Mage Questions

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Hi all,

I have a lvl16 Undead Mage, and am pretty new to the class.

Up until now I have been using the Frost Nova spell purely for running
away.

I.e. If when soloing, 3 mobs attack me at once, I frost nova them and
run like hell.

I noticed in the spell text that damage to the target MAY break the
freeze affect on the mob.

The keyword being MAY, its not will its MAY.

99% of the time I attack a frozen mob it breaks the ice. (In fact ive
only ever seen it not break the ice once)
Does anybody know what the odds are for it not breaking the ice?

Is it damage related?

If it is damage related then I might start using arcane missiles
instead of fireballs against frozen mobs.

Any help would be useful.

One last question regarding mage tactics.

In the beggining your tactics are limited to frostbolt them once then
fireball till dead. Simple & Easy.

At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
example Arcane Explosion.
Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
that close that you can use it
you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?

Please help a cowardly mage who only seems to like running away!!!

Any other general tactical help would also be greatfully recieved.

Cheers,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

>The keyword being MAY, its not will its MAY.

>99% of the time I attack a frozen mob it breaks the ice. (In fact ive
>only ever seen it not break the ice once)
>Does anybody know what the odds are for it not breaking the ice?

>Is it damage related?

Yes but I think there's more to it then that. At your level any spell
would break it but now at lvl 35 I can left off a Fireblast (I think
that's what it's called) then and then a Fireball. The ball always
breaks it but the blast rarely.

>If it is damage related then I might start using arcane missiles
>instead of fireballs against frozen mobs.

>Any help would be useful.

>One last question regarding mage tactics.

>In the beggining your tactics are limited to frostbolt them once then
>fireball till dead. Simple & Easy.

>At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
>Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
>example Arcane Explosion.

At lvl 16, that's was pretty much my strategy. Frostbolt, then
Fireball and then cheap instant if the mob was nearly dead. If it
wasn't then root it, back off then start with the Fireball again.

Personally, at lvl 16 I don't think there's much real variation.
Replace fireball with Arcane missiles if you want but you are basically
doing the same thing. Once the talent points start to bite you can try
different things.

>Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
>that close that you can use it
>you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?

Why I never picked it. I would rather not get that close to the mob to
start with and if I do I want to root and run, or run around them
letting of instant attacks.

>Please help a cowardly mage who only seems to like running away!!!

>Any other general tactical help would also be gratefully received.

Got a wand yet? Great for conversing mana when the mobs health is low
and is starts to run.

I haven't got many of the Arcane abilities or put any points into its
talent tree. Fire and ice are more then doing the job. At high lvl fire
become less useful so I will probably switch but until then I'm
sticking.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

This is my strategy so far (lvl 27 now)
Start off with frost bolt, this will slow them
Arcane missiles, they will all shoot since mob is slowed
At this time mob is probably at your face... Instant cast Fireblast
and frost nova to hold mob there
Take 2 steps back, slow big damaging fireball and wand

The AoEs are your dangerous friends, with your cloth armor you really
don't want attracting mobs attention, but if in a group, wait a bit so
the mobs get angry at something else, then AoE away... it makes the
fight much shorter, either because you kill them all fast, or because
you died fast. Either way it's exciting

 

[mikel]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Chizel wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a lvl16 Undead Mage, and am pretty new to the class.

SO that you know where I'm coming from, I have a level 60 gnome mage who
reached level 60 in February. Since then I have rebuilt his talents
several times to try different things. I now also have a level 41 Undead
mage on a different server.

> Up until now I have been using the Frost Nova spell purely for running
> away.

I use it that way, but also when I want to shoot at a mob without
getting hit. My 41 mage has 20 points in Fire, and the rest in Arcane
(which is the way I will build him all the way to 60), and my usual
tactic is: Pyroblast, Fireball, Fireball, Fire Blast, Fireball, Scorch
and wand until dead. If I am attacking a mob that for some reason I
don't want to hit me (like perhaps there is a risk of stunning or a
disease that slows my spellcasting or something), then after the first
or second Fireball I Frost Nova and strafe away (not run backwards;
that's too slow), then resume shooting.

> I.e. If when soloing, 3 mobs attack me at once, I frost nova them and
> run like hell.

At level 20 you will get Blink; at that point Frost Nova, Blink should
become a reflex.

