6.0 Mage Speculation & Paranoia

[Zatetic]

I think I'm done discussing it. Some people just arent going to see the benefits of using particular talents for certain encounters.

[LocNess]

I do agree with Imnick we should probably cut the discussion. It has been over a page now.

[mrgreenthump]

I do agree with Imnick we should probably cut the discussion. It has been over a page now.

Mm I have been somewhat away for the weekend so should have said something earlier, but DO NOT TAKE THE THREAD OFF TOPIC AGAIN.

[Deleted]

To get this to topic again: I´m under the impression, that Blizzard is not going to change much next expansion. No answer to the revamp question, little bit room for speculations because of Combustion + Alter Time - will we lose AT as a dps cooldown (good thing, imho)?

[Imnick]

That would be one way to solve the issue, I hope it's not the one they pick because I really love Alter Time but other than doing that I really have no idea how they might fix its interaction with Combustion.

[Hasufer]

A possiblity could be to remove POM for the "ekstra empowered" combusts - you only use this spell for fire basicly, except from rare occations (and it feels kinda bound to fire as well, unless u really need bs/if for a certain fight) - it will help during AT to remove it, but ofc nerf combust unnessesary, with the no-AT pom combo in between AT's, but guess that could somehow be accounted for -
Theres up's and downs about it, but freeing that first talent choise on the same time, would be nice for fire mages as well I guess
I havn't played fire this tier and the last, so tbh, I dunno if firemages go by BS for many heroic encounters as of laste - I guess it's a good idea at least, but some people prob feel very tied up on the pom to keep up with the dmg/start of others (tho survivability should always be prioed ofc)

I really really do not hope they remove AT, that would be sad.

[Deleted]

Removing AT entirely would make me sad, but removing it as a dps cooldown would be a nice thing. I´m not sceptical about WoD, but I am a little bit sceptical about class, spec and talent design in WoD. Sound and feel like that this is not their focus for the new xpac. Can´t await the first beta notes

[Vouxility]

GC did say it - "do not expect tons of Class Chances for WoD" - for my opinion it seems they like to seperate the specifications from each other "again".
This would be something i really like to see. This munchin between the Specs is something i definitively dislike.
But removing Alter Time .. i dont get it .. where is/should be the sense?

p.s @Pete: I rly like your sig :P

[Akraen]

If we remove snapshotting and AT, nothing will separate the best mages from the guy who just instant-gave himself a 90... I mean really, while I wish I could give up the DPS and use AT for creative means sometimes, I don't want to lose our only other real skill move.

[maizensh]

If we remove snapshotting and AT, nothing will separate the best mages from the guy who just instant-gave himself a 90... I mean really, while I wish I could give up the DPS and use AT for creative means sometimes, I don't want to lose our only other real skill move.

I feel the same way about it. I had my share of hiccups with AT (which either led to premature death or massive dps loss), but I still feel that this ability is good (and quite unique) and overall it has grown on me.
I like snapshotting a lot as well and wish it would stay, at least for mages. Without snapshots (dynamic scaling instead) the whole bomb tier will be just bland. There would never be a reason to be creative about your bomb usage, just keep high % up and that's it. Overall just a chore like Invocation is now.

[Akraen]

I do actually agree with removing snapshotting, but I want it replaced. I want mastery to be the skill check so that each spec has a bit of distinction from the other:

Arcane: Mana Adept's design should be a balance of damage and haste. High mana = more damage, low mana = more haste. Think about it. Lower mana you go, faster you cast, faster you regen mana. But you sacrifice damage, so it adds an accelerated burn with a creative consequence that can be gamed in fights.

Frost: Icicles could be triggered, apply a cold-stacking (to the caster, so no target switching issues) debuff as they hit so each subsequent icicle hits harder. Puts haste back on top in single target and provides a frost-only type of complex skill rotation. You'd want to use periods of burst haste to machine gun icicles, but balanced such that you wouldn't always be releasing them. Still wouldn't need to be tracked, your interaction with the mastery just changes based off haste.

Fire: Ignite generates heat each time refreshed, tracked as a debuff, which increases critical strike chance by a small chance each and reduces mastery by a small chance per stack. Upon release of a pyroblast or combustion it resets the stack of heat. Helps low-geared fire get a crit ramp, helps fuel a combustion. Can be gamed a bit with a hard-cast pyro.

[Kendeura]

The problem with your suggestion for arcane is that the more haste you have the quicker you lose mana too, which netts out with the quicker regen.

[Akraen]

The problem with your suggestion for arcane is that the more haste you have the quicker you lose mana too, which netts out with the quicker regen.

