Posts tagged Mage at WOW Insider

Posts with tag mage

Arcane Brilliance: How to fix Mages

Posted Jul 5th 2008 2:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Features, Classes, Buffs, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Wrath of the Lich King, Worldwide Invitational

Each week, Arcane Brilliance puts a Mage-related joke at the beginning of a column about Mages. This week, though, after the class panels at the WWI, Arcane Brilliance is not in a joking mood.

Warriors are unique in that they are the strongest, most durable melee class, can use all of the biggest and best weapons and armor in the game, and make highly-sought-after tanks.

Rogues are unique in that they can Stealth past almost anything, are downright impossible to hit at times, and can contribute incredibly high single-target DPS in groups.

Druids are unique in that they can shape-shift into awesome animal forms that amount to slightly lesser versions of several other classes, can be excellent tanks, DPS, and healers, have incredible buffs, and are the single most annoying Arena class in the game.

Priests are unique in that they can be both an incredibly effective caster DPS class as well as the best (and surprisingly durable) pure healing class, while providing some of the best buffs around.

Hunters are unique in that they can tame their own pets, then use them to tank for them while they sit back and provide top-tier ranged DPS.

Paladins are unique in that they are the only healing class that can wear plate, can perform the duties of the best multiple mob tanking class, the best single-target healing class, or an effective melee DPS class. Also, they have a bubble.

Shamans are broken currently, but will soon have some of the best raid-wide buffs in the game via their totems, and are still sort of unique in that they can spec to provide both melee and caster DPS, as well as very nice healing, and have an incredibly nice panic button.

Warlocks are unique in that they can provide what is possibly the best caster DPS, both single-target and AoE, have Life Tap, which makes their mana almost never-ending in groups where they have a healer willing to throw them a heal every now and again, have a pet which can add to their DPS, tank for them, destroy casters in PvP, or provide CC.

Mages...Mages are Warlocks without pets.

Ok, to be entirely fair, we can also make food and open a portal to Shattrath at the end of every instance.

Mages need help (Shamans need help too, but Arcane Brilliance isn't a column about Shamans). Come back after the break and we'll talk about what needs to be done.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: How to fix Mages

Arcane Brilliance: Gearing your Mage for Karazhan

Posted Jun 28th 2008 6:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Mage, Tailoring, Blizzard, Instances, Jewelcrafting, Raiding, Bosses, Guides, Classes, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Worldwide Invitational

Welcome to another edition of Arcane Brilliance, where our spell hit is capped out, our damage is through the roof, and our crits are frequent and beefy. We're Mages, after all, and absolute power is what we do. Except against that Rogue last night--the one who seemed to be able to pop Cloak of Shadows every 3 seconds or so and never took full damage from anything even though armor-wise, he only seemed to be sporting some kind of ninja mask and a black jumpsuit of dubious fire-retardant value. No, against that particular Rogue, our absolute power amounted to having three of our spells resisted in a row, followed by us blinking away in abject horror, weeping like a child. That's right: fear Mages. We're powerful sorcerers, channeling the profound and unparalleled might of the arcane...unless you resist our spells, in which case we're just guys in dresses waving sticks. Feel free to jab us with something sharp.

Once upon a time, your Mage stumbled blearily out into Azeroth and cast his first Fireball at a kobold or a wolf or something. Then a bunch of other stuff happened, and now you're level 70, and you just bought your flying mount and used it to see how far up you could go before your graphics card stopped rendering the ground. After you screw around a bit, maybe quest out Netherstorm, run Shadow Labyrinth a few times and learn to hate the Blackheart fight, you may find yourself wondering what's next for your green and blue-clad wizard. Perhaps...another color entirely? Wandering aimlessly about Shattrath one day, you notice a fellow spell-slinger clad in a robe you've never seen before. Inspecting her, you are shocked to see the name of the robe is written not in green...or even blue...but purple.

Asking where such a treasure might be obtained, you learn a name that will consume your waking thoughts and haunt your dreams: Karazhan.