> I noticed in the spell text that damage to the target MAY break the
> freeze affect on the mob.
>
> The keyword being MAY, its not will its MAY.
>
> 99% of the time I attack a frozen mob it breaks the ice. (In fact ive
> only ever seen it not break the ice once)
> Does anybody know what the odds are for it not breaking the ice?
>
> Is it damage related?
>
> If it is damage related then I might start using arcane missiles
> instead of fireballs against frozen mobs.

I don't know the numbers. Experience tells me that mobs are more likely
to break the ice if you damage them.

> Any help would be useful.
>
> One last question regarding mage tactics.
>
> In the beggining your tactics are limited to frostbolt them once then
> fireball till dead. Simple & Easy.

If you are built on Fire, the opening Frostbolt is probably
counterproductive. You will most likely do more damage opening with
Pyroblast or Fireball. The larger damage from the Fire spell probably
more than offsets the gains from the slowing effect of the Frostbolt.

If you are built on Frost, things are different, though below level 20
the talent-based differences are probably insignificant anyway.

> At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
> Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
> example Arcane Explosion.
> Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
> that close that you can use it
> you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?

I rarely use Arcane Explosion until I get 5 points into Improved Arcane
Explosion. Once I have those points in place I use it all the time. The
difference between non-instant and instant Arcane Explosion is huge.
Onnce those points are in place, you can pop of explosions around once a
second, but, more importantly, you can pop off explosions *while* you
are moving. You can of course hit Fire Blast while moving, but the
cooldown is rather long. Once you have the maximum points in Improved
Arcane Explosion, you have an instant damage spell that you can pop off
repeatedly while moving; the only limitations are that eventually you
will run out of mana, and the spell has a fairly short range.

A very common use of Arcane Explosion is to wipe out non-elite crowds of
mobs in instances, when you are more or less protected by your party.
The weak minions of Herod are one example. The numerous groups of
non-elite mobs in Dire Maul and Stratholme are another.

A less common but very effective use is in duels. In a duel a successful
Mage spends a certain amount of time running around and dodging; if you
have 5 points in Improved Arcane Explosion, then you can be doing damage
at the same time.

An even less common, but also effective, use is to do damage while
running for distance when fighting a mob. Once you have those points,
you can make it a habit to explode whenever you need to run (as long as
you can afford the mana).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

"Once you have the talent points to make Arcane Explosion an instant
cast spell, it becomes very useful for killing several mobs at once."

When it becomes an instant cast does it get a cooldown, or is it just
spammable to death?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Which talent is it for the instant cast Arcane Explosion and how many
points do you need to get it?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

well all my points have gone to frost talents, so my arcane missiles do
get interrupted, but doesn't matter as they're slowed by frost bolt and
they get to me after all the bolts are fired

 

[nazgul]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Chizel <cgm@firstoption.com> wrote:

> At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
> Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
> example Arcane Explosion.
> Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
> that close that you can use it
> you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?

Why don't you cast Arcane Explosion, and then frost nova? This way
you'll do both damage and root them...

Do you use sheep for handling extra mobs?

Mage is all about damage and crowd control... So if 3 mobs are
attacking you, sheep one, frost nova the other two, move away,
and unload all your might on one under the frost nova spell...

Then repeat with that other guy under frost nova.
Lastly, kill the sheep.
Drink, rinse and repeat.

--
Nazgul, via terminal

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

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Chizel schreef:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a lvl16 Undead Mage, and am pretty new to the class.
>
> Up until now I have been using the Frost Nova spell purely for running
> away.
>
> I.e. If when soloing, 3 mobs attack me at once, I frost nova them and
> run like hell.
>
> I noticed in the spell text that damage to the target MAY break the
> freeze affect on the mob.
>
> The keyword being MAY, its not will its MAY.
>
> 99% of the time I attack a frozen mob it breaks the ice. (In fact ive
> only ever seen it not break the ice once)
> Does anybody know what the odds are for it not breaking the ice?
>
> Is it damage related?
>
> If it is damage related then I might start using arcane missiles
> instead of fireballs against frozen mobs.
>
> Any help would be useful.

It sounds a lot like the Entangling Roots spell of a Druid. I always use
it as the first thing I do and use the time after that move away and
cast a high (=slow) level Wrath (Moonfire also has its place in there
somewhere).

It is my impression that your target will break free in about the time
you do 1 1/2 spells anyway, with higher levels probably breaking free
sooner (because they are stronger?).

It is a shame you can't do this (Entangling Roots) spell on the move :-(

Also notice that a Gnome can escape from traps like this..

Regs,
Thomas
- --
Life is like a videogame with no chance to win - ATR
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

On 14 Jul 2005 03:53:24 -0700, "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> wrote:

>At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
>Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
>example Arcane Explosion.
>Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
>that close that you can use it
> you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?

