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  1. #1
    Herald of the Titans Shangalar's Avatar
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    [Mage-WoD] Mage Beta Discussion

    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    General
    *New Spell* - Amplify Magic - Amplify the effects of helpful magic, increasing all healing received by 20% for all party and raid members within 100 yards. Lasts 10 sec.

    Spell Changes:
    • Dragon’s Breath’s Disoriented effect now shares Diminishing Returns with all other Mesmerize effects.
    • Ice Ward’s Frozen effect now shares Diminishing Returns with all other Root effects.
    • Improved Counterspell has been removed.
    • Presence of Mind can no longer turn Polymorph into an instant-cast spell.

    Automatically learned glyphs
    • Level 25: Frost Nova, Blink
    • Level 50: Polymorph
    • Level 75: Frostfire Bolt, Water Elemental

    Talents
    Presence of Mind and level 15 talents:
    Presence of Mind was extremely strong for instant CC, which we wanted to curtail. Rather than completely remove Presence of Mind or make it not affect CC abilities, we made it a base Arcane spell, where we don't expect that it will be a problem, since Arcane has less CC than the other Mage specs already. In its place, we've added a new talent, Evanesce.

    • Presence of Mind is no longer a Talent, and is instead learned by Arcane Mages.
    • Evanesce is a new Talent available at level 15.
    • Evanesce: Fade into the nether, avoiding all attacks against you for 3 seconds. This spell may be cast while a cast-time spell is in progress and is not on the global cooldown. Replaces Ice Block. 45-second cooldown.

    Alter Time and level 30 talents:
    Going along with our goals to reduce cooldown stacking across all of the classes, we decided to remove Alter Time's DPS contribution. Alter Time has a number of clever movement and utility uses, but in practice it was mostly being used for additional uptime of offensive cooldowns. Mages also had many redundant forms of survival utility, so we moved a utility-only version of Alter Time into the Talent tree, replacing Temporal Shield.

    • Temporal Shield has been removed.
    • Alter Time is now a level-30 Talent, replacing Temporal Shield.
    • Alter Time now lasts for 15 seconds (up from 6 seconds), has a 90 second cooldown (down from 3 minutes), and no longer affects the casting Mage’s mana, buffs, or debuffs.

    Cold Snap and level 60 talents:
    A few of the abilities reset by Cold Snap were made spec-specific, or could be overridden with Talents, so we expanded what it can affect to compensate.

    • Cold Snap now also resets the cooldown of Presence of Mind, Dragon's Breath, and Evanesce.

    Bombs and level 75 talents:
    The Mage Bomb level-75 Talent row, the Bomb row, was also problematic. We chose to add the Bombs to all Mages' rotations in order to spice them up a bit, to provide rotational variety. That succeeded, and we're overall happy with how they interact with your rotation in a single-target situation, but they also came with the prospect of multi-dotting (applying your damage-over-time spell to many enemies, individually), which we don't feel is an appropriate fit for Mages. Additionally, in order to make all 3 Bombs useful to all specializations, we had to lose some of their spec-specific perks. And, even more importantly, many Mages did not like DoT gameplay at all.

    In order to solve all of these problems, we decided to merge the 3 current Bomb Talents into one that changes based on spec. That allows us to reintroduce spec-specific perks to each Bomb, and makes room for some non-DoT alternatives.

    • Nether Tempest, Living Bomb, and Frost Bomb are now available to their corresponding specialization only, and share the left Talent slot.
    • Nether Tempest can now only be on 1 target at a time (down from unlimited), but its secondary damage now hits all targets in range (up from only 1), and deals 100% of the primary damage (up from 50%).
    • Living Bomb can once again be applied to multiple targets, can be spread by Inferno Blast, and has a normal 1.5 second cooldown. More of its damage has been moved into its explosion.
    • Frost Bomb has been redesigned. It now lasts 12 seconds, has no cooldown, and explodes every time the target is critically hit by the Mage's Ice Lance. The damage per explosion has been reduced by 75% to compensate.
    • Unstable Magic is a new Talent available at level 75, in the middle Talent slot.
    • Unstable Magic: Arcane Blast, Fireball, and Frostbolt have a 25% chance to explode on impact, dealing an additional 50% damage to the target, and all other enemies within 8 yards.
    • The right level-75 Talent slot is now filled by a new Talent that varies by specialization.
    • Supernova: Cause a pulse of Arcane energy around the target enemy or ally, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and knocking them up. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 25-second cooldown. Instant cast.
    • Blast Wave: Cause an explosion of fiery force around the target enemy or ally, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and dazing them, reducing their movement speed by 70% for 4 seconds. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 25-second cooldown. Instant cast.
    • Ice Nova: Cause a whirl of icy wind around the target enemy or ally, dealing Frost damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and freezing them for 4 sec. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 20-second cooldown. Instant cast.

