The amount of time they have put into reworking Shadow Priest so quickly is almost sickening. I understand that Shadow has been in a pretty bad position lately, and it was looking bad going into SL for them. Well congratulations to the SPriests, because the effort Blizzard has put into what seems like a complete spec redesign is gross when Arcane still has like 8 preparation abilities and 10 seconds worth of GCD.
For those who haven’t heard or seen them, go look at the recent shadow changes. At least we know there is one class dev out there.
To be fair, I do think the shadow community was a lot LOUDER about asking for changes than arcane. I mentioned this before (I was logged in on another character though) that arcane players didn’t really speak up very much for the longest time and I was told “it’s because we’ve tried and they don’t listen,” so to me it sounds like arcane players for a while gave up on trying to ask for changes while the shadow community, like I said, was much more vocal about it and didn’t stop. Even as someone who wanted shadow changes, it got to be so much that it was getting a bit annoying seeing all the #savevoidform all the time lol.
Basically, my point is if arcane wants changes they may have to just speak up a bit more and don’t give up just because the devs haven’t said anything. It took 4 years of og shadow players complaining for them to get rid of voidform, this wasn’t just an overnight thing.
That said, I really, really hope arcane and ele both get some much needed attention because they’re both great specs that are usually kind of just pushed to the side.
ETA: I should also add that I’m well aware arcane players have been giving more feedback in the last month or so, but before it was a bit silent and tbh I didn’t even know arcane was in a rough spot because I wasn’t seeing much about it. The thing about it though is it shouldn’t be this way to get things fixed but sadly it’s been proven to be the best way to get blizzard to actually do something.
There has been Arcane feedback for 2-3 years now. Before BFA ever dropped. That feedback has been consistent in its content and criticisms and has been given frequently on the mage forums.
If the class devs do actually read feedback, which they say they do, it is impossible they are unaware of the issues.
Its because the Mage players/community is a lot less vocal.
Just look at beta feedback forums…the mage one is pretty much one of the least discussed.
You also don’t see countless content creators advocating for mage changes/issues. Preach…uh…Bellular…the other British people. Those other bald guys on twitch.
You are right we are less vocal, because after years of yelling into the void and spitting into the wind Arcane Mages all have laryngitis and are soaking wet.
I know it sucks if you plan to main arcane and aren’t interested in the other specs, but at least mages have 2 other dps specs if one of them is bad. Classes with just 1 dps spec really are frustrating if that dps spec sucks. I’m only a casual player so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I do think it’s reasonable for Spriests, Windwalkers, ret pallies, etc, to be a more pressing issue than Arcane, or Sublety, or survival. Arcane is my fav mage spec by far, and whether or not I main a mage depends a lot on how fun arcane is.
I actually enjoy Fire, I won’t touch Frost. It’s
more that I find it frustrating that there has been feedback now for three years. They fix one thing, break another. Like the amount of redesign that Shadow got is incredible compared to anything Arcane has gotten since Legion.
Grass is always greener. Like this is the stereotypical “X class is better than mine >:(” post.
I have Arcane as my main alt, and I’m looking forwards to the Shadowlands changes. I believe that they will need some work, perhaps streamlining the set up or allowing some of the abilities to be off the GCD. Keep giving them useful feedback, instead of whining on the forums about how Blizz has ‘ruined your favourite spec’. (Judging from your post history, you aren’t in the Beta, so how do you know how it will play?)
And that was my point but it still flew over people’s heads. The shadow priests got MORE vocal if anything while arcane players just got a bit quiet only up until recently. That’s all I was trying to point out really.
I’m not saying arcane players never gave feedback, just they weren’t as loud about it.
Arcane is a super underplayed spec too, it was tied with Brm in Legion for only 1% of the player base using it. So the amount of voices to begin with are pretty dang small.
They have actually been revamping and changing Arcane on the Beta, but OP doesn’t think substantial changes are enough. He hasn’t provided ideas of what the changes should be, just that it should be different.
The changes do look sort of lame on paper, but I gave it a few nights of thinking, and I’m really looking forwards to it. Less common AP burst phases suck, but it reduces the overall amount we’ll need to be standing still during the fight. The Touch of the Magi revamp gives us frequent burst windows and a strong baseline aoe option. They are adding in a few strong passives for us, like the baseline Equipoise that is stronger than the Azerite trait (It might be a talent?) and making our mastery effect all of our spells.
There are certainly too many buttons that line up every 3 minutes, and they could use a change, but I’m mostly happy with how its looking.
The changes are promising to be sure. All they definitively address though is the problem azerite armor created with arcane mages having to choose between ST and AoE builds.
The changes make missiles slightly more viable but at the same time the missile stack still being tied to clearcasting which procs based on mana spent, doesn’t increase missiles to the level they used to be. All the changes to missiles does is change the dps profile from 80% arcane blast spam to a mix of blast and missiles. Good that missiles will be more than a mana management mechanic but they need to go back to Legion strength. Clearcasting was a terrible mechanic arcane didn’t need and certainly with the additional mana management coming in SL, doesn’t need in SL.
There is POTENTIAL cleave (which arcane has needed for years) in that TotM and Arcane Orb (which may now be a go-to talent with Overpowered losing it’s oomph) but TotM needs tuning. FUNCTIONAL cleave is needed for arcane to be raid-viable.
Melee range AoE is a problem but they won’t change that. The range of Explosion needs to be reverted to Legion style.
Lastly, they’ve created a whole NEW problem with GCD’s and buffs. No one in their right mind is going to do high end content with a spec that takes 9-15 sec to even START doing damage. All the reviews from people playing arcane on alpha and beta say the spec is slow and painful to play.
Considering how painful it was in BfA with the one-button-spam, I can’t even imagine a MORE painful arcane gameplay.
If they take the feedback and apply it then arcane could be a great spec in SL. If they stay true-to-form, they’ll ignore feedback, release as-is, and it’ll be another expansion of arcane mages relegated to questing and they’ll throw some aura buffs each tier when they see how underplayed the spec is.
First of all this is my third mage I post on. If you had access to posts on my other Mages you would see Feedback regarding Arcane for three years, some hopeful, some pointing out its strengths, and some spiteful. It’s turning into spiteful more and more as the years have went on and Feedback has been ignored.
Second of all, just because I’m not in beta to test it myself by no means means that I am incompetent and cannot watch videos, see others who are providing feedback, or read the changes and know how the spec works. I don’t need to hit every button to know that 7 abilities before you hit Arcane Blast isn’t going to feel good, or that AP on a 3 minute CD is ridiculous, or that the GCD is going to feel awful.
You should have seen it before nerfs in Eternal Palace. Go look at some logs around BoD. Shadow was stupid, and also held up well in EP and Nya.
I think you’re partially correct, though I would add that the futile outcry around BFA pre-patch disheartened many Arcane mages. I know that you are a big Arcane poster, so I’m sure you’ve seen and know the pages upon pages of feedback it got around that time. I think people realized then that Blizzard does not care about the spec, and that is one of the reasons people don’t play Arcane or don’t bother to give Feedback about it. “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” mentality.
Edit:
And if I’m being completely honest. I don’t think Fire was a big priority for Blizzard either throughout this expansion. I think it was a fluke that it ended up as great as it did. I am almost willing to bet that Blizzard never “intended” but let it go when they realized that people were starting to play Mage more competitively, for the Lucid Dreams/Bracers interaction with Blaster Master.
Well I just watched a YouTube video, and he stated that PoM now makes 3 AB’s instant cast. I hadn’t heard of this change, maybe I just didn’t see it, or it could be recent? While it’s such a minor change, if indeed it was changed to three, that is a small QoL improvement for us, and imo a small victory. I don’t think it would take much for Arcane to get to a healthier spot tbh. Overall, I think mini fixes can tally up to make the spec stronger. I am concerned in general with SL and balancing covenants and soulbinds overall.
I am actually considering having an spriest alt. I’ve wanted a pure DoT spec for a while, and Aflliction is just not something I believe I would enjoy (hate pets) also hated BFA’s version of it with the Void Watcher thing. So the recent changes to spriest seems to have moved it to that more pure DoT spec with a nice CD as Voidform now (which isn’t the upkeep playstyle I detested).
That’s the problem though if it does make 3 AB’s instant: all arcane gets are small QoL changes. What it NEEDS are functional changes to broken mechanics.
PoM is just another “press it and nothing really happens” spell like Charged Up.
I’ve seen Shadowpriests all expansions rocking the meters. I think the changes were to address the boring gameplay (Voidform) and the lack of functionality in key runs … which are two things Arcane also suffers from.
I don’t disagree, and it’s sad because it’s like I’m going back to the defeated attitude that I get with the spec and just kind of stop hoping for anything with it . . . until something comes up again that makes me bitter about the lack of attention for Arcane.