De-homogenization of Mages, what do you want to see?

[Krazzorx]

So with Chilton's interview there was an interesting tidbit on hunters: marksman no longer has a pet, bm stays the same and survival is a melee spec.

They are really, really pushing de-homogenization it seems like. So what do you want to see for Mage? What major change would you like to see?

One thing I thought about was something I heard someone else say in a podcast: make fire Mage a Battle Mage. Make them melee casters. Would go great with the Kael'thas sword.

[Amaterasu65]

Never gonna happen. Our de-homogenization is the elements/colours. And we had that in WoD when frost mage would only have blue etc. Making us battemages or arcane time-changing healers would be better but they would have to rework entirely on the class and that they won't do.

[Krazzorx]

Never gonna happen. Our de-homogenization is the elements/colours. And we had that in WoD when frost mage would only have blue etc. Making us battemages or arcane time-changing healers would be better but they would have to rework entirely on the class and that they won't do.

Well, they just did that for survival hunters. So I don't see how it's out of the question.

[gunner_recall]

I don't know if they'll do much to dehomogenize mages since, really, what could you do? i would say if anything we'll see a revamp with fire and maybe new spell effects. We might see a further separation of master of the arcane/frost/fire and see visual effects change of some spells(ice barrier getting a fire and arcane effect maybe) but most likely, other than a possible fire update, I don't think we'll see many changes.

Of course, I could be wrong and we could get the warlock treatment from MoP and just everything changes.

[mrgreenthump]

make fire Mage a Battle Mage. Make them melee casters. Would go great with the Kael'thas sword.

Arcane is more towards Battle Mage.. At least the Battle Mages we've seen in WoW. But it all remains to be seen, hopefully they go over class stuff on Sunday or comment on them in an interview.

Fire needs a revamp yes, so that is something to look forward to. I think Frost is the spec they are the most happy with atm. Arcane never has felt super good.. And it still doesn't, so it will probably be changed again. But in the end it's totally down to what they will decide fits Mage. I'd be glad to see something not revolved around RNG, but time will only tell.

What I truly hope doesn't happen is, them removing the PvP talents from our normal talents doesn't make them think it's enough to freshen up the Mage specs.

[Krazzorx]

Arcane is more towards Battle Mage.. At least the Battle Mages we've seen in WoW. But it all remains to be seen, hopefully they go over class stuff on Sunday or comment on them in an interview.

Fire needs a revamp yes, so that is something to look forward to. I think Frost is the spec they are the most happy with atm. Arcane never has felt super good.. And it still doesn't, so it will probably be changed again. But in the end it's totally down to what they will decide fits Mage. I'd be glad to see something not revolved around RNG, but time will only tell.

What I truly hope doesn't happen is, them removing the PvP talents from our normal talents doesn't make them think it's enough to freshen up the Mage specs.

The reason I went with Fire is because that fits perfectly with Kael'thas. They are getting a sword that could stand up to frostmourne and it's going to sit on your hip for 1+ years...... Which is why I think there's a chance they do make fire a battle Mage.

[Obelisk Kai]

Arcane is a unique playstyle compared to the other two. Arcane is safe in my opinion.

Frost has a pet and it cleaves. Frost is also pretty fun right now.

Fire...why do we need two cleaving aoe specs again?

[Amaterasu65]

Well, they just did that for survival hunters. So I don't see how it's out of the question.

Hmm I don't think it's the same. They would have to rework on the entire spec and then they would need to do it for other classes because that wouldn't be fair. If they decide to do this for every class, then it could be possible, otherwise no. Same spells, different playstyle at best.

[gunner_recall]

Arcane is a unique playstyle compared to the other two. Arcane is safe in my opinion.

Frost has a pet and it cleaves. Frost is also pretty fun right now.

Fire...why do we need two cleaving aoe specs again?

I like the idea above of fire becoming a melee battle Mage spec. Especially since the only thing I can think of them doing with fire is making it a single target nuke which arcane kind of already is.

