Arcane Brilliance: Assorted patch 4.1 thoughts
by Christian Belt 
Apr 30th 2011 at 8:00PM
The days and weeks following a major content patch are always an adventure. Suddenly Azeroth becomes the Wild West, with unexplored frontiers awaiting over every mountain, untamed vistas as far as the eye can see, and far, far too many people wandering around who haven't bathed in months.
Patch 4.1 has been no exception. Logging in on patch day is a bit like going to sleep in one world and waking up in another, one where up is down, left is right, Olivia has brown hair and wears tight shirts, and Walter Bishop has an intact brain and is sleeping with some Asian chick. You never know when you're going to discover some random new nugget of craziness that wasn't in the patch notes. You also never know when you'll be disconnected in the middle of a boss fight, but hey, patch days are patchy.
It's only been a few days, but undoubtedly you've noticed some good, some bad, and some weird new things lurking about the fringes of this digital world we spend time in. Let's take a look at some of the more mage-specific tidbits, shall we?
The mysteries of fire
So cruising the mage forums, I notice a few things. Apparently fire mage DPS is up, down, completely broken, and wildly erratic all at the same time. Ignite works better and at the same time not at all. Crits happen more often without a single good reason why, Hot Streak procs like crazy with no valid explanation, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse wander the earth, reaping souls for the end times.
Here's what I've noticed:
-
CombustionHelper isn't working.A lot of the reports of strange Ignite behavior boil down to this, I think. Addons refusing to operate properly after a patch isn't a new phenomenon, but this one seems to have thrown people. CombustionHelper simply isn't reporting munched Ignites properly. By the time this is posted, maybe it'll be fixed, but for now, you simply can't take what this addon tells you at face value.
- Hot Streaks do seem to be happening at an unexplainably higher frequency, though I'll need more time, more data, and a lot more trips to the Elitist Jerks forums to determine if this is due to some strange new crit behavior or just some incredible RNG good fortune. All I know is that my fire mage is throwing out instant Pyroblasts way more often than he did pre-patch in the same gear. There's nothing in the patch notes to suggest a raise in crit numbers or the crit cap, and I didn't notice anything of the sort on the PTR.
- Ignite munching is down, but strange. A lot of the issue here, I think, is due to combat log addons behaving erratically, but I can't help but notice that while actual noticeable examples of munched Ignites appear to be down for me, the talent is also doing some very weird stuff. Ignite no longer procs from periodic damage, but it also doesn't seem to work with things like the initial damage hit of Flamestrike or the final explosion portion of Flame Orb. Thankfully, the other parts of Flame Orb don't trigger Ignite as well, but overall, the talent is just being difficult. Again, more time is needed to figure out what the numbers here are, and then what those numbers actually mean.
- Impact isn't working. Like, at all. It's spreading some DoTs, but not others. Most notably, it doesn't seem to spread Combustion anymore, which is a problem.
- My DPS is both up and down. Thanks to the problems with Impact, I'm finding my multi-target DPS is way down right now, while thanks in large part to the inexplicable increase in Hot Streak procs, my single-target DPS seems to be up a bit. Again, I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude to all of this. I'm sure there are numerous kinks that need to be un-kinked before we see the fire spec working as intended.
Arcane: Unequivocally better
No inexplicable behavior here. All of the changes to the arcane tree were pretty straightforward, and they've worked. My arcane mage's DPS is up by several thousand points, and with the absurdity going on in the fire tree, my arcane spec is by far the more consistent, dependable single-target DPS option for me in raids.
The spec just feels smoother, faster, more streamlined, less clunky. Are you guys noticing the same improvements?
Frost: More significant than you might suspect
Looking at the patch notes, which are admittedly arcane-heavy, you might not realize how much better frost mages have it in PvE. But dust off your frost mage and take him into some instances -- you'll realize it in a hurry.
Frostbolt is significantly more powerful, and Ice Lance is a much more valued part of the rotation. Ice Barrier is worth throwing up to absorb incoming damage in PvE, even at the expense of a global cooldown. Damage is up, and the spec has never felt more powerful.
Seriously, frost is competitive now. So put together a spec, queue for Zul'Aman, and if anybody makes fun of you for bringing a frost mage into PvE content, have your water elemental punch him in the mouth.