Most likely yes.

One good use of Arcane Explosion, and other area effect spells, is in
instances when you get lots of trash (= non-elite) mobs, and you have
a healer healing you.

One of the first examples I can think of is in the armory in Scarlet
Monastery. When you kill the end boss there some 20-30 mobs come
running in - they are non-elite and has very reduced health, and in
fact a single well placed Arcane Explosion can wipe them all out.

Actually, if you ever want to run instances seriously then please
learn how to use your AoE spells - nothing is more frustrating than
getting into a situation where AoE would be gold, only to find out
that your mage/warlock is afraid of those spells (eg. Stratholme;
critters from trapped crates, biles from Bile Spewers in the
abomination fight, skeletons in the baron fight).

It is also possible to solo grind with AoE spells - it is a kinda
risky affair, and requires the right kind of mobs. But if you pull it
off correctly you can wind up with rather impressive amounts of xp in
a short amount of time - with the infamous example of Dire Maul AoE
runs (did that get nerfed btw?).

--
Regards
Simon Nejmann

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Simon Nejmann wrote:
> On 14 Jul 2005 03:53:24 -0700, "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> wrote:
>
>
>>At lvl16 I have enough spells to choose from to pick different tactics.
>>Problem is I cant figure out when to best use different spells. For
>>example Arcane Explosion.
>>Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
>>that close that you can use it
>>you are better off doing a frost nova and running away?
>
>
> Most likely yes.
>
> One good use of Arcane Explosion, and other area effect spells, is in
> instances when you get lots of trash (= non-elite) mobs, and you have
> a healer healing you.
>
> One of the first examples I can think of is in the armory in Scarlet
> Monastery. When you kill the end boss there some 20-30 mobs come
> running in - they are non-elite and has very reduced health, and in
> fact a single well placed Arcane Explosion can wipe them all out.
>
> Actually, if you ever want to run instances seriously then please
> learn how to use your AoE spells - nothing is more frustrating than
> getting into a situation where AoE would be gold, only to find out
> that your mage/warlock is afraid of those spells (eg. Stratholme;
> critters from trapped crates, biles from Bile Spewers in the
> abomination fight, skeletons in the baron fight).

well that's what makes the mage so good at the CC/AOE combo.
He can carefully plant himself near the mobs, frost nova to hold them in
place and then use any AOE, blizzard, arcane explosion, firestrike.

That way they don't run out of your aoe range, providing not too many of
them resist the frost nova.

 

[Guest]

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In <1121338404.646595.275610@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> writes:

> Does anybody know what the odds are for it not breaking the ice?

I think there was a bug introduced in the 1.5 patch that made it much more
likely to break the ice. Since you're fairly low level, most (or all) of
your playing time was probably when this bug existed. Let's hope that
the 1.6 patch fixed it.

> In the beggining your tactics are limited to frostbolt them once then
> fireball till dead. Simple & Easy.

> Yes its a nice small damage AOE spell. But surely if that many mobs are
> that close that you can use it you are better off doing a frost nova and
> running away?

Once you have the talent points to make Arcane Explosion an instant
cast spell, it becomes very useful for killing several mobs at once.

For now, though, you should only use it when the monster is at low
health and needs to die RIGHT NOW, and you've already used your
Fireblast.

--
John Gordon "It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese."
gordon@panix.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

wolfing wrote:
> This is my strategy so far (lvl 27 now)
> Start off with frost bolt, this will slow them

You know that when you time it correctly you ould hurl 2/3 frost bolts
at one enemy before they reach you.
When they near I fire blast, frost nova, take distance and frost bolt
again. Unless they're almost dead by then, I just fire blast and
complete with arcane missiles since that's instant ( well missiles are
channelled but start almost immediately ).

Another technique when grinding against low health mobs.

- Frost bolt, Frost Bolt
- They come close.. Mana Shield, finish off with wand/

This way you can go on and on without having to sit and drink after 2
enemies. The frost bolts use less mana than the same rank fire and cast
faster.

Anyway, it's a matter of trying and trying till you find the correct
sequence for the correct mob(s).


