Jump to content
FORUMS
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Staff

Mage Changes and Explanations in the War Within Alpha: May 29th

By Staff, in News

Recommended Posts

Staff    1,464

Staff
Posted

79492-mage-changes-in-war-within-alpha-b

All three Mage specs get some attention in this week's build, with Arcane and Fire getting a lot of tuning changes, and the Spellsinger Hero tree gets tweaked to be more active. 

Blizzard LogoMage (Source)

Hello mages!

We have another round of changes to all three specs showing up in the build today, and wanted to provide some more context for you.

Time Anomaly
In general, we’re happy with the gameplay around Time Anomaly. We feel the randomness it provides can create some fun (and frustrating) moments across pulls that helps to add texture to the Mage experience. An outlier here is for Frost Mage, which across all three specs has the weakest bonuses by a decent margin. We’ve changed Time Anomaly to now grant Brain Freeze instead of Fingers of Frost for Frost Mages to help increase the impact that this talent creates for that spec specifically.

For Mages who want to opt-out of the randomness of Time Anomaly, we are adding a new talent: Inspired Intellect, which will provide a flat increase to your Intellect. We’d like Inspired Intellect’s tuning to hit the expected value of Time Anomaly across a reasonable amount of pulls, and we will make adjustments to get there if necessary. People who enjoy the randomness Time Anomaly provides can expect a higher output compared to Inspired Intellect when things line up just right, but we don’t want that gap to be very large.

Spellslinger
We appreciate the feedback everyone has been providing towards the Mage Hero Talents. We’ve heard the complaints that Spellslinger feels a touch too passive, so we’re redesigning Spellfrost Teachings to better synergize with the “orb” aspect of the Spellslinger fantasy and add some more active gameplay. When Spellslingers get lucky, you’ll be able to see a slew of Orbs firing off, and they’ll hit much harder in those windows.

You’ll also notice substantial adjustments to Arcane’s Splinter damage in this set of changes. A bug was fixed that was preventing Spellslinger Splinters from appropriately triggering procs and benefitting from spell damage bonuses like Arcane Surge and Icy Veins. These changes paired with Arcane’s somewhat recent change to now fire two Arcane Splinters when consuming Nether Precision meant that Arcane’s output was substantially higher than what we consider in-bounds for Hero Talents at this stage. We’re still monitoring Frost’s Splinters, and more changes could be on the horizon as we continue to gather data.

Charring Embers
As mentioned in last week’s update alongside Arcane Battery’s removal for Arcane, we are removing Charring Embers from Fire’s spec tree. We appreciate all the feedback we’ve gotten regarding this talent, and we agree with the community that the removal of this talent helps to better align Fire Mage with our stated goals for these tree updates.With the removal of Charring Embers, Fire is seeing a few replacement talents added and a few talents returning to ensure there is enough choice in Gate 2 specifically.

That’s all for this week! Thank you for your continued feedback.

And here are the actual tuning changes from the development notes:

Blizzard LogoTuning (Source)

