With Arcane being such a strange spec where either it can be complex or braindead at two different extremes, I think it is time to suggest an iteration that has more structure than it has had in the past. I’m an advocate for in-depth and active spec designs that either require reflexes or good decision-making. Specs like them, are exciting and have a great deal of replay value as there always is something new to learn to improve one’s ability.
Arcane has two major resources it works with: mana and Arcane Charges. In my eyes mana management has been decently designed but Arcane Charges frequently just feel like a stand-in resource that only matters when you have zero or four. My aim with this rework idea is to combine both resources together to enable a very involved spec design that requires good decision-making.
According to the Wowpedia, Arcane Magic is a cold and intellectual magic (it requires intelligence to use). Furthermore, unlike other schools of magic like Fire or Frost, Arcane has no less than 8 sub-schools (Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, Transmutation, Necromancy, and Evocation) related to it which indicates that Arcane magic is about structure, rules, and order. It does not possess the wildness of fire nor does it have the simplicity of frost; it is a complex magic that in the real world would requires something akin to a Doctorate to use effectively.
With all these facts in mind, Arcane should be about decision-making, resource management, and planning. It SHOULD NOT be a 1-button spec that is so that a toddler could use it effectively.
New Arcane Design:
Arcane Power is now toggle-able off the global cooldown and now continuously drains mana with the drain rate increasing exponentially over time while active, with no cooldown.
2 basic Single Target spells:
- Arcane Bolt ( 2 second cast, cheap spell with a random chance to generate an arcane charge)
- Arcane Missiles (can be cast anytime, completing a channel generates an Arcane Charge, expensive mana cost)
Activating Arcane Power converts Arcane Bolt to Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast deals high damage (costs no mana but costs 1 Arcane Charge per cast)
The core of design would be building up Arcane Charges to then Spend on your hard hitting Arcane Blasts. Talents like Arcane Orb and Charged Up could be used to further extend your burn phase with more Arcane Charges, you can till generate Arcane Charges while Arcane Power is active but the mana drain is a factor to be concerned about.
This would be the core gameplay loop of Arcane with various talents modifying costs or providing utility as needed.
the basic premise was adding a mana and charge freeze effect to barrage and making 4 charge blast unsustainable without this freeze. It was actually cool because it allowed storing up new charges during the freeze at 4 charges so you could skip back to 2 charges post-freeze and avoid the terror of being a 0 charge arcane mage.
