Before I start the guide, I'll make a quick explanation. Most groups hate freeze trap. Why? Because it's unpredictable. The majority of hunters drop freeze traps in the path of the pull, taking away the ability to choose the exact mob you want frozen. This is bad, because tanks and main assists like to have particular types of targets die in a particular order. They're control freaks, the lot of 'em.
That said, I would like to explain a method of freeze trapping that not only allows you to pick the exact mob to trap, but allows you to keep said mob trapped safely for long periods of time.
In this image we see our heroes in blue, and the bad evil monsters, in red. Let's boo at the monsters. Boo! Simple enough.
First thing that happens in most pulls is the puller moves ahead of the party to look over the pack and pick a target. At this point, the puller often declares what mob is going to be sheeped/sapped, or in this case, frozen. The rest of the party often tells him that they get it, and to hurry up and pull already.
Here, the puller has moved ahead of the party. Most hunters would have dropped the trap between the party and the monsters, but this is bad! Don't do that! Instead, move away from the direct path of the pull, and drop your trap as shown.
If space is at a premium, back up behind the party, and drop the trap like so. This is not the ideal way to do things, as the monster will end up running right through the party, and this scares the healers. Funny, but not always recommended.
Either way, the puller declares a target to be frozen and you target it. Immediately after the puller pulls, you fire a Distracting Shot at the target. The pack of mobs comes running after the puller, except for that one. He comes barrelling at you, and he's not impressed.
Crikey! She's comin' right for us! However, the trap is in the way. Woosh, crunch, the mob is frozen and away from the party.
Stop! Stop! He deflected my distracting shot! He's totally ignoring me, and running with his buddies instead! OH GOD WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
Fire a concussive shot. Fire an arcane shot. Fire an auto shot. Fire a snowball. Just for the love of pete don't fire a serpent sting. He'll come after you soon enough, because at this point he really doesn't hate the puller all that much.
Anyway, the mob is frozen, the rest of the monsters are trying to pry open the tank's armor to get the juicy treats inside, and you're admiring your handywork.
Wtf rofl u cant put 2 traps!
Sure you can, it just takes some pre-planning! Once you're sure of what target you're trapping (either from being told or having a special icon assigned as your 'trap mob'), get into position and drop your trap. Freeze Traps at their maximum rank will hold a target for 20 seconds, barring resists (of course) or any talents that might extend duration. By dropping your trap as soon as possible, and if need be, firing a Concussive Shot to buy a bit of extra time before a mob hits it, immediately after your frozen friend becomes, well, frozen; drop another trap! Lower ranks (1 and 2) hold NPCs for 10 and 15 seconds, making double trapping a bit more risky but if you have time to set-up on the pulls as described it can still be done.
So, drop a second freeze trap between the mob and the rest of the party. When the mob breaks free of the first trap, he'll take two steps, hit the second, and get another short time out to contemplate the rest of his very short life. If you really need to keep something going for a while, you can do this as many times as needed, assuming you lay off the dots. If the time between your trap cooldown seems to be too long before the trap breaks, just move across to the other side of the room. This will buy you some extra time - and again, a Concussive Shot here can slow the mob down even more. Traps breaking early is the only thing you need to worry about here (and it happens). Just be prepared for that contingency - worst case scenario, you hold it as long as possible and Feign Death. By this time, ideally, at least some of the other NPCs should be dead and your tank should be able to help out. Keep your group informed!
If you're wondering what this *actually* looks like, here's a screenshot my undead mage friend took the time to take. Why is he taking pictures of the hunter when he should be in the thick of things throwing fireballs? Beats me! Good screenshot though.
So that's that. Before you get mad at me for trying to tell you how to play your class, just try freezing like this once and ask your party which way they prefer.
Hi's Peanut Gallery
Q: Can you do this while freezing one - letting your partner hammer on the unfrozen one,
assisting them after you have laid your second trap waiting for the first one to expire?
A: Sure! Why not? Just keep in mind, if the fight is only against two targets, the first will
probably die before the trap breaks, so you really wouldn't have to lay two traps. Sometimes nice
to do it anyway, just to be safe.
Q: Do you just need one puller, the hunter?
A: Freeze trapping a particular mob if you're the one pulling is decidedly more complicated and
honestly not recommended. If you really gotta pull though, it's your funeral (and your group's).
I never do it this way, but you would have to give the warrior time to shout the mobs onto him, and
then you would have to back up and distracting shot the mob out of the pack. You could also melee
a bit and toss a couple wingclips for some free hate. Needlessly complicated, when you can just
have the warrior shoot that first shot, and get all the initial aggro on him instantly.
Regarding Charge or Feral Charge, it's the same thing. You distract after the Charge instead of after the shot. In the higher end instances, warriors pretty rarely use charge to pull, because it can cause unwanted adds. Some warriors are stubborn though, I suppose.
Q: need that i remind u that putting 2 traps is really too much effort, i rather save it when i
need it... after if the trap breaks, u can tank a bit, or have mage polymorph, or use scattershot,
basically that mob is out of combat for about 25 secs. also if u have healer in the group, hes
usually going to pull that aggro.
A: If you're pulling a pack of elites, putting one of them out of commision for an extra 20 seconds
is definately worth the two seconds it takes to drop a second trap.
And yes, if enough time passes, the mob is going to go for the healer. Same with any crowd control. This is what taunt is for.