  • Time Anomaly has been updated – Now grants Brain Freeze instead of Fingers of Frost for Frost Mages.
  • New Talent: Inspired Intellect – Arcane Intellect grants you an additional 3% Intellect. Choice node with Time Anomaly.
  • Sunfury
    • Gravity Lapse now hits 5 targets (was 3).
  • Spellslinger
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Frost and Arcane Splinters from interacting with damage bonuses and proc effects such as Touch of the Magi.
    • Arcane
      • Spellfrost Teachings has been redesigned – Direct damage from Splinters has a 3% chance to reset the cooldown of Arcane Orb/Frozen Orb and increase all damage dealt by your Arcane Orbs/Frozen Orbs by 50% for 10 seconds.
      • The location of Force of Will and Spellfrost Teachings has swapped.
      • Arcane Splinter damage reduced by 50%.
      • Embedded Arcane Splinter damage reduced by 50%.
      • Controlled Instincts cleave effect no longer damages the primary target.
      • Controlled Instinct Arcane Splinter cleave percentage reduced to 20% (was 30%).
      • Embedded Splinter duration increased to 18 seconds.
        • Developer’s note: Splinters were benefitting from Pandemic dot extensions unintentionally, which was extending their uptime to 20 seconds from the stated 16 seconds. This was creating adverse effects and durations when consuming Embedded Splinters or applying / maintaining the Embedded Splinter DoTs. To compensate for the uptime loss from this bug fix, we’re increasing the base duration of Embedded Splinters to 18 seconds.
  • Arcane
    • Leydrinker proc chance reduced to 10% (was 15%).
    • Arcane Surge is now guaranteed to generate Clearcasting.
      • Developer’s note: Arcane Surge was a reliable source of Clearcasting that Arcane Mages lost with the removal of mana-based Clearcasting procs. We’re making Arcane Surge proc Clearcasting baseline to ensure you’re rolling into your burns with some more Clearcasting availability.
    • Arcane Blast now has a 5% increased chance to generate Clearcasting.
      • Developer’s note: Clearcasting availability has marginally decreased in pure single target scenarios. We’re buffing up Arcane Blast’s chance to proc Clearcasting to compensate.
    • Spark of the Magi has been redesigned – Now makes your next Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles echo for 25% extra damage (was increase the damage dealt by these spells).
      • Developer’s note: This updated behavior will allow you to properly benefit from the Spark of the Magi damage bonus on an Arcane Barrage you fired before Touch of the Magi is applied.
    • Mastery: Savant now properly increases the damage dealt by Arcane Surge.
    • Aether Attunement has been redesigned – Every 3 times you consume Clearcasting, you gain Aether Attunement.
    • Aether Attunement primary target damage increase reduced to 100% (was 150%).
    • Aether Attunement secondary target damage increase reduced to 50% (was 100%).
      • Developer’s note: While we’re still committed to maintaining minimal buff-tracking for Arcane, we’re also being sensitive to the desire for Arcane Mages to be able to reliably acquire and hold effects for use in their burst windows and AOE moments-- both of which Aether Attunement excels at. We feel this new design strikes a nice balance that makes the effect easier to track, reliable, and at a higher frequency to help add more moments of excitement for Arcane in AOE.
    • Resonance and Arcing Cleave have swapped locations.
  • Fire
    • New Talent: Charring Embers – Phoenix Flames applies Charring Embers to all enemies it damages, increasing their damage taken from you by 5% for 12 seconds.
    • Charring Embers moved to Gate 2.
    • Charring Embers now increases the damage you deal to affected targets by 4% (was 6%).
    • Charring Embers has been removed.
      • Developer’s note: We’ve been listening to the feedback regarding Charring Embers and the tracking / gameplay behind it and have opted to remove it. We’re interested in preserving the gameplay of the new Phoenix Reborn and From the Ashes, but we feel that they can comfortably exist without Charring Embers.
    • Call of the Sun King no longer grants 15% increased Phoenix Flames damage and instead makes Phoenix Flames always critically strike.
    • Alexstrasza’s Fury no longer makes Phoenix Flames always critically strike.
    • From the Ashes now grants 15% increased Phoenix Flames damage.
    • From the Ashes is now in Gate 3.
    • Surging Blaze has returned to Gate 1.
    • Firestarter’s position has changed.
    • Phoenix Reborn now requires 25 hits (was 20).
    • Wildfire has returned and is now in Gate 2.
    • Ashen Feather is now in Gate 2 on a choice node with Alexstrazsa’s Fury.
    • Inflame is now located in Gate 2.
    • New Talent: Burning Blood – Damage dealt to targets below 30% health is increased by 10%.
      • This talent is not yet implemented.
    • New Talent: Heat Shimmer – Damage from Ignite has a 5% chance to make your next Scorch deal 25% increased damage and deal damage as though your target was below 30% health.
      • This talent is not yet implemented.
    • New Talent: Sparking Cinders – Living Bomb explosions have a 15% chance to increase the damage of your next Flamestrike or Pyroblast.
    • Controlled Destruction increases damage taken from Ignite by 0.5%, stacking up to 50 times (was 1%, stacking up to 25 times).

