Clicker to button pusher mage

Hi everyone, I am trying to convert myself from a clicker to a button pusher as a Frost mage. In my 5 years playing this game I have gotten by using w,a,s,d to move and clicking everything. In my time playing I have always heard that clickers are at a disadvantage as far as reaction time and getting spells off efficiently. I really enjoy playing this class and wanted to know how some of you configure your spells...this is for PvP or PvE, doesnt really matter.

For me I have as follows:

1 - Frostbolt
2 - Ice Lance
3 - Deep Freeze
4 - Cone of Cold
5 - Frostfirebolt
R- Frost Nova
Mouse wheel when clicked - Blink

All of the rest I click (ice block, barrier spells, etc.). At this point I'm still getting used to this whole button thing and moving my character with the mouse and I guess I should change "a" and "d" to my strafe buttons? Any extra help would be great!

That's a good start.
There's plenty of options for keybindings.
I personally put my main spells on 1 - 5, then use the following for other things.

R, C, X, ~ (next to 1), Caps, Z, F,
Shift 1, Shift 2, Shift 3, Shift 4, Shift 5, Shift R, Shift F.

I use R for counterspell, shift R for spellsteal,
things like that.

I keep all my spells that I use often well within reach.
I also keep other spells between 6 through = that I use now and then.

Though not needed, I would recommend a Razor Naga.
It can be hard to get use to, but once you can use every button on it without thinking about it,
there is no better tool.

Good luck!
Hope this helped a little :)



1 - Frostfire Bolt
2 - Frostbolt
3 - Ice Lance
4 - Deep Freeze
5 - Pet Freeze
6 - Blizzard
7 - Cone of Cold
8 - Cold Snap
9 - Ice Barrier

1 - Presence of Mind
2 - Arcane Blast
3 - Arcane Missles
4 - Arcane Barrage
5 - Arcane Explosion
6 - Don't remember...
7 - Evocation

1 - Living Bomb
2 - Pyroblast
3 - Fireball
4 - Fireblast
5 - Blast Wave
6 - Flamestrike
7 - Dragon's Breath

- is Frost Nova, = is Blink, but Blink is also bound to Mouse Button 5. And Frost Nova and Blink are in the same space, every spec.
`~ <- tilde key is Counterspell. Shift Mouse Button 4 is Ice Block, Shift Mouse Button 5 is Invis.
I think that's it. These are at least mostly correct. xD

Edit: Really should start using preview... >__>
Razor naga mouse to help you convert.90$ but well worth the investment.
I second the suggestion to get a Naga mouse. Those extra 12 buttons on your thumb are a great asset.

You probably want to be sure that "cast on keydown" is turned on so that the benefits of faster reaction time you are getting from using keybinds instead of clicking translates fully to the game.

Another tool you can use to help train yourself to use the keybinds is to simply hide your actionbars after you setup the keybinds. You can't click something if you cant see it. For things that you need to see cooldowns for, you can use a cooldown monitor (like Sexy Cooldown Bar) or power auras / weak auras.
^agreed. naga is very nice, and there are 2 different versions now I think. They're both the same, except one is wireless, or it is an option to be wireless.


Thanks for the tips guys! I have never heard of the Naga mouse, but ill look into that and if it doesnt break the bank I'd be game to try it out.
Any extra mouse buttons are helpful. I don't have a Naga, but it's nice to have interrupts, Polymorph, etc. on a mouse click.
You don't need a naga to use key bindings at all, use normal keys 1-7 , Shift 1-7, alt 1-4 and then RTY/FGH/CVB
Don't forget ` and zxcv.

Also, it's helpful to keep like abilities similar across characters.

My interupt is r on nearly all my toons.
CC is c.
Mouse over focus is Z.
DPS CD is v.
You get the idea....

Another helpful thing is to use a shift modifier for your focus macros.

So shift r is focus interrupt.
Shift c is focus CC.
Etc.