Your guild, you learn, frequents the haunted castle that bears this name, and would be happy to take you along...if you can be of some use to them within its shadowed walls. Your current hodgepodge of mismatched quest rewards and 5-man drops simply won't cut it. You must improve yourself, and quickly. But how? Read on, fellow Mages, and find out.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Gearing your Mage for Karazhan

WWI '08 Panel: Mage

Posted Jun 28th 2008 2:00PM by Michael Gray
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Worldwide Invitational

Well. At first, it didn't seem to me like Tom Chilton had as much news for Mages at the first WWI dev panel as he did for other classes, but one of the Q&A dialogues did reveal a nice vision for our future.

The most common news being reported, of course, is the new "bolt" spell -- the Frostfire bolt. This is a direct damage nuke that's a mix of "fire" and "ice" damage types, and will help circumvent the resistances of certain bosses who have an affinity for an element. Eh. I mean, that's great and all, but it doesn't really speak to any retooling or massive re-vamp at the ways Mages need help.

However, during the Q&A, one of the audience members was a lot more pointed. Now that everyone seems to have their own spammable crowd control, he askes, what's being done to bring Mages back to a more unique role?

The answer was awesome. Simply put, if everyone's doing crowd control, then Mages are going to be buffed in their hallmark: raw, unadulterated damage. Especially since Seed of Corruption shines against our AE damage ability, Chilton says we should expect to see our overall damage output increased.

Does this mean Mages will become the epitome of WoW DPS? Mm, I'm not holding my breath - but at least in terms of putting us back in a vital, noticeable role, the future looks hopeful. Stay tuned as we continue to cover the WWI event, and try and bring the best (and worst) news available.

Brutal Gladiator's Regalia

Posted Jun 24th 2008 3:20PM by Zach Yonzon
Filed under: Mage, Items, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Guides, Battlegrounds, Arena

The Brutal Gladiator's Regalia is the armor set for Mages. It is a dreadweave, or cloth armor usable only by Mages and is usually matched with Guardian's Silk armor pieces. The armor set can be purchased from Big Zokk Torquewrench in Netherstorm and Ontokk Shatterhorn in Shattrath City. The matching Guardian items may be purchased from Doris Volanthius in the Hall of Legends and Lieutenant Tristia in the Champion's Hall.

Brutal Gladiator's Silk Handguards
The Brutal Gladiator armor piece for the hands are the cheapest and easiest Season 4 Arena gear to obtain. With no personal rating requirements, most players will be able to purchase this piece and is the Arena gear likely to be most widespread as soon as the season begins. The bonus is essential to crowd control in PvP, giving a bonus against spell interruption when casting Polymorph. The handguards have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):

306 Armor (+13)
+56 Stamina (+6)
+23 Intellect (+5)
+26 Spell Critical (+4)
+23 Resilience (+0)
+44 Spell Damage / Healing (+4)
Gives 50% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Polymorph.
Classes: Mage

WoW Insider says: These gloves are low-cost and have no rating requirements, making it a good purchase specially for starting Arena players. It is identical in every way with the exception of the special bonus to the Warlock's Felweave Handguards.

Brutal Gladiator's Silk Trousers
The leg armor possesses a personal rating requirement of 1550, which isn't too difficult to obtain, specially for the popular Mage (usually Frost). While not as accessible as the gloves, the leg armor is highly visible on a character and is also likely to be a popular purchase, even at 1875 Arena points. The trousers have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
442 Armor (+18)
+66 Stamina (+7)
+40 Intellect (+6)
+39 Spell Critical (+6)
+30 Resilience (+0)
+60 Spell Damage / Healing (+7)
Classes: Mage
WoW Insider says: The lack of sockets mean that the only customization that can be done will be through Tailoring or Leatherworking enchants. A 39 Spell Critical Rating and 40 Intellect translates to 2.27% for a Level 70 Mage, which should make the trousers a good buy for Season 4.