> Arcane missiles, they will all shoot since mob is slowed

You can up that talent so that you will have 100% change of not being
interrupted. hehe

> At this time mob is probably at your face... Instant cast Fireblast
> and frost nova to hold mob there
> Take 2 steps back, slow big damaging fireball and wand
>
> The AoEs are your dangerous friends, with your cloth armor you really
> don't want attracting mobs attention, but if in a group, wait a bit so
> the mobs get angry at something else, then AoE away... it makes the
> fight much shorter, either because you kill them all fast, or because
> you died fast. Either way it's exciting
>

That's why I think frost nova is very usefull before AOE. Especially
when you like to AOE with blizzard. Frost dmg spells have less change to
break frost nova that fire/arcane dmg spells.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

In <1121356977.099773.184710@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> writes:

> "Once you have the talent points to make Arcane Explosion an instant
> cast spell, it becomes very useful for killing several mobs at once."

> When it becomes an instant cast does it get a cooldown, or is it just
> spammable to death?

It has no cooldown. Spam away.

--
John Gordon "It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese."
gordon@panix.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

John Gordon wrote:
> Chizel writes:
> > When it becomes an instant cast does it get a cooldown, or is it just
> > spammable to death?

That's your own death as often as not - be forewarned that
it may generate a wee smidge of aggro. About the best
countermeasure is to frost shock before you start the
explosions (may keep humanoids from running away assuming
your explosions don't break the immobilization). And be
prepared with a pre-cast mana shield refreshed as frequently
as necessary. Very easy to tap out your mana doing this.
And NO, the warrior is NOT going to hold their attention
while you do this.

Tremendously effective when used to annihilate things that
are much smaller than you, of course.

> It has no cooldown. Spam away.

AoE spam and be merry...

--
Nathan Engle Computer Support, IUB Psych Dept
nengle@indiana.edu http://mypage.iu.edu/~nengle
"Some Assembly Required"

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

In <1121358265.608085.173510@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> writes:

> Which talent is it for the instant cast Arcane Explosion and how many
> points do you need to get it?

Improved Arcane Explosion. It requires five points to get to instant,
but you have to spend ten points elsewhere in the Arcane tree first.
Total of fifteen points.

--
John Gordon "It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese."
gordon@panix.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

John Gordon wrote:
> Improved Arcane Explosion. It requires five points to get to instant,
> but you have to spend ten points elsewhere in the Arcane tree first.
> Total of fifteen points.

So far my little mage (now 29) has yet to put any points
anywhere OTHER than the Arcane tree. There's that channeled
spell it gives you to completely restore 2500 points of mana
in 8 seconds - pure heaven to do that while you watch an
unhappy little sheep weaving around in front of you. I
know people say that mage really isn't a solo class, and I
don't doubt it'll get tougher as time goes on (as it does
for everyone), but for now it's been a hoot for me and in
the cases where I do get teamed up with a group it's scary.
Just a for instance - at level 28 I got to loot that offhand
defense bone that Stitches drops - bright red elite to me
but I did a lot of damage to him.

--
Nathan Engle Computer Support, IUB Psych Dept
nengle@indiana.edu http://mypage.iu.edu/~nengle
"Some Assembly Required"

 

[mikel]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Nathan Engle wrote:
> John Gordon wrote:
>
>> Improved Arcane Explosion. It requires five points to get to instant,
>> but you have to spend ten points elsewhere in the Arcane tree first.
>> Total of fifteen points.
>
>
> So far my little mage (now 29) has yet to put any points
> anywhere OTHER than the Arcane tree. There's that channeled
> spell it gives you to completely restore 2500 points of mana
> in 8 seconds - pure heaven to do that while you watch an
> unhappy little sheep weaving around in front of you. I
> know people say that mage really isn't a solo class, and I
> don't doubt it'll get tougher as time goes on (as it does
> for everyone), but for now it's been a hoot for me and in
> the cases where I do get teamed up with a group it's scary.
> Just a for instance - at level 28 I got to loot that offhand
> defense bone that Stitches drops - bright red elite to me
> but I did a lot of damage to him.

People may say that Mage is not a solo class, but I have found it to be
a great class for soloing. I got one mage to 60 and I'm doing it again
(up to 41 so far), and it's been fun all the way both times.

In my experience it has gotten easier, not harder, at higher levels --
though moreso the second time around. I attribute that to the fact the I
experimented a lot with different talent builds in the first mage, and
now know pretty well what I like.

By the way, I initially built my first mage as an all-Arcane mage, but
nowadays I don't recommend it. I think all-Frost and 31/20 Arcane/Fire
are both better (and furthermore, I think it's best to spend the 20 Fire
points first).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Simon Nejmann wrote:
> One of the first examples I can think of is in the armory in Scarlet
> Monastery. When you kill the end boss there some 20-30 mobs come
> running in - they are non-elite and has very reduced health, and in
> fact a single well placed Arcane Explosion can wipe them all out.