    Mana regeneration and level 90 talents:
    One of the most problematic Talent rows in the game has been the Mage level-90 row. The primary theme of the row was mana, which only Arcane Mages actually cared about. Bonus damage was added in, making it functional for all Mages, but muddled in its goals. Additionally, some of them just weren't fun to play with. We've revised the row to be purely about damage, and made them have less maintenance cost. Arcane Mages will have enough mana regeneration without these Talents to perform well.

    • Invocation has been removed.
    • Mirror Image is now a level-90 Talent, replacing Invocation.
    • Mirror Images now inherit 50% of the Mage’s Spell Power (up from 5%).
    • Rune of Power no longer replaces Evocation, no longer increases mana regeneration, and now lasts 3 minutes (up from 1 minute).
    • Incanter's Ward has been removed.
    • Incanter's Flow is a new level-90 Talent, replacing Incanter's Ward.
    • Incanter's Flow: Magical energy flows through you, increasing all spell damage done by 5% per stack. While in combat, the magical energy builds up to 5 stacks over 5 seconds and then diminishes down to 1 stack over 5 seconds. This cycle repeats every 10 seconds.

    Level 100 Talents:
    Left
    • Overpowered (Arcane) - Casting Arcane Missiles extends Arcane Power by 2sec.
    • Kindling (Fire) - Your Fireball, Pyroblast, and Inferno Blast critical strikes reduce the cooldown remaining on Combustion by 1 sec.
    • Thermal Void (Frost) - Casting Ice Lance extends your Icy Veins by 2 sec.

    Middle
    • Prismatic Crystal - Conjures a prismatic crystal at the target location, which is attackable by only the Mage, and takes 30% additional damage. When the crystal takes damage, it instantly releases a burst of energy dealing that damage, split evenly between all enemies within 8 yards. 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown

    Right
    • Arcane Orb (Arcane) - Launches an Arcane Orb forward from the Mage's position, traveling up to 40 yards, dealing XXXX Arcane damage to enemies it passes through. Grants the Mage an Arcane Charge every time it deals damage. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
    • Meteor (Fire) - Calls down a meteor which lands at the target location after 3 sec, dealing XXXX Fire damage, split evenly between all targets within 8 yards. Also burns the ground, dealing an additional XXXX Fire damage every 1 sec for 8 sec to enemies in the area. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown
    • Comet Storm (Frost) - Calls down a series of 7 icy comets on and around the target, each of which does XXXX Frost damage, split between all enemies within 4 yards of its impact point. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

    Spec changes

    Arcane

    Draenor Perks:
    • Improved Arcane Barrage - Increases the damage dealt to secondary targets of Arcane Barrage from 50% to 100%.
    • Enhanced Arcane Blast - Each stack of Arcane Charge now reduces the cast time of Arcane Blast by 5%.
    • Enhanced Arcane Missiles - Increases the maximum stacks of Arcane Missiles by 1.
    • Improved Arcane Power - Arcane Power now reduces the cost of your spells by 10% instead of increasing the cost by 10%.
    • Improved Blink - Your movement speed is increased by 60% for 2 sec after using Blink.
    • Improved Evocation - Reduces the cooldown of Evocation by 30 sec.
    • Improved Arcane Blast - Increases the damage of Arcane Blast by 20%.
    • Improved Arcane Missiles - Increases the damage of Arcane Missiles by 20%.
    • Improved Arcane Explosion - Increases the damage of Arcane Explosion by 20%.

    Spell changes:
    • Arcane Blast's cast time has been increased to 2.25 seconds (up from 2 seconds), and its damage has been increased by 12.5% to compensate.
    • Arcane Charges now last 15 seconds (up from 10 seconds).
    • Slow (Arcane) no longer increases casting time and can be cast on multiple targets.
    • Presence of Mind is now a spell learned by Arcane Mages and can no longer be used with Polymorph.
    • Arcane Barrage now replaces Fire Blast for Arcane Mages.
    • Arcane Blast now replaces Frostfire Bolt for Arcane Mages.
    • Arcane Explosion is now available only to Arcane Mages.
    • Evocation is now available only to Arcane Mages.
    • Mage Armor is now available only to Arcane Mages and is now a passive effect.

    Fire

    Draenor perks:
    • Improved Flamestrike - Flamestrike no longer has a cooldown.
    • Enhanced Inferno Blast - Reduces the cooldown of Inferno Blast by 1 sec.
    • Improved Pyroblast - Increases the critical strike chance of Pyroblast by 15%.
    • Improved Inferno Blast - Inferno Blast now spreads the damage over time effects of Pyroblast, Ignite, and Combustion to 2 additional targets.
    • Improved Combustion - Increases the duration of Combustion by 20%.
    • Improved Scorch - After casting Scorch, your movement speed is increased by 30% for 3 sec.
    • Improved Fireball and Frostfire Bolt - Increases the damage of Fireball and Frostfire Bolt by 20%.
    • Improved Dragon's Breath - Increases damage of Dragon's Breath by 50%.
    • Enhanced Fireball - When your Fireball fails to critically strike a target, you gain a 5% increased chance for Fireball to be a critical strike for 15 sec. This effect ends when Fireball successfully critically strikes a target.

