Make arcane missiles affected by arcane charges.
Remove the Rune of power talentrow altogether and repalce it with dps skills on ~ 20-30 sec cd this alone would make mage way better
I.O BFA Season 3
BM is still the least interactive spec in the game by far. So by your definition it would also "objectively" be the least fun spec (given you don't understand the definition of the word "objectively") but it is much more popular than more engaging specs. Therefore you cannot put a direct correlation between the simplicity of a spec and what people find fun. The overall gameplay of BM is extremely simple (based on the combination on all aspects), but a lot of people still find it fun. Fun can never be objective as you claim.
What needs to happen is they revert Mage back to the original design from Classic to MoP, where the Mage class had a baseline arsenal of Fire/Frost/Arcane spells and then you specialized while still keeping baseline spells from all three sects of the Arcane.
That means a Mage, regardless of specialization should have...
Fireball
Frostbolt
Fireblast
Arcane Blast
Arcane Explosion
Blizzard
Ice Lance
Flamestrike
Cone of Cold
Mana Bubble
Furthermore, Spells that the Mage was given baseline by leveling up in new expansions over the years that were ripped away, only for them to give us them back as talents (complete slap in the face) need to return to being baseline. That means...
Mirror Images
Ring of Frost
Then they can start thinking about giving back great spells/effects that were added throughout the years like...
Alter Time (w/ Dot Snapshotting)
Blazing Speed
Flame Orb
Cauterizing Blink
Molten Fury (Execute mechanic)
Frostjaw
Deep Freeze
Improved Counterspell
Invocation
They also need to bring back the glyph system and let us both customize the visuals of our spells and the effects of our spells
I miss the good old days when your fireball or frostbolt felt like it trucked shit when one landed. Now of days they feel like weak undesirable filler spells you end up casting because there is nothing else to press. Wotlk mage was the best mage design Imo
Add Time as a spec.
Let it be a healing and support spec for mages.
Chronomancer needs to exist.
If we could all sit and talk without demonizing one another and attempt to understand the opposite point of view, the collective world would be a better place. Mental bigotry is the worst of all.
Arcane should be a mobility spec I liked Wrath and Cata versions of Arcane where Arcane Barrage was the main attack. As for other specs I think Arcane Explosion should go back to all specs, should it be less powerful as Fire and Frost? Sure, I think Fireblast needs to go back to all specs, get rid of useless talents like Mirror Image or MAKE IT STRONGER. Yeah I play an Arcane Mage but guess what... I'M STILL A MAGE! Give me other non Arcane Spells
Nice how this has turned into a discussion on the difference between objective and subjective. Here's some definitions:
objective
(of a person or their judgement) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
subjective
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
As fun itself is something pertaining to a person's feelings, it can't be objective. As Kaver said, we can use the term statistically, although that sounds wack, so perhaps it's best to leave that be just like any misguided attempts to use hyperbole ("objectively better"). For the sake of respecting the poignancy and beauty of the English language.
lol
I'll chime in that I actually enjoy NoIL Frost simply because I enjoy the nice damage spike, and the fact that Glacial Spike has a nice windup animation. Legion frost was mostly TV except for that one small timeframe before GS was nerfed.
Hence, I find frost more fun now than Legion.
Revert me back to MoP mage and i am happy, give me Combustion that works off of ignite not a 200% crit for 6 seconds we have now. Pyroblast i agree just needs to hit stupidly big for whatever the squish is, if it is back to doing 1k dps then i want a 3 second pyro to be hitting for 600-1k or something like this (not the best with numbers lol) not like what it is now. That is the fixes i want for live i want ignite to be back worked into Combustion for that being the cleave like we had in soO with alter time snap-shotting xD
But even so that is what i want my fire to be based around.
Frost i want to be back to fast paced mage spec with frostbolt on 1.6 second casts and ice lance not hitting for 700% more than a frost bolt etc and maybe add frost bomb kinda gameplay back with deep freeze.
Arcane i just want it to be literally re designed but i have no idea how, burn phase > conserve phase > repeat is very bad gameplay but if that is what it has to be then just make it that with stupidly high burst and then literally nothing for 60 seconds xD
I do agree we need a complete redesign and many more spells added to our mage classes though it is very dull playing a mage and fire is just not fun at all right now even with the big burst numbers we throw out. Having to sit in rune of power as well is also stupid gameplay, we have to stand still to cast as it is and blink just becomes irrelevant as a movement tool when you are having to stand in RoP for the max duration or your opener goes from 80k to 40k etc
Baseline spells for all specs imo should be;
Mirror Image
Frostfire bolt (should return) - adds a slow and a burn dot over time
Scorch
Presence of Mind
Maybe cone of cold as an extra slow type spell for the likes of Fire and Arcane which would be needed, especially for Arcane if you aren't talented for it.
That is what i would like to see anyway, hell i would take reverting back to days of LK mould too xD
I could rant for days but at this point i would just take anything, give me more base line spells and redesign of some of the other spells and i would be intrigued into the next expansion, even if i am starting to lose interest in the game.
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Glad i am not the only one who wants Frostfire bolt back!!
The thing is, Mages were ground zero for the prioritization of spec identity over class identity, and many Mages over the years were supportive of it. If I went back far I can find threads supportive of making our aoe attacks spec specific or making our barriers spec themed. People wanted to be fire mages, or frost mages, or Arcane mages and some almost seemed to feel that using a spell from another school was somehow wrong.
