Hey guys, slfan68 here with my first ever guide! I've been playing Jaina on and off consistently since she was released back in alpha, and I'm disappointed that she doesn't really have a good guide like some other heroes do. I'm by no means the greatest player to play heroes, in fact I'm probably fairly average on my best days, BUT - I do have over 73% win rate with Jaina, and she is by far my highest win rate and most played hero. So hopefully this guide can help some people out who are new to Blizzard's Elsa.

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Lingering Chill has become my favorite skill at level 1. I used to always just write it off, why add 2 seconds onto my slow when I can increase that slow from 25% to 30%? Turns out, after you play with the increased slow, you realize that it's pretty powerful to basically have people 25% slowed for what seems like forever. Pick up Deep Chill if you're just really stubborn or prefer how it feels, but I think Lingering Chill can have a bigger impact.

Winter's Reach is the choice for a Frostbolt build, but honestly the range of Frostbolt is already pretty long to begin with, so it's completely fine to choose one of the trait talents at this level for a Frostbolt build.

Conjurer's Pursuit would be a nice talent, if it wasn't up against 3 choices that are a pretty big deal. I've never found myself picking this up, and I don't think you should either.

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Snowstorm is my number one pick at level 4. The radius increase it gives to Blizzard is absolutely gigantic. It's big enough that you can easily hit 3/5 of an enemy team with Blizzard during a team fight, something that would be almost impossible without the increased size. It's also invaluable on maps with AOE objective such as Infernal Shrines. Occasionally on maps that don't need as much AOE for the objectives, Battlefield Of Eternity for example, I'll pick up Arcane Intellect so that I don't have to hearth or tap as often.

Frost Shards is definitely required here for a Frostbolt build. The addition of piercing makes it much easier to hit enemy heroes, and it allows you to hit multiple heroes in team fights. Pretty self explanatory choice.

Envenom My, how the mighty have fallen. A long time ago, Envenom used to be my pick 100% of all games with Jaina (not to mention every other hero who has it). It used to deal all of its damage over 5 seconds, which was absolutely insane for the burst potential. However, the developers thought this burst was too strong, so now it deals that damage over 10 seconds, and it's just simply not good enough anymore.

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Frostbitten and Ice Lance are, in my opinion, the only two real options in this tier. By default, Jaina does 50% more ability damage to enemies that are chilled. Frostbitten raises this bonus to 65%, which is basically a 15% increase in our damage. This is where that Lingering Chill at level 1 really starts to shrine, because now enemies take increased damage from you for 2 seconds longer.

Ice Lance is once again going to be our choice for a Frostbolt build. I don't play Frostbolt Jaina, so I don't have much to provide on that style of her play, but I continue to include it because I know a lot of people enjoy the Q build Jaina.

Frost Armor can be an option to consider in very, very, very specific circumstances. For instance, if the enemy team is made up of nothing but Auto-Attack heroes, it might be worth looking into. Personally, I've never taken the talent, but I've also never had to face off against 5 pure auto-attack heroes in a game before.

Ice Floes It's bad, please don't take this.

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Summon Water Elemental This is the talent I take at level 10. It's a fairly good source of damage, it chills things for your, and it's a body to get in the way of the enemies. No real downside to picking Summon Water Elemental. The reason I take this over Ring of Frost is simply that I am terrible at hitting Ring of Frost.
Summon Water Elemental is as simple as click an enemy and that's it.

Ring of Frost If you can reliably land this skill, then you should 100% take it over Summon Water Elemental. It roots any targets standing in the ring after a 1.5 second delay, and it keeps them rooted for 3 seconds. This ability can absolutely change the tides of a team fight, almost on the same level that a good Mosh Pit or Devouring Maw can. HOWEVER the Ring of Frost is just what it says - a ring. If enemies walk into the middle of said ring, they will not be rooted. This makes it a very difficult skill to land, but extremely rewarding when it does.

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Ice Barrier is where my guide and most other Jaina guides will have a complete split. Most people think that Icy Veins is the 100% always correct choice at level 13, and in some cases it is. However, if you are having trouble staying alive, or unsure if that will become a problem prior to level 20, then Ice Barrier can work magic for you.
Ice Barrier works like this - when you do increased ability damage to chilled targets, you gain a shield for 3 seconds that is equal to 25% of the total damage dealt. Since Jaina is at this point dealing 65% bonus ability damage to chilled targets, this shield can absolutely save your *** in team fights where you might get focused. The reason I prefer this over Icy Veins is that at level 13 we used to be able to take Ice Block which was our main source of survivability, however that was moved to level 20 in the form of Improved Ice Block, so this is our only real source of survivability until we get to 20.

Now, that being said, Icy Veins still has its place in Jaina's toolkit. When you use Icy Veins, for the next 5 seconds, your cooldowns are 3x faster to recharge, and your abilities mana costs are reduced by 50%. I don't have to be an expert mathematician to see that the burst potential with this is enormous. However, you give up a big survivability talent to take Icy Veins, and as big as the burst potential is with this skill, the burst potential of a dead Jaina is infinitely less. Only take this skill if you are extremely confident in your positioning and are sure that you won't die.

Storm Front I find myself taking this most often against Sgt. Hammer, just because it can be extremely dangerous to get close enough to hit her otherwise. Not a bad talent, and if it works for you, by all means take it. It just isn't my preference at this level.

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Northern Exposure is incredible. Vulnerability makes enemies take 25% increased damage for 2 seconds. This is 25% increased damage for everyone, not just you. Your ideal scenario is to get within Cone of Cold range, and drop a Blizzard immediately followed by Cone of Cold onto your intended victim. The Cone of Cold will hit the enemies before the first wave of Blizzard does, which means that they not only are vulnerable for the duration of Blizzard, but they are also chilled for both waves instead of just being chilled for the 2nd wave if you cast those 2 abilities in reverse.

I have honestly never picked Numbing Blast, and I've only ever tried Snow Crash in a moderately successful Blizzard build that I may add to this guide at some point. I think both of these abilities can be useful, so I don't want to scare someone away from trying them out, but Northern Exposure is a skill you simply can't go wrong with.

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Improved Ice Block Improved Ice Block Improved Ice Block Improved Ice Block Improved Ice Block

I cannot say enough how good Improved Ice Block is. I'm one of the few players who prefers how it is at level 20 now over the old version. The cooldown being reduced from 60 seconds to 20 seconds was absolutely amazing, because it's pretty much up anytime you need to use it. Kael'thas just targeted you with Pyroblast? Improved Ice Block. Nova targeted you with Triple Tap? Improved Ice Block. Illidan thinks you are not prepared for The Hunt? Improved Ice Block. The number of bad situations that Improved Ice Block can save you from is huge, and it's easily my most important talent at 20, and possibly my most important talent in her entire tree.

Cold Snap is really the only "bad" choice here. Both Wintermute and Arcane Power are substantial increases to your DPS, but I find myself only picking those talents when my team is already pretty safely ahead.