February 22, 2024 1 min to read

Zero GCD / CWC and me

0GCD / CWC, wtf does that even mean?

Most spells in world of warcraft activate “The Global Cooldown” aka the GCD. The global cooldown is 1.5 seconds, reduced by your haste (1.5/(1+haste%)), and cannot go lower than 0.75s. However some spells do not activate the global cooldown, and are not affected by the global cooldown being currently active. Fire is rife with spells that are “0-GCD” or unaffected by the global cooldown. Namely Fireblast, Combustion, Ice Cold, Alter time, Counter Spell, Ice Floes, and Shimmer.

All this really means, is on-gcd spells, abilities, items, etc cannot be used at the same time. Your current GCD must finish before the next can begin. However 0 GCD spells CAN be used at the same time as on-gcd spells, or at anytime during their GCD, and they should be used as such to maximize the amount of on-gcd spells you’re getting.

One caveat to this, even less spells are “castable while casting”. CWC simply means you can use it while you have a cast bar active. Very few spells in the game are able to do this; however, Fire yet again has a few. Namely Ice Floes, Shimmer, Combustion and Fireblast. The skinny on this is that Combustion must ALWAYS be used with a cast and Fireblast, Ice Floes and Shimmer must always be used with a cast or while another GCD is active.

Do note, 0GCD does not mean it is CWC. They are different identifiers that you have to pay attention to. If you are ever curious as to whether a spell is 0GCD, CWC, or both, you can always find the details on Wowhead!