This is a revised list of research from the original content of the thread. This is meant to be a checklist of questions and answers for the 3.0.2 PTR set to hit in the not distant future.

This is not meant to be a value judgement on whether a given ability is good or bad, a given scale is good or bad, whether warlocks are mushrooms, or anything of that sort. This is purely meant to be a center of documentation for mage related information in 3.0.2

There are several really good threads over at EJ that cover the previews of all the stuff that has gone on in beta, and I understand that a lot of these questions have been answered in beta. I maintain, that until we see it on a live server, it doesn't count, and in this case until we have it on the PTR it doesn't count. Beta, the PTR, and live, are all very different monsters. So, while we can take hints and cues from the beta testing, all the information I would like to use as proof in this thread from here forward should be coming from the PTR itself.

If you would like to read about the state of things in the Beta, I suggest you check out these two EJ Links:
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t25976-mage_wotlk_talent_preview_discussion
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t30655-mage_wotlk_talent_discussion_part_two/


And Lhiveras Mage Refence page:
http://www.manoutoftime.org/staticpages/index.php/wotlk_mage_ref



Anyone who wishes to contribute to the testing, please post the conditions that you used to test in, the assumptions of the test, the gear you were wearing, the spec you were using, what you were casting against, and most importantly what build you were casting during.

Anyone who wishes to contribute questions, please remember all we can test is things related to the talent trees and changes in game mechanics. We will be unable to level to 75 to cast FFB, so we cannot test it's mechanics right now.

Arcane Questions

Mana Shield

Q: Still bugged for scaling with spellpower?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Focus Magic

Q: How does this buff work? Shared charges? individual charges per caster?
A: Not Yet Researched

Q: Spellsteal / Dispellable?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Student of the Mind

Q: How does this stack with human spirit increases?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Magic Attunement

Q: What spells are increased by the range increase? Blink involved?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Torment the Weak

Q: How does this work? What does 'ensnared' mean? What counts as 'ensnared'?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Arcane Potency

Q: Does this effect work if you use PoM and cast AM / Blizzard/Instacasts that do not consume PoM?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Incanters Absorption

Q: How does this work? Internal counter per hit absorbed? Stacking buff?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Missile Barrage

Q: Applied before or after haste?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Netherwind Presence

Q: How does this stack with other haste effects?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Arcane Barrage

Q: Coefficient?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Fire

Burning Determination

Q: Does this provide protection against the effect that triggers it? Will it shield you from the silence of an improved CS/Kick etc?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Pyroblast

Q: Coefficient?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Master of Elements

Q: How do Blizzard and Arcane Missiles interact with this now?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Molten Shields

Q: Is the 50% at 2/2 a typo or a change?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Blastwave

Q: How far is the knockback?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Fiery Payback

Q: Does this generate a cooldown on pyroblast that is not normally present?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Hot Streak

Q: What constitutes 2 in a row? Do resists / immunes / non damage / non Fireball/Scorch/FFB spells ruin the stack?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Burnout

Q: How does this increase the crit bonus / stack with Ice Shards?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: What is the actual mana cost based on? Original or end mana cost?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: What happens if you don't have the mana to cover the cost?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Living Bomb

Q: Coefficient on DoT / Boom? Able to crit on DoT / Boom?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: AoE Cap on Boom?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: Combustion, how does it interact?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Frost

Elemental Precision

Q: Still 6% for Frost?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Shatter Barrier

Q: Does the freeze count for ice lance etc?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Fingers of Frost

Q: Can this be double-dipped for frostbolt->frostbolt->icelance combos?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: Can you swap targets?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: Does it double dip shatter on a frozen target while you have FoF?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Deep Freeze

Q: Does its stun still count as a freeze effect?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Inscriptions


General

Q: How the blazes do these things actually work?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Frostnova

Q: What is the break point of an uninscribed frost nova? Is it the same for frostbite? freeze? shatter shield?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: What is the break point of an inscribed frost nova etc?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Frostbolt

Q: Does the removal of the snare remove the 0.95 coefficient modifier?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Imp Scorch

Q: Does this remove the requirement for the talent?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: Does 1/3 or 2/3 just mean a roll to see if it applies 5?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Misc

Precasting

Q: Any change to precasting mechanics?
A: Not Yet Researched.


AoE Caps

Q: Any change to AoE cap mechanics or values?
A: Not Yet Researched.


Spell Hit

Q: 1% unmitigatable miss chance removed?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Q: Still 17% on a +3 target?
A: Not Yet Researched.

Items that cannot be tested yet

-Frostfire Bolt
-New AoE Spell Caps
-New Mage Armor



Contributers

Questions

Testing

Alot of these have been figured out already, I don't know if you know or if you're an EJer or what, but here are answers to some:

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Q u o t e:
Arcane Barrage -

Q: +damage coefficient
T: Specced down to Arcane Barrage avoiding Arcane Instability, wearing +damage gear (avoid +crit if able, makes the reliable test data easier to gain), cast ~300 Arcane Barrages on level 1 / 2 Mobs (Dun Morogh dwarf starting area is my personal favorite). Record min/max hits observed. Coefficient calculates as:
Min Coefficient = (Min Recorded - Min Tooltip Damage) / +damage from gear
Max Coefficient = (Max Recorded - Max Tooltip Damage) / +damage from gear
A: Not yet researched.