Brutal Gladiator's Silk Raiment
With three sockets, the chestpiece is the most customizable Arena armor piece, and is the next best purchase after the gloves. For Mages, 1600 is a modest target considering the reward. In PvE, the chest armor is traditionally a drop from the final boss in a series (Magtheridon drops Tier 4 chest token, Kael'thas drops Tier 5 chest token, Illidan drops Tier 6 chest token, etc.). Arenas are different in this regard, but the item level of the chest is identical to PvE chest pieces. Sunwell Plateau breaks from tradition in that the final boss, Kil'jaeden, does not drop chest tokens or armor. However, the Brutal Gladiator chest armor is equivalent to the drops from Entropius and is the best combination of cost and restriction among all the armor pieces. The raiment has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
476 Armor (+22)
+68 Stamina (+7)
+21 Intellect (+6)
+39 Spell Critical (+6)
+26 Resilience (+0)
+46 Spell Damage / Healing (+7)

Socket Bonus: +4 Spell Critical
Classes: Mage
WoW Insider says: Two Yellow Sockets mean more spell crit, including the offense-oriented socket bonus. It is identical in all stats to the Warlock's Felweave Raiment. Like most Arena chest pieces, the Silk Raiment is the one of the best pieces for its cost and ratings requirement. Because of its PvE equivalent, obtaining the Brutal Gladiator chest armor is almost like killing Entropius in Sunwell Plateau. Well, ok not really, but if you don't raid, that's about as close to a raid drop as you're going to get.

Brutal Gladiator's Silk Cowl
The helm is very likely the last Brutal Gladiator armor piece that many players will obtain. With the shoulders at an extremely prohibitive 2200, most players will only manage 4/5 of Season 4. Mages should find a 1700 personal rating a manageable goal to get this cowl, which costs the same as the chest and leg armor pieces. With a personal rating attached to it, the Brutal Gladiator helm might be one helm graphic that players would like to leave on. It is also identical in model to the pieces that drop off Kil'jaeden in Sunwell Plateau. The cowl has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
426 Armor (+17)
+66 Stamina (+7)
+29 Intellect (+6)
+30 Spell Critical (+6)
+33 Resilience (+0)
+54 Spell Damage / Healing (+7)

Socket Bonus: +4 Resilience Rating
Classes: Mage
WoW Insider says: The Silk Cowl is a moderate upgrade from Season 3, but is definitely worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, like most Mage gear, Stamina is still considerably low in comparison to other cloth classes' gear.

Brutal Gladiator's Silk Amice
The 2200 personal ratings requirement for the shoulders are almost Gladiator-level for most Battlegroups, and will likely be a very rare sight in most realms. Although it is the cheapest item after the gloves, it is also the most difficult to get. Blizzard's reasoning for this is that the shoulders are the most "visually impacting" armor piece, confirming Blizzard's opinion that PvP achievements should be on display. The amice has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
339 Armor (+16)
+56 Stamina (+6)
+18 Intellect (+5)
+21 Spell Critical (+4)
+23 Resilience (+0)
+44 Spell Damage / Healing (+4)

Socket Bonus: +3 Resilience Rating
Classes: Mage
WoW Insider says: Brutal Gladiator Shoulders are peacock gear. The Mage's shoulders are identical in all stats to the Warlock's Felweave Amice. Blue sockets are uncommon for PvP gear, but is useful for casters and helps activate the Chaotic Skyfire Diamond.

Guardian's Silk Belt
Because it is a visual match for the Brutal Gladiator's Regalia, and because it comes with no personal ratings requirement, the belt is most likely to be the most widely distributed Season 4 gear. It is purchasable with Honor points, so even players who do not participate in Arena PvP can obtain it. The belt has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
219 Armor (+11)
+49 Stamina (+6)
+35 Intellect (+5)
+32 Spell Critical (+4)
+26 Resilience (+0)
+40 Spell Damage / Healing (+5)
Classes: Priest, Mage, Warlock
WoW Insider says: Usable by all cloth-wearing classes, the Guardian's Silk Belt is also the only option for spell crit and might be one of the most popular Season 4 pieces. It has no personal ratings requirement, making it a great PvP starter purchase.