Queue times are down
I'm excited. So far, my queue times as a lowly mage jumping into the random dungeon finder for heroics and especially for the new troll-related 5-mans have been way down. Before the patch, I was often finding myself waiting upwards of 30-40 minutes, then falling asleep, having a happy dream in which I was wandering through the forest and came upon a tribe of primitive warlocks who had never seen a mage before, convinced them that I was a god and they needed to bring me all of their freshest fruits and vegetables, the firstborn of their flocks, and their finest gold and silver, then had them all Life Tap themselves to death because it was my will that they do so. Evil? Yes, but not when it involves warlocks. Then I'd wake up and realize I'd missed my invite. Damn you, warlocks. Why must you ruin everything?
But after the patch, I've never had to wait longer than 10 minutes and frequently found groups in less than 5. We'll see how long this lasts, but right now, I'm thrilled.
Dalaran is back
I know, the city of mages never really went anywhere. It's still hovering where it has been since those crazy wizards uprooted it prior to Wrath and floated it over high above Crystalsong Forest. But it's back, baby. And by back, I mean it's a place where you might want to actually hang out again.
In the months following Cataclysm, Dalaran went from being the hub of Azerothian activity to being an extremely pretty ghost town. But have you been there since the patch? The portals are back. Not all of them, but one to Orgrimmar and one to Stormwind. The engineer auction house is open to everyone. Class and profession trainers have been inserted into the citizenry. There's no more no-fly zone.
Also: it's still the hometown for all mages everywhere. So put the button for Teleport: Dalaran back on your action bar and go say hello to Rhonin, Minigob Manabonk, and all the rest. Dalaran's a place to call home again.
Interestingly, the same kinds of changes happened to Shattrath, but nobody cares about Shattrath.
So what are your impressions, mages? How do they differ from/coincide with mine? Do you find the changes good? Bad? Indifferent? Do warlocks still burn like oil-soaked tissue paper? The answer to that last one, by the way, is "yes."
Every week, Arcane Brilliance teleports you inside the wonderful world of mages and then hurls a Fireball in your face. Start off with our Cataclysm 101 guide for new mages, then find out which spec is best for raiding, get advice from the poor mage's guide to enchants, and learn how to keep yourself alive.Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Bo.Montier Apr 30th 2011 8:06PM
Impact was spreading combustion for me. At least sometimes
Shryndael May 1st 2011 1:14AM
Thank God I'm not crazy.
Pyroblasts have been going nuts. I always seemed to have a crappy run with rng; this has been great for my dps.
Updated combustion helper seems to be ok.
Jethil Apr 30th 2011 8:13PM
I do agree that Fire is acting very strangely right now. The first night after the patch I was doing considerably more damage than pre-patch (17.4k to 22k on single target) but after that first night my dps dropped considerably to the point where 11k dps was only achieveable with cooldowns and has been like this for a couple of days now. No this is not because I suck at mages, I've been playing it for a couple of years and know how to burn things as a mage (There may be a pun there :) ) I've decided to go Arcane till Fire is stablized, it may be a boring 2-button dps spec, but if it keeps the damage going then it will do till my fun spec is back :)
Jethil Apr 30th 2011 8:18PM
Oh, and Blast Wave only working 1/4 of the time is annoying as hell -.-
Starlin Apr 30th 2011 9:53PM
I'm not seeing any problems with fire. Update your combustion helper. Remember, we can get HS procs without back to back crits. Maybe the proc rate on that was finally fixed. Impact and combustion works great. Had one spread for a total of 1.26M damage in ZG on trash. Fire still rules.
nymrohd Apr 30th 2011 8:15PM
Well our fire mages on Maloriak today had no problem spreading combustion with impact. We had several combustions that dealt over 1mil damage in total.
Go VH! Apr 30th 2011 8:17PM
Poor Shattrath...poor BC, in general. Out of all WoW's content, I love BC's style the most. I just wish the gameplay and storytelling held up better compared to Cataclysm-Vanilla, Wrath, and Cataclysm 80-85. Hopefully Blizzard doesn't take more than a year or two to facelift Outland.
jasonfelliott Apr 30th 2011 8:19PM
Correction: Walternate is sleeping with some asian chick from Twin Peaks! And regular old befuddly Walter is wearing 3D glasses designed by his friend Dr. Jacobi from the same damn mysterious town!
Szass Apr 30th 2011 8:19PM
I'll bother to log in and check things out one of these days.
As of now no report.
anthonycwoods Apr 30th 2011 8:19PM
I've never played a Mage, so I must ask: can someone explain what Ignite munching is?
