Tinkee's Letter

Freezing Trap
Freezing Trap (3 ranks) Hunter ability 30 sec cooldown Instant Place a frost trap that freezes the first enemy that approaches, preventing all action for up to 20 sec. Any damage caused will break the ice. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Properties
Class	Hunter
School	Frost
Cooldown	30 seconds
Improvements	[Lock and Load], [Trap Mastery], Resourcefulness
Related debuff
Magic Freezing Trap Frozen. Duration: 20 seconds

[[Category:hunter abilities]][[Category:hunter abilities]]

Freezing Trap is a hunter trap, learned at level 28 for 75. It causes the first enemy to approach the trap to be frozen.

Notes

Being a magical effect, it can be dispelled, cleansed or devoured by a felhunter, and is one of the few non-mage spells that works in conjunction with the [Shatter] talent.

Uses

• Freezing Trap is good for Crowd Control. It works on any type of mob, unlike some other forms of CC that require a specific type.
• Freezing Trap is also good for escaping enemies or hostile players.
• Freezing Trap can be used to "reset" the battle, (allows the Hunter to return to max range and have another free shot at the Frozen mob.

Limitations

• Can be resisted.
• Some monsters are immune to this trap.
• Mages can [Ice Block] out of this effect, and Paladins can use [Divine Shield].
• Traps can be removed by using Dispel, [Cleanse] and [Devour Magic].
• This and [Hungering Cold] are the only non-mage abilities that are a frozen effect, and therefore mages attacking trapped targets will work in conjunction with [Shatter].

Improvements

• [Trap Mastery]: Increases duration by 10/20/30%.
• Resourcefulness: Reduces the cooldown of all traps by 2/4/6 sec.

Tips and tactics

General

• If you accidentally place a [Serpent Sting] or [Viper Sting] on a mob that will run into your Freezing Trap try to hit it with a [Scorpid Sting] to overwrite the Serpent Sting or Viper Sting. Serpent Sting and Viper Sting will break the trap early but Scorpid Sting will not.
• While still a good practice, it is no longer necessary to call off your pet for a Freezing Trap or any CC which can be broken by damage. The pet now automatically returns to follow mode.

Raid

• This is a Hunter's main Crowd Control ability. It has the advantage of working on any type of mob where as [Polymorph] only works on Humanoids and Beasts, [Sap] on Humanoids, [Hibernate] on Beasts and Dragonkin, etc.
• If you're having trouble pulling caster mobs into your trap, hit them with [Silencing Shot] first. When silenced, caster mobs will run towards you. Make sure they will be able to get to the trap in three seconds or less, or they will start casting again.
• If the mob is a non-caster ranged attacker, or you do not have Silencing Shot, you will have to use a line of sight pull to get them into your trap. First, put down a trap behind a corner or an obstacle. After the tank pull, Arcane Shot or Distracting Shot the mob you want to trap. Then run and hide behind the corner or obstacle immediately, so that the mob cannot "see" you. If done correctly, it will run to the corner or obstacle and get trapped.
• Holding aggro on a frozen mob will make the mob much easier to retrap when it breaks in addition to ensuring that the mob will not chase after a healer. This can easily be accomplished with [Distracting Shot], which generates hate without breaking the trap. This can become important during long fights in which the target must remain trapped for an extended period. Having a Focus macro will enable you to use Distracting Shot without having to switch targets, allowing you to keep aggro without the hassle and possible danger of switching targets in mid-fight.

Soloing

• When soloing, if you want to use it for an unavoidable add, one solution is to hit a mob with a [Concussive Shot]. You can just use the generic Aimed, Concussive, Auto Shot technique. This way the pulled mob plus the add runs toward you. The pulled mob will be moving at 50% speed thanks to the [Concussive Shot] meaning the unavoidable add will trigger your trap (provided the add is a melee attacker) and giving you 10 or more seconds to fight the original mob alone.
• Freezing Trap is also great for fighting a solo mob. One technique a Marksman spec'd Hunter can use is to lay a Freezing Trap, turn on [Aspect of the Hawk], [Hunter's Mark] the mob, start an [Aimed Shot] and send in the pet. After the [Aimed Shot] hits, fire a [Concussive Shot] and auto shoot. When the mob comes near the Freezing Trap, make sure to turn off your auto attack. Then run forward to near max range (make certain you don't go too far), spin and start over. You can destroy very powerful enemies this way with enough patience, provided they are not immune to the trap.
• Freezing trap is also a great tool for taming beasts. Set a trap between you and the beast you want to tame, back up a bit, fire a Concussive Shot, and then begin the Taming. The concussive shot will slow the beast down for a bit (possibly freezing it, if you've got the Improved Concussive Shot talent), and then the Freezing Trap will stop it for another 10 seconds. This way, you'll hardly be scratched at all during the taming process.

PvP

• Freezing trap is incredibly useful as a means of escape, especially in PvP. If you are rooted, snared, or generally outmatched, you can lay a freezing trap and run. If you feign death first, you can summon your mount to aid you in this; if that's not possible, Aspect of the Cheetah can help you get some distance as well.
• Freezing trap can also be useful in PvP. Lay a freezing trap and then stand in front of it as a safety measure in case there is a stealthed person behind you. Keep in mind that rogues might be able to detect the trap, so do not rely on it too heavily.
• If an enemy player is attempting to run, you can easily trap him by using scatter shot, then laying the trap under him while he is disoriented.
• The trap is great against Warrior's Charge. Place it just in front of you and when a Warrior's charge launches the Freezing Trap start walking backwards and after about 20 yards use Aimed Shot then Concussive Shot and start fighting normally. However, a Bearform Druid can charge straight over it, without freezing.
• Furthermore, Druids who get caught inside a frozen trap cannot shift out to break the trap.

Patch changes

• Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Freezing Trap now lasts 1 minute and hunters can have multiple traps active. Talents enhancements also adjusted.
  
• Patch 1.7.0 (2005-09-13): Freezing Trap now shares the same duration in pvp as other long-duration forms of crowd control (ie: polymorph, fear, sap).
  
• Patch 1.4.0 (2005-04-19): Visual changed.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB