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Zarhym
Blizzard Poster
  • 0. Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:12:53 AM PDT
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Updated: 06.18.09

The Q&A has been posted here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=17899681390&sid=1

We'll be continuing this series going through each class one at a time, but fear not! Mages will get another chance to ask questions soon. :)

Thank you all once again for your constructive feedback and questions. We hope this Q&A procedure is useful to all of you.

--

As a part of our class Question & Answer series, we are looking for any questions you may have concerning your class and ask that you post in this thread. For more information on our Q&A series, please click here- http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=17223094467&sid=1

[ Post edited by Zarhym ]


Casual instances of random bursts make for time's enemy.
What is to lose? Only yourself and everything...
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  • The Venture Co
  • 4. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:18:02 AM PDT
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What sort of ideas have you been tossing around concerning Frost in PvE and Fire in PvP?

Are there any concerns about Arcane's future, as it's starting to slip right now?

Will Flamestrike ever not be Lamestrike?

C'thun may be a giant eyeball, but can he see why Kulasti loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

http://zaldinar.bounceme.net/tcom/ Theorycraft-o-Matic by Zaldinar
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  • 5. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:20:35 AM PDT
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Can mages have a perm water elemental?

some setbacks of course

Characters I use:
Dagnarus 80 Rogue, Ayperos 73 Mage, Dagnares 54 Paladin, Galdarr 68 Hunter, Helmos 38 Priest, Ayperas 78 Warlock
---------------
Tolten 72 Death Knight
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  • 7. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:25:32 AM PDT
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What is being done to address Fire mage threat issues?
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  • Zul'jin
  • 9. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:32:24 AM PDT
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Why do you hate me? No just jokes but seriously

Will the terrain be fixed so i can blink without having to worry what i am standing on? (I.E Grates,bridges)
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  • 11. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:35:44 AM PDT
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Instead of the mage forums in general, can we just have Luph ask the questions?

As a fire mage, I feel my dps is currently pretty good, but here are my current quality of life concerns:
1. Flamestrike casting time. What is up with the casting time on Flamestrike? Why does is it higher for the level 60+ ranks unlike any other player spell in the game? There was recently an answer about on the Test Realm forums that it is working as intended, but it still makes no sense to me.
2. AOE in general. It's expensive, it's targeted on the ground instead of focused on a unit, flamestrike has a long casting time and a small radius. Why doesn't Living Bomb explode when the target dies?
3. Improved Scorch. Why do we have to cast a dps loss spell 5 times when warlocks put the buff up as part of their normal rotation? At least bake the glyph into the talent please.
4. Combustion. Recently fire mages have stopped taking combustion because it provides such a small increase in dps. Could we get it changed to something more like the Elemental Shaman talent (15% extra crit for 15 seconds or similar)? I'd like having some burst like this even if it meant getting our damage nerfed some other way.
5. Playing with fire. Yes, it's a very cool name, but the 3% extra spell damage taken really seems uncalled for in PVE, especially since mages generally have the lowest HP.
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  • Frostwolf
  • 12. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:36:32 AM PDT
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Am I ever gonna be able to make use of the living bomb glyph.

Atm mages are stuck using scorch unless they have a counter part mage they can switch every other week with, than it just comes down to me dumping more money in glyphs every week.

Just to do a different glyph every week is a average of 20g a glyph thats over 1k gold for a years worth of raiding sigh.

Are mages Aoe gonna get better any time soon?

Currently we can blizzard and that's set to a fixated spot on the ground I often times have to recast blizzard to hit mobs and that is a lot of mana considering blizzard cost so much and arcane explosion is just way to dangerous for a raid's. Both warlock and shadow priest have good AoE with seeds and priest with mind sear which is channeled at a target so the aoe splashes off which is way better for effective aoe as they will follow the adds.

[ Post edited by Hyperspace ]

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  • Stormrage
  • 13. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:38:07 AM PDT
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  • Evocation is core to the mana regeneration of an arcane mage, yet it is still a very risky mechanic. Today actually marks two months since GC said you guys were aware of the issue (3/19/09). Is this still being looked at? And if so, what kind of change do you have in mind?

  • Mana Gems are another mechanic mages rely heavily on. They only have three charges though and do cost a hefty chunk of mana to summon. This creates a big drop in mana capacity on longer fights where you consume all the charges. Is this being looked at? Also, do you consider it fair that mages are locked out of using health stones because a core mana mechanic shares a cooldown?

  • Mage AoE spells seem relatively old compared to say, Mind Sear. The mana costs are high and positional requirements a pain. Are there plans to change our aoe mechanics?

