Forum Post of the Day: Frost magi in Northrend
by Chris Jahosky 
Sep 3rd 2007 at 4:30PM
Nayami over on Area 52 makes a good point in a recent thread on the official Mage forums about how magi must usually respec depending on which raid they're running:"So I was talking with a few random raiders on my server, and I was informed that SSC and TK has a large amount of frost immunities?
I mean, I can accept the fact that fire does more damage than frost overall. That is the way it is and ever shall be. But I liked Frost because of the pvp viability and utility it brough [sic] outside of raid bosses and still managed to hold its own in terms of DPS. You weren't going to top any meters but you didnt suck. But Immunities? I dread to see how many things will be frost immune in Northrend."
Magi switching their spec depending on what they're raiding is nothing new -- back in the old days of Molten Core, you had to spec into Frost or Arcane. Other raid instances such as BWL, ZG and Naxx did allow Fire spec magi to raid, but it seems like raid mobs having immunity to certain schools of magic is a step in the wrong direction.
Nayami (and others in that thread) also point out something I hadn't thought about before -- what will Frost spec magi do when they get to Northrend? There are bound to be many mobs immune to Frost spells in the icy roof of the world. Is it fair to make a certain class respec this often in order to DPS efficiently? And when was the last time anyone saw a mob that was immune to Shadow spells? Warlocks and shadow priests certainly haven't found any, as far as I can tell.
Previously on Forum Post of the Day...
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Talents, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Baluki Sep 3rd 2007 4:44PM
Well, at least Frost mages have other spells to fall back on. They can still cast Fireball or Arcane Missiles or whatever, even if they're not very good.
Pity the poor Elemental shaman who goes up against a Nature-immune boss. They might as well put a big "elem go home" sign at the door. Guess we've just gotta toss on our resto gear and heal.
Nyctanessa Sep 3rd 2007 4:50PM
There's shadow-immune mobs in Shadowfang Keep.
... not like that counts at lvl 70 or anything. >.>
Mats Sep 3rd 2007 4:58PM
There are shadow immune mobs among the Netherwing dragons in Blades Edge.
But a shadow immune mob would kill the shadowpriest, as he has no other spells to count on. At least a mage can cast his fireballs now and then, even if it is less efficient then casting frostbolts.
Fletch Sep 3rd 2007 5:01PM
Just think how much fun warlocks are going to have when half the mobs in Northrend are undead and thus immune to fear.
Napi Sep 4th 2007 5:15AM
Welcome to being a protection warrior.
BoomBoom Sep 3rd 2007 5:17PM
Oh boo freaking hoo. Let's discuss all of the mobs in Karazhan that don't bleed. Somehow rogues and cat druids still manage.
Mainstay Sep 3rd 2007 5:14PM
It's really not that common that something is completely immune to a certain type of spell, mainly elementals. They'll probably be extra resistant towards frost though, but then maybe not. Northrend might be "the frozen north" but the entire continent isn't a big ass glacier either.
Quoi Sep 3rd 2007 5:17PM
@ 3
Near as I can tell, shadow immunity doesn't affect smite.
Unbeliever Sep 3rd 2007 5:22PM
Well paladins have to spec Holy if they want to raid so i don't see the reason for QQing.
Axezeris Sep 3rd 2007 5:23PM
Umm...Boo hoo? Go respec, you can make the moeny back in like, a day.
Lets talk about pallys, Woo hoo! Undead gonna get owned! its like WPL/EPL all over again!
Kor Sep 3rd 2007 5:25PM
Blizzard did take a step in the right direction though.
Pre-BC all raids had a Theme. MC was Fire immune and needed Fire Resistance. AQ was the same with Nature. Naxx was half Nature half Frost.
Post-BC, we don't have entire instances dedicated to a certain school of magic, but rather a single boss.
The only resistance fight in SSC is Hydross, who is Half Frost, Half Nature (depending on the phase), there are no other bosses in there that are immune to frost.
The Eye is similar. Al'ar is immune to Fire, but thats the only boss in there like that. Void Reaver, Astroglider, and Kael are all normal.
I havent' experienced it myself, but I understand Black Temple is the same, 1 single Shadow Resistance fight (Mother Shazzrah I think).
I would much prefer these than entire instances dedicated to 1 specific school.
And in the future, we'll likely see something similar.
The Nexus, considering its held with Blue Dragons, is likely to have something related to Arcane themes. I'd bet anything with the Nerubians will be based around Nature. And its probably a given that some of Arthas' Liches will be Frost immune.
Now, some people will debate that it seems worthless getting an entire resistance set for a single boss, when you used to get the set for an entire instance.
I think the biggest point though, is that its nice that we don't have to have our Tier sets dedicated to a specific resistance, as they were pre-BC.
mucky Sep 3rd 2007 5:26PM
Yeah, really it is fair. To be at the top of the DPS charts in raids has a cost, and this is it. It's the same cost that Hunters have to pay for switching between raiding and farming, Marks to BM and then back again (to be fair, we can hunt while specced marks, but it's not as easy).
The other weakness of the Mage (cloth armor) doesn't really come into play in a good raid group, so spell resist (and immunity) is their raid weakness.
Plus, would it make sense that some kind of ice monster could be killed by ice?
haust Sep 3rd 2007 5:35PM
Ahahahah !!
It started about frost mages that would have frost immune problem in Northrend. And it ends with everyone complaining about their classes having their own problem about immunity :)
Poor frost mages ;)
Cathormac Sep 3rd 2007 5:36PM
just wait until we have to do some naga-intense content, frost mages will also be gimped there since naga like to have water elementals as sentries.
Paul Sep 3rd 2007 5:38PM
Yeah, maybe ice elementals, etc., should be immune to frost, but blizz could say that all the other creatures out there have evolved to tolerate a certain amount of cold, and adding any more cold would hurt them like any other creature. Don't those dumb walruses wear parkas? They can't be frost immune if their blubber doesn't protect them well enough.
When i go to the snow, I dress appropriately, but a snowball in the ear still pisses me off. :)
crazyterran Sep 3rd 2007 5:50PM
Arcane is the Best for raid DPS as a mage anyways..
And @ The hunter comment, Beast is also the better of the 2 for Raids, IMO. if put with the right group, they own face.
Leo Sep 3rd 2007 5:52PM
Actually, it's not comparable to mobs immune to bleed or paladins having to spec holy at all.
It's more like having a boss that, while feral and holy paladin specs work wonderfully on everything else, suddenly comes up "immune to feral" or "immune to holy paladin". Which in the case of a mage, is about what it amounts to.
Point is, yeah, it was cute, and it had its time and place. But it's tired and overdone at this point. I would encourage Blizzard to not do away with boss magic immunities entirely necessarily, but at the very least carefully consider the annoyance factor of continuing to do so.
nav Sep 3rd 2007 9:44PM
Give mobs high (but not complete) frost resistance. Then give mages a high frost resistance talent, and build it into the same encounters, along with a spellstealable threat buff or something. You can build these kinds of immunities into a mob without making a class useless. Just takes a bit of thought for alternative mechanics.
Octagon Sep 3rd 2007 6:01PM
So everyone's getting upset about rumors and guesses for game content for an expansion you can't even play for over nine months to a year from now?
TommyWan Sep 3rd 2007 6:13PM
@8
um pallyies don't have to be holy to raid.
my guild uses a pally main tank for Kara
heck go watch the video of 10 pallies running kara and tell me that holy pally is the only way to roll
I'm personaly working on getting a damage set and working on prot/ret