I hopped on the PTR tonight, about 20 minutes ago, to check out Prismatic Bolt and the other changes in 12.1. I spent about 15 minutes on the PTR. Short version is I like what I see. Things feel in a good spot, and some pain points have been addressed.
Only one question for the devs though, and I’ll just drop it here: what’s up with the season 2 tier set bonuses, themed entirely around Arcane Missiles, and Spellslinger hero tree? Spellslinger never casts missiles. So uh. Not sure what’s gonna happen with this, but it seemed to stick out like a sore thumb, lol.
I came away with great impressions from the PTR. I tested Sunfury Arcane. What I like is that Prismatic Bolt solves my #1 gripe with Touch of the Archmage: the long long long delay on seeing your damage pay off. You pumped all that work into your Touch of the Magi so it would produce a big Touch of the Archmage dot, only for the mob to die with the first tick of Touch of the Archmage, or for it to have just leaped out of the group and the rune pulsing effect is hitting only that singular mob off by itself in nowhere land. This is solved now.
Prismatic Bolt is a W in my book. It does make for a fun moment, and I like the slightly longer than Arcane Blast cast time. Gives it that “oh here I go, I’m about to do it, I’m about to hit hard” sort of feel. It looks fine, too. GJ there as well with the spell visuals.
I see where you’re going with the Arcane Pulse changes, giving it a cooldown. Feels similar to Arcane Orb now. That might be good? Or bad? IDK. Just has this “Press this button to get charges back. Get more charges if this thing hits more than 1 enemy!” component to it that mirrors what Arcane Orb does. So I am not sure what to think. Maybe 3x the damage of Arcane Pulse so when it hits we might notice it? Lol.
New 4% avoidance talent in the class tree is nice. Thanks for that. And the extra charge of Prismatic Barrier is very nice. Flexibility and more eHP in some situations. I am feeling better about season 2, although I think we’re still too squishy defensively.
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4% avoidance is useless as it doesn’t work on a ton of stuff that’s killing us.
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Like rot damage which has always been our kryptonite, particularly bleeds. The fact that they don’t seem to realize that is crazy considering that every log under the sun shows it.
That concurs with me saying we’ll still be too squishy. Agreed.
im stoked, the missile build on ptr is insanely fun imo….. ive missed missile build spam
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I still feel like arcane soul needs a bit of a buff, it doesn’t feel that great when it’s up for a sad 4seconds.
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Yeah arcane soul feels frustrating. Like REALLY frustrating. My brain wants to release dopamine but then it turns to frustration…
So here’s my question. Should Arcane Soul have a special 1 charge instant cast Prismatic bolt since it feels wasteful since you get multiple procs during arcane soul.
I think the better alternative would be to make Prismatic Bolt procs stack if it doesn’t already. It’s still very underwhelming that Arcane Soul only lasts for 4 seconds.
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Agreed. Enjoying the changes myself too
My question is if there’s still no visual toggle for disappearing the spellfire spheres out of combat.
I tested prismatic bolt today and it hits hard but it doesn’t proc that much so it feels rare and when you don’t get it in cooldowns it feels bad, RIP bad spell and I hope they just trash can it and try something else it’s bad just like 4% avoidance talent LMAO
Regardless of whatever changes Sunfury receives, this Hero Talent Tree has one major issue that, in my opinion, should be addressed before anything else: the permanent magical orbs floating above my character’s head.
It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. Whether I’m in combat, walking through cities, visiting my player housing, or simply sitting in Elwynn Forest trying to relax for a while, those orbs are always there, cluttering and feeling completely out of place in every situation that isn’t basically a cosplay of one of Kael’thas’ disciples who paid close attention to his lessons and mastered his signature technique.
Visual identity is one of the pillars of an MMORPG. Players spend years collecting transmogs, mounts, titles, and customizing their characters because appearance matters. Tying such a prominent, permanent visual effect to a Hero Talent Tree limits that freedom of customization and discourages people from choosing it, not because of its gameplay, but simply because they don’t want to live with that visual at all times.
If the orbs only appeared during major abilities, burst windows, or other key moments in combat, they could still reinforce the Sunfury fantasy without permanently altering the character’s appearance. As they exist today, however, they’re a constant visual effect that follows the player everywhere, even when they’re not fighting.
For that reason, whenever I see Sunfury changes in the patch notes, the only thing I care about is whether those orbs are finally being removed. As long as they remain a permanent visual effect, I simply can’t enjoy the Hero Talent Tree, regardless of how strong or fun its gameplay becomes.
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You’re wrong how about how good it is, in 1.5min it did 23% of my damage, if you actually get your 25 stacks of salvo you get it quite a bit. I only ever barrage at 25 stacks since it’s quick to build using arcane missiles.