Ray of Frost (20 Arcane Power per Second): You project a ray of icy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to the first enemy it hits, and Slows its target’s movement by 30% while hitting and for 3 seconds afterwards.
The first Secondary skill available to Wizards, Ray of Frost is an amazing single-target attack, actually outclassing all the other Wizard Secondary skills for damage to a single target and slowing it besides. If you’re facing off with a boss, this is your favorite Secondary Skill with the only plausible exception being Izual. Despite that you have to hold still as long as you’re using the Ray, it’s immensely useful- particularly given that the Slow effect means that even if it approaches you, you’re buying extra time to hit the target with more Frost Ray. The cost is also very nice compared to Disintegrate, the other Secondary ray.
Numb (20 Arcane Power per Second): You project a ray of icy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to the first enemy it hits, and Slows its target’s movement by 60% while hitting and for 3 seconds afterwards.
Protracting the time you can hit something with Ray of Frost while it approaches you, Numb also improves the support ability of Ray of Frost, enabling you to use it to slow down an enemy chasing an ally while you and the ally hand them even more damage. A very nice beginning rune that you may find yourself using later in the game as well.
Snow Blast (20 Arcane Power per Second): You project a ray of icy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to the first enemy it hits, and Slows its target’s movement by 30% while hitting and for 3 seconds afterwards. The damage dealt increases the longer you hit the same target with Snow Blast, to a maximum of 280% weapon damage as Cold damage per second.
Snow Blast is the prime form of Ray of Frost for boss fights, steadily ramping its power up even beyond what it originally had and rewarding you handsomely for facing down single targets with it. In combination with a complete Cold suite, this will easily become one of your main tools for flattening even bosses such as Diablo. A strong rune at any level, and an excellent way to pretend you’re a Void Ray.
Cold Blood (12 Arcane Power per Second): You project a ray of icy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to the first enemy it hits, and Slows its target’s movement by 30% while hitting and for 3 seconds afterwards.
The alternative to Snow Blast for facing off with bosses, Cold Blood should only be used if you have a party member with you who can keep a strong hold of the boss’ attention. If you have that though, the sheer length of time you can maintain the Cold Blood on said boss will allow this rune to compete with Snow Blast for your entire career. This also has the advantage of being more useful for non-boss fights, since it doesn’t care how long you focus on any one target and lets you keep your ray going for longer.
Sleet Storm (20 Arcane Power per Second): You project an area of snowy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to all enemies within 8 yards of you.
While Sleet Storm seems like an amazing idea on paper, the fact that you have to stand still to use it puts a giant hole in its usefulness. The damage is nice, but standing in the middle of a batch of enemies while not using any of your other skills is not a good way to win a fight, even if you are freezing everything that touches you to death. While it makes a cool gimmick, in most cases this rune is just too impractical to be a good choice.
Black Ice (20 Arcane Power per Second): You project a ray of icy cold that deals 215% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to the first enemy it hits, and Slows its target’s movement by 30% while hitting and for 3 seconds afterwards. Enemies you kill with Black Ice leave behind an icy patch on the ground that deals 64% weapon damage as Cold damage per second to any enemy passing through it.
Probably the most useful form of Ray of Frost for dealing with large numbers of enemies, Black Ice can have incredible effects on enemy formations if you’re quick enough to target the smallest enemies first. While the area of the ice patches isn’t tremendous, it’s more than enough to dish out scads of extra damage- anything stuck in a patch for the full three seconds that the patch lasts will take a whopping 194% weapon damage as Cold damage, which means that training Black Ice on one enemy and then shifting it to another enemy trying to cross the icy patch in order to reach you will do a lot of damage.