Q: I thought that Freeze Trap had a pretty long re-use timer. Wouldn't that limit you from being
able to pull off several traps back to back?
A: As mentioned above, it's 30 second recast (not including the 2 second 'arming time' once the
trap is dropped), but it's plenty of time for at least 3 if absolutely necessary. Think about it, you drop the first trap
as early as possible to start your cooldown. The pull happens. Fire a Distracting Shot.
The mob hits the trap and your 20 second freeze starts. By this time, your cooldown should be up,
so drop your second trap. That mob is now set up to hit the second trap, and you have 30 seconds
left on your third cooldown. The two traps will last at least that long (barring early breaks).
It cuts it pretty close with a 20 second Freeze Trap, but it's doable. I have Clever Traps (Survival
talent) in order to chain them for much longer, but it's not required. Just helps.
Q: Sometimes I Feign Death. My testing has shown that Feign Death instantly drops Freeze Trap.
A: It only drops the trap if you are the only one on the aggro list. It drops because, when you feign
as the only one on the aggro list, the mob goes 'back home'. And while it's going back home, it's
in evade mode. If you trap the mob after the warrior has shot at another mob it is linked to,
the mob doesn't try to go home after you feign, it tries to go after the warrior (or more likely,
after the priest who is healing the warrior, if you feign instantly).
Q: Place trap in front of me, shoot another mob, send my pet to another one. If its a pack of 3
mobs, well here you go, you have 1 mob on a pet, 1 on the party, 1 frozen and you can help kill the
party's mob.
A: I used to do this at lower levels, but sadly using the pet as a tank just doesn't always work very well in
the high end dungeons. The pet can sometimes hold an NPC for a while, especially if you throw a
Mend Pet and have a pro healer. But in many situations, it can cause undue stress to your healer and
worst case scenario, diverts mana and time from the healer away from the main tank. If you're unsure
of who you're playing with, can cause things to go south rather quickly because if your pet dies
the mob will now beeline for the healer.
However, using pets as an emergency offtank can be useful, especially if your trap breaks early or if you've only got a few more seconds on your trap cooldown. Send your pet on the NPC, and have it hold it for a few seconds. Drop your trap, then recall your pet. The mob should chase after it, or you (if you distract it back onto you) and run into the next trap. Your pet is smart and it won't break the trap unless you specifically order it to do so.
Q: Take one mob, then drop a trap to freeze it. As soon as he freezes, attack the main mob. Then, drop another
ice trap. It still doesn't seem like there's enough time to trap it twice.
A: That's almost right. For extended trapping, I'll break it down step by step:
1. Before the pull, drop a trap.
2. Immediately after the puller fires/casts, grab one mob and pull it over the trap.
3. As soon as the mob hits the trap, drop another trap between the mob and the rest of your
party (make sure to take a step or two away from the NPC then drop your next trap - be quick!).
4. Attack at will. When the first trap breaks, the mob will run towards you (or less ideally, your
healer), and hit the second trap.
5. If needed, move across the room (or whatever area you're fighting in). When the trap breaks,
fire a Concussive Shot to buy you extra time on your trap cooldown (or send your pet) and then
bring it to the 3rd trap.
6. Repeat as needed. If you have other tools at your disposal such as Scatter Shot, Wyvern Sting
or Intimidation, this can also buy you extra time. If you're worried about Wyvern Sting breaking
trap, just replace Wyvern Sting with Scorpid Sting before the DOT aspect of the sting becomes
active. If your mob is trapped, while under the influence of Wyvern Sting, you can still fire
off a Scorpid Sting without breaking the trap. Just make sure that you do not fire an Auto Shot
immediately afterwards (macro it with the /stopcasting command if necessary). If you're worried
about the mob plowing towards your healer at any point, you can also fire a Distracting Shot while
the mob is trapped - this won't break Freeze Trap (Scorpid Sting and Distracting Shot are the only
two shots you can do this with - Viper Sting, for example, WILL break Freeze Trap).
Q: The question I have is whether the CC gained is worth all that work. Yes, we can do it, but
in terms of downtime/mana spent/organization and prep, is it actually worth bothering?
A: At first, yes, it will take some time. But as you get more comfortable, single or double trapping
mobs doesn't take any longer than polymorphing for the same duration would. It will become second
nature and easier the more you practice.
Here's a couple extra minor tips:
* Make a macro to /party or /raid "** Freezing [%t] **". This lets everyone know what you are going
to be freezing, and it makes you look cooler. Bonus points if you add extra asterisks or a /!\ or
two. Or, ask your group leader to assign you a specific symbol, although Skull (the coolest one!)
is usually used to mark which mob is dying first.
* Traps can fail. Plan for when it does. If your trap gets resisted, tell your party that the mob
is loose, and try to stall it if you can (Scatter, pet taunting, whatever!) before you Feign
Death to keep yourself from dying a horrible death. Even better, have them assume it's only
going to be good for one trap, and tell them when it will be good for two, or more.
Traps in PVP (as noted by Rashale of Emerald Dream)
According to Blizzard, about crowd control in PvP, "Control types of spells such as Charm, Fear, and Stun are subject to diminishing returns. This means that if a second spell of the same type is used against the same player within 15 seconds of the first effect wearing off, the second spell's duration will be reduced by 50%, the third's duration will be reduced by 75%, and the player will be immune to the fourth casting. Crowd Control effects in PvP will last no longer than 10 seconds instead of the full duration, with a chance of a heartbeat resist.