Still No Changes For Arcane?

[sidelsky18]

Even announced by blizzard prior to patch 4.0.6 hitting the PTRs, not only is Arcane's damage low, but it has lost the little originality and fun it once had. The spec is LITERALLY spamming Arcane Blast until whenever, casting Arcane Missiles, and then repeating.

What can be done to fix this, you ask? A few things:


1) The focus of the Arcane tree needs to be taken a little away from having as much mana as possible. This can be done by altering the Arcane mastery from

"Increases all spell damage done by up to 12%, based on the amount of mana the Mage has unspent. Each point of Mastery increases damage done by up to an additional 1.5%..."

...to something like...

"Increases spell power for Arcane spells by an amount equal to 1% of the Mage's maximum mana. Each point of Mastery increases this bonus by an additional 0.125%."


2) The Arcane rotation needs to be less focused on Arcane Blast and incorporate Arcane Barrage and Arcane Missiles into the spec more. This can be done by altering Arcane Blast from

"Blasts the target with energy, dealing 1711 to 1987 Arcane damage. Each time you cast Arcane Blast, the damage of Arcane Blast is increased by 10%, the casting time is reduced by 0.1 sec and mana cost is increased by 150%. Effect stacks up to 4 times and lasts 6 sec or until any Arcane damage spell except Arcane Blast is cast."

...to something like...

"Blasts the target with energy, dealing 1711 to 1987 Arcane damage. Each time you cast Arcane Blast, the damage of Arcane Blast is increased by 7.5%, the casting time of Arcane Blast is reduced by 0.1 sec, the damage of all spells (except Arcane Blast) is increased by 15%, and mana cost of all spells is increased by 125%. Effect stacks up to 4 times and lasts 6 sec or until any Arcane damage spell except Arcane Blast is cast."


So, what are your opinions? Is Arcane fine as it is or does it need changes, and if so, what?

[Jademist]

Be patient. PTR notes aren't final. Changes are probably going to come.

[sidelsky18]

Be patient. PTR notes aren't final. Changes are probably going to come.

I agree, but Blizzard mentioned this before the last patch and no changes besides mana cost reductions (which made the spec even more stale) came for the time it was on PTR.

[Jademist]

Then maybe you should voice out your concerns constructively on the official forums.

[sidelsky18]

Then maybe you should voice out your concerns constructively on the official forums.

I have many times, but the threads I make rarely get more than a response or two on the official forums.

[r3nd]

I honestly don't think too much will change with Arcane any time soon. They have more pressing matters on hand.

It's not a top damage dealer so they probably aren't too concerned.

[The Doctor]

They seem to continually drop the mana cost of arcane blast though, that's sort of good. I think arcane pve is more about mana management rather than a complex rotation/priority system... it's about burning your mana and regaining it. the problem with that kind of gimmick is, when done incorrectly, can make dps numbers look like poo. I pve with my hunter and the arc mage in our 10 team is in the top 2 with good numbers, so it's work-able.. it's just not user-friendly for the arcane masses that played it for wotlk.

[bumrush]

What they need to do, is have arcane blast use the same mechanics it did in wrath

Then, add a talent (replacing something useless) that gives you the old T10 2-piece bonus... when missle barrage is consumed, gain 12% haste for 5 sec. Then you are being mana efficient while doing competitive damage by keeping inside the haste proc, dumping stacks with arcane barrage when MB doesnt proc, and waiting to stack to 4 for burn phases. Basically.... in ICC arcane was perfect... if a little immobile.

I love how the biggest changes were to the one spec that WASN'T broken.

[sidelsky18]

They seem to continually drop the mana cost of arcane blast though, that's sort of good. I think arcane pve is more about mana management rather than a complex rotation/priority system... it's about burning your mana and regaining it. the problem with that kind of gimmick is, when done incorrectly, can make dps numbers look like poo. I pve with my hunter and the arc mage in our 10 team is in the top 2 with good numbers, so it's work-able.. it's just not user-friendly for the arcane masses that played it for wotlk.

What you say is true, but after the latest mana reductions I can spam Arcane Blast for an entire fight (using mana returning abilities of course) so it has made the spec worse, not better.

What they need to do, is have arcane blast use the same mechanics it did in wrath

Then, add a talent (replacing something useless) that gives you the old T10 2-piece bonus... when missle barrage is consumed, gain 12% haste for 5 sec. Then you are being mana efficient while doing competitive damage by keeping inside the haste proc, dumping stacks with arcane barrage when MB doesnt proc, and waiting to stack to 4 for burn phases. Basically.... in ICC arcane was perfect... if a little immobile.

