Mage v. Warlock going to a higher level in WotLK
by Allison Robert 
Mar 7th 2008 at 1:45AM
More class changes afoot! Tipster Aikiwoce sends along a blue post in which Kalgan reassures mages that they haven't been forgotten in upcoming talent and ability changes in WotLK. The thread, which seems to have been started mostly because of the earlier warlock thread he'd responded on, elicited a short but highly revealing response from Kalgan: "Mages will get new abilities in the expansion too, believe it or not. In fact, we intend to tone down how strong of a counter Warlocks are to Mages through the WotLK spells/talents." Hmmm. Little concrete information, but this is one of the few times that a Blizz dev has openly acknowledged just how powerful certain classes are in relation to others. While they've made no secret of the fact that they don't balance PvP around 1v1 battles, and admitted at BlizzCon that warlocks are essentially the best dueling class, it's still unusual to see official commentary on specific class rivalries.
And, let's face it, the Mage versus Warlock smackdown is practically the stuff of legend. With these tidbits appearing on the forums about class and talent changes in Wrath, keep checking back; we're likely to hear about more of these soon.
Filed under: Mage, Forums, Classes, Expansions, PvP, News items, Analysis / Opinion, Warlock, Battlegrounds, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jumb Mar 7th 2008 4:15AM
It'd be awesome if mages got polymorph: penguin in wotlk. I'm going to roll a mage if they do.
Arabelli Mar 7th 2008 9:36AM
I still think Nef should have dropped a Poly: Giraffe book, nammit.
sephran Mar 7th 2008 2:40AM
What? I own locks in pvp. They are frustrating yes.. btu not the bane of my exsistance.. confused by that statement to be honest..
hunters eat me alive though.. dam hunters..
Aikiwoce Mar 7th 2008 3:36AM
I'll admit I'm not the best at pvp (primary focus on pve atm), but I have some caveats with your post. There's is one Sephran mage listed on the armory with 1497 2v2 personal arena rating.
If this is you, you're wearing mostly S1 arena gear, with vindicators belt/bracers. So most of your pvp experience is based on battlegrounds, not arenas. In battlegrounds mages generally kill warlocks easily due to teammates giving you a big help, or the lock being extremely under-geared.
The only ways I know to kill a lock in pvp are to wait till he's afk/not paying attention, doesn't have his pet up, out-gearing him by a ton, or have a competent healer at my back w/o someone beating on him/her. If this fails try to get the pet down, so the next guy can kill him. :)
Just my 2c.
kellzea Mar 7th 2008 3:28AM
gotta love how the comunity still thinks its 2006 and locks are op, i remember lock "op-ness" and we were stupid good. now,
now we suck at pvp. ahh well at least we scare children
snitzle Mar 7th 2008 5:47AM
it is kinda sad.. but warlocks are now the most "balanced" class in wow.
meaning.. nearly every melee class can kill a warlock without even trying
theRaptor Mar 7th 2008 8:44AM
I played a lock in 2006, they didn't become completely OP until BC, aka 2007. And yes of course melee can kill locks, cause most casters can't.
matt Mar 7th 2008 4:38AM
be interesting to see what they give mages to counter a lock felhound.
Loudfiero Mar 7th 2008 7:13AM
Polymorph? Or does that NOT work on demons? I really don't know.
Cynra Mar 7th 2008 7:58AM
Polymorph is restricted to beasts and humanoids. Typical forms of crowd control against demons include - but are not limited to - trapping or banish.
Tenchan Mar 7th 2008 6:36AM
Am I the only one who think this whole Mage vs. Lock fight is plain dumb? Mages are Mages, Warlocks are Warlocks, there is no need to compare e-peens just because they can both cause forest fires.
Also, I agree that Polymorph:Penguin would rock.
Fireflash38 Mar 7th 2008 8:05AM
The problem most mages have with warlocks is locks in general are better at almost everything.
Mages are getting replaced in PvE and PvP by warlocks. Only reason to bring a mage would be for int and food.
Raid DPS flat nuking? Warlock wins.
2v2s? Warlock (generally giving way to warrior)
5v5s? Warlocks are replacing mages. (2346 anyone?)
Ability to beat casters? Warlock.
Dot and Pillar hump?
Etc.
Now what most mages don't realise is that where the warlock gets raped, most mages will do fairly well. (Vs Melee, although the fights are steadily heading towards melee-favored).
enkafiles Mar 7th 2008 9:17AM
Polymorph: Penguin - only available if you play on a Linux System?
Tenchan Mar 7th 2008 9:26AM
Mm, I see you point. Although I have yet to see many locks that outnuke Fire Mages in a raid, but maybe I'm just playing with exceptional mages ;)
Loudfiero Mar 7th 2008 7:16AM
I've only got a 29 mage that I am doing PvP with. Do mages have any spell that interrupt casting? I'm still a mage noon, but how effective is Counterspell?
Havitech Mar 7th 2008 7:26AM
You answered your own question. Counterspell is very effective when used correctly; CS warlock's fear, healer's heals, etc.
Zarzuur Mar 7th 2008 7:59AM
Mage CC is very good, you can use counterspell to nullify virtually all casters in PvE. Also polymorph keeps enemies more in place, unlike Warlocks' fear, which is chaotic and can bring adds. (But as a Warlock you can use your pet demon instead to stop the mobs.)
Loudfiero Mar 7th 2008 8:07AM
Perhaps then Blizzard should add an Improved Polymorph talent that can change demons into angels or something...
Demomorph...Jesumorph...Angymorph...
Chriasas Mar 7th 2008 7:45AM
So, to summarize, Blizzard has decided to move Mages and Warlocks closer together, so that they can share more equipment and Raid spaces? Sounds like they're being a little lazy to me. What's next? Moving Paladins and Death Knights close together so they can share equipment as well?
Balasan Mar 7th 2008 7:50AM
According to Blizzcast episode 2, yes:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/02/28/whats-new-in-blizzcast-2/
"In the expansion, a big goal is to have different specs and classes use similar types of gear. This is so they don't have to make separate gear for every spec in the game, because that leads to the perception by players that tons of the gear out there is not for them. To this end, Ret Paladins are being moved more towards Warrior itemization; full effects of this won't be seen until Wrath."