Guardian's Silk Cuffs
The only other Guardian piece with a socket is the amulet, which doesn't have a personal rating requirement. Coupled with the fact that bracers are visually insignificant, being hidden under gloves or robes, there's little urgency to get them. A 1575 personal ratings requirement also requires decent performance in Arenas. The cuffs have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
183 (+10)
+33 Stamina (+4)
+25 Intellect (+3)
+18 Spell Critical (+3)
+13 Resilience (+0)
+30 Spell Damage / Healing (+3)

Socket Bonus: +2 Spell Damage
Classes: Priest, Mage, Warlock
WoW Insider says: The Silk Cuffs are the only spell crit cloth bracers for Season 4, and the Yellow Socket allows for more crit or haste. The 1575 personal ratings requirement isn't too high, so most Mages (or Shadow Priests and Destruction Warlocks)

Guardian's Silk Footguards
The most visually important match of all Guardian items, the boots are a big jump from a 1575 personal ratings requirement and is as demanding to get as the head piece at 1700 personal ratings. It is also as expensive to purchase as the belt, which has no ratings requirement. The greaves have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):
253 Armor (+15)
+49 Stamina (+6)
+35 Intellect (+5)
+32 Spell Critical (+5)
+26 Resilience (+0)
+40 Spell Damage / Healing (+5)
Classes: Priest, Mage, Warlock
WoW Insider says: Although the visual impact of these boots is irrelevant considering most cloth classes wear robes that cover it, it is the only choice for spell crit boots this season. It has slightly lower survivability than the spell damage equivalent due to lower Stamina and Resilience.

Gallery: Season 4 Arms & Equipment

Looking for more Season 4 info? We've rounded up everything you need to know about the Brutal Gladiator season right here.

Arcane Brilliance: Leveling your Mage, 60-70

Posted Jun 21st 2008 9:00AM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Mage, Items, How-tos, Instances, Quests, Features, Burning Crusade, Leveling, Guides, Classes, Making money, Mounts, Alts, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance

Mages sometimes get a bad rap. Some say we whine too much, while others claim we stink at PvP, or pull aggro too often from the tank. Here at Arcane Brilliance, we ignore these people, because we know the truth. You see, it's a well-known fact that while people tend to like awesome, they simply can't handle too much of it. When people see Mages in the back row, flinging giant balls of flame and ice from their fingertips, landing ridiculously large crits on everything, or plucking delicious magical food out of the air before them, their sense of what is and what isn't awesome gets skewed, and this makes them feel weird. They don't like it. They fear it. The awesome that Mages bring to the table is just too much for most folks to handle. Remember this the next time you get yelled at over voice chat, or someone posts a nasty thread on the forums. We Mages are just too awesome. It's our curse. Luckily, we can remove curses.

Last week, we hit level 60. A long time ago, this was the end of the line, the top of the heap. Once you hit level 60, your experience bar disappeared, and only by improving your gear could you continue to advance your character. That all changed about 18 months ago, when Blizzard introduced us to the world beyond the Dark Portal, 10 more levels of experience, and level 57 greens that were better than level 60 purples. Last week, we brought ourselves to the brink of level 60, to the doorstep of Outland, and this week we'll explore that vast and dangerous new frontier and see where it takes us. Join us after the break for a look at what to expect from the last ten levels of the current game.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Leveling your Mage, 60-70

About the Bloggers: Christian Belt

Posted Jun 17th 2008 3:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: About the Bloggers

Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers.

What do you do for WoW Insider?

I write the weekly Mage column, Arcane Brilliance, and feel incredibly humbled to do it. I don't feel like I'm anywhere close to being the best, or most knowledgeable Mage out there, and am extremely grateful that the Mage community here welcomes me into their lives each week and allows me to spout off about our wonderful class. I love to write, and I love playing a Mage, so getting to write this column is like some kind of huge nerd fantasy for me, and I feel incredibly lucky to do it.

What's your main right now?

Having said that, it should shock nobody that my main is a Mage. He's level 70, he's Undead, and he enjoys long walks on the beach while plotting ways to destroy the living. He's a PoM-Pyro build, specced specifically for Arena PvP. His current ambitions include gearing up for Arena Season 4 (and crossing his bony fingers for a rating high enough to actually qualify for some of the new ugly, ugly gear), and saving up enough honor to finally get some of the sweet new Guardian's gear. I also have a level 70 Blood Elf Holy Paladin who gets almost as much playtime as the Mage. He's the main healer for a very casual guild that's farming Karazhan right now and about ready to move on to Zul'Aman. I also have a flock of mid-level alts spread across both factions and multiple servers.

