides fun rotational change through higher Winter’s Chill uptime and some very nice utility options.

Note: The icons for each talent are placeholders.

Keystone: Splintering Sorcery

Spellslinger revolves around Splinters that embed into your target and apply the Embedded Splinters damage over time effect. Splinters are generated from various sources including the Splintering Sorcery keystone node. This talent is designed to further encourage utilizing Winter’s Chill as much as possible and is generally the primary source of generating Splinters. Throughout the rest of the tree, there are various other nodes that contribute to Splinter generation.

• Augury Abounds instantly provides 8 Splinters when you use Icy Veins and enhances Splintering Sorcery to generate additional Splinters while Icy Veins is active.
• Splintering Orbs should consistently generate 8 Splinters per cast of Frozen Orb, but generates them faster in AoE situations.
• Shifting Shards fires 8 Splinters at random targets while you channel Shifting Power.

Capstone: Splinterstorm

On their own, Splinters are not particularly interesting or impactful, but their interaction with Splinterstorm alters gameplay and makes the tree feel powerful. With this talent, every time you generate 8 Splinters it will deal significant damage to your target and also apply Winter’s Chill to them. Rotationally, this means that you will be casting spells like Ice Lance more often to consume these extra Winter’s Chill stacks, providing a significant boost to damage and mobility.

The extra priority target damage provided by the Splintering Orbs and Splinterstorm combination in AoE encounters is also quite nice because while it won’t massively increase a Mage’s single target damage, it can make Blizzard (with Ice Caller) worth casting to massively increase AoE damage without losing out on a lot of single target damage. It is worth pointing out that while this combination allows for triggering Splinterstorm more often on the primary target, the Splinters from Splintering Orbs and Shifting Shards will spread out among all of the targets, which reduces Splinter damage to the primary target.

Choice Nodes

At level 80, we will have access to all nodes in the Spellslinger tree. This means that the main decisions we will have to make are focused around the three choice nodes.

Slippery Slinging vs Look Again
Both of these nodes focus on mobility. Unlike Temporal Velocity, Slippery Slinging provides its bonus movement speed in the interval between initially activating your Alter Time and returning to that location. This is extremely useful for doing many mechanics in encounters as encounter designers frequently encourage a few players to run away from the stacked raid before returning after a short period. Look Again appears to be a much more situational choice, especially because Displacement is positioned in the class tree such that it can be difficult to justify selecting it.

Reactive Barrier vs Phantasmal Image
The central choice node in the tree is focused on defensive benefits. Reactive Barrier is extremely powerful by helping the Mage survive dangerous situations and prevents the defensive value of the Frostfire tree from being too good to pass up due to its Imbued Warding node. A nice bonus that this talent provides is extra healing from Diverted Energy, which is also only useful if you use your Ice Barrier when below your maximum health. Additionally, if Reactive Barrier also applies to Mass Barrier then it is an even stronger choice. While Mirror Image has a longer cooldown and the relative impact of Phantasmal Image is usually going to be small, sometimes increasing the damage reduction from 20% to 25% will allow you to survive more reliably than you could with Reactive Barrier, especially if your healer typically keeps your health from dropping low. Additionally, the extra image can be quite useful in cases where Reduplication is relevant or in niche situations like solo content where having an extra image to tank auto attacks from a powerful boss or elite is helpful.

Volatile Magic vs Unerring Proficiency
These options are purely about doing damage. While Volatile Magic will provide consistent passive damage, Unerring Proficiency adds a burstier option that encourages casting Ice Nova even in single target situations. The best option here will mainly just come down to tuning.

Early Simulations

The descriptions in the Spellslinger tree are fairly complete outside of missing spell power coefficients. Thanks to this, I was able to implement the Spellslinger tree in SimulationCraft and run some early simulations to gain a better understanding of how the rotation is likely to be affected when writing this article. To make the simulations as relevant as possible, I added placeholders for the spell power coefficients that I tuned so that the full Spellslinger tree with all nodes unlocked is worth around 25% single target damage in early Dragonflight raid gear with no tier set or trinket procs (item level 422). The main rotational impacts demonstrated by the simulations I looked at are as follows.

• Frostbolt is cast much less often.
• Flurry is cast less frequently, mainly because the reduced number of Frostbolt casts results in fewer Brain Freeze procs.
• Ice Lance is cast many more times.
• Ice Nova is usually worth casting in single target situations with maximum stacks of Unerring Proficiency, while it was only used to help with movement before.

