Make Elemental Precision Tier 1 Frost

[mungbean]

With the new Spell Impact, FM, and maybe even World in Flames, deep fire mages seems to be leaning towards a deep fire/ arcane build again, instead of going frost for icy veins.

However, in order to max single target dps for fire mages, there becomes a shortage of talent points for Elemental Precision. Consider this build:

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...00000000000000

Taking all the talent points that increase single target dps (excluding incineration for scorch crit and assuming LB is spammed on the boss for additional dps), that leaves only 6 points to put in frost (1 point in elemental precision). This build excludes BW, DG, and even Flame Throwing.

By having Elemental Precision on the 2nd tier of the frost tree, Blizzard promotes 3 negative occurences (maybe more);

1. Deep fire mages has an innate disadvantage against all other caster dps
- In all the WOTLK talent trees for casters, hit can be accessibly talented. Even Destro locks, who had no talented hit pre WOTLK, are now given 3% talented easily. In fact, the fire mage is the only caster spec that has to spec into another tree for hit. And since EP is T2 frost, thats 5 wasted talent points as compared to all other caster specs.

2. Fire mages will never reach their aoe potential
- In every deep fire build I have made throughout the different builds, I've always found myself skipping BW or DG. There's better options for spending the talent points, but unfortunately they all have unnecessary prerequisites. Firestarter is a neat idea, but other than pvp, I don't forsee any mage talenting into it. If the bloat was lessened, then maybe Blizzard's idea of a aoe niche for mages will be achieved. Otherwise, mages will be a mediocre aoe class (compared too all the other casters who got buffs in aoe and the points to spend).

3. Itemization for fire mages will be skewed towards hit
- With the merge of Spell Power and Healing, it seems that Blizzard is trying to promote flexibility with gear. However, seeing that fire will need 2-3% more hit that both frost and arcane, fire mages will value gear with hit more than other stats. This makes it rather cumbersome to change specs at will, since the excess hit for arcane or frost mages will be a detriment towards the fluidity of specs and gear.

Thus, I propose the following change to solve these issues:

Make Elemental Precision a Tier 1 talent, and make Ice Floes a Tier 2 talent (swap their positions).

This way:
1. Deep Fire gains accessible hit like every other caster dps. This lessens the fire mage's innate disadvantages.

2. Deep Fire gains 3 talents to put into aoe abilities (Assuming the build stated above and 3 points in T1 EP). Getting BW and DB will finally be possible again, or maybe skipping BW for DB and 2 points into Firestarter. Lots of flexibility is gained. Flame Throwing might be another option.

3. Itemization for mage specs will be normalized. Fire mages won't have as many deterrents for switching specs for the raid's needs.

Making EP a T1 talent is a fair decision. The mage class will become much more flexible and competitive with such a simple change. It achieves not only Blizzard's goals for fire mages, but it also falls in line with Blizzard's goals for the next expansion.

[Vk]

However I'd like to support this idea to see fire buffed, this is actually not what Blizzard should do.

At the moment with the fireball buff deep fire/arcane is the best choice hands down. While before this patch you could be doubting between frost or arcane for offspec points. If anything I'd say that the lower tiers of frost should be buffed to become more interesting for both a deep arcane and deep fire talent build.

[Raptorg]

why not get get rid of elemental precision, and make arcane focus work on everything.. arcane still is kinda the utility tree, might as well put the hit talent right there..

then turn elemental precision into something else.. something still useful for fire, but not a mandatory talent like +hit(so you get to choose between your secondary trees)

[Pyrostemplar]

I'd just add +1% hit to the stupid playing with fire talent - so it would become +1% dmg and 1% hit per point. Atm it is underpar compared to the "1% per talent point" mantra, as it has a negative effect.

And frost is looking more than powerful atm enough when compared to the other trees.

[Puffy]

The reason they did it imo is cause it was in tier 1 every mage was going to get it and get FM on top of that with a deep fire build cause it was possible.

Blizzard's way of going with the talent trees is making them bloated really so in each tree there's lots of good talents and making it so one class can't get all the stuff they need in 1 spec.

They wanted us to decide between IV and +3% hit or FM/CC/Spell impact.