For the Horde or Glory to the Alliance?

Oh, for the Horde...my bias runs deep. I have a hard time playing my low level Alliance toons, simply because I feel like a traitor when I do so. Also, I like to kill Gnomes. I like to kill them so much.

Continue reading About the Bloggers: Christian Belt

Don't get stuck in the Sunwell Plateau

Posted Jun 7th 2008 8:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Bugs, News items, Raiding

I've found recently in my raiding of the Sunwell Plateau (here after and forever more referred to as SPLAT) that there are a few places folks shouldn't go.

Kalecgos is one of them, that boss should just be wiped off the map. He's just that annoying. But baring that, there are these lovely little hedges placed around the instance. Don't go on those. If you do, you might just make your raid leader and Warlocks scream at you.

If you get on one of these hedges and step the right way, you'll find yourself stuck behind them (click the image above for a high resolution version), unable to get out. The only way to get out is for you to hearth, for a Mage portal to be placed behind the hedge, or for a Warlock to summon you out. All the while you've taken up a good couple minutes of raid time.

Continue reading Don't get stuck in the Sunwell Plateau

Arcane Brilliance: Leveling your Mage, 1-20

Posted May 31st 2008 3:30PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Human, Gnomes, Undead, Trolls, Mage, Mining, Tips, How-tos, Draenei, Blood Elves, Leveling, Guides, Classes, Making money, Alts, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance

Every Saturday, Arcane Brilliance freezes you in place, then Blinks behind a pillar and turns Invisible. You can look for Arcane Brilliance if you want to, but I can tell you that's a bad idea. You see, while you're looking, Arcane Brilliance is positioning itself behind you, cooking up a giant Pyroblast and aiming it up your tailpipe. You really only have a few options here. You can a.) cry, b.) curl into the fetal position and wait for the sweet embrace of death, or c.) distract Arcane Brilliance by quickly yelling "Spell damage is more important that spell hit rating, discuss!" and then log out while Arcane Brilliance is busy posting on the forums about what you just said. I'd go with c.), personally. Works every time.

Recently, I discovered that there seem to be leveling guides on this site for just about every class but Mages, so it's time I stepped up to the plate. The problem is, Mage was my very first class, on my very first character, on my very first foray into the World of Warcraft, which took place approximately forever ago. Ok, so it's only been about two-and-a-half years, but in WoW years, that's the rough equivalent of a million kajillion years ago. My memories of those first few levels are fuzzy at best, and I can condense what I remember learning into two statements: "Murlocs are evil," and "The only way out of Undercity is to use my Hearthstone." One of those statements eventually stopped being true for me, and the other one is "Murlocs are evil." Needless to say, I didn't feel entirely qualified to write a leveling guide for the first few levels of Magecraft.

To rectify the situation, I decided to roll a brand new Mage, so that I could experience those first few levels all over again. To ensure that the experience was as pure as I could make it, I created my Mage on a new server--the newest actually--Cairne. I knew nobody on that server, and had no alts there, so this Mage, a Human female I named Niwt, would be an entirely virgin Mage. I had never played an Alliance Mage before, and never leveled any character in the Human starting area, so the quests would be new to me, and the landscape foreign. I disabled all of my mods and dove in.

It was horrible.

I learned a lot though, or remembered learning a lot, depending on how you look at it. After the break, more text!

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Leveling your Mage, 1-20

Frost Mages and Frost Death Knights

Posted May 29th 2008 6:30PM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Talents, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

Over on the forums, Scorp brings up a Death Knight concern that I haven't heard before: as we all have known since last BlizzCon, the Death Knight's three talent trees are "Blood," "Unholy," and "Frost," and the one that Scorp has a problem with is the last one. Should Blizzard change the "Frost" tree on the Death Knight class so people don't confuse it with Mages?

If you're asking me: no. "Restoration," "Holy," and "Protection" are all reused in a few different talent trees, and for both of those, while the talents are different, the intent is the same. "Frost," for both Mages and Death Knights, will have the same aim as well, as far as we've been told so far -- both classes will aim for DPS in those trees, with extra consideration given to crowd control and slow debuffs. In fact, depending on exactly how the Death Knight's talents work, the "Frost" title might help newer players understand the tree a little better anyway, especially if they've played with a Frost Mage before.

