Mage buffs on the horizon
by Eliah Hecht 
Nov 7th 2007 at 9:16PM
Here's some more good news today for mages. On top of Hypothermia going back from 45s to 30s, Kalgan has stopped by the mage forums to promise some additional buffs in person. These probably won't make it into 2.3, but he says they'll go in "in the near future." My guess is that translates to 2.3.X or 2.4. It looks like Blizz is basically in a "buff" swing recently, which fits in with their general design philosophy -- start underpowered, and then build the classes up as necessary. Buffs make far fewer people angry than nerfs do.What are these buffs, you ask? Trainable Ice Block, and "to-be-finalized improvements to mana issues in longer fights" (source). We've been seeing more and more skills moved to trainable as the game has matured, from Evocate to Holy Fire to Improved Sap. Ice Block mades good sense to add to that list. Kalgan's reasoning is that IB is something they want to be able to design PvE encounters around all mages having, and that it helps open up the range of viable specs for PvP. As far as the "mana issues" improvements, it's hard to comment too much on that without any details, but efficiency is good. Any speculation on what they're going to do there?
Oh, and in a later post, Kalgan lets slip that mana gems are also slated to be buffed. Let that be a sort of after-dinner mint of buffage.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Corvikkan Nov 7th 2007 9:26PM
Oh boy! Can I start calling it Skillblock now?
Bbcversus Nov 7th 2007 9:28PM
I so wanted IB trainable!
Ryan Nov 7th 2007 9:35PM
Tigole stated in a BC-release interview that their design philosophy was to start overpowered and then nerf back; when did this change?
Eliah Hecht Nov 7th 2007 9:36PM
Well, I remember seeing the "start underpowered and buff" philosophy in a blue post a while back, but I can't seem to find it.
Perhaps there are multiple competing philosophies.
Scorp (Jassim Al-Maadadi) Nov 7th 2007 9:39PM
HAAALLIIIILLOOUUUUUYYAAAA!!!!! ::::DDDDDDD
Ryan Nov 7th 2007 9:44PM
@4 Probably the case.
Wulfhere Nov 7th 2007 9:47PM
So, since the hunter changes are so insanely all-powerful and stuff, you mages will be protesting these buffs, right?
Phil Nov 7th 2007 9:55PM
Im a lock and the ice block change changes everything for me.
I can easly beat any no-ice mage in pvp, but, frost mage can be a real pain and thats mainly because of Iceblock ( Ice block wipe every dot on them) so when they get out of there Icecube my dps on them is 0 so even if the have 500 hp left they still can beat my ass before any dot or spell lands (dot usaly takes 3-4 sec before ticking)
So we will see insane Arcane power/fire mage who will unload there fury then Ice block (get healed) and go back in the melee
And for me those mage will me able to unload with fury, i will cast some dot, he will wipe them and start again, im totally screwed there.
Lock are Overpower in the HIGHEND 2V2 segment i know, but theres the rest,
Lock are easy target for : Rogue, Ms warriors, BM hunter, enhancement shammy will, ret paly two and now mage will get a GREAT head over us
Btw, I know lock dont really need buff or nerf, but i kinda disapointed that locks get no change in this patch, kinda dumb
Lorb Feb 12th 2008 7:29AM
too all the ppl that think ac/fire mages with iceblock are gonna be "op", you aint seen nothing yet, tagged with the release of trainable IB comes a new deep frost move, from what iv heard its a sorta hybrid spell along the lines of fireblast, but with a knockout like impact, hehhe? time to respec back to frost hey :)
Alch Nov 7th 2007 9:55PM
Mages need auto heal then they would be all set.
Really they have everything.
Blink
Ice trap
Ice block
remove curse
mana shield
silence
counterspell
domusmundi Nov 7th 2007 10:16PM
@8 fear? deathcoil? I think it all depends on spec prolly, but I see ways around it. Besides isn't IB on a 4-min cooldown?
