{"id":414,"date":"2010-04-24T09:54:43","date_gmt":"2010-04-24T15:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thrallatemybaby.com\/?p=33"},"modified":"2010-04-24T09:54:43","modified_gmt":"2010-04-24T15:54:43","slug":"wow-mage-cataclysm-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/?p=414","title":{"rendered":"WoW: Mage Cataclysm Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Next up in my belated posting and commenting on the announced Cataclysm class changes&#8230; the Mage!<\/p>\n<p>It looks like Mages will still retain the &#8216;glass cannon&#8217; &#8220;role&#8221; that Blizzard likes them in, which, is really bad.. because everyone else is a &#8216;cannon&#8217; as well (Mage DPS isn&#8217;t significantly higher than anyone other DPS&#8217; class.. they can just AoE better (in some cases)).\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217; be nice if Blizzard either bumped up the cannon part, or dropped the glass part.<\/p>\n<p>Flame Orbs and Wall of Fog look like they&#8217;ll be fun, especially in Battlegrounds.\u00c2\u00a0 And the &#8216;pruning&#8217; of the unnecessary spells from the spellbook is a good thing (dampen\/amplify magic, etc).<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Linky type thing to <a href=\"http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=24262357286&amp;sid=1\" target=\"_blank\">Original Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be making lots  of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the  board. In this preview, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get an early look at what&#8217;s in store for  the mage class, including a rundown of some of the new spells,  abilities, and talents, and an overview of how the new Mastery system  will work with the different talent specs.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New Mage Spells<\/span><\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Flame Orb (available at level 81)<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: Inspired by Prince  Taldaram\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abilities in Ahn&#8217;kahet and Icecrown Citadel, this spell  allows the mage to cast a flaming orb that travels in front in a  straight line, sending beams that cause fire damage to passing targets.  Once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cast, the mage is free to begin casting other spells as the  Flame Orb travels. While the spell will be useful to any spec, Fire  mages will have talents that improve it, possibly causing the Flame Orb  to explode when it reaches its destination.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time Warp (level 83)<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: Grants a passive Haste effect much like  Bloodlust or Heroism to party or raid members. It also temporarily  increases the mage&#8217;s own movement speed. Time Warp will be exclusive  with Bloodlust and Heroism, meaning you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t benefit from both if  you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got the Exhaustion debuff, though the movement-speed increase  will still work even when under the effects of Exhaustion.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wall of Fog (level 85)<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: Creates a line of frost in front of  the mage, 30 yards from end to end. Enemies who cross the line are  snared and take damage. The mana cost will be designed to make Wall of  Fog efficient against groups, not individuals. This spell is intended to  give mages a way to help control the battlefield, whether the mage is  damaging incoming enemies (Blizzard can be channeled on top of Wall of  Fog) or protecting a flag in a Battleground. 10-second duration.  30-second cooldown.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Changes to Abilities and Mechanics<\/span><\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>In addition to introducing new spells, we&#8217;re planning to make  changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you&#8217;re familiar  with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no  means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we  intend for each spec.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Arcane Missiles is being redesigned to become a proc-based  spell. Whenever the mage does damage with any spell, there is a chance  for Arcane Missiles to become available, similar to how the warrior\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s  Overpower works. The damage and mana cost of this spell will be reworked  to make it very desirable to use when available. This change should  make gameplay more dynamic for the mage, particularly at low levels.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">We are planning to remove spells that don&#8217;t have a clear  purpose. Amplify Magic, Dampen Magic, Fire Ward, and Frost Ward are  being removed from the game, and we may remove more.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">The ability to conjure food and water will not become  available until higher levels (likely around level 40), as we&#8217;re making  changes to ensure mages generally won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t run out of mana at lower levels.  Once mages learn how to conjure food and water, the conjured item will  restore both health and mana.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Scorch will provide a damage bonus to the mage&#8217;s fire  spells. Our goal is for Scorch to be part of the mage&#8217;s rotation and a  useful damage-dealing ability, even if someone else is supplying the  group with the spell Critical Strike debuff. Scorch will provide the  mage with more specific benefits, which can also be improved through  talents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New Talents and Talent Changes<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Arcane Focus will now return mana for each spell that fails to  hit your target, including Arcane Missiles that fail to launch. We want  Arcane mages to have several talents that play off of how much mana the  character has and give the player enough tools to manage mana.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">The talent Playing with Fire will reduce the cooldown of  Blast Wave when hit by a melee attack, instead of its current effect.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Pyromaniac will grant Haste when three or more targets are  getting damaged by the effects of your damage-over-time (DoT) fire  spells.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">The Burnout talent will allow mages to cast spells using  health when they run out of mana.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses<\/span><\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Arcane<\/span><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\nSpell damage<br \/>\nSpell Haste<br \/>\n<strong>Mana Adept<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Fire<\/span><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\nSpell damage<br \/>\nSpell Crit<br \/>\n<strong>Ignite<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Frost<\/span><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\nSpell damage<br \/>\nSpell Crit damage<br \/>\n<strong>Deathfrost<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mana Adept<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: Arcane will deal damage based how much mana the  mage has. For example, Arcane mages will do much more damage at 100%  mana than at 50% mana. If they begin to get low on mana, they will  likely want to use an ability or mechanic to bring their mana up to  increase their damage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ignite<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: All direct-damage fire spells will add a  damage-over-time (DoT) component when cast. The flavor will be similar  to how Fireball works; however, the DoT component will be much stronger.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Deathfrost<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: Casting Frostbolt places a buff on the mage that  increases the damage for all frost, fire, and arcane spells. The only  damage spell that won&#8217;t be affected by this buff is Frostbolt.<\/p>\n<p>We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking forward to  hearing your initial thoughts and feedback on these additions and  changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in  progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cataclysm Stat &amp; System Changes<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: <a onclick=\"return warn(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=23425636414&amp;sid=1\" target=\"_new\">http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=23425636414&amp;sid=1<\/a><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mastery System Preview<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">: <a onclick=\"return warn(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=23710210871&amp;sid=1\" target=\"_new\">http:\/\/forums.worldofwarcraft.com\/thread.html?topicId=23710210871&amp;sid=1<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Clarification Posts from the announcement thread:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Flame Orb is not channeled. It may have a cast time,  but after that is fire and forget. We want to try the line idea because  there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any spells that work that way currently. Giving it a target  to follow makes it feel more like a fancy dot \u00e2\u20ac\u201c useful perhaps, but  nothing that feels really new. It will be balanced for single-target  damage, but if you can launch it in such a way that it will hit multiple  targets, then you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just being awesome.<\/p>\n<p>Wall of Fog is not channeled. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know yet how wide it will be,  but wide enough so that it feels more like a trip-wire than an area  like Frost Trap. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>We like the basic gameplay of Hot Streak. With lower crit rates all  around, we hope that it will feel more like a bonus when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up rather  than a penalty when it refuses to stay up. We may lower the magnitude  overall for the same reason. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>On Arcane Missiles, the basic spell is pretty cool. The problem is  the way the spell works makes the current design hard to balance. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s  either too expensive and low damage or the opposite problem. This is  particularly true at low level, and meanwhile we think the mage  experience at low level is also a little too repetitive. The change is  that you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hit Arcane Missiles whenever you want. The icon is just  grayed out. However, when you deal damage, you have a chance to get  Arcane Missiles to light up and then you definitely want to hit it. At  higher levels Fire and Frost may eventually phase it out in preference  for other spells, or if we like the mechanic, it may be something even  Fire and Frost do, just less often than Arcane. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>On the topic of mastery bonuses, understand that this is a new  design for us and very few people have seen them in action yet. We run  the risk of specific masteries being so generic that the mastery stat  isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interesting or so complex that what players really like about  playing a certain spec gets turned on its head. This is the kind of  thing that will require a lot of iteration and the reason we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying  to cover the whole gamut of relatively complex to relatively simple to  see what feels right. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>The reason behind Deathfrost (Frost mastery) isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to get Frost to  spam Frostbolt more. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to get mages to spam Frostbolt less. If you  hit nothing but Frostbolt, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wasting the Deathfrost bonus. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><br \/>\nWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shifting food and water to higher level because we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want  players to have so much down time at lower level. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not trying to  make it harder to level; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reducing the need to drink or eat so  we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bumping the actual food and water (though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really foodwater in  the case of mages) higher.<\/p>\n<p>The intent behind Mana Adapt (Arcane mastery) is that Arcane  currently has a pretty fun mana management game going, at least at  relatively high level. We thought it would be fun to extend that concept  even further to where Arcane mages that use the mechanics to keep their  mana high would do higher dps. I find many of the predictions that  Arcane is doomed in PvE based on the very limited information you have  at the moment to be quite premature. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>On Time Warp vs. Bloodlust, we are really trying to give groups  flexibility in who they bring to 10 player raids to an even greater  extent than we did in Lich King. We heard over and over that shaman  still felt like the one mandatory class in any raid. The more we hear  \u00e2\u20ac\u0153now there will be no reason to take me over X class \/ spec\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the happier  we will be. The reason should be that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a good player, not that  your mere presence makes everyone else perform better. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fun to feel  more powerful in a group \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we get that, and we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to  completely marginalize group synergy. But it needs to come secondary to  the skill of the players involved. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>I understand some mages really like Fire Ward or Dampen Magic.  Perhaps \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no clear role\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the best choice of words, but we are  trying to remove mechanics from the game that we think aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really  cutting it. When asking players to put more buttons on their action bars  from these new spells, we only think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair to try and get some bar  space back from the least interesting spells. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry so much about  balance at this stage. Many things will need to be tweaked. Worry more  about whether it ever felt like a fun decision to use these spells. <\/span> <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><\/p>\n<p>For everyone focusing on the RMP Arena comp, I really think you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re  going to see a shift to more PvP concerns in Cataclysm being about  Battleground balance. There will still be players playing Arenas for  sure, but a lot of the players currently doing Arenas are going to shift  to rated BGs instead.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mage changes will be fun, hopefully the bulk of them make it live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Next up in my belated posting and commenting on the announced Cataclysm class changes&#8230; the Mage! It looks like Mages will still retain the &#8216;glass cannon&#8217; &#8220;role&#8221; that Blizzard likes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/?p=414\" class=\"more-link\">[&hellip;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"Layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BPLE-6G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigdamnheroes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}