I agree 100%

[SunnyDayRealEstate]

Always thought that Blizzard should add a talent to turn your flame orb into a Living Constellation (http://www.wowhead.com/npc=33052#abilities) like frost and the frostfire orb.

[Deleted]

Observing the development of the spec I've also begun to think AM/ABarr should be more important in the "rotation". One idea I thought of was being able to "stack" AM procs - the first proc enables it's usage while the later ones improve the damage of AM (with a cap on the stacks of course), and at a certain number of stacks AM would be more powerful than AB and thus you want to cast it (consuming all the stacks) not only for mana savings but for more damage as well. ABarr is probably fine in the role of the on-the-move spell.

[sidelsky18]

I've posted the thread on the WoW official forums:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2140190517

I included some suggestions from people in this thread.

[Yubari]

Ya it's sad, that nothing happened so far and noone really cares. Not even the players. Arcane kinda is a "dead spec" atm. If you look at http://www.wowpopular.com/Mage/Talents the first arcane builts rank far behind the different variations of frost and fire.
I never enjoyed frost and fire in pve and in before the "ZOMG you suck because you play a 2 button rotation" I have to say that being really good at arcane always meant, that you have to focus a lot about other things not too much the rotation. In WOTLK it was the fact, that arcane had a lack of mobile DPS. So to be really good you had to know exactly what happens next, where the boss/stuff/whoever will move so you can avoid moving as much as you can.
The plan for Cata seemed to be, that you have to take care about you mana and it kinda was an interesting concept but the buff to AB really made it a one button rotation and that is really boring.
I hope for changes as well. For me the mage is just an alt but it has always been the one I enjoy the most so give us some more arcane love please

[Deleted]

"Increases spell power for Arcane spells by an amount equal to 1% of the Mage's maximum mana. Each point of Mastery increases this bonus by an additional 0.125%."

Sounds really boring to me compared to the current mastery. Many players are complaining about arcanes mastery, but I think arcanes mastery influences arcanes playstyle in a good way. The mastery you suggested wouldn´t add anything interesting to the spec, it would be just a damage buff. Mana adept is the reason why we have to care about manamanagement what makes the spec interesting.

The way how the spec works with burn and conservation phases makes it unique. What is special about WotLKs AB4AM rotation?

I agree that arcane needs some changes, like adding one or two additional spells to the burn phase, but the core idea of the current playstyle should remain the same.

[Wsc51595]

i think they should add more spell because only four damage spells for one tree is kind of lame

[Deleted]

while for some it will be boring playing the mana game , i will say , right now arcane is fine

arcane was never about aoe to begin with so that point is invalid, damage wise arcane is in a very good position right now , at least for me , as to if we should get back dmg inc on other arcane spells, i fear that will make the spec way too OP right now , after the mana reductions,

as usual , i only play arcane ....this would just be my opinion in regard to how arcane works for me , a bit dull sometimes, but nevertheless,it always delivers what we need it to , when we need it to

[Shamslam]

Arcane needs something to make it worthwhile. It's amazing on Patchwerk fights, but there are only a couple of those a tier. Arcane mages need mobility if people are ever going to consider respecing from fire. It doesn't need a lot, just making Barrage do more damage...or make the Orb actually worth using. I liked the spec and would go arcane if it wasn't just so terribly far behind fire.

I just think Blizzard is going in the completely wrong way by making AB more spammable. The spec needs something else. Fire gets Scorch on the go, Frost can use Freeze and get some very nice damage out on the move with FoF procs, Arcane can use it's one instant cast that has a CD. And like I said...orb is pretty much useless.

[Prod]

I was just wondering. . .
Fire has a nice exploding Flame Orb (and affected by their bonus Fire damage specialization).
Frost has a nice chilling Frostfire Orb (and affected by their bonus Frost damage specialization), not to mention it procs stuff which boosts their dps.
Arcane has a ___ Flame Orb that's not affected by our bonus Arcane damage specialization. Sure it procs Arcane Missiles, but if we just spam AM during the orb, then it's actually a dps loss. You can argue that it helps us regen some mana, but I can do that just fine by altering my AB rotation a bit.

Summary: They should do something about our Flame Orb!

[Aurakene]

They should definitely buff arcen in the near future!

[Reyzzz]

Give them also talent that morphs your Flame Orb into:

Arcane Orb
6% of base mana 40 yd range
1 min cooldown
Launches an Arcane Orb forward from the Mage's position, unleashing arcane explosion every 0.33 seconds for 15 secs.

Would be pretty fun and unique, don't you think?