Been Arcane for like…15 years now? I took a break after the anniversary event in November. Just came back a few days ago. Logged on to my Mage…and now a solid 7 skills are just non-existent, and I can’t seem to find any real reason for it. Am I expected to just cast Arcane Blast and manage my 1.5 minute long cooldowns while using procs of Arcane Missile? Really? Not exactly engaging with the Arcane Intellect these days, eh?
This is a genuine disappointment as somebody who exclusively plays as Arcane spec with my Mage. It WAS the only fun spec, but now it’s a three button rotation and some cooldowns.
Can we at least have Nether Tempest back? Cheese and Rice with these silly changes. Almost makes me feel that whomever made the decision, never played Arcane and just listened to the feedback of… Apprentice Mages, instead of the Archmages…
Not the wisest of choices.
I know Blizzard will never listen to just one person, but I still have to say my part. These changes are the worst changes to Arcane Mage that I can recall in all of my time in WoW.
And right after you put yet another sick, cool, amazing and elegant green crystal set for mages…Even better than my current transmog. But I logged on and already want to log back off and play another character.
Really? The archmages like you unsubscribe and come back, apprentice mages (new or casual players) get overwhelmed and just quit. You’re going to keep paying if you just log out and play some other character, but think about how many will just unsubscribe if the game doesn’t makes sense to them. Better business decision to make specs not as complicated
IDK i use a few more than just 3. I just dont play enough to remember the names of them.
Theres the builder one
the spender one
the magic missile one
the one that makes everything hop
the sphere shot
the mirror image one
the barrier one ( and the group version)
the channeled melee range one
all the ports and teleports
oh and the insta cast melee range explosion aoe
the freeze everything in place one
the make-you-a-compy one
… thats all i got for now.
but yeah, a bit more than just 3 that i use
gotta look at your talents fren, arcane has quite a bit more spells than that. if your a old pro then i can assure you. your archmage intellect will be challenged
Just gotta select the right talents. However, I do agree that Arcane Missiles being a proc instead of a channel is a punch to the face. One of those Adam Smasher makes-your-face-break-the-ground type of punches. Feels more like someone who hated Arcane Mages did it.
And losing my Arcane Intellect buff if I cast it on another player? Another disrespectful blow.
naw. I know too many people who pick up arcane mage on the fly and jump into M+5. IT’s not complicated. IT never was. It was the flavour and variety and nobody told anybody most of it was flair.
I unsubscribe quite frequently in protest, so hush up about people unsubscribing. We lost more players to trolls who can’t be punished because blizzard tells you to put on blinders instead of holding people accountable.
Most people like their games to be a bit challenging, and this game isn’t challenging even for new players for the most part. Not every game is made for everybody. Some people like Club Penguin, some like Doom Eternal. Some like Chess.
Doesn’t mean we need to change the rules of chess just because some newb comes along and cant figure it out. Learn, try. Strive for something.
It may be a game, but it’s also a way of playing. You don’t join MMOs to stop thinking.
All I have to say about that last bit.
you and I both know that, but having extra flair is the most Arcane mage thing ever, being extra while maintaining your rotation to /flex.
I actually fully agree with you. The audio does need some changes.
You mean the Golden Whack-A-Mole Class? If it lights up, that’s your next spell lol.
I swear to god, paladins think ret is sooo hard, but all you do is hit the buttons that light up and you will out dps virtually everybody, because everytime paladins think they are falling behind in the charts, they cry to blizzard and blizz gives them yet another 15% buff across the board lol.
Every. Time.
sort of part of your rotation, got a 20 second cd.
two minutes, not rotation. CD.
cast as needed. not always up unless you can.
nobody needs portals, and your teleports are on a 24 second cd or something and the other one is for you to use to get from one continent to the other. That’s not a spell, that’s an ability.
yeah, but nobody really does that outside of questing or being annoying.
Most mages aren’t really daring enough to dive into melee in a +12…they learned not to do dumb.
I hope.
that’s barely a consideration.
Most of what you are listsing are just abilities, and most of them have a 30 second or longer cooldown. That’s not your rotation. Nether Tempest was part of many mages rotations. Mana gem as well. Many people loved the unique playstyle and it was optional. Meta suggested to not use those skills, but many still did…exclusively because it was fun.
yeah. the only thing is priorities. back in the day we had different buffs to manage.
The rotation is almost indistinguishable. BC, Wrath, Cataclysm, Pandaria, WoD…on and on, until now there hasn’t really been that big of an overhaul to arcane.
Good list though. Actually forgot about some of that stuff lol.
And not to actually bag on anybody, but my gf picked up Arcane mage after a few weeks and was doing M+5s and 7s with my two mains.
She hasn’t played video games, since San Andreas was brand new…
She played for about a month with some other characters, exploring the game and doing some solid progress on her Explorer and Lore Master for the old vanilla and bc content.
She saw me doing some M+ as a healer, and just decided to try and join me.
Most specs are not as complicated as many would like to think. Honestly, the issue is just willingness and educational material. There are solid guides, and the game does need to be a bit more intuitive with some things. But it just falls back on the individual being willing to put the effort in and not make the “it’s just a game bro” excuse.
I am always of the opinion that you should give 100% in all of your endeavors and attempts. Anything less is just hurting you, never mind anybody else.
Always strive for better, and you will eventually get there. Or you will find out that this game or any other game just simply isn’t for you.
Ya know?
I think the point is that you’ve had those three spells as a base rotation since Wrath. So… outside of priority spells and cooldowns, nothing has really changed.
If you are only using 3 buttons, you are not playing Arcane right.
Which makes
hilariously ironic.
You have:
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Blast
Arcane Barrage
Arcane Orb
Touch of the Magi
Arcane Surge
Shifting Power
Evocation
All regularly used in your rotation. For AoE, you also have Arcane Explosion.
It is quite literally part of your rotation. I’m sure you’ll say Surge/Evo aren’t either because of long cooldown, and you’d be wrong. I DARE you to play arcane without touching those 2 spells. You literally cannot. That is why they are part of the rotation.
Sounds like you just don’t know how to play Arcane.
ret is easy to do damage with, if your not doing your best then a ret will out dps you.
that being said, when your with a raid group that can play their own classes masterfully then ret falls behind quickly.
ret is a good example of a spec that needsa reintroduction of a skill ceiling and floor so it can be properly balanced. instead of right now, where any buff to ret makes it go from king of the poor players to god of the poor players in terms of damage output