    Spell Changes:
    • Combustion now replaces Deep Freeze for Fire Mages.
    • Dragon’s Breath now replaces Cone of Cold for Fire Mages.
    • Flamestrike is now available only to Fire Mages.
    • Pyromaniac has been removed.
    • Molten Armor is now available only to Fire Mages and is now a passive effect.

    Frost

    Draenor Perks:
    • Enhanced Frostbolt - Frostbolt's cast time is reduced by 0.5 sec. This effect is disabled for 15 sec after you benefit from it.
    • Enhanced Ice Lance - Fingers of Frost can stack 1 additional time.
    • Improved Frost Nova - After casting Frost Nova, you will instantly teleport 10 yards behind you.
    • Improved Icy Veins - Increases the amount of Haste gained from Icy Veins by 10.
    • Improved Frostbolt - Increases the damage of Frostbolt by 20%.
    • Improved Ice Lance - Increases the damage of Ice Lance by 20%.
    • Improved Blizzard - Each time Blizzard deals damage, it reduces the cooldown of Frozen Orb by 1 sec.
    • Improved Water Elemental - Your summoned Water Elemental now also knows the Water Jet spell. Water Jet - Channels a jet of icy water at the target, dealing XXXX Frost damage to the target over 4 sec. The Mage's Frostbolts that hit the target while it is being blasted with icy water will grant a charge of Fingers of Frost.
    • Improved Frostfire Bolt - Increases the damage of Frostfire Bolt by 20%.

    Spell Changes:
    • Frost Armor now grants 15% chance to Multistrike instead of 7% Haste.
    • Glyph of Icy Veins now causes Icy Veins to provide 75% chance to Multistrike, instead of 20% Haste.
    • Shatter now multiplies Critical Strike chance by 1.5 (down from 2).
    • The Brain Freeze effect no longer makes Frostfire Bolt instant, but it can now stack to 2. It also no longer triggers from the Bomb Talents, and instead has a 10% chance to trigger from Frostbolt casts. Each Multistrike of Frostbolt increases that cast's chance by an additional 45%. (Total of 100% on double-Multistrikes).
    • Blizzard is now available only to Frost Mages.
    • Deep Freeze is now available only to Frost Mages.
    • Frost Armor is now available only to Frost Mages and is now a passive effect.
    • Ice Lance now replaces Fire Blast and is only available to Frost Mages.
    • Mana Gem has been removed.
    • Shatter is now available only to Frost Mages.
    Last edited by Shangalar; 2014-04-08 at 05:55 PM.
    My magic will tear you apart.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Generally it seems that all the changes are focused on the minor talents in fixing our 'early game' DPS. Arcane seems to be moving away from the stand still and shoot things, to the whole idea of stand still and shoot things while pressing other buttons too. Fire has been slightly moved away from the generic heroic gear needed for reasonable DPS due to minor talents. Finally frost seems to be enjoying some multistrike love.

    As for the talents change generally, I am disappointed. But we'll have to wait for Alpha to see how they actually play together.

    My only other confusions lie in how arcane is going to manage without consistently high mana regen from rune of power, interesting stuff. This whole patch note release has left a sour taste though.

  3. #3
    Key one for me - RoP is no longer required for mana regen. Tick a big box there blizzard.

    Rest of it - still soaking it all in

  4. #4
    Seems interesting, I'm glad they are killing off the multi dotting aspect of arcane, that shit was really annoying.

  5. #5
    Mirror image pls. Don't make me choose.


    Incanter's flow sounds kind of cool, though. And I like the changes to the bombs.

  6. #6
    Herald of the Titans Shangalar's Avatar
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    I haven't actually read anything yet, just copypasting as fast as possible
    My magic will tear you apart.

  7. #7

  8. #8
    Stood in the Fire
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    For me, dotting and especially multidotting isn't a part of being an arcane/frost mage. It made me feel warlocky, which I don't like. So I'm glad they are getting rid of that.

    Alter Time change I like. I always felt it was really clunky and annoying to use as a DPS cooldown. I'm a bit sad that Mirror Image is a talent now. It's been a very iconic part of mages in WoW. Having to have to pick it as a talent sucks.

  9. #9
    Awful, awful changes overall.

