Archived from groups: alt.games.warcraft (
More info?)
Hi there, great thread by the way as I'm trying to play a mage for a while
and got to L24 last night. I wanted to be an Arcanist but seen that at early
levels Fire is more effective. And Arcane is more like a support role in
group to me (please prove me wrong
)
I read the posts in this thread and seen great talent setups, but all the
setups have Arcane as secondary talents. Is there a good build with Arcane
as the primary and can be used in Solo/PVE also?
TIA
--
"Know who you are, Be what you know"
--LordSpike
"mikel" <mikel@evins.net> wrote in message
news:LzeGe.317$jX4.5827705@news.sisna.com...
> Chizel wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have started to get to grips with my new mage character (lvl24) and
> > have a couple of questions.
> >
> > Firstly.
> >
> > I have put all my talent points so far into the fire tree and have the
> > Pyroblast spell.
> >
> > Through use of it I have found that this spell can only really be used
> > effectivly when soloing.
> >
> > In a PVP fight you would be dead before the 6 second cast takes place,
> > and when fighting in groups your target
> > is most likely dead before you cast the spell.
> >
> > Even when soloing its only really any use as an opening attack before
> > the mob knows you are there
> > because of the casting time & cooldown time.
> >
> > This is fine, but I am getting really frustrated with mobs that wander
> > out of range 5 seconds into casting,
> > and the reverse where mobs wander into your aggro range before the
> > spell casts.
> >
> > Has anybody got any tips on how to best use this spell?
> >
> > My second question is.
> >
> > Mana shield lasts for 1 minute, but will absorb 120 points of damage.
> >
> > I am struggling to see when the 120 points of damage have been used up
> > as the timer still appears to be counting down.
> >
> > Is there a more effective way to see if you need to re-cast without
> > waiting before you start taking damage?
> >
> > Lastly,
> >
> > As stated I have picked the fire tree but am not sure about the other 2
> > trees and which one is better
> >
> > I cant afford re-speccing, so any adivce would be most appreciated.
>
> So you know where I'm coming from:
>
> I have a level 60 mage, who has been level 60 since February. I have a
> level 41 mage on a PVP server. I have two other lower-level mages.
>
> I spent a couple of months raising money and respeccing the level 60 to
> try different combinations of talents in high-level instances, in
> farming elite mobs in the Plaguelands, Burning Steppes, and so on, and
> in PVP. I read comments and analysis from various experienced mage
players.
>
> So of course I can still be wrong, and of course there are better
> players than me, but at least I have spent some time messing with these
> issues.
>
> First, about mana shield: I use it in an emergency to diminish the
> damage I'm going to take a little, but basically, if I think I need it,
> I have already screwed up. So basically, I just try to avoid situations
> where I think I will need it.
>
> One exception is that I have used it when walking around flagged in the
> presence of enemy rogues that I know are out to get me. This has a
> number of times kept me alive long enough to Frost Nova and blink away
> from a rogue who attacked me from stealth.
>
> On the subject of talent, my personal opinion is that the two best
> builds for a mage are 31/20 Arcane/Fire, and 51 Frost. I've tried
> various other combinations, and some of the 30/21 Arcane/Fire builds
> looked pretty good, but these are the ones I think are most effective in
> practice, at least the way I play. The Arcane/Fire build gives you very
> impressive damage for very fast kills, and really good effectiveness
> against spellcasters. It's also excellent in PVP. The all-Frost build
> gives you superior ability to control and defeat melee classes, and
> really awesome AOE and mob control for groups and instances.
>
> Someone else suggested a Frost/Arcane build; I tried various forms of
> that, but was not impressed. I did not see gains from the Arcane tree
> that offset some of the damage and other benefits I lost by giving up
> the full-Frost build. And I definitely did lose some on the ability to
> control and beat high-level melee mobs.
>
> The best things in the Arcane tree take a lot of points: Arcane Power
> (which is--literally--a killer talent) requires 31 (including the 1
> point to get AP itself); Presence of Mind, which is nearly as good,
> requires 21. The second-string talents that are good are Improved Arcane
> Explosion (which is only really good with 5 points in it) and Evocation.
> Both of these are really cool and useful, though they are nice-to-have,
> rather than crucial. Nothing else in the Arcane tree is as good as these
> four, though there are other things that are appealing. But the reason
> to put 31 points in Arcane is to get these four. With a small number of
> points in Arcane (Synapse suggested 18) the talents I can get in that
> tree don't interest me as much as what I would have to give up in Frost
> to get it, which is why, if I go Frost, I go all Frost. That being the
> case, I'm of course interested to see Synapse's 33/18 Frost/Arcane build.
>
> However, when you are building a Fire mage, I think it's totally
> worthwhile to get those four Arcane talents, particularly because Arcane
> Power and Presence of Mind so dramatically increase the damage you can
> bring to bear in the first few seconds of a fight.
>
> Which brings me to how to use Pyroblast. Pyroblast, as you observe, has
> a long cast. Therefore you normally need to be in a controlled situation
> to use it. This might mean you can set up your opening shot before the
> enemy sees you. It might mean that you can sheep the enemy before
> starting to cast Pyroblast. It might mean that you have Presence of Mind
> from the Arcane tree, and can cast Pyroblast instantly. These are all
> good tactics that work in suitable circumstances. If you can create one
> of these situations (and very often you can) then Pyroblast serves as a
> very mana-efficient way to dump a big load of damage on the enemy in the
> first seconds of the fight.
>
> Pyroblast is particularly useful in PVP when combined with sheep and
> Presence of Mind. If you don't have time to sheep a PVP opponent safely,
> POM+sheep gives you instant sheep. Then you have time to warm up a
> Pyroblast. Of course if need be you can also just POM+Pyroblast. And if
> you are going into the Arcane tree at all, I would suggest going all the
> way to Arcane Power so you can make that initial burst of damage even
> bigger. You'll have to give up Blast Wave, but I think it's worth it.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram