Battle For Azeroth: Mage Megathread (Alpha/Beta)

[Deleted]

talent changes plz

[trm90]

So how is Ray of Frost looking? I'm in two minds, because TV Frost on live is a very one-dimensional spec and RoF/GS will make the spec feel more fleshed out, but on the flipside I'm worried that a GS/RoF build will push Rune of Power ahead of Incanter's Flow. I pretty much stopped playing Arcane because RoP was too frustrating to use on progression fights, even if I eventually learned how to use it properly.

Another thing I wanted to mention, now that Ebonbolt is a talent there's a real possibility that LW + TV still remains dominant, along with other totally passive talents, which would make the spec veeery shallow.

[arcuro]

So how is Ray of Frost looking? I'm in two minds, because TV Frost on live is a very one-dimensional spec and RoF/GS will make the spec feel more fleshed out, but on the flipside I'm worried that a GS/RoF build will push Rune of Power ahead of Incanter's Flow. I pretty much stopped playing Arcane because RoP was too frustrating to use on progression fights, even if I eventually learned how to use it properly.

Another thing I wanted to mention, now that Ebonbolt is a talent there's a real possibility that LW + TV still remains dominant, along with other totally passive talents, which would make the spec veeery shallow.

dont think TV can live up in beta right now. this is only a suggestion, though..
IV got passivly nerfed because we no longer have Chilled to the Core. sure, TV doesnt increase Chilled to the Core duration, but the trait adds power to IV and we loose that.
on the other hand, GS hits like a truck, and this truck is HUGE. RoF cant even come close to that, sadly enough. And with Splitting Ice most likly to be mandatory, GS could win.

so. RoF needs a huge damage buf (or/and make haste increase tick amounts, instead of remove chanel time...) and TV could need a slidly less powerful version of Chilled to the Core.

on a side note, i hope Ice Nova + Glacial Storm will be viable. and hopefully in singe target, too, maybe be a bit behind pure ST speccs... i just like those spells..

all in all, i think we could see some variations in BfA with just marginal damage differences. but as i said: thats just what i think and hope

[Swizzle]

dont think TV can live up in beta right now. this is only a suggestion, though..
IV got passivly nerfed because we no longer have Chilled to the Core. sure, TV doesnt increase Chilled to the Core duration, but the trait adds power to IV and we loose that.
on the other hand, GS hits like a truck, and this truck is HUGE. RoF cant even come close to that, sadly enough. And with Splitting Ice most likly to be mandatory, GS could win.

so. RoF needs a huge damage buf (or/and make haste increase tick amounts, instead of remove chanel time...) and TV could need a slidly less powerful version of Chilled to the Core.

on a side note, i hope Ice Nova + Glacial Storm will be viable. and hopefully in singe target, too, maybe be a bit behind pure ST speccs... i just like those spells..

all in all, i think we could see some variations in BfA with just marginal damage differences. but as i said: thats just what i think and hope

Right now on beta my testing shows TV still being top DPS over the course of 5 minutes on single target. GS really only wins out on cleave, and even that's a barely.

Also, the newest build took out my favorite azerite perk of giving bonus damage to hard-cast Flurry. Now it's just Frostbolt buffing Frostbolt...having a change in rotation was nice, Blizz, please give it back.

[Nitros14]

My levelling experience is that I kill things much slower as fire. Unsure in a raid setting.

[trm90]

Right now on beta my testing shows TV still being top DPS over the course of 5 minutes on single target. GS really only wins out on cleave, and even that's a barely.

Also, the newest build took out my favorite azerite perk of giving bonus damage to hard-cast Flurry. Now it's just Frostbolt buffing Frostbolt...having a change in rotation was nice, Blizz, please give it back.

Yeah the Azerite change is a bummer - hardcasting a super-buffed Flurry would have felt pretty good, kind of like casting a hard-casted Pyro (with new talent) or Chaos Bolt.

I really want to like Frost, it feels slick and looks good, but as long as LW/TV remain dominant then the spec really lacks a lot of depth in PvE raiding content. Perhaps Blizzard don't want to overcomplicate Frost and keep it as a beginner's RDPS spec - at least, the Azerite trait change reflects this kind of attitude, and I can respect that. But at the very least, RoF/GS-based builds should still pull ahead of TV if the player can keep up.

[nickseng]

Right now on beta my testing shows TV still being top DPS over the course of 5 minutes on single target. GS really only wins out on cleave, and even that's a barely.

Also, the newest build took out my favorite azerite perk of giving bonus damage to hard-cast Flurry. Now it's just Frostbolt buffing Frostbolt...having a change in rotation was nice, Blizz, please give it back.

Hmmm, raid testing from a mythic raider in the mage discord is showing BC/EB/SI/GS combo to be far ahead of the alternatives. Granted, there's still tuning, but it looks like active skills are more valuable than passives.

As for hard-cast flurry. ... you know it doesn't apply Winter's chill, and the 50% increase damage from BF? It seemed pretty lackluster to me.