  • Arcane Barrage no longer plays a center role in pve arcane rotations. It’s been relegated to mobile damage and is even replaced in some incanter’s absorption builds. Are you okay with this?

  • Are you happy with Arcane's damage output in pve?

  • Mage Armor is ineffective and does not play any role in pve any longer. The mana regen does not offset the damage gain from molten armor even for arcane specs. Do you have plans to improve mage armor for pve?

  • Glyph of Mage Armor is essentially useless now as while-casting mana regen can not exceed 100%. It also didn’t scale like other talents/abilities with the changes in 3.1. Are you aware of this?

  • The T8 4-piece bonus for arcane mages is much less worthwhile than fire mages because of the way arcane blasts are ramped up before a missile barrage. Are you okay with this?

  • Arcane is the most bloated talent spec in the game. Do you have any plans to ease up on talent bloat in arcane?

  • Arcane is the only spec in the game with no form of talented raid utility. This can really hurt in 10-man scenarios. Do you have plans to give arcane some utility at some point?

  • Mirror Images were nerfed in 3.1 having lost their ability to polymorph and now cost a global cooldown. They are generally considered not even worth the GCD to cast in pve. Do you plan to improve this spell at all?

  • Is frost in raids still on the table? Do you have any idea on how you might improve the spec both dps and rotation-wise? Do you understand that brain freeze procs are not even used in non-mobile scenarios for frost in pve?

  • Many mages don't consider fire's rng to be fun. Are you okay with the heavy rng based mechanics behind the spec?

  • Do you still have plans to improve fire pvp? And if so, do you have any idea on how you might do so? Many mages feel mana costs and survivability to be hefty concerns—as well as the reliance on crits and rng mechanics like blazing speed/fiery Payback.

  • Combustion no longer has much value in pve. Many fire specs have dropped it for another point in Student of the Mind. The spell scales backwards and does not give much. Do you plan to improve this talent at all—even if it comes at the cost of damage elsewhere?

  • Do you really consider it fine to attach a spell damage taken penalty on Playing with Fire simply because of the talent's name?

  • With the rise of discipline priests and fire/frost raid damage in Ulduar arcane mages have started coming up with Incanter’s Absorption specs—which largely has been seen as a pvp talent. Given the situational nature of the talent and that it encourages you to take (absorb) damage like Owlkin Frenzy, do you consider this intentional?

  • Arcane Specs are not considered very strong or popular in pvp any more. Longevity and melee survivability (less so than fire) seem to be stark issues. Do you feel arcane could use some improvements in pvp still?

  • Can we have our Robes back? Or at least a choice in the future? :P
  • [ Post edited by Luph ]


    Welcome to the forums. I Luph you.
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    • 14. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:41:02 AM PDT
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    For PvE, I would love to see Frost up to level with Arcane, but I see how you might not want to do that out of fear of buffing Frosts PvP DPS. Any way you can touch on that?

    Well, I think since we are steadily declining in arena representation (especially in 2's), maybe some damage buffs are warranted for Frost. That or we need more mechanics to help us survive/compete with melee DPS in arenas. Any way you can hint to how we can compete with melee?

    [ Post edited by Tommythecat ]



    Q u o t e:
    I vote we nerf making changes to PVE that arise from dualing in a box.
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    • 15. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:44:01 AM PDT
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    My concerns and questions:

    Edit- Condensed

    PvP

    1. There has been a large increase in meles ability to get into melee range will Blizz add more defensive abilities for non-Frost mages?

    2. Blizzard has shown an aversion to burst damage in pvp but most classes do relatively high damage to mages who have low health and little armor, will this be addressed?


    3. Will changes be made to mage defensive abilites which have much higher cooldown times and lack the mobility and offense capability of other classes cooldowns.

    PvE

    1. Are glpyhs like Fireblast and Molten armor which are nearly worthless going to get some attention?

    2. DKs and some other melee classes have creeped up to high AoE damage but do not suffer the penalties of cloth when they get the occasional agro and are not restricted by mana. Will this be addressed?

    3. The proc on the T8 set seems to highly favor fire. Can any changes be made to allow mages to retain their options for end game raid specs? I'm currently Arcane and loving it.

    4. Will there be any consolidation for the Arcane tree? These tree has become littered with 5 point talents that provide minimal increases.

    [ Post edited by Atmas ]

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    • Dawnbringer
    • 16. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:45:08 AM PDT
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    WTB some attention to Hot Streak procs! Tired of my dps being entirely luck based and rng dependant!!!
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    • 17. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:46:56 AM PDT
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    Will we ever see significant changes to some of our greatest flaws atm.
    Just a few:
    Our inability to keep melee at bay long enough to actually cast something in PvP, I spend more time in every aspect of PvP running and running, trying to do everything to stay alive.

