1. #1

    Does temporal shield suck?

    I recently was "nit-picked" by another mage just asking why the hell I took Temporal shield? The debate is between temporal shield and ice barrier. Assuming 100% uptime on TS (remember its not on GCD and easier macro'ed into rotation) its 16% less healing. With proper use on anticipated damage, it would be alot higher...maybe 100% on certain fights where raid damage only occurs briefly every 25 seconds. The only dps increase I see in the tier is spellcasting from ice barrier if your getting alot of casting interruption. Blazing speed obviously cuts down movement time which increases dps time. Do the dps increase from blazing speed or barrier outweigh the healing alleviation from temporal? Suppose we should be changing a few talents on a each fight. I might be overlooking things tho, and a dps increase is still a dps increase.

  2. #2
    As the mage why the hell he's taking Ice Barrier, which protects from 20k or so damage, when Temporal Shield will heal back a 300k hit if you're good at timing it.

  3. #3
    i assumed it was for spellcasting interruption.

  4. #4
    Temporal Shield should be your "default" choice because while it is not a true absorb it does not consume a global cooldown.
    Ice Barrier should only be taken in cases where it will save you from death and TS won't, or that of constant low-damage AOE which would cause spell pushback.

  5. #5
    what macro are you using?

    mine is currently just /cast Temporal shield /cast fireball

    gets the job done but im constantly reminded spell is not ready in red text. Not the end of the world but would like a cleaner macro.

  6. #6
    Titan Charge me Doctor's Avatar
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    TS is very useful in PvE encounters (I say to my healers when TS soaked damage on high damage AoE spikes, so they will heal others instead of me), while IB is on GCD and only a 60k absorb
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by DarkSoul View Post
    As the mage why the hell he's taking Ice Barrier, which protects from 20k or so damage, when Temporal Shield will heal back a 300k hit if you're good at timing it.
    Ice Barrier is actually more like 75k.

    It all depends on the situation really. In essence, both are great in their owns ways. Overall Temporal Shield may seem better at face value, but you have to consider the fact that using Temporal Shield will never save you from death from a single hit, whereas Ice Barrier can. Take Frost bombs on Stone Guard for example. If you walk into one with no cauterize, with Temporal Shield up, there's a good chance you'll die. If you walk into one with Ice Barrier, you'll probably live. Given this, I have been using Ice Barrier for it's situational benefits rather than Temporal Shield for it's overall healing reduction. If I know a big hit is coming, I'll use it for assurance that I'll live.

    Next time someone tells you that you're doing it wrong, remind them that most (definitely not all) talents are viable depending on the fight and your personal playstyle. They were designed to be this way.

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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Cuztum View Post
    what macro are you using?
    mine is currently just /cast Temporal shield /cast fireball
    gets the job done but im constantly reminded spell is not ready in red text. Not the end of the world but would like a cleaner macro.
    If you really must macro it to your filler spell then do it as;
    #Showtooltip Fireball
    /cast Temporal Shield
    /script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
    /cast Fireball
    You really shouldn't macro survivability spells to go off on cooldown though, the best Macro I could think of would be linking it to Incanter's Ward as they have duplicate cooldowns.

  9. #9
    i was doing this for a while, but it felt one or the other was partly wasted. On small amounts of dmg the incanters absorb would take the dmg and TS would run out....i think. I dont know tho, maybe the TS got the healing from the amount absorb?

  10. #10
    IW absorbs so little damage that you are using it purely for the damage boost rather than the actual shield.
    Macroing it with TS means that you are safe to take slightly more risks while taking damage in order to break it.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Imnick View Post
    IW absorbs so little damage that you are using it purely for the damage boost rather than the actual shield.
    Macroing it with TS means that you are safe to take slightly more risks while taking damage in order to break it.
    Ye but I still like both, TS for the predictable huge damage, and IW for the oh shit i got hit and might go down if something big comes moment. Atm though TS seems to be a bit ahead on average, but its a CBA for me to respec it on every boss, so I usually run with IW, unless the boss calls for it on heroic and then i go TS to help out healers.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mrgreenthump View Post
    Ye but I still like both, TS for the predictable huge damage, and IW for the oh shit i got hit and might go down if something big comes moment. Atm though TS seems to be a bit ahead on average, but its a CBA for me to respec it on every boss, so I usually run with IW, unless the boss calls for it on heroic and then i go TS to help out healers.
    I think you are confusing IW and IB.
    In that post I was talking about IW; Incanter's Ward. This is the level 90 talent that is a "shield" which returns mana and gives you a damage boost when it breaks. It breaks so easily that using it as an actual shield is pointless.
    In your post you seem to be talking about IB; Ice Barrier. Ice Barrier actually absorbs a fairly respectable amount of damage. You cannot macro IB and TS together because they are an either/or talent choice.

  13. #13
    If anyone is macroing IW to go off on cooldown then you're doing it wrong. Only pop IW when you KNOW it's gonna break on damage. If it doesn't absorb any damage, IT WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANY BONUS DAMAGE. And remember when IW is on cooldown, the passive ISN'T working.

    Macroing temporal shield is simply just lazy. It's off GCD so pop it when you need it.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Zavri View Post
    If anyone is macroing IW to go off on cooldown then you're doing it wrong. Only pop IW when you KNOW it's gonna break on damage. If it doesn't absorb any damage, IT WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANY BONUS DAMAGE. And remember when IW is on cooldown, the passive ISN'T working.

    Macroing temporal shield is simply just lazy. It's off GCD so pop it when you need it.
    I do use TS with fireball because im lazy. In raids though it is on its own hotkey. When questing, 5-mans, whatever TS was kinda wasted as I never really came close to dying. Figured why the hell not, now its always on cooldown instead of never being used.

  15. #15
    When questing you probably want to use IB, it absorbs quite a lot and lasts for 60 seconds if it does not break so you just cast it between pulls.
    TS is absolutely useless for a mage doing daily quests.

  16. #16
    Scarab Lord Vynestra's Avatar
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    It depends..My ice barrier in raid absorbs 90-100k..Which is good for when I take a little damage. Fights like feng during the earthy thing if the tank misses an interupt or something it's excellent as it will heal over way more than ice barrier can absorb. I find for soloing ice barrier is much better. But in raids temporal shield seems to excel especially when it gets up to 60k + every 2 seconds.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Imnick View Post
    I think you are confusing IW and IB.
    In that post I was talking about IW; Incanter's Ward. This is the level 90 talent that is a "shield" which returns mana and gives you a damage boost when it breaks. It breaks so easily that using it as an actual shield is pointless.
    In your post you seem to be talking about IB; Ice Barrier. Ice Barrier actually absorbs a fairly respectable amount of damage. You cannot macro IB and TS together because they are an either/or talent choice.
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  18. #18
    Herald of the Titans Racthoh's Avatar
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    honestly i'm not sure if the global you save by taking TS saves you more time than the spell pushback you aren't taking from aoe pulse auras w/IB.

    i guess the answer is: it's situational. surprise surprise.

  19. #19
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    My Ice Barrier shields me from roughly 100k damage when I am raidbuffed, so I take it on most encounters - currently I'm only using Temporal Shield for Stone Guards (soaking traps with it) as well as Elegon where I use it before every raid AoE - saves the healers a ton of mana.
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