Since spellimpact got changed i put the rest of my points in arcane, +6% dmg is jsut too good to give up togehter with CC and FM.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...00000000000000

this is the specc ill probably go. I might change like 1-2 talents like more in Incineration and not Absorption stuff like that.

[Delijica]

With the new Arcane changes and World in Flames increases the crit chance of Pyroblast I will definitely be putting 14 points into Arcane and the rest into Fire.
This is the spec I will probably use: 14/57/0 I just can't decide whether to take BW or DB.
Anyway, I don't think that the lack of Elemental Precision will be a problem because the hit cap is going to be lowered to something like 9% iirc.

[kostis]

With the new Spell Impact, FM, and maybe even World in Flames, deep fire mages seems to be leaning towards a deep fire/ arcane build again, instead of going frost for icy veins.

However, in order to max single target dps for fire mages, there becomes a shortage of talent points for Elemental Precision. Consider this build:

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?mage...00000000000000

Taking all the talent points that increase single target dps (excluding incineration for scorch crit and assuming LB is spammed on the boss for additional dps), that leaves only 6 points to put in frost (1 point in elemental precision). This build excludes BW, DG, and even Flame Throwing.

By having Elemental Precision on the 2nd tier of the frost tree, Blizzard promotes 3 negative occurences (maybe more);

1. Deep fire mages has an innate disadvantage against all other caster dps
- In all the WOTLK talent trees for casters, hit can be accessibly talented. Even Destro locks, who had no talented hit pre WOTLK, are now given 3% talented easily. In fact, the fire mage is the only caster spec that has to spec into another tree for hit. And since EP is T2 frost, thats 5 wasted talent points as compared to all other caster specs.

2. Fire mages will never reach their aoe potential
- In every deep fire build I have made throughout the different builds, I've always found myself skipping BW or DG. There's better options for spending the talent points, but unfortunately they all have unnecessary prerequisites. Firestarter is a neat idea, but other than pvp, I don't forsee any mage talenting into it. If the bloat was lessened, then maybe Blizzard's idea of a aoe niche for mages will be achieved. Otherwise, mages will be a mediocre aoe class (compared too all the other casters who got buffs in aoe and the points to spend).

3. Itemization for fire mages will be skewed towards hit
- With the merge of Spell Power and Healing, it seems that Blizzard is trying to promote flexibility with gear. However, seeing that fire will need 2-3% more hit that both frost and arcane, fire mages will value gear with hit more than other stats. This makes it rather cumbersome to change specs at will, since the excess hit for arcane or frost mages will be a detriment towards the fluidity of specs and gear.

Thus, I propose the following change to solve these issues:

Make Elemental Precision a Tier 1 talent, and make Ice Floes a Tier 2 talent (swap their positions).

This way:
1. Deep Fire gains accessible hit like every other caster dps. This lessens the fire mage's innate disadvantages.

2. Deep Fire gains 3 talents to put into aoe abilities (Assuming the build stated above and 3 points in T1 EP). Getting BW and DB will finally be possible again, or maybe skipping BW for DB and 2 points into Firestarter. Lots of flexibility is gained. Flame Throwing might be another option.

3. Itemization for mage specs will be normalized. Fire mages won't have as many deterrents for switching specs for the raid's needs.

Making EP a T1 talent is a fair decision. The mage class will become much more flexible and competitive with such a simple change. It achieves not only Blizzard's goals for fire mages, but it also falls in line with Blizzard's goals for the next expansion.

I found your idea rly good and u are damn right I think Blizzard will do sth for that (i hope so)

[Karah]

imo if the scaling is same as in tbc, which seems to be pretty much the same, 3% hit isnt that much to pass 6% dmg increase on pirmary nuke (in either "normal" fireballspamming and scorchspamming http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=of0...fVcbRhuuVubMst build)

[mungbean]

My main concern that out of all the caster dps classes, fire mages are the only ones left on choosing whether they should grab hit talents or damage modifier talents for their main nuke. Other caster dps may have bloated talent trees in respect to efficiency (ex. all the regen talents boomkins have) or secondary dps sources (ex. affliction skills for destro locks), but fire mages are the only casters now who have to sacrifice hit for their spam skill.