    Some (Akraen) will enjoy a faceroll class however. Just pick passive talents. No more dot, alter time or mirror image. Just mindlessly cast, cast and win.

    Infracted, let's not pick fights -voltaa
    Last edited by voltaa; 2014-04-04 at 01:22 AM.

  10. #10
    Really? Removing Evocation from fire and frost? How in the hell are we supposed to survive in PvP?

  11. #11
    So I'm at a bit of a loss what they are gonna do about our mana regen. I haven't had the time to fully read everything yet but I see all of our regen aside from arcane is removed, yet for Fire and Frost we have nothing. Very interesting.... All that aside, I am happy to see them redoing some of our talent tree, The 90 tree looks like some fun stuff to work with.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Ticj View Post
    Really? Removing Evocation from fire and frost? How in the hell are we supposed to survive in PvP?
    My advice is to look at the notes as a whole (its quite large so you will be there for a while) but seems everyone is getting PvP cut backs to level the playing field. Playing in the beta will give a better understand with everything on the table.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shakapopolus View Post
    So I'm at a bit of a loss what they are gonna do about our mana regen. I haven't had the time to fully read everything yet but I see all of our regen aside from arcane is removed, yet for Fire and Frost we have nothing. Very interesting.... All that aside, I am happy to see them redoing some of our talent tree, The 90 tree looks like some fun stuff to work with.
    Coming out of Cata and into lvl 90 mana was changed to suit the talents. Im going to assume that mana will return to something similar to cata mana without those talents (maybe even improved with the removal of evocation, time will tell) As the blog says lvl90 was about mana but tacked on spell power to make frost/fire want them too, but lost sight of goal early into the xpac.
    Last edited by pyrostorm9001; 2014-04-04 at 01:28 AM.

  13. #13
    Legendary! Callace's Avatar
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    Thanks for the excellent synopsis Shang. The changes look very well done.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by pyrostorm9001 View Post
    My advice is to look at the notes as a whole (its quite large so you will be there for a while) but seems everyone is getting PvP cut backs to level the playing field. Playing in the beta will give a better understand with everything on the table.
    Still, that makes us literally have no self-heals, aside from cold-snap, and god knows if that has been nerfed.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Ticj View Post
    Still, that makes us literally have no self-heals, aside from cold-snap, and god knows if that has been nerfed.
    Cold Snap now also resets the cooldown of Presence of Mind, Dragon's Breath, and Evanesce. Nothing else has been changed as far as the notes go on cold snap.

  16. #16
    Good sum up. I'm happy at least with the level 100 talents and some perks like:
    -Improved Blizzard - Each time Blizzard deals damage, it reduces the cooldown of Frozen Orb by 1 sec.
    -Improved Scorch - After casting Scorch, your movement speed is increased by 30% for 3 sec.

    Ticj, at least for pvp and soloing mages could really use some form of heal. I'm disappointed as you with invocation gone. (oh and sinbyosis is gone too, so)

  17. #17
    Herald of the Titans Shangalar's Avatar
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    Ah, I just copied it all from Blizzard's official blog. The listing, coloring and bolding is all mine though, for that I take full credit if you have any further suggestions on the design of my post, please send me a private message. At the moment I can't comment on the actual notes, I'm too excited that I'll have Improved Blink
    My magic will tear you apart.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by schwarzkopf View Post
    Key one for me - RoP is no longer required for mana regen. Tick a big box there blizzard.

    Rest of it - still soaking it all in
    Except because it's a maintenance buff still, it's going to be the best one, making it even more mandatory for both Fire and Frost now.

    Honestly, I just went through this, and not only are "most of the talents changed" AFAIK, but they barely even tried to fix Fire. Also, making AT a talent that replaced TS and seeing those "new" L90 talents just ruined it all for me. IW isn't even really changed, it's just even more passive now.

    GG is all I say. I'll be a Doomsayer until they take Mages seriously.


    PS: Sticking Improved Blink on Arcane only almost feels like a personal attack on me ;_;

    PPS: Yes, I know this is "alpha". I'm just saying it doesn't seem like they really put too much effort into fixing Mages in the Alpha. Still keeping an open mind, but I'm just saying, in this specific iteration, it's like they're not even trying.
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  19. #19
    Herald of the Titans Shangalar's Avatar
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    Maybe it is a personal attack on you Polar

    Just something to add to the discussion - the minor talents, or Draenor Perks as they are now calling them, will be learned in a random order from levels 91 to 99.
    My magic will tear you apart.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by pyrostorm9001 View Post
    Cold Snap now also resets the cooldown of Presence of Mind, Dragon's Breath, and Evanesce. Nothing else has been changed as far as the notes go on cold snap.
    I saw that, was meaning on the self-healing side of things, you know, the 30% heal that comes with it. Thankfully, it seems like mages have been changed the least in terms of spell removal.

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