[Arcane] How could Arcane become more appealing?

[Meillassoux]

Well right now every sane person can see that Arcane is bad in every aspect of the game, both PvP and PvE. Yeah I know there some situations where arcane can be useful, for example Elegon but I believe the general idea of being an Arcane Mage has failed all the way. Having too many casts makes the specc unusable for serious PvP and the bad synergy with our last tier makes it disturbing and not challenging in PvE. Another problem with the specc is that it is not fun anymore as many have stated before me, it's boring practically with close to none mana management and aesthetically empty.

I have seen a great number of posts indicating the problems of the specc. So I decided to make this thread in order to see all the solutions people have in mind together and not scattered here and there. Try bringing ideas and not stating obvious problems that everyone knows.

[Exac]

I'll just go ahead and assume that you don't know that Arcane is the 4th best dps class in the game right now. Any other dps spec would gladly trade the dps they do with the dps arcane is capable of.

[Mifuyne]

Hello Accelerator,
- Have 3 signature spells that can do different kinds of chained damage depending on the rotation you use those signature spells
- Enviromental spells (pulls, freecast movement procs)
- Naked people!

[Meillassoux]

In theory yes you are right. But reality is far from it RH exact.

[Shangalar]

I'll just go ahead and assume that you don't know that Arcane is the 4th best dps class in the game right now. Any other dps spec would gladly trade the dps they do with the dps arcane is capable of.

The emphasis being on "capable of". Theoretical dps is simulated on a Patchwerk fight. There is no such thing as a Patchwerk fight in Mists of Pandaria. As I said in the Arcane thread - a good Arcane mage will beat an average player of any spec, but when lined up against good players they will perform quite low in a real live in-game raid setting.

Also, let's not turn this into a "the numbers say this, it means you fail if you can't do it" thread, it's not its original intent.
_____

As for improving Arcane, I don't have any ideas. I like Arcane as it is now. I like the fact that I have one rotation modified by Arcane Power and the level 90 talents and then the rotations depending on level 90 talents are further modified by arcane power. We have 6 rotations/priority lists (not debating the viability of Invocation for Arcane at this point in the text) and maximizing our damage output is a matter of watching the tiniest details.

However, for some simple quality of life changes, I would increase the Missiles proc chance to 50% for PvE (that would quite significantly impact our rotations).

As for PvP, Arcane will not be competitive until Arcane damage spells are put on separate silence lockouts from Arcane utility spells.

So this is just my contribution at 06:42 AM. There will be more tomorrow, I suppose.

[Mormolyce]

I haven't played much Arcane but the AM procs seemed high enough to me. The rotation is a lot better than Cataclysm, it's just those damn top tier talents that kind of screw with it.

I think the solution would be to redesign those talents to be less intrusive. Would appreciate that in Fire as well!

[Meillassoux]

One change I would love to see is what Shangalar said about the proc rate of AM together with a small damage nerf ofc and the ability to cast it on the move. At least that way arcane won't feel like he's rooted on the ground.

[Shangalar]

One change I would love to see is what Shangalar said about the proc rate of AM together with a small damage nerf ofc and the ability to cast it on the move. At least that way arcane won't feel like he's rooted on the ground.

I'd even go so far to say that Arcane is the most RNG dependant mage spec. For example, I hit my all time low earlier tonight on the first boss in HoF when I went four full cycles without Missiles procs. Started yelling on Vent that something is bugged or broken. Without Missiles there's no point in popping cooldowns which means no damage which means the entire fight is screwed up.

[casually]

arcanes one of the most garbage specs out there.. some can say its sometimes viable.. but overall its a very poor choice.. it used to be awesome for fights with burst periods in cata.(pick arcane for on demand burst, fire for consistency). now its just.. no different between fire or frost really

one solution would be to go back to wotlk style arcane making missiles fire twice as fast on a certain proc rate.. also increase the chance they proc. and possibly give a chance for a free arcane blast to be castable( with 50% more dmg) this would have no casttime either and cost 0 mana.

as for pvp.. you really cant do much with arcane.. it has a buildup time. which doesnt work as well in pvp.. maybe increase slow to 90% movement speed decreased and give one spell a chance to root?