In a 5-minute single target fight, the simulated Frost Mage was able to generate 374 Splinters on average, resulting in an impressive 74.8 SPM (Splinters per minute). This results in just over 9 procs of Splinterstorm per minute assuming Splinterstorm triggers instantly upon reaching 8 Embedded Splinters and that the Splinters from Augury Abounds do not all land at the same time. These Splinterstorm procs explain the rotational changes outlined above because Ice Lance can be used to consume all of the extra Winter’s Chill applications instead of fishing for procs with Frostbolt.

In terms of talent balance, the big winners are Chain Reaction and Ice Nova. Chain Reaction will become significantly stronger due to the extra Ice Lance casts, while Unerring Proficiency empowers the Ice Nova talent that many Frost Mages usually selected anyway. The talents that are losing the most value are Frostbolt talents like Frozen Touch, Deep Shatter, and Slick Ice. However, Freezing Winds is also getting a little bit weaker because it will be much more likely that Winter’s Chill is active when spending a Fingers of Frost proc. Wintertide at least provides some use for these procs, but if The War Within brings any new single target nodes to the Frost tree then Freezing Winds may be one of the first talents to fall out of flavor for single target.

Regarding secondary stats, mastery will be getting a little weaker relative to the other stats thanks to the damage from Splinters and other effects in this tree not scaling with Mastery: Icicles. Because mastery has been the strongest stat for Frost Mages recently this is not a bad thing and simply helps to balance the stats better. Despite being relatively boring, Force of Will is a nice talent to have as a Frost Mage. Being closer to the Shatter cap at 33.34% critical strike chance feels good, but it is rarely the case that having that much of the stat is optimal. Force of Will will help players to get a little bit closer. Also, the bonus critical strike damage from Force of Will further reinforces gameplay that utilizes Shatter as efficiently as possible.

Additionally, a finding from the simulations that surprised me is that despite Spellslinger relying heavily on Splinters that hit a single target, all of the AoE damage effects seem to result in throughput that is relatively balanced regardless of the number of enemy targets you are fighting. For all target counts I checked, my implementation of the tree was worth between 19% and 25% extra damage. While this is going to be dependent on the specific gear that the Mage has, this is fantastic to see at this stage of development.

Possible Design Issues to Keep an Eye On

• The Winter’s Chill procs from Splinterstorm will feel pretty random and hard to play around for most players when they first start using it despite triggering in a deterministic and predictable way. This will be especially true for players not using addons to keep track of the number of Embedded Splinters that are active. Ideally, it should be possible to play around Splinterstorm without knowing that it is about to proc in advance by ensuring that it has a clear visual design and sufficient delay before the Winter’s Chill activates. For players who do wish to use an addon, it would also be nice to have a simple tracking buff on the Mage to show the number of active Embedded Splinters and a reliable event for when Splinterstorm triggers.
• While it’s great that Splinterstorm will alter the rotation, early simulations suggest that Frost Mages will be triggering this at least 9 times per minute on average, resulting in so many Winter’s Chill procs that it will be difficult to avoid overlapping all of those procs with the debuffs applied by Flurry while also keeping Flurry on cooldown. However, the amount of mobility gained due to being able to cast Ice Lance more often will likely be enjoyed by many Frost Mages.
• Before unlocking the capstone, the tree is not really interesting. The only major gameplay-altering part of Spellslinger is the extra Winter’s Chill uptime gained from Splinterstorm. However, this isn’t a huge problem because most players will level from 70 to 80 relatively quickly and while leveling most enemies will not spend much time at high stacks of Embedded Splinter.
• The tree has a lot of unavoidable choices that can deal damage to targets outside of the player’s control. The random targets from Shifting Shards should be okay as long as it cannot pull targets you aren’t in combat with and cannot target enemies under breakable crowd control effects, but talents like Controlled Instincts and Spellfrost Teachings provide no option to opt out for situations where accidentally hitting a nearby target is an issue. This is mainly problematic in PvP, where a crowd controlled player may be right next to the player you are trying to kill. Unfortunately, this may be tricky to solve without causing other issues because these nodes contribute to the tree’s nicely tuned scaling with the number of targets you are fighting.
• Unerring Proficiency may not provide enough bonus damage to make Ice Nova worth pressing in all cases even at maximum stacks of the buff, especially because it does not scale with Mastery: Icicles or generate procs like Brain Freeze.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I am happy with this initial design for the Spellslinger tree. While the abundant Winter’s Chill procs look a little concerning, the Frost rotation still seems quite functional. It is also great that this tree does not mix the Arcane and Frost schools and instead focuses on clear specialization identify for both Arcane and Frost Mages.

