What is it that they do that really shines more than other classes.
it brings nothing that no other mage spec brings
as for other classes? int buff , BL (shared) , food and portals .
And mage is still the king of CC, it brings an immunity, and mass barrier is no small perk, either.
Granted there’s a lot of overlap within the mage specs but any mage overall brings a fair bit to the table.
the mage brings the table 
7 Likes
Arcane’s barrier is actually the best of the 3, reduced magic damage and reduced time on harmful magic effects. Without a doubt arcane is the best for PVE in this respect
1 Like
I think the -12 on shifting powers are less disorienting for arcanes 90/90/45/45/20 than 120/60/30 frost or 120/45 fire cds and you can use/delay its usage in a way tailored towards individual fight tempo better than the other specs/classes which have little breathing room in terms of sitting on cds.
I don’t think I recall ever an encounter when success depended on sheeping anything.
We mages bring mid-upper DPS, more if you are willing to do vector calculus as an arcane.
It just feels like mages are glass spitball guns that have to stand still.
I would be happy to be wrong.
Edit: of note I am referring to BGs and EBGs, which are the focus of my gaming.
Any tips, tricks, or links would be appreciated.
Arcane used to have incredible prio while still doing good AoE. Hopefully this trait isn’t lost in the remake but the AoE from touch seems a lot weaker today vs dragonflight
Purple spells
7 Likes
in pvp arcane is fairly weak right now numbers wise due to the prepatch, but it will get significantly better in the next expansion. If you’re really pushing pvp, honestly I’d go with frost, basically perma slow on most of your enemies with great aoe options, and cold snap can be a life saver.
The color of royalty!
1 Like
Pretty purple spell effect go brrrrrrrrr
1 Like
I’ve always been a frost mage and I can’t say I am not jealous on that color… obviously I am a void elf too… lol
1 Like
Arcane has the smallest amount of control and the least survivability of the three mage specs. That said, it does big purple damage if played correctly.
actually it has a better mass barrier than the other specs due to the Improved Prismatic Barrier passive
actually if you include slowing and knockup effects it has the most
most mages on here are delusional or don’t know their own class
As people have mentioned already, better shields for party and yourself, supernova to interrupt in aoe (we used to have slow but now it is gone) single target slow, good burst for aoe/single target and overall easier to move around and dodge all of the aoe and crap adds and bosses throw at us, it’s the most mobile of the mage specs, second is fire which also can move during combustion.
What does Arcane Mage get in exchange for all these handicaps?
Also, what does mage do that no other class does better?
It is purple, therefore it is the best - Porom
1 Like
It features the most spectacular death throes in PVP?