[Meillassoux]

I would also like to be able to control my arcane charges more. That ofc means making it a core mechanic and not a simple debuff and introducing maybe a new spell that adds more than 1 charge but has penalties for either mana or reduced damage. Something like mind spike, a spell that is more bursty but has side effects. And maybe another spell that doesn't clear every charge we have but simply 1 or 2 of them (less powerful than ABr ofc). Maybe that's asking too much I know but I believe every mage (every player actually) would want to be in control of his specc and gameplay. Now it feels like a luckbuster.

[Emberess]

can cast Missiles while moving, adding the cast time reduction to ABlasts back into the charge things like cata, thats all i can think of

edit; also give each charge a 10% bonus chance to proc missiles , so when you at 5/6 charges your next spell will almost always proc missiles

[Mizgarth]

I haven't played much Arcane but the AM procs seemed high enough to me. The rotation is a lot better than Cataclysm, it's just those damn top tier talents that kind of screw with it.

I think the solution would be to redesign those talents to be less intrusive. Would appreciate that in Fire as well!

This is pretty much my opinion as well. I really hate the last tier talents. I don't want my mage to be like a rogue or druid where I have to keep track and make sure I have short lasting buffs up all the time. Its annoying to say the least.

[Meillassoux]

This is pretty much my opinion as well. I really hate the last tier talents. I don't want my mage to be like a rogue or druid where I have to keep track and make sure I have short lasting buffs up all the time. Its annoying to say the least.

The proc rate is high but keep in mind that it is our only way to deal real damage. It's too much RNG related to be that punishing. It's like the old Fire being transferred in Arcane in a much more boring version.

[Lovestar]

Permanent Mirror Images!

It's crazy! Different! We heard you like Mages, so we put Mages in your Mage spec so you can Arcane Blast while you Arcane Blast!

Then have spells which interact with your Mirrors. It's kind of like GW2 Mesmer meets World of Warcraft.

[Shangalar]

As for pvp, I recently thought about a spell that could potentially help arcane mages survive and cast more. This is a very basic idea of course, but something along the lines of a Force Pulse - a single target knockback, but with a minimum range requirement. No idea how it would work, but I'm just tossing around the idea.

[Rogge]

It's the level 90 talents that makes me not wanting to touch arcane even in fights where it might be good theoretically. Even though invocation is a pita as fire/frost, atleast it's playable.

Imho they should scratch the 90 talents, give mages a 10-12% damage boost/+100% mana regen to compensate, and put something with utility in the 90's tier. That combined with the +2% damage per stack in 5.1 would make me give it a try.

[Gorillawar]

I dont mind arcane that much..the dps is quite nice and with the built in aoe from arcane barrage it makes a fight like stone guard some mouth watering

[Meillassoux]

Permanent Mirror Images!

It's crazy! Different! We heard you like Mages, so we put Mages in your Mage spec so you can Arcane Blast while you Arcane Blast!

Then have spells which interact with your Mirrors. It's kind of like GW2 Mesmer meets World of Warcraft.

This sounds very refreshing and nice. That being said I don't believe Blizz would risk putting such an advanced and pro only-friendly mechanic in the game.

As for the Force Push thing I believe that would be great as an arcane spell both practically and aesthetically^^ Who wouldn't want a spell that throws things like garbage here and there:P (touching blast wave memories)

**How about this? The more charges you have the more the proc rate of AM increases.

[jtmzac]

Just give us back 4.3 arcane back please blizz. It was a fun and unique spec. Otherwise just change it to a healing spec. 3 dps specs is unnecessary these days.

[Imnick]

Arcane's not got a damage problem with the buffs coming in 5.1, all it needs is more mobility.
Missiles while moving would probably do it, or something like Shadow Priest illusions but with Arcane Orbs.

There's nothing wrong with the rotation and it's more interesting than the old days of pressing arcane blast and doing your best to never cast anything else, it just needs to be more able to cope with encounter mechanics than it is at present.