Originally Posted by ZeroWashu
OK, I am confused. You get shatter but not frostbite. You get permafrost but not frostbite? Seems to me that the whole point of shatter is on frozen targets yet the one talent which can do this on regular bolts is left out. Now I fully admit to playing my first frost only mage but to me it seems that if your going to take Ice Shards and Shatter that frostbite is a requirement. Can you explain why this isn't the case? The only freeze effect I am aware of is Frost Nova unless you talent otherwise.
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When using Blizzard, Frostbite is actually a detrimental talent since it separates the mobs you're AoEing. You could take Frostbite over Permafrost for a full Frostbolt spam type build, but early on I find the extra duration and snare to beat out a small chance to proc Frostbite. You also have to remember that if you don't pick either Permafrost and Frostbite, you'll still need to be level 30 to max out Shatter and Ice Shards. There's no arguing that Frostbite gets a whole lot better with those 2 talents than without.
To put it in a different perspective: while spamming Frostbolt, a Frostbite proc will increase the chance you'll kill the mob a bit quicker. The damage increase depends on Shatter and Ice Shards, both of which are very poor at lower levels since your crit rate will be abyssmal and using a Frost Nova to proc a Shatter is a waste of DPS/Mana. Once you get to 50 (Water Elemental), you'll want Shatter and Ice Shards maxed with both pure Frostbolt and AoE specs.