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

  • Similar Content

    • Stan
      World First Mythic Garrosh Solo in MoP Remix
      By Stan
      Solozerro has defeated Mythic Garrosh alone in MoP Remix! Congrats to the amazing feat that took months of dedication to accomplish!
      In an emotional tribute to a friend who passed away during the transition between World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions, one dedicated player has fulfilled a long-standing promise to leave their mark in the game's history.
      "I promised her I would make a name for myself in WoW history, and today, I can finally say I've done this in her honor," Solozerro said.
      This accomplishment was the result of several evenings of dedicated attempts, each preceded by a week of rigorous farming. The process spanned multiple weeks, with each attempt lasting about 15 minutes.
      The player faced significant challenges, particularly with the Y’Shaarj adds during Garrosh Hellscream’s Empowered Whirlwind phase. "You need a high DPS check just for those adds," Solozerro explained.
      Back when the fight was nearly impossible to solo as a DPS, Solo had to do it in tank specialization to avoid fight resets due to mind control, which significantly impacted their damage output.
      Despite these obstacles, the player remained steadfast. "In total, I collected over 1.5 million threads on my cloak," they said, underscoring the extent of their efforts.

      Even the recent nerfs to Garrosh Hellscream posed a unique challenge. "I overslept and when I woke up and heard about the nerfs, I was sure someone would have tried it. During the fight, I still had adds up, but luckily, I managed to meet the DPS check to avoid the Empowered Whirlwind."
      This achievement not only honors a friend's memory but also serves as an inspiration to the WoW community. "These changes will affect a lot and might actually push more people to try it," the player reflected.
      Here’s the solo video! We want to congratulate Solozerro once again and express how thrilled we are to have been part of this incredible journey!
      Solozerro's journey has come to an end today with 24 days of MoP Remix remaining! The player has soloed Mythic Garrosh after the recent raid nerfs, nearly 1 months after soloing the Paragons of Klaxxi.
    • Stan
      Druid Changes in the War Within Beta Build 55789
      By Stan
      We've looked at the latest Druid changes that went live on the War Within Beta this week.
      Druid
      Restoration Druid - Restoration Druid core passive: Increases damage/healing by 96%: 74%: Improved Prowl, Pouncing Strikes, Shred, Thrashing Claws Increases damage/healing by 31%: 24%: Improved Prowl and Pouncing Strikes Renewal - Usable in all shapeshift forms. Instantly heals you for 20% 30% of maximum health Rip - Lasts longer per combo point. Finishing move that causes Bleed damage over time 1 point : [ 100.5% 110.5% of Attack Power ] over 8 sec 2 points: [ 150.7% 165.8% of Attack Power ] over 12 sec 3 points: [ 201% 221% of Attack Power ] over 16 sec 4 points: [ 251.2% 276.3% of Attack Power ] over 20 sec 5 points: [ 301.4% 331.6% of Attack Power ] over 24 sec Frenzied Regeneration - Heals you for 15% 24% health over 3 sec, and increases healing received by 20%. Primal Wrath - Lasts longer per combo point. Finishing move that deals instant damage and applies Rip to all enemies within 10 yards 1 point : [ 28.6% 34.4% of Attack Power ] plus Rip for 4 sec 2 points: [ 42.9% 51.6% of Attack Power ] plus Rip for 6 sec 3 points: [ 57.2% 68.8% of Attack Power ] plus Rip for 8 sec 4 points: [ 71.5% 86% of Attack Power ] plus Rip for 10 sec 5 points: [ 85.8% 103.2% of Attack Power ] plus Rip for 12 sec Berserk: Frenzy - During Berserk your combo point-generating abilities bleed the target for an additional 135% 150% of their direct damage over 8 sec. Rampant Ferocity - Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.. Ferocious Bite also deals [ 33.3% of Attack Power ] damage per combo point spent to all nearby enemies affect by your Rip Spending extra Energy on Ferocious Bite increases damage dealt by up to 50% 100% Bursting Growth - Damage reduced above 5 targets. When Symbiotic Blooms expire or you cast Rejuvenation on their target flowers grow around their target, healing them and up to 3 nearby allies for [ 20% of Spell Power ]. When Bloodseeker Vines expire or you use Ferocious Bite on their target they explode in thorns, dealing [ 70% 91% of Attack Power ] physical damage to nearby enemies Adaptive Swarm - Upon expiration, finds a new target, preferring to alternate between friend and foe up to 3 times. Command a swarm that heals [ 157.5% of Spell Power ] or deals [ 180% 216% of Spell Power ] Nature damage over 12 sec to a target, and increases the effectiveness of your periodic effects on them by 25% Rake - While stealthed, Rake will also stun the target for 4 sec and deal 60% increased damage. Awards 1 combo points.. Reduces the target's movement speed by 20% for 12 sec Rake the target for [ 21.54% 28% of Attack Power ] Bleed damage and an additional [ 141.4% of Attack Power ] Bleed damage over 15 sec Lunar Insight - Moonfire deals 20 20% additional damage. Berserk - While Berserk: Generate 1 combo points every 1.5 sec. Go Berserk for 15 sec. Combo point generating abilities generate 1 additional combo points. Finishing moves restore up to 3 combo points generated over the cap All attack and ability damage is increased by 10%. 15%. Brutal Slash - Deals 15% increased damage against bleeding targets. Awards 1 combo points.. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets. Awards 1 combo points. Applies the Bleed from Thrash Normal: Strikes all nearby enemies with a massive slash, inflicting [ 147.6% 192% of Attack Power ] Physical damage. Thrashing Claws : Strikes all nearby enemies with a massive slash, inflicting [ 147.6% 192% of Attack Power ] Physical damage Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane - During Incarnation: Energy cost of all Cat Form abilities is reduced by [ 20 25% of Spell Power ]%, and Prowl can be used once while in combat. An improved Cat Form that grants all of your known Berserk effects and lasts 20 sec. Finishing moves restore up to 3 combo points generated over the cap. Generate 1 combo points every 1.5 sec. Combo point generating abilities generate 1 additional combo points. You may shapeshift in and out of this improved Cat Form for its duration All attack and ability damage is increased by 10%. 15%. Thriving Growth - Multiple instances of these can overlap.. Wild Growth, Regrowth, and Efflorescence healing has a chance to cause Symbiotic Blooms to grow on the target, healing for [ 120% of Spell Power ] over 6 sec Rip and Rake damage has a chance to cause Bloodseeker Vines to grow on the victim, dealing [ 135% 121.5% of Attack Power ] Bleed damage over 6 sec Bond with Nature - Healing you receive is increased by 3%. 4%. Druid Guardian 11.0 Class Set 4pc - Arcane damage you deal is increased by 5% and bleed damage you deal is increased by 5%. 8%. Taste for Blood - Ferocious Bite deals 15% 12% increased damage and an additional 15% 12% during Tiger's Fury. Evoker
      Animosity - Casting an empower spell extends the duration of Dragonrage by 4 5 sec, up to a maximum of 16 20 sec. Titanic Wrath - Essence Burst increases the damage of affected spells by 8.0%. 15.0%.
    • Stan
      Alysrazor Bugged in the War Within Pre-Patch
      By Stan
      As of the War Within pre-patch, Alysrazor in the Firelands raid is bugged, preventing players from getting the Flametalon of Alysrazor mount.
      Blizzard made various updates to flying in the War Within pre-patch, and a possible side-effect could be tied to Alysrazor not leaving her spawn location when you engage her in the raid.
      Hopefully, Blizzard will soon release a fix for the issue. Until then, don't bother soloing the Firelands!
    • Starym
      The War Within Pre-Patch Early Mythic+ DPS, Tank and Healer Log Rankings
      By Starym
      It's time for some more preliminary stats, as the pre-patch has been here a whole 3 days (well, not exactly "whole", especially considering the game time gifts)! We're taking a look at how the class changes shifted the dungeon meta, but keep in mind these are really early numbers and fewer players do Mythic+ in post-season.
      Warcraft Logs Points
      The below logs are based on POINTS, and not actual damage or healing, meaning they log the timed completion for the specs, with higher keys getting more points, obviously. The time in which the dungeon is completed is also a factor, but a much, much smaller one, as it grants very few points if you do it significantly faster than just any in-time completion. We're also using the Normalized Aggregate Scores numbers, for clarity, meaning the top spec is marked as 100 and then the rest are ranked in relation to that peak point.
      All Keys
      95th percentile DPS
      While the very top spot remains unchallenged, as Augmentation is set to rule M+ forever, the rest is pretty different! We have some Fyr'alath action right after the Evoker, as Fury and Ret fight it out over the silver, while Shadow falls down to 4th, but is still very much in the game. Unholy makes a solid leap up and passes Elemental, with Fire dropping down some. Devastation and Demonology are newcomers to the bottom 3, where Enhancement welcomes them as a pretty much permanent resident.