Alch Nov 7th 2007 10:22PM
#10 if you can get your fear off before being silenced sure not like they cant trinket out of it tho.
Deathcoil would be used already in a fight in most cased by the time a mage is throwing up iceblock. Deathcoil is on a two minute cool down. In a 5 v 5 or 3 v 3 you are lucky to live that long as a lock. I know I seem to get zerged at the start.
Fireflash38 Nov 7th 2007 10:34PM
Its frustrating when someone who doesn't play a mage say that mana shield is one of our best skills.
Simply put, it sucks. Seriously. If I could cast it on an enemy, I would. It absorbs 715 damage, for 1430 mana. It is quite possibly the worst spell a mage could use in PvP (pyroblast a close second).
Anyway, Hunters have Ice trap, not mages.
And the warlock that can not beat frost mages? Either they seriously out gear you, or you are 0/21/40 raid specced. Seriously, I have to blow all of my cooldowns to even stand a chance against a decently-geared warlock.
IMO, all of these changes are greatly needed. And I can't wait to see what the new 21-point frost talent is. (probably why they aren't releasing it with 2.3, they have to think of a new talent)
Felshen Nov 7th 2007 10:42PM
Agreed with Phil. I'm kind of disappointed that locks have gotten nothing but nerfs this patch (except for soulwell cast time being reduced, which is already only 3.5secs...) and other classes have received a ton of buffs. Even MS warriors somehow needed to be buffed. The drain life being affected by MS etc really does hurt locks, no matter how good you think we can still be without DL.
Anyways, about mages. This really makes me sad. Granted, my gear is bad, but a frost mage who's well geared can still 3 shot me. Basically, if I live long enough to even land a single dot on him, he can just wipe it right off. Frustrating, but I acknowledged it was a talent.
But now, JUST LIKE CLOAK OF SHADOWS, it's becoming trainable. Both spells dispell lock dots...without actually 'dispelling' them. For a 41pt talent, unstable affliction has been rather lackluster other than just being another dot with a cast time.
Rahrnok Nov 7th 2007 10:57PM
@13 Agreed about the "without actually 'dispelling' them" comment. IB should definately count as a dispell so that UA can provide that burst damage. I do think the reduction in cast time for Soulwell will be nice though. I know summoning a demon, buffing party members with the "useless" buffs like unending breath and detect invis plus the soulwell is a lot to get done while still having the time to open trade for water/food.
billgates Nov 7th 2007 11:00PM
Making evocation trainable was needed but this is absorbed, ice block is near the bottom of the frost tree.
Gemski Nov 7th 2007 11:06PM
I approve of this buff. Will help PVE mage a lot. As for PVP I am assuming what will happen is an ice block with a 45 second hypothermia. Also no coldsnap for fire/arcane mages.
So it would just help mages have more pvp build options. Would also help the PVE mages who don't want to respec every week. More likely than not you would continue to see deep frost for pure pvp mages.
DigitalFeonix Nov 7th 2007 11:20PM
While having Ice Block trainable for all mages is nice, I'd rather see Ice Barrier replace Mana Shield first.
Markymark Nov 7th 2007 11:44PM
@ 13 Ice Block should not even be put in the same category as Cos. IB is a step in the right direction i just hope whatever talent the replace it with is something worthwile... I love using frost. Hopefully one day mages will be back on top of the Damage charts.
Tyler Nov 8th 2007 12:05AM
Blizzard finally realized that even a well played Fire or Arcane/Fire mage is pretty much a free kill once they burn all their CDs. There isn't much else they can do in PvP. In order to PvP you MUST be frost, and that just isn't right...
Playing Frost spec for me is like winning the special olympics.
BTW- Dear warlocks, if you can't beat 99% of all mages out there, regardless of spec, please reroll. My newly turned, undergeared 70 lock can pretty easily beat a very good playing ice mage in my guild who wears full arena/kara gear. Its called fear, spam it, and you will win, end of story.