On this page, we explain what the best statistics are for FrostMages in World of Warcraft MoP 5.4, how the class benefits fromeach of them, andwhat your reforging strategy should be. We also detail what the various capsare (if any) and why they should be attained.

The statistics priority is important as itinfluences reforging strategies as well as itemisation choices(gear, enchants, and gems).

Make sure to check our GearOptimisation Guide, which serves as a support guide for thisarticle.

The other pages of our Frost Mage guide can be accessedfrom the table of contents on the right.

1. Basics↑top

The stat priority for a Frost Mage is:

1. Intellect;
2. Hit Rating (until 15%);
3. Haste Rating;
4. Mastery Rating;
5. Critical Strike Rating.

At lower gear levels (approximately below item level 490), Critical StrikeRating is better than Mastery.

For single-target DPS, the optimal balance between stats seems to be HasteRating (until 50% haste when raid buffed, which means 14,242 Haste Rating fornon-Goblins), then Mastery Rating, then further Haste Rating, then Critical StrikeRating.

2. Getting a Better Understanding↑top

2.1. Statistics Explanations

Intellect is your primary stat. You should look for this stat in allof your upgrades. It provides you with Spell Power, which increases the damageof your spells, and increases your critical strike chance.

Hit Rating decreases the chance that your spells will misstheir target (15% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the15% hit cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacks nevermiss.

Haste Rating influences the cast speed of your spells and stackingHaste Rating enables you to make the most of Invocation, by spendingless time casting Evocation and more time benefiting from the+15% increased damage buff that it provides. Haste Rating also increasesthe damage dealt by your Water Elemental. Finally, Haste Rating increasesthe frequency of your procs of Brain Freeze, because it speedsup ticks of Living Bomb and Nether Tempest, anddecreases the cast time and the cooldown of Frost Bomb.

Critical Strike Rating increases your chance to critically hit.Remember that your chance to critical hit with Ice Lance (always castwith Fingers of Frost up) and Frostfire Bolt (always castwith Brain Freeze up) is increased by Shatter, a Frost-specificpassive ability.

Mastery Rating increases the damage of your Water Elementaland the damage of your Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt abilities(through Icicles that store damage and release it when you use Ice Lance).

2.2. How Exactly Mastery: Icicles Work

• One Icicle is produced for each Frostbolt or Frostfire Boltdamage event. This means you get three per cast while under Glyph of Icy Veins.
• You can have a maximum of five Icicles.
• Generating a sixth Icicle will automatically fire the oldest one.
• Ice Lance will rapidly fire all currently held Icicles, and any Iciclegenerated before that barrage ends, at the target.
• Icicles themselves cannot crit, but a critical strike with Frostboltor Frostfire Bolt will generate a larger Icicle.
• Icicles have their own roll for determining whether they will hit or not.
• They disappear after 30 seconds, if you do spend them or do not gain new ones.

2.3. Hit Cap

At level 90, most races require 5,100 Hit Rating to reachthe spell hit cap. Some races, in some cases, only need 4,760 HitRating, thanks to passive racial skills:

• Draenei because of Heroic Presence;
• Gnomes when using a Dagger or a Sword ( Shortblade Specialization);
• Humans when using a Sword ( Sword Specialization).

Note that, in Mists of Pandaria, 1% expertise counts as 1% hit towards the spell hit cap.

2.4. Critical Strike Cap

Because of Shatter, it is possible to have more than a 100% chance tocritically strike with Ice Lance (when Fingers of Frost is up) and Frostfire Bolt (when Brain Freeze is up). To obtain your criticalstrike chance against frozen targets, Shatter multiplies your critical strike chanceby 2 and adds 50%. At 25%, critical strike chance, your chance to critically hit frozentargets is 100% (25% x 2 + 50%).

Enemies are subject to a mechanic called Crit Depression (or CritSuppression). Testinghas shown that when you attack an enemy that has a higher level than you,you deal 1% less critical strikes for each level between you and the enemy.Raid bosses are 3 levels above you, so -3% critical strike chance is appliedbefore Shatter, so you need to reach 28% critical strikechance in order for Shatter to guarantee critical strikes.

This means that stacking Critical Strike Rating beyond 28% (23% with the+5% critical strike chance raid buff) is not very useful.

3. Changelog↑top

• 03 Mar. 2014: Additional notes on the stat priority.
• 30 Sep. 2013: Kuni's review: updated stat priority (Master > Crit), added more details about the new Mastery, and improve Critical Strike cap explanations.
• 10 Sep. 2013: Patch 5.4 update: updated Mastery explanations.
• 20 May 2013: Patch 5.3 update: nothing changed.
• 17 Apr. 2013: Added a mention of the fact that Haste Ratingincreases the damage of your Water Elemental and decreases the cast timeand cooldown of Frost Bomb.

Buffs, Debuffs, and Useful Abilities

Gems, Enchants, and Professions