Question about best staff trait for using frost reach as pvp spammable

Caribou77 · September 2022

I’m trying out the Masters Ice Staff using frost reach as my spammable on a Magicka Warden for pvp, and would really appreciate hearing from someone with MagDen pvp experience about which trait would be best on the staff. I’ve always used sharpened in the past, but with advanced species now adding pen, I am wondering if infused or charged might make more sense?

Also, I am not using frostbite set as it feels underpowered, and frost reach and arctic blast are my only frost damage skills.

Thanks for your help and perspective!

Urzigurumash · September 2022

I'm only moderately experienced with MagDen but I think with Frost Reach you'll still get the most damage out of Sharpened, in the long haul, unless Sharpened is pushing you well over 20k in-combat pen where you might overpenetrate some squishier targets. I'd say you don't really need Charged if you're running Frost Reach - since it autoprocs Chilled. If you're using Force Pulse and not using Flies then maybe Charged is a good choice for more Minor Vuln. Infused is a strong choice on MagDen in my opinion, but again maybe not so much with Frost Reach. The buff to 28m was really a big boost to this skill, its 15m range was the main reason I never ran this skill after its last revision.

Urzigurumash · September 2022

Also, you mentioned Frostbite, I like the set, I've mostly been on MagDen the last few patches and this set definitely holds up to others on some builds, obviously either Ice Comet / Northern Storm / Destro Ult are essential to its power.

Caribou77 · September 2022

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it. Good to know about your experience with Frostbite set, I will give it another shot with my current build.

I’ve been using Dawnbreaker of Smiting for my ultimate in PVP, because it seems like everyone blocks Ice Comet when I cast it, And I like the 3% damage passive for slotting a fighters guild ability.

Have you got a good strategy for making ice comet hit? Without people blocking the damage?

ESO_Nightingale · September 2022

Caribou77 wrote: »

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it. Good to know about your experience with Frostbite set, I will give it another shot with my current build.

I’ve been using Dawnbreaker of Smiting for my ultimate in PVP, because it seems like everyone blocks Ice Comet when I cast it, And I like the 3% damage passive for slotting a fighters guild ability.

Have you got a good strategy for making ice comet hit? Without people blocking the damage?

Smiting is probably still the best ultimate choice.

Urzigurumash · September 2022

Caribou77 wrote: »

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it. Good to know about your experience with Frostbite set, I will give it another shot with my current build.

I’ve been using Dawnbreaker of Smiting for my ultimate in PVP, because it seems like everyone blocks Ice Comet when I cast it, And I like the 3% damage passive for slotting a fighters guild ability.

Have you got a good strategy for making ice comet hit? Without people blocking the damage?

Yeah Ice Comet's usefulness definitely depends on your playstyle, content, and platform. I play Ranged MagDen in Xbox BGs, so, not quite the same as dueling on PC, etc. I personally don't find Ice Comet to be blocked any more or less frequently than Leap, and anyhow you can't block its DoT.

But if Ice Comet works for what you're playing, Frostbite is a good set.

It's a very RNG dependent playstyle, you need Chilled + Crits to win. Not something you'd bring to a dueling tournament, but as "artillery" in group settings it's powerful.

It's not all about BGs being a scrubfest either as many would allege, it's a sustained 3 way fight so there are things that work there that simply will not when squaring up in a 1v1, or an OW 4v4, etc. I.e., you're not landing Ice Comets on opponents which have been stunned by other opponents in a 2 way fight, it's not possible - happens all the time in BGs. Backdoored Porch Fights are a somewhat close OW analogy to BGs, but in my experience it's very likely there's a higher proportion of dedicated Healers there.

Vevvev · September 2022

Caribou77 wrote: »

I’m trying out the Masters Ice Staff using frost reach as my spammable on a Magicka Warden for pvp, and would really appreciate hearing from someone with MagDen pvp experience about which trait would be best on the staff. I’ve always used sharpened in the past, but with advanced species now adding pen, I am wondering if infused or charged might make more sense?

Also, I am not using frostbite set as it feels underpowered, and frost reach and arctic blast are my only frost damage skills.

Thanks for your help and perspective!

Depends on how much penetration you have overall. More is always better, and in PvP some people stack a ton of resistances. I know around 20k is a good place to have the stat at, maybe more if you really need it but depends on what your opponents are wearing and where the meta shifts.