In hindsight, as Blizzard began spec pruning, this sort of approach found favour within Blizzard and led us to where we are now, with three specs with little cross pollination.
Yet is it entirely bad? Blizzard said they went too far, and they did, but going too far does not mean they shouldn't have started. Spec locking certain abilities does make sense given that our specializations are based on schools of magic. It provides character to that spec and anchors a rotation for players to use.
Ironically, the spells you list as being the ones that should be shared are the ones I think are the least likely to be so. You don't need fireball or arcane blast if you're a Frost mage after all.
But it is the second part of your list where things probably will change. Greater utility and niche spells opened up to all specs, rather than being spec locked or flat out removed.
There is an attractive logic to having a Chronomancer spec, particularly as it makes sense lorewise (we have encountered time based healing) and would give full expression to our ability to command time. I cannot find the interview, but years ago it was actually discussed by Blizzard as a possibility. Whilst they never explained why they didn't go ahead with it, it's not too hard to suss out.
That while a healing spec for Mages makes sense, you'd be giving Mages an extra spec, something which the other eleven classes might have an issue with. Druids got away with it and the community accepted it because the logic behind creating Guardian was splitting it from Feral, making Druids pick tanking or melee dps rather than being able to have both in one specialization.
In contrast, giving Mages a healing spec would be to give them a brand new role.
The other eleven would never let it go. They would all demand a new specialization because of 'fairness', and they'd have a point. If Shamans got a tanking spec I would absolutely argue Mages should get a healing spec. Blizzard knows this, hence why an extra spec for Mages alone isn't going to happen. Every class would have to get something and I doubt Blizzard wants to dump 4 classes worth of new specializations to balance into the system.
Of course we could scrap Arcane, roll the best parts of Arcane into Fire and Frost and then turn that into the Chronomancery tree, but I imagine the Arcane Mages would be upset.
And for my own personal contribution. Greater Invisibility. Make it baseline and call it Invisibility. Most 'Greater' versions of existing abilities take an ability that works and makes it better. Greater Invisibility takes a broken spell and makes it work.
If you need to balance it, give it a five minute cooldown and have a talent reduce that cooldown to what Arcane Mages have but I would like a working version of the spell rather than the hideously flawed version we have now.
Anyone wanting us to be pigeon-holed are just flat out ignorant of what the design of Mage was (for the majority of this game's history).
My go-to analogy is this: A Master Chef does not forget how to cook all other dishes if he/she were to specialize in French Cuisine. It was the same with Mage from Classic-MoP -- A Master of the Arcane did not forget how to cast all other spells just because he/she specialized in Fire or Frost or Arcane.
Mage needs to be reverted back to what it was, a Master of the Arcane. Not a Pyromaniac, Arcanomancer, and Icecaller like you see in the Everbloom dungeon.
And truthfully, I never saw lots of support for relegating us to one-trick ponies. I saw people asking for a "Fire version of cone of cold" or a "Frost version of Blast Wave", but never in all my years playing have I seen any large contingent pining for us to be completely dismantled foundationally and forced into only using one type of spell. We're Mages, afterall!
And maybe you don't pvp or do much outside of raid, but a Mage's toolkit was once incredibly diverse and allowed for lots of versatility in those other activities. When we were counterspelled/kicked/pummelled etc., we had two other sects of the Arcane to continue attacking/controlling with, whereas now when you get interrupted while casting a Fire spell, you're essentially neutered into helplessness as we have very few, if any, other spells to draw from.
My final point being: just because you don't see a need for a Mage to have fireball or arcane blast despite specializing into Frost spells, doesn't mean there's not actually a necessity and thematically pertinent reason for us to do so.
Good point. Also, it often seems like it's the people that don't know the lore very well that like the idea of forsaking every spell except those of their chosen school of magic.
Because if you know anything about magic in this fictional universe, you'd know that unlike shamans and such, mages draw *all* their powers from the arcane. The specializations of fire, frost and arcane are somewhat arbitrary lore-wise. No mage would let themselves be restricted like that.
Also, small pet peeve, but combustion being what it is right now makes no sense to me. The "elemental conduit" shtick belongs to shamans. Mages, on the other hand, manipulate the arcane to evoke certain effects, whether they be fiery or chilly, setting *yourself* on fire doesn't fit.
A propos lore and the arcane: Make Mana matter again. It's some bullshit that nowadays, the only ones that actually care for mana are healers and arcane. And while I get that nobody likes their DPS grinding to a halt because they're oom. Arcane is an exception because it has been specifically built around the ebb and flow of mana and it has retained tools to manage that.
So while I don't want to go back to the days of drinking after every pull, I wouldn't mind having to watch for my mana every now and then. A good solution might be to add back a couple other spells for frost and fire that are not part of the normal rotation and cost a lot of mana. A prime example would be Mana Shield for all specs! (absorbs damage in exchange for your mana)
That ability was thematically fitting and, depending on how it's tuned, useful as well as quite the double edged sword.
Last edited by Lodravel; 2019-07-24 at 06:43 AM.
Hi guys! I have been reading all your comments carefully and I've thought that perhaps we should put all our ideas in common, creating a public Google document with all the spells and abilities we want, classifying them between shared/common spells and arcane, fire or frost spells.
Bear in mind that I'm looking forward to receiving your ideas, opinions and requests so as to the document is complete, so don't hesitate to edit it. Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing