I’m new to mages, so bare with me for a noob question. I did try to source this info myself, but no luck.
What Spells can a mage spell steal? Is there a list or something?
Generally, you can steal anything that is otherwise dispellable.
Which, in PvE, is not a lot.
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I suggest using Plater to see what can be dispelled. It makes it very easy to see. You would need to install a mod like “Dispellable Buff Bar Color” which will change the color of the enemy’s healthbar when they have something that can be dispelled (spellsteal is a dispel, but it also steals it)
You can also use my (shameless plug) plater profile – “Pari Plater Profile”. It has a bunch of stuff like that already built-in. A bunch of plater profiles out there do this, all the popular ones, so you can pick whichever one you like the look of the best. You can also customize the colors etc. I made my profile to look as close to blizzard’s default nameplates as I could while still being fully capable.
IMO once you start using plater, it will become a must-have. my two desert island addons are plater and weakauras
I really like the addon called mage nuggets, while I don’t use a lot of its UI features, it most certainly has the most useful tool for spell steal.
It has a popup reminder for mobs with effects that can be stolen, it also puts a link to the spell in chat that tells you what you stole. Some people don’t like chat spam, i get that, but I do like to be able to click the tooltip and read what it was i stole.
Just because it can be purged/stolen is not always a good thing, some kill you, others are so short its not worth the time.
It is very useful for stealing shields, as that is basically DPS.
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Too numerous, really. Do you use any UI add-ons? These can usually be configured to highlight or enlarge buffs/debuffs.
Generally, they are magic effects.
I think (but I could be wrong) that there’s a setting in the default UI that should make dispellable buffs highlight. If it’s not part of the default UI, there are a lot of addons or weakauras that can do it. It’s a lot easier to just see a glowing buff on your target than trying to memorize a list of spellstealable buffs.
An important note, however: Some buffs can be stolen, but others will simply be dispelled when you spellsteal it. I’m assuming Blizzard decided certain buffs should be removeable but would be a bit too strong if we could keep it.
Anything with the highlighted buff on the boss (which means its dispellable). Do note sometimes (like Ruby Life Pools) the buff can kill your or bring you to low HP however it’s rare.
For M+ there is quite alot of things actually. Usually trash packs like absorb shields, the Algae in Floodgate cast a HoT which you can spellsteal if a cast gets through.
If you can see a buff on the target you can steal it, it’s that simple. There isn’t a comprehensive list because new buffs are constantly added to the game and nowadays they’re so minor it wouldn’t make sense to keep it updated.
Back when Spellsteal was first introduced into the game in TBC mobs in dungeons and raids had really strong buffs that you could steal to greatly empower yourself but over the years those have gone away to where Spellsteal is now little more than a glorified purge on a ridiculously long cooldown, at least in PvE. Obviously it has more uses in PvP.