Not that people don't have ideas -- "Ice" (yes, Ice, baby), "Chill" and "Really, really cold stuff" are all names being thrown around on the forums. But Blizzard will probably stick with "Frost" -- no reason to change it up, especially if the abilities line up with the Mage tree as much as we expect them to.

New tier gear video

Posted May 25th 2008 8:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Wrath of the Lich King

Fresh from the alpha leaks that have been coming our way is a new video posted on Vimeo that shows new Wrath of the Lich King gear for Hunters, Mages, Priests, Rogues, and Warlocks. We don't know what tier level (ie: 7.5, 8, 9) this gear is for, but we do know that it fits the overall model of previous tier gear.

When you watch the video you'll notice that not everything is done yet. Obviously, this is because the game is still in alpha. And remember that these models could be completely thrown out and replaced with something different. My personal favorite is the rogue gear.

Give it a watch and get yourself some of these juicy alpha leaks!

YTMND: Endgame WoW Raiding Summed Up

Posted May 25th 2008 4:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Humor

My internet browsings brought me upon this YTMND page, and I thought it was funny enough to share with you all.

Endgame raiding, for those of you who don't know, can get a little predictable at times. Each class has their pre-defined roles, and each has their own unique style to them. Each raider usually carries with him or her (possibly ill) conceived notions of what players of each class are like.

For instance in my guild we usually poke fun at our Mages as being "emo mages," since they like to die a lot. Another one has lately been that I AFK tank, since when I get above 50k threat on the top DPS, there's very little chance they'll catch up to me (and on that note, they joke is on them, because as the main tank I often times do go AFK during phase two of Illidan.)

Take a look at this moderately funny YTMND take on WoW Endgame raiding. And have your volume up a little, because as my girlfriend explained, "That's Little Spanish Flea! You know, Homer sings that all the time."

Arcane Brilliance: Building your Mage, part 2: PvP

Posted May 24th 2008 5:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Classes, Talents, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Battlegrounds, Arena

Each week, Arcane Brilliance attempts to give Mages something to read. Immediately thereafter, Warlocks also get something to read, only their reading material is instant cast, applies a DoT, and can turn into an invincible demon from the nether-regions of Hell. Mages complain, and Blizzard responds by giving Arcane Brilliance a 2 second stun. The catch? It only works if the reading material crits, and only if the target is a frozen sheep.

Alright, it's Saturday, and by now you've hopefully had time to make the trip to Theramore or Stonard to pick up your new Portal and Teleport spells. If early, unconfirmed info is your thing, you've no doubt taken a look at the leaked WotLK Alpha talents and formulated your own opinions on what the future may or may not hold for Mages. If not, well, there's no time like the present. Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere.

All set? Good, because we have lots to talk about. Last week we discussed some basic, flexible talent builds you can use to get your Mage ready for raiding. This week, we're exploring the PvP side of things. After the jump, We'll go over a few templates you can use to begin building your PvP Mage, including my own Mage's spec, so be sure to click the blue text below this sentence. I mean, how can you pass up the opportunity to mock my spec and tell me what a noob I am? Get going...clicky, clicky!

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Building your Mage, part 2: PvP

Arcane Brilliance: Level 70 checklist

Posted May 10th 2008 5:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Mage, Engineering, Tailoring, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, PvP, Jewelcrafting, Leveling, Factions, Guides, Classes, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Battlegrounds, Arena

Every week, Arcane Brilliance works its way into your spell-rotation, right between Fireball two and Fireball three. It has a zero second cast time, doesn't trigger the global cooldown, costs no mana, does ridiculous amounts of damage, creates no threat, and is entirely unresistable. Yes, I'm aware that's not a word. Yes, I understand that "irresistible" is the grammatically correct alternative. Yes, I like to make up words. Also, apparently Arcane Brilliance is the greatest spell ever, and should probably make up your entire spell rotation, and not just a part of it. The good news? I just saved you space on your action bars.

