7.1 Frost changes

[Deleted]

I swear if they deem fire "OP" and nerf it simply because of the number of mages speccing into it, I will lose all my hope in their capability to look into game design flaws.

Fire is VERY normal right now, one of the most balanced specs I'd say in terms of AoE and ST damage output. The problem is Arcane and Frost UNDERperforming. Hope they're smart enough to see it the way it is and not gut every mage out there.

so true, if fire needs a nerf, the most certainly other classes need some big nerfs as well, personally im not to concerned about fire, nerfing it makes little sense to me.

[D3athsting]

From home page

No class tuning has been done in Patch 7.1 yet. Changes from the PTR at this point are simply tooltip corrections.

[Sylvaeres]

Fire is "normal" for dps eh?

[Antonin]

And they shouldnt. With 99.99% of mages playing and investing into Fire, a sudden buff and even viability shift right before the raids start would fuck over most of the mage community

So Fire has to remain the best spec for the entire expansion? That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. As long as the difference is within 5%, any of the specs can be at the top. It's no different than another class being stronger in previous expansions. Did the entire mage class have to reroll another class when they were at the top? No, because that'd be stupid.

[Deleted]

So Fire has to remain the best spec for the entire expansion? That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. As long as the difference is within 5%, any of the specs can be at the top. It's no different than another class being stronger in previous expansions. Did the entire mage class have to reroll another class when they were at the top? No, because that'd be stupid.

I wasnt talking about making all specs even, i wouldn't mind that, in fact i'd appreciate that. I was talking about making a spec that was underperforming suddenly be the topdog go-to spec for a class, while everyone invested in another spec, which would pretty much fuck over the majority of the playerbase playing this class. With the current system, you can't just simply switch to another spec. Being within 5% is totally fine, but Blizz being Blizz, i doubt they can balance it this way.

I know its tough, but face the fact that you play a class, not a spec. Sometimes you have to play the spec thats more viable if you wanna stay competitive. If (and thats a big IF) they would make changes and in doing so overbuff a spec, its GG without catchup mechanics.

[D3athsting]

Lol i'm gonna get pyretic incantation today and start working on ebonchill

[PurechaosSK]

Well combustion is looking to get a huge bash with the nerf bat. So that might even things out. No more 100% crit. And only one charge of fireblast... I don't like this.

Um where did you see this

- - - Updated - - -

- - - Updated - - -

So Fire has to remain the best spec for the entire expansion? That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. As long as the difference is within 5%, any of the specs can be at the top. It's no different than another class being stronger in previous expansions. Did the entire mage class have to reroll another class when they were at the top? No, because that'd be stupid.

well were already 1 month into the expansion. WHich means 1 month of grinding artifact power. Blizzard stated that their goal would be to bring up other specs to be more inline with other specs. NOT the other way around. Not bring down a spec you enjoy so that its not what it once once. If there are changes to number of fireblasts etc that doesnt just change the damage either, it changes the entire way the spec work, feels, and plays. So more than just damage it may break the feel and fun of a spec. And then you get to go grind another month of artifact power. Which may or may not results in people quitting and subs dropping down 5 million after a month or 2 just like WoD.

[vvaniish]

Some of the "changes" you are seeing from datamining is coming from the leveling process being changed. On PTR they are doing some leveling revamp where you start off with basic spells which improves as you level up.

Fire Blast starts off with 1 charge and no guaranteed crit. At level 14 it turns into always being a crit and at 48 you get two charges.

Look at wowhead for a full list.

[Aceveda]

Some of the "changes" you are seeing from datamining is coming from the leveling process being changed. On PTR they are doing some leveling revamp where you start off with basic spells which improves as you level up.

Fire Blast starts off with 1 charge and no guaranteed crit. At level 14 it turns into always being a crit and at 48 you get two charges.

Look at wowhead for a full list.

Neat. But Frost also gets Fire Blast?

[Imnick]

Just like every other patch in the history of the game, if something looks wrong (like "frost gets a fire spell" or "spell has unlimited duration") then it is a datamining thing.
This is an update to the tooltips Frost sees when it looks at Fire Blast, it still doesn't get the spell.

[Sw1tch]

the 30% buff to BF proc is real, nothing else. Like Kuni said though, it's only a 2% ST buff. We need a lot more than that.

But on the investment issue. I would love if frost was put up to snuff with Fire, because all of my artifact power has gone into Frost. To some degree they are obligated to balance the specs REALLY well this expansion because of the artifact power investment. For example, if you need to switch to Fire and youve been putting everything in Frost/Arcanes powers, then there's no way you will keep pace with Fire mages that have put all of their points into Fire. Because of that massive investment and how much the traits impact your numbers, they kind of have to make everything at least somewhat equal or youll be behind from the start.

[Dizzeeyooo]

Neat. But Frost also gets Fire Blast?

in 7.1 frost doesn't get ice lance until much later while leveling, in exchange frost now gets fire blast at a low level until the spell gets replaced by ice lance

[Deleted]

The team is targeting a set of tweaks for right before raids open to bring up under performing specs without being too disruptive to the hierarchy of specs.

0%. Definitely 0%.

"without being too disruptive to the hierarchy of specs."

They basically spell out themselves that their specs-gating design is worthless. I was never convinced it made the best sense. It would be probably better to keep the spec questlines and everything as it is and just make AP class-wide.

[Sw1tch]

"without being too disruptive to the hierarchy of specs."

They basically spell out themselves that their specs-gating design is worthless. I was never convinced it made the best sense. It would be probably better to keep the spec questlines and everything as it is and just make AP class-wide.

Agreed, that way you advance as a mage throughout the expansion...not just a X mage.

[Racthoh]

they'll buff frost and arcane enough that you'll want to switch specs for a few non-aoe bosses. maybe they'll nerf fire slightly to help with that.

also, it's not going to be too difficult to get 2 dragons in each of your offspecs soon enough. once the artifact knowledge builds it will seem like less of a big deal to switch specs for different encounters. maybe not in emerald nightmare though.

[fearist]

Well combustion is looking to get a huge bash with the nerf bat. So that might even things out. No more 100% crit. And only one charge of fireblast... I don't like this.

thats not what the change is you spaz, dont spread misinformation. fire isnt getting any change as of right now except for tool tip updates

[D3athsting]

Frost aoe is so bad mobs laugh at you in dungeons, it's incredible it made it to live in this state

[Aceveda]

in 7.1 frost doesn't get ice lance until much later while leveling, in exchange frost now gets fire blast at a low level until the spell gets replaced by ice lance

Seriously? So at lowlvl you'll feel like a Mage, but then you're forced into 1 school of magic? Why the fuck would they do that and just not give you Ice Lance at lowlvl......?????

Fireblast at lvl 3, Ice Lance at lvl 10 replaces Fire Blast.. whats the point?

[D3athsting]

Fireblast at lvl 3, Ice Lance at lvl 10 replaces Fire Blast.. whats the point?

Sense of progression

[Deleted]

Living Bomb doing exponential damage with pack size is nuts. How come it doesn't have an upper spread limit?

Frozen Orb needs to:
1. Do more damage and
2. Get its cooldown reduced by Blizzard hits, like in WoD.

That way you have decent baseline AoE (even if not too bursty), and you can choose to spec Frost Bomb/Frozen touch if you need extra oomph. Frost Bomb should also be instant cast and last longer than 12 seconds. You can barely actually use all your medium CD /FoF generators on CD anyway, Frost Bomb really shouldn't be that cumbersome to use.