      Mythic+ All Keys 95th Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
      All Percentiles
      Things are looking similar in the generalist bracket, but Retribution takes down Fury here and Fire is significantly higher. Survival is also doing a lot better than in the top percentiles, and Beast Mastery makes the top 10 as well.

      Mythic+ All Keys All Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
      All Percentiles Tank (Points)
      The tanks show basically no change whatsoever, as is customary, with only Protection Warrior managing to climb one up and leave Brewmaster at the bottom.
      Mythic+ All Keys All Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
      Healer (Points)
      Holy is pushing up and then some, claiming 2nd right below the long-time emperor, Resto Druid. Shaman climbs up from much lower to grab 3rd, while Discipline falls down to the bottom.

      Mythic+ All Keys All Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
       
      For even more in-depth data for each individual key head on over to Warcraft Logs. And if you're interested in more info on the specs themselves you can always check out our class guides (updated for the pre-patch), as well as our Mythic+ guides and Mythic+ tier list.
    • Starym
      The War Within and Season of Discovery Hotfixes, July 25th
      By Starym
      There's plenty more class changes for both the pre-patch and Season of Discovery, along with dungeon tweaks, Skyriding fixes, profession and PvP adjustments and more!
       July 25 (Source)
      Classes
      Druid Balance Wrath cast by Convoke the Spirits now consumes Dreamstate buffs from Nature's Grace and the Amirdrassil Season 3 (2-piece) Set Armor bonus. Amirdrassil Season 3 (2-piece) Set Armor: Dreamstate now increases the damage of Wrath and Starfire by 80% (was 100%). Hunter Survival Players who had a Wildfire Bomb override from Wildfire Infusion's previous iteration have had them removed. Warrior Protection Fixed a bug causing Spell Reflection to occasionally fail to reflect a spell. Dungeons and Raids
      Algeth'ar Academy Fixed an issue where Vexamus would not face its target during the cast of Arcane Expulsion on Heroic and Mythic difficulty. Flying
      Pathfinder requirements for Skyriding have been removed from Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands zones. Player-versus-Player
      Malicia and Field Master Emberath now correctly offer their Dragonflight Season 4 War Mode equipment until the launch of War Within. Resolved an issue that sometimes prevented healers from being able to duo queue in Rated Battleground Blitz. Professions
      Reduced Trainer costs for Dragonflight professions. Titles
      The Title "Timber Lord" should now display correctly. Season of Discovery
      Increased the number of Firelands Invader, Obsidian Reaver, and Obsidian Surger spawns for the Blackrock Eruption event across Searing Gorge. The Might of Stormwind buff will now appear properly in the tooltip when a Chronoboon is used. Items Devilcore Leggings and Devilcore Gloves patterns can now drop from additional sources other than King Mosh. All of the revamped or new Molten Core items that were strictly Unique are now Unique-Equipped to allow master looters to hold these items during raids. Season of Discovery versions of recipes should be available again from their trainers, making turn-ins for professions quests possible. Mage Rewind Time can no longer be cast if the target will not benefit from its healing. Priest Priests who don't have the Divine Spirit talent learned are now prevented from casting higher ranks of Divine Spirit and Prayer of Spirit. Rogue The cooldown on Rogue Shuriken Toss has been reduced to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds). Warlock Shadowflame will no longer be overwritten by Improved Shadow Bolt. Warrior Last Stand cooldown reduced to 3 minutes.
×
×
  • Create New...