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3.0/3.5, 85.71%


Netherwind Presence -

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Q u o t e:
Q: Does Arcane Missiles proc this effect on each tick, or only at the begining of the cast?
T: Specced down to Netherwind Presence (Filler unimportant for this test), cast rotations of low rank AM and low rank scorch on Dr Boom with combat logging enabled, measure the highest difference between the start of the cast and the buff appearing. The Scorch is inserted for filler incase the last tick of AM procs it, so it is not confused with the AM cast proccing it (Maybe 2 scorches would be better just to be certain we're over missile delay + lag?). It should be reasonably obvious by self observation, but the measurement will show it more completely.
A: Not yet researched.

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No, only the initial cast

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Q u o t e:
Q: Does this talent work like other known crit bonus gain effects, or does it behave otherwise?
T: Specced down to Burnout (Filler unimportant), cast ~1000 fire spells on low level targets, record min/max hits and min/max crits, calculate gain based on the formula:
Max Gain = (Max Crit / Max Hit)
Min Gain = (Min Crit / Min Hit)
A: Not yet researched.

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Behaves like Spell Power and Ice Shards. It was originally thought to behave like CSD, but sadly it wasn't.

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Q u o t e:
Q: Does "Considered Frozen" mean shatters crit rate applies? Ice Lances increased damage?
T: Specced to WG (Filler unimportant) cast low rank frostbolts / ice lances at a target until WG procs, cast ice lance, record damage done and crit rate.
A: Not yet researched.

Q: Can boss type targets receive this debuff, or other targets normally unable to be frozen?
T: Specced to WG (Filler unimportant) cast frostbolts / ice lances at Dr Boom until it procs (or gets an immune message), if it procs, record ice lance damage and crit rates.
A: Not yet researched.

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Yes to both.

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Q u o t e:
Q: +damage coefficient?
T: Cast ~300 FFBs on level 1 / 2 Mobs (Dun Morogh dwarf starting area is my personal favorite). Record min/max hits observed. Coefficient calculates as:
Min Coefficient = (Min Recorded - Min Tooltip Damage) / +damage from gear
Max Coefficient = (Max Recorded - Max Tooltip Damage) / +damage from gear
A: Not yet researched.

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There's no reason to believe it won't be 3/3.5, just like any other 3 sec cast spell.

We love you Zal.

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Q u o t e:
Alot of these have been figured out already, I don't know if you know or if you're an EJer or what, but here are answers to some:



3.0/3.5, 85.71%


Netherwind Presence -



No, only the initial cast



Behaves like Spell Power and Ice Shards. It was originally thought to behave like CSD, but sadly it wasn't.



Yes to both.



There's no reason to believe it won't be 3/3.5, just like any other 3 sec cast spell.

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And its all documented in "This person I can't name said this". Thats not proof, thats hearsay.

Edit: And for FFBs coefficient, there is plenty of reason to believe it will be 3 / 3.5 * .95 since it applies a snare. However using Pyroblast as an example (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=108414447), sometimes coefficients do not match the formulas.

Zaldinar once again applies the cold hard eye of science to mage abilities. Keep up the good work man, wish I had something to contribute.

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Q u o t e:

There's no reason to believe

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The whole point is to document proof; not just to collect information, but to collect definitive, sourced, verified information.

Getting confirmation on these isn't a bad idea.

The only reason it is hearsay and not proof is because the court in question isn't allowing direct testimony. The evidence exists, but cannot be submitted due to the rules of evidence excluding it. (I.e., the Blizzard banhammer.)

Yours in errant pedantry, etc.

MY WRATH OF THE LICH KING CHECKLIST:

rogue is currently level 50. level 70 by the time wotlk comes out.


OK DONE

What has gone on over at EJ is valuable from a theory standpoint, it has given the ability to look into these effects and consider their ramifications, which draws out more things to test for.

However, all of EJs information is from the closed alpha, and unverified unnamed sources, in tests that were not detailed, just that their conclusions were come to. Essentially, that all amounts to tooltip-theorycrafting as far as I am concerned. Its valuable, its a good start, I want documentation, documentation is key to actually understanding and verifying how the game works.


Edit: Alpha != Beta

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Q u o t e:
Zaldinar once again applies the cold hard eye of science to mage abilities. Keep up the good work man, wish I had something to contribute.

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You can, anyone can do these tests as long as they document them correctly. Get into the beta and cast away, or offer to stand in in the tests that are easier to do in a duel.

I would recommend a "Standing Theory" for some of these. That way, when testing is done, we have an idea of whereabouts it should be, so the people who do end up testing it have an idea of what it might be. Not necessary, but it'd be nice to have so people can find it if they want to.

Oh, and also Winter's Grasp. Is it a personal debuff (like Ignite) or does it apply for everyone?

EDIT: Hot Streak too. Does the crit provided by HS count as the beginning of a second set, or does it not qualify?

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Q u o t e:
I would recommend a "Standing Theory" for some of these. That way, when testing is done, we have an idea of whereabouts it should be, so the people who do end up testing it have an idea of what it might be. Not necessary, but it'd be nice to have so people can find it if they want to.

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My concern with standing assumptions (Since we have nothing other than tooltips and hearsay to base theories on), is that people might take that assumption to be more than it is.

But definitely in some cases it could be worthwhile to list the potential expected results.

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Q u o t e:
Oh, and also Winter's Grasp. Is it a personal debuff (like Ignite) or does it apply for everyone?

Hot Streak too. Does the crit provided by HS count as the beginning of a second set, or does it not qualify?

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Good points.

Amazing thread. Will definately check back =)