That's the challenge

[Vokz]

One of my hopes and dreams has always been to see Arcane turn into a melee type Arcane Warrior or Battle Mage. (Kind of like an Arcane Warrior from Dragon Age)
It would be cool to see some kind of "Arcane Armor" that beefed you up a bit for melee combat, then you could amplify your weapons with arcane power, and attack from the pack. I know, I know, Enhancement shaman does that. But....Battle Mages sound awesome. Why can't we have Battle Mages

I feel Shooting Stars is going to be awesome for visuals. Kind of gives us Mages a "cool" spell other than Alter Time and Frost Orb. I think our abilities are "small." When I cast a Fireball, I want it to be the size of a Pyroblast and I want a Pyroblast to take up my whole screen and cause me to have a seizure! (not literally)

[mrgreenthump]

One of my hopes and dreams has always been to see Arcane turn into a melee type Arcane Warrior or Battle Mage. (Kind of like an Arcane Warrior from Dragon Age)
It would be cool to see some kind of "Arcane Armor" that beefed you up a bit for melee combat, then you could amplify your weapons with arcane power, and attack from the pack. I know, I know, Enhancement shaman does that. But....Battle Mages sound awesome. Why can't we have Battle Mages

I feel Shooting Stars is going to be awesome for visuals. Kind of gives us Mages a "cool" spell other than Alter Time and Frost Orb. I think our abilities are "small." When I cast a Fireball, I want it to be the size of a Pyroblast and I want a Pyroblast to take up my whole screen and cause me to have a seizure! (not literally)

I've always longed for a Battle Mage, be it a seperate class or a 4th spec.. but then again it's development time that I'd much rather have on improving fire and arcane.

[Vokz]

I've always longed for a Battle Mage, be it a seperate class or a 4th spec.. but then again it's development time that I'd much rather have on improving fire and arcane.

The playstyles seem fine to me, but then again I just play casually so it's just being a Mage to me. The one thing I don't like is the level 90 talents (But who hasn't said this?) What class doesn't get something awesome at 90? We get mana management. I'm really hoping they do something to change that, because how many mages turned away from our class because of these?

One thing I'd really like to see is an improvement to our AoE. I think Blizzard would be bad ass if it surrounded us in a blizzard causing AoE damage to anyone in an X yard radius of us, that also slowed. Of course something like that would have to have a CD, especially if it were instant. Hell, even add a cast time to us.

Also, why do Death Knights get water walking and us FROST mages don't? Blasphemy I say.

[Akraen]

Let's discuss the DK snowy glyph. Why don't we have that? I want to freeze the fucking ground I walk on just like the frost mage in the vanilla opening cinematic. I've wanted to do that since I first saw that cinematic.

I take Ice Ward JUST to keep it on myself as much as possible for visual reasons.

[LocNess]

Let's discuss the DK snowy glyph. Why don't we have that? I want to freeze the fucking ground I walk on just like the frost mage in the vanilla opening cinematic. I've wanted to do that since I first saw that cinematic.

I take Ice Ward JUST to keep it on myself as much as possible for visual reasons.

I still don't get why we don't have Water Walking of any kind.

[Vokz]

Let's discuss the DK snowy glyph. Why don't we have that? I want to freeze the fucking ground I walk on just like the frost mage in the vanilla opening cinematic. I've wanted to do that since I first saw that cinematic.

I take Ice Ward JUST to keep it on myself as much as possible for visual reasons.

Yes, so yes. We were the ORIGINAL frosties. Why can't we have snow? Or walk on water. This is bullshit. I want to be surrounded in ice (and not just when ice blocked) I want to catch on fire like Destro locks do. I want to shimmer with Arcane Energy. I want to control all of time itself! Allons-y!

[Mastamage]

If we remove snapshotting and AT, nothing will separate the best mages from the guy who just instant-gave himself a 90... I mean really, while I wish I could give up the DPS and use AT for creative means sometimes, I don't want to lose our only other real skill move.

Snapshotting was a true designation between great and mediocre players. Back when I was raiding with you and we both had similar gear you would beat me on charts because your snapshot finesse was better than mine.

Sad to see it maybe go but it is a mechanic that makes Locks absolutely rape face.

- - - Updated - - -

I do actually agree with removing snapshotting, but I want it replaced. I want mastery to be the skill check so that each spec has a bit of distinction from the other:

Arcane: Mana Adept's design should be a balance of damage and haste. High mana = more damage, low mana = more haste. Think about it. Lower mana you go, faster you cast, faster you regen mana. But you sacrifice damage, so it adds an accelerated burn with a creative consequence that can be gamed in fights.

Frost: Icicles could be triggered, apply a cold-stacking (to the caster, so no target switching issues) debuff as they hit so each subsequent icicle hits harder. Puts haste back on top in single target and provides a frost-only type of complex skill rotation. You'd want to use periods of burst haste to machine gun icicles, but balanced such that you wouldn't always be releasing them. Still wouldn't need to be tracked, your interaction with the mastery just changes based off haste.

Fire: Ignite generates heat each time refreshed, tracked as a debuff, which increases critical strike chance by a small chance each and reduces mastery by a small chance per stack. Upon release of a pyroblast or combustion it resets the stack of heat. Helps low-geared fire get a crit ramp, helps fuel a combustion. Can be gamed a bit with a hard-cast pyro.

I could be wrong about this but didn't Arcane Blast casting speed used to increase as you gained stacks? It could've been a set bonus but I can almost remember our AB stacks behaving that way (tooled around with my mage during this time, didn't raid on it).