About the Author
Dorovon is a Mage theorycrafter in the Altered Time Discord and a SimulationCraft developer. He is a former raider and analyst in BDG‘s raid progression team where he played all three Mage specializations in the Race to World First.

Splintering Sorcery
Hero Talent
Arcane
When you consume Nether Precision, conjure a Splinter that fires at your target.

Frost
When you consume Winter’s Chill, conjure a Splinter that fires at your target.

Splinter
Conjure raw magic into a sharp projectile that deals damage. Splinters embed themselves into their target, dealing additional damage over 16 seconds. This effect stacks.Splinter
Conjure raw magic into a sharp projectile that deals damage. Splinters embed themselves into their target, dealing additional damage over 16 seconds. This effect stacks.Splinters
Conjure raw magic into a sharp projectile that deals damage. Splinters embed themselves into their target, dealing additional damage over 16 seconds. This effect stacks.Embedded Splinter
Splinters embed themselves into their target, dealing additional damage over 16 seconds. This effect stacks.Embedded Splinters
Splinters embed themselves into their target, dealing additional damage over 16 seconds. This effect stacks.Augury Abounds
Hero Talent
Arcane
Casting Arcane Surge conjures 8 Splinters. During Arcane Surge, whenever you conjure a Splinter, you have a 100% chance to conjure an additional Splinter.

Frost
Casting Icy Veins conjures 8 Splinters. During Icy Veins, whenever you conjure a Splinter, you have a 100% chance to conjure an additional Splinter.Controlled Instincts
Hero Talent
Arcane
While a target is under the effects of Nether Tempest, 20% of the direct damage dealt by a Splinter is also dealt to nearby enemies. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.

Direct damage from Arcane Splinters resets the duration of Nether Tempest.

Frost
While a target is under the effects of Winter’s Chill, 20% of the direct damage dealt by a Splinter is also dealt to nearby enemies. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.Splintering Orbs
Hero Talent
Arcane
The first 8 times an enemy is damaged by your Arcane Orb, conjure a Splinter that fires at the damaged target.
Arcane Orb damage is increased by 10%.

Frost
The first 8 times an enemy is damaged by your Frozen Orb, conjure a Splinter that fires at the damaged target.
Frozen Orb damage is increased by 10%.Slippery Slinging
Hero Talent
You have 40% increased movement speed during Alter Time.Look Again
Hero Talent
Displacement has a 50% longer duration, 25% longer range, and leaves behind a Mirror Image.Reactive Barrier
Hero Talent
Arcane
Your Prismatic Barrier can absorb up to 50% more damage based on your missing Health. Max effectiveness when under 50% health.

Frost
Your Ice Barrier can absorb up to 50% more damage based on your missing Health. Max effectiveness when under 50% health.Phantasmal Image
Hero Talent
Your Mirror Image summons one extra clone. Mirror Image now reduces all damage taken by an additional 5%.Volatile Magic
Hero Talent
Whenever a Splinter is removed or recalled, it explodes, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets.Unerring Proficiency
Hero Talent
Arcane
Each time you conjure a Splinter, increase the damage of your next Supernova by 18%. Stacks up to 30 times.

Frost
Each time you conjure a Splinter, increase the damage of your next Ice Nova by 6%. Stacks up to 30 times.Shifting Shards
Hero Talent
Shifting Power fires a barrage of 8 Splinters at random enemies within 40 yards over its duration.Spellfrost Teachings
Hero Talent
Arcane
Direct damage from a Splinter has a 5% chance to summon an Arcane Echo that deals damage to all nearby enemies and increases the damage enemies take from you for by 6% for 6 seconds.

Frost
Direct damage from a Splinter has a 5% chance to summon an Icy Comet that deals damage to all nearby enemies and increases the damage enemies take from you for by 6% for 6 seconds.Force of Will
Hero Talent
Gain 2% increased critical strike chance.
Gain 5% increased critical strike damage.Splinterstorm
Hero Talent
Whenever you have 8 or more active Embedded Splinters, you automatically cast a Splinterstorm at your target.

Splinterstorm
Recall all Embedded Splinters to you, dealing their remaining periodic damage instantly. After a brief delay, unleash a devastating barrage of Splinters, dealing damage to your target for each Splinter in the Splinterstorm.

Arcane
Splinterstorm grants you Clearcasting.

Frost
Splinterstorm applies Winter’s Chill to its target.Imbued Warding
Hero Talent
Fire
Blazing Barrier also casts an Ice Barrier at 25% effectiveness. This also affects your Mass Barrier.

Frost
Ice Barrier also casts a Blazing Barrier at 25% effectiveness. This also affects your Mass Barrier.