could have an out of combat perma water elemental. but once combat is engaged, it becomes a cd
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canât say iâve ever had this issue.
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in classic tbc, its much more powerful than retail even though its a cd. the time between summons happens faster than you think and its clutch in a hard fight. pretty hardy and even somewhat tanky. so if they replicate that, its all good
Biggest issues frost mages that play endgame have with this whole thing is not even Elemental, nobody really care that much. Itâs that Icy Veins is now hard locked 3 minute cooldown (minus shifting power ofc) that you can no longer reduce by ice lance.
Currently you can recharge Icy veins while itâs still active (need to stand still, have bloodlust and be lucky with procs). Frost mage might lose a lot of fluidity
Nah, water ele is super annoying. Good riddance.
The ensuing storm u are suggesting as a druid main for many years now is not worth it. People will rise up if they ever add tree form back. 
I advise against it heavily.
So much Mage and Shaman talk, people are turning blue!
I agree though. The Mage Pet is iconic to Warcraft Mages. I would be sad if I lost my Blueberry. I use the Observer instead of the Fel Puppy, but I use my imp or void lord more. So I am not too upset about losing the Observer.
But the Mages have the one pet. I imagine some Mages have considered their elemental almost like a buddy, and probably given stories to them.
When I played my Mage, I liked using my elemental to hit stuff while I was Ice Blocked or CCD so they couldnât leave combat and eat/drink/restealth.
RIP Permanent Water Elemental. You have my sympathy, Mages.
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last time mages actually used the elemental that I can think of was back in MoPâŚ
Pets donât suck. Not sure where you got that idea.
Pets take no effort to manage for 99% of content.
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I canât even remember the last time I saw a mage using the elemental.
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As a long-time frost mage, I wonât miss the elemental. I like that it will be part of Icy Veins and not a permanent summon. Iâd say sorry to the role players who use it as part of their look, but I donât think bogging down the specialization with an underpowered summon just to appease you is a good idea.
As of 10.1.5, the Water Elemental isnât being removed, so I have no idea what your complaint is about. Clearly either I havenât seen whatever blue post says itâs being removed, or you havenât bothered to check the Talent tree to confirm itâs being removed and this is hyperbole.
It currently shares a talent point with Lonely Winter, and that wasnât changed.
Icy Veins just grants another one.
yikes. stand still is yikes
The new version of the water elemental is a cooldown, it is no longer permanent. So people who enjoy having the permanent elemental no longer have access to that functionality.
My complaint is that there (seemingly) is no middle ground with the current implementation. I would like for the elemental to be buffed to usability, but I would like it to be done in a way that doesnât remove its permanence for those who use it. I gave the chief example of roleplayers because thatâs a community Iâve always been in, and Iâve seen mages use it in that way. The moment that got added to the PTR I started seeing tweets (because I am unfortunately on twitter) complaining about this change
Alright, I see what youâre saying. Iâm sorry for jumping to a conclusion and getting hostile. Brain no work at 1am and some earlier replies had already predisposed me to be more irritated than I should have been
Yeah itâs an uphill fight. But Iâm a lot less demoralized by the prospect since WoWâs had so many major changes recently. Cross-faction gameplay for instance. An expansion built around flight instead of restricting it for a year, etc
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I always chose Lonely Winter anyway, so not particularly bothered by this change. To be honest, I always found the Water Elemental annoying and just there to proc Fingers of Frost on-demand. Itâs an unfortunate change for Mages who liked having that permanent pets, though.
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As a Mage, even if taking the elemental isnât the current choice, I still like the elemental being available. You also need it for the extra freeze on the adds for the Mage Tower challenge. I wonder if they thought of that.
Donât remove the elemental. Make it viable again instead.
As a side note, Frost doesnât need more short cooldowns. There are far too many as it is.
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Where does it say this? Have you tested it out on the PTR?
The tooltip for 10.1.5 is still the exact same as Live on Wowhead.
1.5 second cast, 30 second cooldown, summons a Water Elemental to follow and fight for you.
From the PTR board:
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Degas beat me to it, so you can see the changelog in the post above mine.
The permanent water elemental summon has been removed and attached to icy veinsâ cooldown. If youâre still seeing otherwise on the PTR then it hasnât been implemented yet, but these are what the current patch notes are saying
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It wasnât a permanent elemental originally. I remember that it lasted only 45 seconds around Wrath of the Lich King era ?