It's the context of the AP-PoM-Pyro, as well as the general uselessness of Pyroblast in anything other than niche situations, that makes me think Pyroblast is more than due an adjustment.

Cut the damage, cast time, duration, and mana cost by an appropriate factor (say, for the sake of argument, a factor of 3). 2 seconds is actually a pretty decent casting time: it's not so short as to lose scaling through haste (due to the GCD cap), not so long as to be unusable in PvP. Pyroblast was already a fair way to conserve mana, just unbearably long to cast. Thus, I could envision both PvE and PvP applications for this modified spell.

And this, of course, would take away the PoM-Pyro gimmick and open the door to proper PvP adjustments for arcane and fire specs.

Everyone loves the notion of debuffs and class synergies but I'm not sold on that as a fix for the Arcane Tree.

40 debuff slots thats all we get. 40 seemed like a lot when they implemented the increase but once again we are pushing against that limit and things are starting to get knocked off.

Fire uses 3 for the first fire mage and 2 for each additional. Frost uses 1 (for bosses since they are immune to the chill). Arcane uses none. That's actually a very big advantage for the Arcane Tree.

I completely agree with Manly that something needs to be done about CoE. About 6-7 months ago I wrote a suggestion for Blizzard to just remove the damage increasing aspects of CoS and CoE or to just combine them into one Curse of Magic since I saw the writing on the wall for CoE as being viable as there were fewer mages present per raid. But since that hasn't occured yet I really think the easiest fix is just to keep Arcane's dps competitive with everyone else and with the other mage specs.

Changing the Arcane Blast debuff to last 11 seconds and to give a 10% boost to Arcane damage while active (removing 10% from 2T5 simultaneously) would do just that without disturbing the current "balance" of any of the other classes or specs.


I agree that Pyroblast should be reworked into a staple spell of the fire tree but even if they did that changing Spellpower to give 100% crit bonus is still going to be overpowered since it would synergize with Shards and Ignite and give 250% crits to the frost tree and 280% crits to fire.

Looking at my character screen if Spellpower was 100% crit bonus my AP + PoM + Pyro + Fireblast combo would do 14815 damage changing that combo to using Fireball instead would drop it down to 12725. Which still sounds like more damage then I think Blizzard wants us to be able to do in 3 seconds.

Also think about what the Frostbolt + Ice Lance shattered combo would look like from a 40/0/21 mage if Spellpower gave 100% crit bonus.

Then make Spell Power only work for Arcane spells, or have it capped at the other trees at what it is now and continue the crit intensity for arcane.

As for the debuff discussion, that's a guild issue and how to manage debuffs shouldn't mean such a synergy couldn't work.

The bottom line is unchanged however, arcane needs alot of loving as soon as possible.

EDIT.

On that note they just changed shaman and paladin tier5 bonii, they need to do something similar to mage set and compensate for any nerf by buffing arcane.

And on the Debuff note I remember vaguely back when Patchwerk was discussed to optimize dps that some found that Arcane Missiles has an invisible debuff, just like all channelled spells have it. If this is still true or not I'm not 100% sure of.

I horde guild on our server had mages spam AM on trash (no Blessing of Salvation, Fire/Frost had -10% back then, the -30% came later).
With 5 mages spamming AM and the debuff limit being 8, their debuffs were dropping off really fast.

Another indication - Heroic Shattered Halls.
The Houndmasters cast some dispelling shout that dispels magic debuffs on nearby friends. When I'm channeling AM on one of their dogs and they do their shout, my AM channeling just stops.
No interrupt message, no silence, no error message, nothing.
I just recast and continue.


That is why I think there is a hidden debuff. Maybe I'm wrong and there are different mechanics.

Hm, maybe bring one warrior and 40 mages that cast AM to a Blasted Land Servant?

should be easier to get 10 affliction warlocks? :P

First i'd like to say that this is my first post here so i hope I can be of some help. From what i've read alot of people aren't quite sure about an arcane spell rotation and usefullness, and alot of people want to see some screenshots. I'll do my best to fulfill those requests.

First off, spell rotation:

There are a few different spell rotations that i find usefull depending on the situation. My suggestion is to go to Netherstorm and test them on Dr.Boom (becuase he has alot of HP and u can range him easily, in addition most of these tests were ran on him minus the ones i have ScreenShots for). Keep in mind that if at all possible you should be casting Arcane Blast just before the debuff goes away so you get the reduced casting time but not the increased mana cost, also EVERY time clearcasting procs you should be casting Arcane Missles!!! In case it needs to be explained, would you rather have a cast that costs 234 mana be free, or one that costs 784?

#1:
ABx3, AM, Scorch, repeat.

Using this rotation is going to drain your mana in about... 2mins flat self buffed. Raid buffed you'll last a little longer but this should only be used in fights that last 5mins or less.

#2:
ABx2, AM, Scorch, repeat.

This rotation is only possible with 50+spell haste. With the release of Zul'aman this is completely possible before your guild reaches BT/MH. This rotation is a little more mana efficiet, but completely dependent on your ability as a player to get your casts off in the time constrante of the AB Debuff.

#3:
ABx2, AM, repeat.

This is the most common spell rotation for arcane (and also happens to be the rotation i use). It is not as mana intensive as everyone thinks since you are getting Clearcasting procs, and can deal a butt load of damage.

OK, now i'd like to take the opportunity to link my gear from the armory so people can have an idea of the gear that im using (hopefully i'll be in raid gear when/if any one looks).

The World of Warcraft Armory

Incase any of it changes, I'm wearing 3pc T5 (gloves, legs, shoulders) so i have the 2pc bonus. My current spec is 50/11/0:
WorldofWarcraft.com -> Info -> Classes -> Mage -> Talent Calculator

As you can see its a Pom/Pyro spec heavy on the arcane side. My actual spell rotation is closer to this: ABx2, AM, PoM AP Pyroblast (i have this set as a macro) then continue to cast ABx2, AM, repeat untill the cooldowns are up or i get a clear casting proc.

I haven't had the opportunity to take any SS in a 25man raid but i have a few from ZA today and im going to add more the next time we raid (my guild is 6/6 SSC, 3/4 TK)

This is my damage meter (i use "Recount") for the Halazzi fight:



Here is a chart from the same fight showing how much damage each of my spells did and what percentage of my total damage it was(lightning bolts are from the Lightning Capacitor).



This is the meter for the Hex Lord Malacrass fight:



Like i said i'll be adding more as i can. If any one has any comments or things they would like me to add i'd be happy to talk/debate about anything mage related. Keep up the good work people and lets make/keep mages the top dps!

Yes, if ur gunna go arcane. Arcane has a natural 10% spell hit thru talents (actually closer to about 10.37%)
which means that you only need another 6% thru gear and/or gems to cap your spell hit. Once you have this accomplished, stack crit,SD, and even int (for two reasons 1, you get spell damage from arcane mind. and 2, int=mana)

In case you didn't notice, no one has posted in this thread for a few weeks. Here's where you want to be:

[Mage] TC after 2.3