Post by Elesthor
well if your not going to AoE grind, then any frost spec will do really, but heres what I used and I didn't AoE grind at all.
The spec I usedThanks, and can you please tell me what was your rotation?
Post by brrobid
At level 23, AoE grinding is definitely a challenge, and I don't recommend it.
While you can level any spec reasonably well, there's a reason we recommend frost: it's more forgiving.
If you want to see really big numbers fly, check out fire specs. But again, you can't make many mistakes .. death really slows down your leveling.
Assuming Frost, and no respec for AoE, here's what your progression should look like. Mind, this isn't the end-all-be-all-definitive, you're welcome to mix and match (if you have the gold to respec to experiment, but this is a reasonable way to go).
Level 23Level 30 -- start using Icy Veins, whenever possible.
Level 40 -- Ice Barrier, hot key it, use it, glyph it. This is where we were headed. At level 40 (when you can reach this talent, I would have recommended a respec to a true AoE spec, which would look marginally different from this one. Since you don't want AoE, this is better. Also, notice Cold Snap .. more useful than many people give it credit for.
Level 47 -- what? 47? Yeah, you'll respec here. You just got Fingers of Frost. It always procs at the same time as Frostbite, but it also works on bosses, whereas Frostbite does not. You lose the freeze effect, but with Ice Barrier, Frost Nova, Imp Cone of Cold, you don't need them frozen anymore. The 3 frostbite points were moved to Frost Channeling. Which reduces your mana costs (downtime) and reduces your threat .. useful in instances.
Level 50 -- The other defining talent .. your pet, the lovable water elemental. Extra dps, and a remote frost nova .. enjoy.
Level 63 -- yeah, long jump. Nothing of significance now ... Notice the backfills in Permafrost and Cold as Ice.
At this point, whatever you want.
Frost Armor, then Ice Armor (when you get it) up all the time.
Your rotation at the moment is Frostbolt .. and another one, and another. Frost Nova (when you get it) if the thing gets too close and back off. And when you get Cone of Cold, hit'em with that before dropping your Nova. Fire Blast is another good one to have on hand.
Try to save your Nova if you can. It saves you from being ganked by a mob you didn't see. Another mobs appears and starts hitting you. Nova, and blink away. Re-establish control of the situation.
At level 40, keep your Ice Barrier up. More forgiveness. Mana shield is fine at earlier levels, but it costs you mana and therefore more downtime, and maybe even a couple deaths going OOM from getting beat on. Ice Barrier has no such weakness.
Once you get Ice Barrier, you can switch to Mage Armor .. even less downtime.
Don't avoid using blizzard, if you need it. If you have mob half dead, and another jumps you, that's not a big problem. Nova, Blink, finish the first mob, burst down the second. If you get jumped by several mobs, Blizzard is how you handle that (Nova, Blink, Blizzard, Blizzard, Cone of Cold) ... just because this isn't an "AoE spec" and you don't have any points in Imp Blizzard, doesn't mean you can't use it.
After level 50, you may find it useful to put at least one point in Imp Blizzard, because you'll find it gives you even more control in situations where you've got more opponents than you planned on.
Enjoy, hope this helps.
Edit: more suggestions/clean up.