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Also, the newest build took out my favorite azerite perk of giving bonus damage to hard-cast Flurry. Now it's just Frostbolt buffing Frostbolt...having a change in rotation was nice, Blizz, please give it back.

I'm really hoping that change is the calling card of a change we've been asking for all alpha/beta...

[Swizzle]

Hmmm, raid testing from a mythic raider in the mage discord is showing BC/EB/SI/GS combo to be far ahead of the alternatives. Granted, there's still tuning, but it looks like active skills are more valuable than passives.

As for hard-cast flurry. ... you know it doesn't apply Winter's chill, and the 50% increase damage from BF? It seemed pretty lackluster to me.

Glacial Spike I said is better in any cleave setting. Most of the raid tested fights have cleave, so of course it pulls ahead. As for Ebonbolt, it would need a rebalance to beat out Frozen Touch. Your FoF and BF generation is far too low if you go Ebonbolt right now. It doesn’t do enough damage for its cooldown and reduced generation to warrant taking. Keep in mind that row is still missing a talent, so things can change. Bone chilling and Lonely Winter are comparable, so that row comes down to play style since Icicles are now a flat number based off of Mastery and not off of the damage of the spell.

As for hard casting Flurry...yeah, I know that, I’ve been playing with it on beta for two weeks now. The damage it did was nuts and made up for the lack of WC. Plus it changed the rotation up, which for a spec with literally no buttons, felt really good.

[Deleted]

How is the status of frost mage in Beta? I mained frost in Legion and was one of the worst classes in M+ and aoe raid bosses. Not bad in monotarget at least

[nickseng]

Glacial Spike I said is better in any cleave setting. Most of the raid tested fights have cleave, so of course it pulls ahead. As for Ebonbolt, it would need a rebalance to beat out Frozen Touch. Your FoF and BF generation is far too low if you go Ebonbolt right now. It doesn’t do enough damage for its cooldown and reduced generation to warrant taking. Keep in mind that row is still missing a talent, so things can change. Bone chilling and Lonely Winter are comparable, so that row comes down to play style since Icicles are now a flat number based off of Mastery and not off of the damage of the spell.

As for hard casting Flurry...yeah, I know that, I’ve been playing with it on beta for two weeks now. The damage it did was nuts and made up for the lack of WC. Plus it changed the rotation up, which for a spec with literally no buttons, felt really good.

It was tested with both ST and 2T.

The usage of EB is mainly to generate BF for GS anyway. It is that strong.

[Joxici]

That will be op in bfa ? or none change

[Swizzle]

It was tested with both ST and 2T.

The usage of EB is mainly to generate BF for GS anyway. It is that strong.

That makes no sense...Icicles are a flat amount based on Mastery and it doesn’t matter if FrB or Flurry generate them. EB is too long of a CD to generate one BF proc compared to overall higher generation FoF and BF from Frozen Touch. Ice Lance is still the highest DPS and DPET we have, so buffing it is still primary DPS focus. TV is amazing for single target since it gives you more casts which nets you more profs which is higher DPS. GS has a long cast time which is often interrupted in boss encounters, but it does great damage. It needs to be rebalanced in order to make RoF worth a dime.

[gallamann]

I'm really hoping that change is the calling card of a change we've been asking for all alpha/beta...

Are you referring to FoF munching on FB/Flurry/IL sequence?

On a different note, I really like Ray, what I don't like is the 75 second cool down. It is going to be a challenge for Blizzard to balance that tier

[nickseng]

That makes no sense...Icicles are a flat amount based on Mastery and it doesn’t matter if FrB or Flurry generate them. EB is too long of a CD to generate one BF proc compared to overall higher generation FoF and BF from Frozen Touch. Ice Lance is still the highest DPS and DPET we have, so buffing it is still primary DPS focus. TV is amazing for single target since it gives you more casts which nets you more profs which is higher DPS. GS has a long cast time which is often interrupted in boss encounters, but it does great damage. It needs to be rebalanced in order to make RoF worth a dime.

I'm just telling you what the results were from sims + the beta raid tests. You can check it out in the discord if you think they're making a mistake.

[Tyze]

I hope that arcane is single target
Fire is aoe
And frost is cleave/jack of all trades

Would make my experience a lot more fun

[kheath812]

I hope that arcane is single target
Fire is aoe
And frost is cleave/jack of all trades

Would make my experience a lot more fun

meh. other classes dont have to completely change specs and gear sets to do those things. would be annoying for mage to have to be arcane to do single target or have to be fire to do aoe damage.

[Deleted]

meh. other classes dont have to completely change specs and gear sets to do those things. would be annoying for mage to have to be arcane to do single target or have to be fire to do aoe damage.

This... right now fire has strong aoe and very bad ST,my favorite spec for fun but frost is the best spec in antorus,this is why i must farm every day AP to up frost artifact

[Kuni Zyrekai]

Ice Lance is still the highest DPS and DPET we have

The loss of CR/LIG/OL really hurt Lance in general.

[Deleted]

All those acronyms :''( feelsbadman that I dont remember them all or at least I cant make the connection...