If a Paladin is in the group it's also easy (and funny) to kill them
with the Retribution Aura. Odd to think that 12-16 damage on them for
each blow they hit on your party wipes them out in moments, but it
does.

--
<URL:http://www.pobox.com/~ylee/> PERTH ----> *
Cpu(s): 31.3% us, 2.5% sy, 0.6% ni, 63.2% id, 2.2% wa, 0.1% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 515416k total, 475072k used, 40344k free, 25652k buffers
Swap: 3052208k total, 188308k used, 2863900k free, 180132k cached

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

I'm a brand-new level 17 Troll mage. When fighting a mob of near my level,
I:

1) Frost bolt (Rank 2, I think)
2) Arcane Missiles (Rank 2)
3) Fire Blast (I think tht's what it's called - instant cast, good dmg, 8
sec cool down, rank 2)
4) Frost Nova
5) Back up a bit and Arcane missile
6) use wand a few times if necessary to finish him off

About 75% of the time, if I damage a frozen mob, I get AT LEAST 1 shot off
while he's still frozen - can't say why your experience is different..

Vashani

 

[Guest]

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In <db655j$dh9$1@rainier.uits.indiana.edu> Nathan Engle <nengle@indiana.edu> writes:

> I know people say that mage really isn't a solo class

Bah. Mages are great soloers.

--
John Gordon "It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese."
gordon@panix.com

 

[Greg]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

John Gordon <gordon@panix.com> wrote:

>In <1121356977.099773.184710@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> writes:
>
>> "Once you have the talent points to make Arcane Explosion an instant
>> cast spell, it becomes very useful for killing several mobs at once."
>
>> When it becomes an instant cast does it get a cooldown, or is it just
>> spammable to death?
>
>It has no cooldown. Spam away.

Well, it's on the global spell cooldown, which I think is one second.

One of the big benefits of "instant arcane explosion" (i.e., 5 points
in improved arcane explosion) is that it's no longer a channeled
spell; you can cast it while moving.

Your real limiting factor will be available mana, not the global spell
cooldown.
--
Greg
phobos78-marslink-net
Replace dashes and move in by 1 planet to reply.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Hi,

Original poster here.

Thx for all the good input.

Now I know that arcane explosion with the right talents basically turns
into a different spell altogether.

A lot of different people are saying about which talents to spend
points on. Currently I have gone fire, but at lvl16 it
does not make much different yet.

Am thinking of switching to the Arcane tree to get the improved Arcane
Explosion.

My main is a lvl41 hunter so wanted a new approach, and it sounds like
the improved Arcane Explosion
fits the bill with regards to the reason I picked a mage.

EASY AOE SPAM DAMAGE!

I am not very good yet with the AOE spells you need to aim with the
green targut radius, but Arcane Explosion & Frost Nova are great.

I solo 90% of the time and genrally do 'Green' quests so the mobs are
lower level than me, so this will be ideal.

Plus I can twink my mage with gold sent from my main. So my Intellect /
Spirit is exceptionally high for my level.
At lvl16 he has already spent 20G!!!!

So am not too worried about mana consumption, as I can by mana pots
when needed.

Any comments from vetran mages as to if this is a good way to go? Or
should I stick with fire?

 

[mikel]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

Chizel wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Original poster here.
>
> Thx for all the good input.
>
> Now I know that arcane explosion with the right talents basically turns
> into a different spell altogether.
>
> A lot of different people are saying about which talents to spend
> points on. Currently I have gone fire, but at lvl16 it
> does not make much different yet.
>
> Am thinking of switching to the Arcane tree to get the improved Arcane
> Explosion.
>
> My main is a lvl41 hunter so wanted a new approach, and it sounds like
> the improved Arcane Explosion
> fits the bill with regards to the reason I picked a mage.
>
> EASY AOE SPAM DAMAGE!
>
> I am not very good yet with the AOE spells you need to aim with the
> green targut radius, but Arcane Explosion & Frost Nova are great.
>
> I solo 90% of the time and genrally do 'Green' quests so the mobs are
> lower level than me, so this will be ideal.
>
> Plus I can twink my mage with gold sent from my main. So my Intellect /
> Spirit is exceptionally high for my level.
> At lvl16 he has already spent 20G!!!!
>
> So am not too worried about mana consumption, as I can by mana pots
> when needed.
>
> Any comments from vetran mages as to if this is a good way to go? Or
> should I stick with fire?

