Mage dueling spec in BfA

[Cyanu]

So with dueler's guild (or whatever is called) coming duels seem to be in the spotlight again, it's no secret that mage won't be the best class for it but which of our specs do you think is going to have a shot?

imo unless numerically undertuned fire seems to be the way to go as you can open on people with poly->Greater Pyroblast (or poly, breath, poly, GP if they trinket), which you can follow with combustion and a silly number of instants (maybe nova+meteor for a second round of burst too), the only drawback i see is the lack of a decent snare (again that's if our spells are going to be able to hurt people, because in parts of Legion they weren't)

frost seems to have solid burst and a great selection of roots but seems to lack in every other department

arcane continues to be stupid good against the slower melee i guess, but the question remains of whether it can blow someone up in time while having neither breath, nor frost's extra roots

so what's your opinions?

[The Archmage]

At the moment Arcane is insanely good in duels thanks to Mana Barrier and the crazy mana regeneration the spec currently enjoys. Of course, i seriously doubt it is gonna make it to live in its current state.

Also, we currently throw a Glacial Spike that can remove 60% of someone's HP, which again will not stay that way.

When all is balanced out, it will probably stay like it is now: Fire against ranged, Arcane against melees, and Frost a decent bursty all rounder.

[noimawizard]

Mages are amazing in duels with the right talents.

[Jigglypuff]

Frost mages will be great against melee. Shimmer x2, Frost Nova x2, Freeze, Ice Nova, Frostbite procs, CoC and lastly Ray of Frost; a channeled spell that starts with a 60% snare increasing by 10% every 1 seconds, effectively becoming a root after 4 seconds.

When they connect you have Ice Barrier, Temporal Shield and Ice Block x2. Like what the actual f#!k?!

[Lulbalance]

Frost mages will be great against melee. Shimmer x2, Frost Nova x2, Freeze, Ice Nova, Frostbite procs, CoC and lastly Ray of Frost; a channeled spell that starts with a 60% snare increasing by 10% every 1 seconds, effectively becoming a root after 4 seconds.

When they connect you have Ice Barrier, Temporal Shield and Ice Block x2. Like what the actual f#!k?!

even if i didn't read the warlock forums.. i would still know you're a warlock, lol.

[Sk3tz0]

I would like to know.. When comes to Duelling, How to beat a Affliction Lock, Any assist woulf be nice. Especially when it comes to WPVP talents.. I've tried Fire and Frost..But it just seems the Silence and the Fears get to me.. and the healing.. Surei might be good at it.. but some tips would be nice.

[Franktank]

I would like to know.. When comes to Duelling, How to beat a Affliction Lock, Any assist woulf be nice. Especially when it comes to WPVP talents.. I've tried Fire and Frost..But it just seems the Silence and the Fears get to me.. and the healing.. Surei might be good at it.. but some tips would be nice.

Disclaimer: Just a random PVP newbie here that's done some reading/following on the /r/compWoW and /r/worldofpvp subreddits and watch a few streamers.

In my experience, you don't. In a 1v1 where they know you're a mage, they will be running a Fel Hunter that can purge every 15 sec and kick every 24. Then you have to include Fear and their AoE stun (1 minute cooldown), and Mortal Coil (insta fear with 20% hp heal on 45s CD). Above all that, all their dots (applied instantly except for UA) heal them with their Soul Leech passive while SL and Phantom include healing components in the spell themselves. They'll likely be running Spell Ward but you can Spellsteal that. Lastly, they get healthstones that heal 30% of their HP on a 1 minute cooldown (3 charges). Chances are if you use Counter, it will be on UA (amps their dots) or Fear then they will just drain soul and that sends them back to pretty much full HP.

You can probably kill one in a random bg if they don't have their CDs available but I don't think its possible vs a competent pvp afflock in a 1v1 unless they make a severe mistake.

[heinz0r]

[edit] misread. my bad