Mage Cataclysm

[lukehop1]

Hi Guys

I searched a bit but couldn't find a thread like this. if it is a copy feel free to lock it.

Just though I would make a topic for any mages to ask anything about the changes that are in cataclysm or anything in particular they would like to see.

[Baygon]

i'm curious how alot of the talent trees play out, especially interested in how the arcane and fire trees play differently to how they are now, arcane missiles is something i'm interested in how they have changed

[lukehop1]

Arcane missiles don't seem to be that big of a deal. it would just be like waiting for a misses barrage proc and it happens more often. Arcane tree atm ,for levelling at least, is allot easier things like the insta slow cast on a mob whenever you cast arcane blast and the extra damage buff when you counter spell but obviously there is no end game at the moment so I can't tell you raid wise.

Fire also seems very good for levelling because you can run while casting scorch and with the right talents it doesn't cost any mana to use so can be good for kiting

[Baygon]

i'm surprised the no mana cost and cast while moving talents haven't been changed yet, cause they seem a little too good, considering blizzard hasn't been fair to mages in a while

[lukehop1]

Maybe they think that its time lol

[wind]

i'm surprised the no mana cost and cast while moving talents haven't been changed yet, cause they seem a little too good, considering blizzard hasn't been fair to mages in a while

you seriously? try to play one shaman then.

[infusion]

you seriously? try to play one shaman then.

QFT. mages have it way to easy currently. this new run and gun thing will not be a welcome addition to mages for their opponants :P

[Lyraena]

From what you have seen, does Frost seem a viable PVE raiding spec. Or are we still going to have to go Fire / Arc?

[lukehop1]

I will admit that I haven't played frost a lot. I will try it as soon as I go back on the beta tomorrow.

[Hexxidecimal]

i'm surprised the no mana cost and cast while moving talents haven't been changed yet, cause they seem a little too good, considering blizzard hasn't been fair to mages in a while

While I haven't played with it in PvP much yet, during leveling it's not a huge boon. Many mobs have abilities that allow them to close quickly or ranged abilities (that at the moment hit waaay to hard). Frost is still king of leveling though Arcane is a better but still mana intensive. Fire is really nice for dungeon runs now due to the many instant and on the move mechanics of scorch. But it does take a bit more care as fire as the AoE is no longer as prevalent as it was in Wrath.

Arcane has changed into more of a priority type system than it was. You no longer want to flat cast 4 arcane blasts then use your missile barrage proc, this costs too much mana now and with Arcane mastery being more frugal with your mana means more damage as well. Basically just about any time you missile barrage procs you want to use it. Arcane barrage is basically there to drop your Arcane blast stacks for unlucky proc-less streaks of missile barrage. The auto slow on Arcane Blast is nice but it feels like it cheapens the actual spell a bit, but really it just extra so it's nothing to really complain about.

Fireorb is a spell I like a lot. It is a bit situational as you don't want to use it on CC mobs but for AE pulls and single mobs with no CC worries it's a nice open with and forget kind of spell. Fire can talent it out to explode for a small bit of damage which is neat as well.

I haven't played with wall of fog to terribly much but at the moment it serves little purpose in PvE, and probably will stay that way. I do like it for PvP though because it forces a choice, which sometimes can buy you a second or two in and of itself. Either way they will run through and get slowed or run around giving you a bit of time. It's particularly nice when you can block an entire entrance with it. It's biggest boon, it's a cast and forget as well.

Frost doesn't feel amazingly different but it does flow differently with getting only one proc of FoF but getting them more often. Honestly it flows better. Plus a perma pet with frost nova is amazingly good. Cone of Cold can now freeze folks to the ground talented and that a ton of purposes in PvE and PvP. Between getting FoF more often and three different ways to freeze mobs to the ground you can sustain pretty high numbers at the cost of being somewhat inefficient.

To me fire feels the most changed and that is mostly due to a large emphasis on mobility in the tree. The blast wave and flame strike changes are really powerful AoE tools now on top of dragons breath, living bomb and jumping dots. My biggest worry is that despite fire being amazing, due to the re-emphasis of CC will be less wanted in raids. The good news being is that fire is a serious contender for the primo PvP mage spec now, though Arcane isn't far behind. At the moment I don't like frost as much because of the huge increase to HPs frost feels underwhelming unless you blow a lot of mana to keep them locked down. A bear druid with 70 HPs healing himself for nearly 6k on crits is very hard to kill as frost.

[Sparc]

My mage is sitting at 83 and waiting for the level cap to raise before I begin questing with her again. That said, here is some of my thoughts on it. I have been raiding ICC10/25 as Fire for a while so I decided to transfer her over since her gear is better than the pre-rolled characters. Leveling as Fire was fairly easy and fast getting through Vashj'ir and Hyjal. However, I didn't hit Deepholm until after Blizz ramped the difficulty of the mobs in that zone to hit much harder.

The problem for cloth wearers is that many of the mobs in that zone not only hit harder but also charge which eliminates the range gap that casters need to do enough damage before they beat on your face. My rogue and DK, both at 83 had a muuuuuuuuch easier time in that zone due to damage mitigation and self healing abilities.

So, I switched to a Frost spec with improved Ice Barrier with a glyph to increase its damage absorption ability. Even with that, being able to take almost 8k damage before popping, it was still being popped in one hit from a charging mob. I hope that some considerations will be made for cloth wearers so that we aren't having to sit and heal 30k worth of damage after each mob. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the challenge of surviving pulling multiple mobs, but having to blow cooldowns if a second mob decides to join the party gets old and very slow for leveling. My mage has been my main for almost four years and I am more comfortable in sticky situations with her than any of my other 6 level 80's.

As for talent tree changes, Fire spec loses a lot of its +crit talents and therefore my base crit drops about 20% versus what I have now in Wrath. Frost feels about the same and I haven't tried Arcane yet so I can't really comment on it.

As for fairness to mages, I have never really felt that mages were either favored or unfavored. IMO a good player can make the best of just about any spec from any class, on any given day.

[Baygon]

and you think mage opponents don't already have snazzy things? Look i'm a resto shammy i can heal while running now. oh look i'm a rogue who can hide in a cloud of smoke....i'm a warrior check me out i can jump from a distance and stun you, and also make a super bleed if you keep moving.....the list continues

[Nudi]

Abilities / talents
Overall changes
There is a cataclysm mage thread

[Champloo]

Just going to sum everything up for PvE:
Arcane is still the most boring spec in the game, absolutely horrible.
Hugely reduced crit rates and an obscene amount of AoE talents makes this spec incapable of competing.
Frost is still at the low end of the totem poll, but looks like it might rival Fire's DPS.

In conclusion:
Have fun with your AMAZING arcane mechanics, or do not compete for a raid spot.


By the way, look up hyperbole in the dictionary.