    Will we ever see some form of dispel resistance talent within the frost for our frozen in place. I understand mages can pull some ridiculous burst, but the amount of setup it takes and the ease it is dispelled is a little heart breaking to say the least.

    Spirit, that was a real lousy change for mages, now we need spirit right as the mana regen from spirit is nerfed. This change was lackluster at best. What happens if I need to run Mage armor in a raid for arcane spec for the mana regen, the spirit regen is very low and then all this itemization towards spirit is wasted.

    Evocation needs some serious attention. Forcing us to stop everything we're doing and evocate for 5 seconds in any aspect of this game is a little ridiculous. In PvP it takes a lot to set up a situation where I'm able to get a full one off, and in PvE there are so many RNG factors that completely nullify it, and then what, I'm useless for 4 (2 if specced into arcane) or until my mana gem is off cooldown.

    Casting in PvP. This one says it all. It is a little absurd to expect us to pull off 2-3 second casts in an arena when someone is bearing down on us, not only that but the fact that almost every melee class can do 2-3 times the damage in one GCD vs us having to sit still and cast for that long.

    We really need a leg up in the arena. Yes we have RMP to run in 3's, what else? we're pigeonholed into one team makeup where no other class in the game is like this. 2's our options are limited and dieing fast w/ the raise in resilience, almost all of the comp's we can succeed in could be brain dead and do 2 times better. It's a little disheartening to see that we have to play every game perfect in order to succeed whereas any other team can slip up and still recover. Double DPS 2's teams are dieing out and we have no other real comp to run other than that.

    We need a way to kill a healer. Currently as is, they can easily sit still and out heal all of our damage until we're out of mana, then take us out at their leisure. It doesn't have to be swung so it's that we always kill a healer without even trying 1v1, but I'd like to have a chance.

    We need 2 sets of arena gear. Our arena gear is poorly itemized, we need a haste set. I don't want to be able to stack 2 sets of 2 piece bonuses like other classes, but we need a haste set. Being forced to wear wintergrasp items which are falling behind in item level severely gimps our already lackluster representation in the arena. Even if it is just upgraded wintergrasp pieces so they are up to date with the current ilvl arena gear, that would be fine.

    Sorry in advance for the rant. Do not get me wrong, I love my mage in all aspects of this game, I may not be the best one out there, but I do enjoy it greatly. I also know that mages can and have excelled in all aspects in this game, but it takes the best of the best and it's a bit disheartening to know that, especially since the same regards are not true to other classes *cough* s5 dk/pally *cough*. But this is not a QQ post, you asked and here is my replies.

    The World's First and Only Retribution Warlock,
    -Retlok
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    • 18. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:48:44 AM PDT
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    Just curious if the Glyph of Mage armor is going to be looked at. With the Buff the the baseline spell as well as talents (Each up to 50%), the only spec that would find the glyph useful at all (due to the 100% cap on mana regen) is frost, and frost is already mana heavy, with no good mana dump.

    Can has Spirit -> haste conversion glyph? :P
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    • 19. Re: Mage Questions   05/19/2009 10:50:00 AM PDT
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    While mages are super fun to play, and I think their damage is balanced about right - I can fight for the top of the meters on any (non-gimmicky) fight.

    Can you please fix blink?

    Are you planning on performing any fixes to evocation? A missed tick or two of evocate can be brutal to an arcane mage.

    Do you plan on fixing the Mage armor glyph so it has any actual use? Currently, it has no spot in the game due to the fact that you cannot go above 100% regen.

    Can you please fix some of our useless talents? No one takes Molten Shields. (especially with the impact change) Frost mages don't even take Brain Freeze, which is listed on our 4 piece t8 bonus. Fiery Payback is an asinine talent, if you're a mage and you are underneath 35%, you probably shouldnt be standing there casting. Arcane Fortitude is also useless, since armor is not going to increase our survivabiity in any noticeable fashion. (some tiny % of mitigation) I know they are small problems, but i just thought i would inform you.

    I am glad you fixed Mirror Image though!


    And from a mage's perspective - almost all of the mages seem to feel ignored when it comes to changes. Always a list for other classes....a couple lines for mages. We know the difference between a real change and the fact that we can turn a mob into a different farm animal (for what use polymorph even is anymore) - and i know it has some use in Ulduar on trash.

    Thanks for the thread looking for feedback!

    (Unlike that secrets of ulduar class advice, which got posted and then ignored)

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