Time Mage spec, thoughts?

[Enclave]

Kinda like Chromie in Heroes of the Storm? I think it would be cool if they added that

[D3athsting]

There was alter time in mop and was fun but blizz removed because it was used a dps cooldown to extend buffs like IV and hero

[The Archmage]

Don't really see Mage specs changing like... ever. They are too embedded in the lore and in the game to be changed.

[Khallid]

Time Mage interpretations tend to be very OP, so it would be hard to do it justice.

[Enclave]

Time Mage interpretations tend to be very OP, so it would be hard to do it justice.

Arcane is OP in lore as well, it doesn't have to be in game play

Don't really see Mage specs changing like... ever. They are too embedded in the lore and in the game to be changed.

I mean as a 4th spec, Druids have 4th spec so why not mages?

[Danare]

It'd be cool. That way my mage can be truly a Time Lord. but I don't see it happening. Creating new specs for classes would require lot of balancing and fine-tuning, which can be better used elsewhere like making actual content and not having content droughts :P

[The Archmage]

I mean as a 4th spec, Druids have 4th spec so why not mages?

Because Druids have 4 specs in order to appease the class fantasy of shapeshifting, thus able to cover all possibile roles. Mages have historically been only ranged dps, and hardly need a 4th spec to just keep doing the ranged dps.

They could make a melee oriented spec, but they won't since A: we are already flooded in melee specs and B: they did it already with the Hunter, and Survival has turned out to be so unpopular that there are rumors of the spec being scrapped entirely and reworked into something completely new once again (some say the dark ranger, but those are just rumors).

Truth be told, as far as classes and specs are concerned, i don't necessarely agree with the concept that "more is better". Sometimes it isn't.

[Enclave]

Because Druids have 4 specs in order to appease the class fantasy of shapeshifting, thus able to cover all possibile roles. Mages have historically been only ranged dps, and hardly need a 4th spec to just keep doing the ranged dps.

They could make a melee oriented spec, but they won't since A: we are already flooded in melee specs and B: they did it already with the Hunter, and Survival has turned out to be so unpopular that there are rumors of the spec being scrapped entirely and reworked into something completely new once again (some say the dark ranger, but those are just rumors).

Truth be told, as far as classes and specs are concerned, i don't necessarely agree with the concept that "more is better". Sometimes it isn't.

Druids have 4 specs because Blizzard decided they should have 4 specs, they can decide anything they want, I don't get your point here

and yeah more is not always better I just thought it would be interesting because Chromie in HotS is one of my favorite heroes

[Army Dreamer]

Could be an interesting concept, but a nightmare gameplay and a nightmare to balance and match the encounters.

[kheath812]

unless it does something other than damage then the spec is pointless because we already have 3 damage specs and theyre all basically the same thing with different spell effects.

[tss]

It's the go-to motif for a mage healer. Arcane magic with a sand theme.

[Ambereldus]

My theory is that, if Blizz decides to do something like this, they might fuse Fire and Frost together and give a Time-based spec as our third. Fire/Frost have similar enough playstyles; they both revolve around their procs, combos, and periodic burst windows. I'm imagining something kind of like Boomkin where you could have a dichotomy of fire and ice, working in a chaotic harmony to wreak havoc, eg Frost spells prime your target, and Fire spells shatter them, with certain spells empowering their opposites.

The problem then becomes "What playstyle type would 'Time' fill?" It would need to be significantly unique from the existing specs, enough to justify adding it as an additional option. Perhaps a non-GCD locked caster, with a decreased GCD like rogues? Something you have to plan ahead of time and not be too hasty (like arcane) but also something that you can vastly improve its performance with skillful execution (like shimmer-lance frost).

I could see it being the "Skill" spec, to complement the existing "Combo" and "Preparation" specs of mages.

[Enclave]

My theory is that, if Blizz decides to do something like this, they might fuse Fire and Frost together and give a Time-based spec as our third. Fire/Frost have similar enough playstyles; they both revolve around their procs, combos, and periodic burst windows. I'm imagining something kind of like Boomkin where you could have a dichotomy of fire and ice, working in a chaotic harmony to wreak havoc, eg Frost spells prime your target, and Fire spells shatter them, with certain spells empowering their opposites.