To get Improved Arcane Explosion all the way to its maximum you will
have to spend a total of 15 points: 5 points to Improved Arcane
Explosion itself, plus 10 other points in Arcane to be able to start
spending them on Improved Arcane Explosion.

None of those points will significantly increase the damage you do.

In addition, although Improved Arcane Explosion gives you a killer
tactic (spammable AOE *while moving*), it is not a bread-and-butter
tactic. First of all, it doesn't do enough damage to use as your main
killing tool in most situations, and second of all, it uses up mana
quite fast. There are situations where using it is a good idea (to take
out crowds of non-elite mobs in instances when you are protected by a
party; to continue dealing damage while dodging and running in a duel or
other PVP, or in some PVE circumstances), but you are never going to
rely on it for your main killing tasks.

Those 15 talent points can be much more profitably spent in Fire. For
example, they can get you 5 points in Improved Fireball, which speeds up
Fireball casting enough to positively affect your overall kill rate.
They can also get you 5 points in Impact; this makes stuns happen often
enough that it also positively affects your overall kill rate. You still
have enough left over after those two talents to get 5 points in Ignite,
which, again, will boost your damage and your kill rate noticeably. Or
you can use them to get Pyroblast (a killer opening shot) and Flame
Throwing (an extra 6 yards once again boosts your damage and kill rate).

Spending the same points in Arcane will make very little difference. You
could use it to get the spammable Arcane Explosion, but that isn't going
to make very much difference in your normal, day-to-day play unless you
duel and PVP all the time. Spending those points in Fire will make a big
difference.

Of course, you could spend your first 15 points in Frost. They will make
a noticeable difference there too, but in a different way. Frost is
mostly about controlling your enemy's movement, and the first 15 points
in Frost give you a good taste of that. But it seems like you are more
interested in damage, and for that I think your first 20 points should
go into Fire.

When building a control-oriented mage, designed for instance support and
fighting melee units, I think you should spend all points in Frost.
When building a damage-oriented mage, designed for PVP and for killing
spellcasters, I think you should put 20 points into Fire and 31 into
Arcane, and your specific goal in Arcane should be to get Arcane Power
and Presence of Mind (though Evocation and Improved Arcane Explosion are
also nice).

Probably, the most sensible build strategy for damage would be to put
*all* your points into Fire until you reach level 60, because until then
you won't have enough talent points to both get the good stuff in the
lower part of the Fire tree and also get Arcane Power. Of course, I'm
ignoring my own advice with Creach right now; I know exactly what build
I want at the end and I am building it up that way as I go. That was
great up to level 30 because I was buying juicy Fire talents. Now that I
have begun buying Arcane talents it is much less satisfying because I
have to go through stretches where my talent points don't buy me
anything very useful; I am just spending them because I know I need to
in order to get something later. For example, I am now spending talent
on Improved Arcane Explossion, which I know I won't use until I have 5
points in it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (More info?)

On 15 Jul 2005 02:47:03 -0700, "Chizel" <cgm@firstoption.com> wrote:
>Am thinking of switching to the Arcane tree to get the improved Arcane
>Explosion.
>
>My main is a lvl41 hunter so wanted a new approach, and it sounds like
>the improved Arcane Explosion
>fits the bill with regards to the reason I picked a mage.
>
>EASY AOE SPAM DAMAGE!
>
>I am not very good yet with the AOE spells you need to aim with the
>green targut radius, but Arcane Explosion & Frost Nova are great.
>
>I solo 90% of the time and genrally do 'Green' quests so the mobs are
>lower level than me, so this will be ideal.
>
>Plus I can twink my mage with gold sent from my main. So my Intellect /
>Spirit is exceptionally high for my level.
>At lvl16 he has already spent 20G!!!!
>
>So am not too worried about mana consumption, as I can by mana pots
>when needed.
>
>Any comments from vetran mages as to if this is a good way to go? Or
>should I stick with fire?

If you're going to mainly solo, I don't think IAE is really worth it.
You need healer backup if you plan to work with the point-blank AoE
spells. ... at least if you're fighting stuff anywhere close to your
level.

I don't AoE much when I solo my mage but a frost build would
probably be much easier if you wanted to go that route. Mainly because
frost lets you AoE at range, and does a good job of keeping those mobs
at range.

Find yourself a good healer and mobs that don't have ranged attacks
(animals usually) and you can rake in the exp with a 2 man AoE group.
Plus you can make a priests day, they aren't used ot getting 20K+ exp
an hour in their 30s <g>.

Rgds, Frank