If forced, at gunpoint, to identify the most daunting aspect of the World of Warcraft experience, I know exactly what I'd say. It wouldn't be starting the game, as Blizzard has done a wonderful job of making entry into the game itself incredibly user-friendly. It wouldn't be beginning to raid, as hopefully when you go into your first raid, your guild will be fully aware that it is your first raid and won't expect too much of you, so you can participate without pressure.

No, I'd have to say the single most daunting part of the game happens at a very specific point, and that point is the moment you ding level 70.

Perhaps you don't realize it at that exact instant. For most, the moment of realization comes later. Perhaps it happens when you hop into your first Arena match and die two-and-a-half seconds later. Perhaps it happens when you get thrown into a Karazhan pick-up-group and notice half of your spells are being resisted by Attumen the Huntsman. Perhaps it happens while walking around Shattrath, and you notice a Gnome Mage, ostensibly at the same level as you, wandering around in full tier 6 gear, sporting a mana pool twice as large as yours and around a kajillion spell damage. Perhaps it happens when your guild leader tells you no, you can't come help on Gruul, because you have no spell hit rating, and you don't even know what that means.

So what are you to do? How do you turn your mismatched greens and quest-reward blues into gear that will get you a raid spot? Read on after the jump, and find out how to start down the road to becoming epic.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Level 70 checklist

Brutally ugly gear will stay ugly

Posted May 3rd 2008 6:00PM by Zach Yonzon
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Arena

This morning, Mandy asked how everyone felt about the new Season 4 gear that was recently unveiled on the PTR. The general consensus seems to be that the armor sets are -- for lack of a better word -- underwhelming. Reusing the skins from the token gear that drops from Sunwell Plateau, the armor sets seem to suffer from a case of the Jackson Pollocks. Player feedback, according to the comments on this site as well as the World of Wacraft forums, indicates disappointment with the new sets.

Unfortunately, players unhappy with the look of the new gear shouldn't be holding their collective breaths for an update. Drysc has already stated that Blizzard's artists are devoting all of their energy at Wrath of the Lich King. He says that it takes time to develop new armor sets and that he's not surprised that the new (Badge) gear are mostly color shifts. While Arena gear has traditionally been recolored versions of their PvE counterparts -- e.g. Season 1 gear was recolored Tier 4 -- the new sets create problems because they're no longer distinctive to each class but rather to the armor category to which they belong.

Continue reading Brutally ugly gear will stay ugly

Arcane Brilliance: The world of Mage-crafting, part 2

Posted May 3rd 2008 5:00PM by Christian Belt
Filed under: Mage, Fishing, Alchemy, Cooking, Leatherworking, First Aid, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Jewelcrafting, Leveling, Classes, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Inscription

Each Saturday, Arcane Brilliance jumps off the ledge near the lumber mill in Arathi Basin and Slow Falls all the way to your computer screens...at which point it PoM-Pyroblasts the guy defending the blacksmith and caps the flag solo...after which it gets killed by a Warlock at 25% health. Last week we discussed four of the seven crafting professions and what they had to offer Mages. This week we'll move on to the rest, including wild speculation about what Inscription might have to offer those of us who enjoy wearing dresses into battle.

When I started WoW and rolled my Mage, I asked around and perused the official website and learned that I should probably be a tailor. I wore cloth armor, so it seemed like a no-brainer that I should take the profession that would give me gear I could wear. I gave that strange undead man outside Brill my ten copper pieces and he taught me to fashion pants from scraps of linen I had removed from corpses. I have never really regretted that decision, though I have since learned that while Tailoring is a fine choice for a Mage, it's certainly not the only choice. Almost every profession out there offers something worth having to our wonderful class, and some of them might surprise you. Last week we went over the unique benefits of Enchanting, Engineering, and Blacksmithing (although that last one really doesn't offer much to us at all), in addition to Tailoring, the old stand-by. This week, we're going to explore Leatherworking, Jewelcrafting, Alchemy, and the three secondary professions.

Come back after the jump for the details, along with as much unsolicited commentary as you can stand.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The world of Mage-crafting, part 2

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Arcane Brilliance: The world of Mage-crafting, part 2

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