However, I think it's more likely we'll just see a rotation change. Maybe ignite becoming a spell we can cast and then refresh/add damage with our critical hits/pyroblasts

[Krazzorx]

Hmm I don't think it's the same. They would have to rework on the entire spec and then they would need to do it for other classes because that wouldn't be fair. If they decide to do this for every class, then it could be possible, otherwise no. Same spells, different playstyle at best.

Well, survival hunters are going to lose every single one of their current spells and get new ones. It's a 100% rework. This is far bigger than what they did to warlocks.

Not guaranteeing it will happen ofc for Mage, but the limits of what they are able to do just went out the window.

[Deleted]

Glyph that gives all specs a pet that solo tanks but reduces the spell power of the mage by 10%.

win-win.


It even makes lore-sense ("while the mage was channeling this pet, he lost some power").

[Amaterasu65]

Well, survival hunters are going to lose every single one of their current spells and get new ones. It's a 100% rework. This is far bigger than what they did to warlocks.

Not guaranteeing it will happen ofc for Mage, but the limits of what they are able to do just went out the window.

Hopefully! I share the same wish but I just don't wanna be hyped and get utterly disappointed :/

[Imnick]

Mages already aren't homogenised, Hunters were in a spot where Marksmanship and Survival pretty much only swapped two spells on their bar and that's why they are getting special attention.

Fire needs mechanical attention, but not because it is too similar to Frost and Arcane. The Mage specs are differentiated already, Fire just isn't very good or interesting.

[Obelisk Kai]

Hopefully! I share the same wish but I just don't wanna be hyped and get utterly disappointed :/

Agreed in that I think we will see little in terms of change.

If there is one mantra blizzard has regarding us, expansion after expansion it is that we are fine.

But I am concerned that fire and frost are two ways of doing the same job, ranged cleave/aoe.

And frankly, frost is the more fun way of going about it.

So if they had to rework any spec I say do fire...it's been crumbling for two multiple expansions now as Blizzard could never square it's scaling without making it crap.

[Sanguiris]

I think mage are fine too, maybe change name and icon of a few spells just to make it fit their spec but that's all. You your Frostweaver, Pyromancer, and Arcanist. for example blind for fire mage could be named flicker and you teleport forward in a fiery way but keep the same mechanic.

[BeauFox]

The mage specs do already play pretty differently, honestly the biggest issue I have is stuff like Ice Block being on all specs, for fire why can't it incase you in a ball of fire, and who knows maybe even have a different effect?
Things that are on all specs like that should have some sort of difference, even if it's just visual, that's all I can really say about de-homogenizing mages.

[Obelisk Kai]

WHAT IF

Arcane becomes a healing spec, Frost remains as is and Fire is rebuilt as single target spec that plays like Arcane does now, replacing mana with a heat resource?

Won't happen but could be fun.

[Deleted]

WHAT IF

Arcane becomes a healing spec, Frost remains as is and Fire is rebuilt as single target spec that plays like Arcane does now, replacing mana with a heat resource?

Won't happen but could be fun.

It would make more sense if they added a 4'th spec where we merge ourselves with our water elemental and freeze our selves.
Making us rock hard tanks. With abilities like:
Snowball: You taunt your target by throwing snowballs right in his face.
Absolute Zero: You make yourself harder by freezing to even lower temperatures. Reducing the next damage taken by 50%

And so on...

[Imnick]

Guys, they aren't going to change any of our specs dramatically, they don't need to.
They changed Hunters because their specs were extremely similar, and Warlocks because they were overlapping with Demon Hunters. Rogues might also be in the firing line, but we're miles from it.

Talking about Healing or Melee specs for mages is pointless, they aren't giving us a fourth spec nor are they going to redesign any of our specs for a new role. We can hope they will tweak fire, but they aren't going to turn it into a melee caster and it will probably keep a very similar identity.

[Deleted]

Talking about Healing or Melee specs for mages is pointless, they aren't giving us a fourth spec nor are they going to redesign any of our specs for a new role. We can hope they will tweak fire, but they aren't going to turn it into a melee caster and it will probably keep a very similar identity.

We aren't being serious. It's simply fun to play around with the thought.