While playing the beta, I found frost nova to be far superior to wave of force in terms of strategic value. It freezes just about everything in place, allowing your character to run wherever you want, and set up for the next attack. This led to some very nice combinations with arcane orb -- frost nova everything in place, then make it explode with an orb. Twister isn't good for single targets (but very good for large packs) since it requires a lot of mana. Disintegrate is strangely very good considering that it drains 20 arcane power per second -- everything just melts. Personal shields are entirely optional.
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