The problem then becomes "What playstyle type would 'Time' fill?" It would need to be significantly unique from the existing specs, enough to justify adding it as an additional option. Perhaps a non-GCD locked caster, with a decreased GCD like rogues? Something you have to plan ahead of time and not be too hasty (like arcane) but also something that you can vastly improve its performance with skillful execution (like shimmer-lance frost).

I could see it being the "Skill" spec, to complement the existing "Combo" and "Preparation" specs of mages.

Fusing Frost and Fire would be amazing, my favorite spec back in vanilla was Elemental Mage

[Azyure]

I feel like Arcane is already kind of a time-based mage class. What about something really awesome, like a Storm mage or Blood mage. I don't care about lore, anything can be written in (see: spaceships taking us to other planets).

[God Save The King]

I mean as a 4th spec, Druids have 4th spec so why not mages?

Druids have always had 4 specs. Back in Classic through cataclysm, guardian and feral were baked into one, but there was a clear path for dps and clear path for tanking.

When they built the role system, and made massive overhauls to talent and spec identity, they needed to break it into 4 specs, or you'd have all cats being able to tank and all bears being able to dps, which was counter to their design philosophy. No other class had two different roles baked into one talent tree.

[Khallid]

I mean as a 4th spec, Druids have 4th spec so why not mages?

4th spec for everybody! Even Demon Hunters :P

I don't see Blizzard giving themselves more work and headaches from complaints by adding 4th specs out of the blue.

[Lycanthat]

you could have a dichotomy of fire and ice, working in a chaotic harmony to wreak havoc, eg Frost spells prime your target, and Fire spells shatter them, with certain spells empowering their opposites.

I'm imagining a "Freezing" debuff that stacks to 4 from doing only consecutive Frost spells (falls off after 6 seconds) and a "Burning" debuff, also stacks to 4, also falls off after 6 seconds, also only consecutive Fire attacks.
If you can get a 4-stack of both debuffs on a target simultaneously then they are affected with "Temperature Shock", a powerful DOT.

[Ambereldus]

I'm imagining a "Freezing" debuff that stacks to 4 from doing only consecutive Frost spells (falls off after 6 seconds) and a "Burning" debuff, also stacks to 4, also falls off after 6 seconds, also only consecutive Fire attacks.
If you can get a 4-stack of both debuffs on a target simultaneously then they are affected with "Temperature Shock", a powerful DOT.

Yeah, something like that! Having each spell-school apply effects to the target that get triggered by the opposite spell-school.

I think it could work, but I also think its highly unlikely to happen. As Archmage says above, the 3 schools have been rooted in lore since...basically forever.

[Obelisk Kai]

Yeah, something like that! Having each spell-school apply effects to the target that get triggered by the opposite spell-school.

I think it could work, but I also think its highly unlikely to happen. As Archmage says above, the 3 schools have been rooted in lore since...basically forever.

I'm of the opinion that any class having three dps specs, particularly all ranged (or melee for rogues) was a mistake. I think Blizzard would agree.

While merging Fire and Frost would, in the long term, be the right move as both have overlapping playstyles, I doubt Blizzard would do it as they would piss too many people off.

These people might be won over by patient explanation, but it probably isn't worth the outrage from players.

As for a time based spec, I doubt it would be a new ranged dps spec. I think it was Ghostcrawler who revealed that at one point they were knocking about the idea for a time based healing spec for Mages but that it didn't come to pass. If they ever do go the route of giving us an extra spec and if it is based on time, I reckon it'll be that time based healer.

[Obelisk Kai]

If any of you have paid attention to the other information coming out from datamining, then some of you are aware that there is a possibility of playable Nightborne being confirmed in the next few hours.

Regardless of the merits of subraces, if Nightborne are playable, what will that mean for Mages? The Nightborne, due to their possession of the eyes of Aman'Thul and the Nightwell became expert practitioners of time magic.

I know we are almost out of time for speculation, but could that be the segue for Mages to get some kind of time magic? (Maybe subraces can contribute to other classes in terms of new abilities or specs).

Surely if the Nightborne become closer to one of the factions, the knowledge they have will be shared?