It sounds terribly naughty.
Mugutu Apr 30th 2011 8:26PM
Incoming copypasta, plus a few edits, from a few weeks ago:
Ignite munching happens because of when crits actually happen in relation to each other. Take a combat log that looks like this (simplified)
[15:35:01] Fireball crits for 25000.
[15:35:02] Pyroblast! crits for 30000.
That would work fine, and both spells would properly proc Ignite. Now look at this:
[15:35:01] Fireball crits for 25000.
[15:35:01] Pyroblast! crits for 30000.
This situation is entirely possible if one casts a Pyroblast too soon after a Fireball - both spells hit at the same time, as far as the server is concerned. This is when Ignite munching happens. Both appear to be at the same time and the server can only handle one action, so it chooses the most recent one.
It can't really stack properly because of how it procs. Blood Shield can't proc twice at the same time, so it has no problem stacking.
Interchange "Pyroblast! crits for 30000" with something like "Living Bomb crits for 4500" and I think the problem is clear.
Szass Apr 30th 2011 8:31PM
It is a lot like nacho munching.
When you land a few nachos on your tongue, naturally sooner or later you will get a critical nacho.This critical nachos causes an extra DOT of flavor like hot sauce.However if your next critical nachos is less hot, then you will replace the superior nacho burn with a less fulfilling bite of hotness.
Shade Apr 30th 2011 8:32PM
In its most evil incarnation:
ZOMG an epic pyroblast crit! Ignite is gonna do a whole lot of damage now!
....oh wait, my living bomb dot crit for approximately five warlock tears. Now ignite isn't doing anything. How come my awesome pyroblast ignite got overwritten by a stupid living bomb ignite? A warlock must have designed it.
anthonycwoods Apr 30th 2011 8:50PM
Thanks, all who answered. I now feel like I'm an expert in Ignite munching, and am greatly amused to boot. I must remember to ask questions in Mage articles more often.
killercactiii Apr 30th 2011 11:19PM
drop in anytime. we have the best weekly column and the best marshmallows for the lock bonfire.
Hunch May 1st 2011 1:27AM
is this in any way shape or form related to the scrunchies that women wear in their hair?
Animaneth Apr 30th 2011 8:21PM
I noticed the HS crazy frequency. Also running ZA again, and getting the Blazing Haste buff with close to instant pyro... I always think that those trolls are actually locks... they deserve the pyroblasts...
nieboh May 1st 2011 8:56AM
I used to have two specs on my mage, a fire spec and an arcane spec. While in the arcane spec I seemed to get an arcane missile proc a lot. In the fire spec, my frequency of getting hot streaks was not nearly as great, even though the tier 3 talent said that those arcane missiles would be turned into hot streak procs.
It was as if the tier 4 talent for getting a hot streak with 2 consecutive crits overwrote the tier 3 talent to make arcane missile procs hot streaks, which always struck me as very odd behavior for talents.
Maybe they "fixed" it so that those arcane missile procs actually give hot streaks now. That would amount to a huge increase in their frequency.
Calinash Apr 30th 2011 8:22PM
I've actually seen pretty much what I expected with my fire mage... Single target dps has dropped some (assuming this is due to not having ignite up nearly constantly) and my multi-target dps has gone through the roof. As in, the other night in BoT working on the trash at the bottom of the stairs after Halfus, I managed 90k. Due to a mishap leaving us to simply AoE all the trash in that center group, I popped combustion and watched my dps go insanely high.
I have noticed hot streak seems to proc more often though, and I've also noticed that it's seeming to proc twice every single time it procs. Not just by combustionhelper stating so, but also the default Blizz ui seems to be showing the same. The same goes with ignite sometimes being applied when it should and sometimes not, or at least I'm assuming I can agree with this when I see combustionhelper showing ignite is up, but when looking at the mob it in fact isn't.
All in all, on single target fights I'd have to say that the quantity was nice compared to quality, but that may simply be because I'm used to just throwing combustion up whenever I see all three of my burns because it was always a random guess as to what kind of ignite was on the target. So hopefully once I get used to taking the time to notice a nice pyro ignite it'll get back to what it was. I mean, at least Blizz isn't ignoring the problem, right?
Mugutu Apr 30th 2011 8:22PM
As far as I can tell, CombustionHelper seems to still think that Ignite should proc from periodic effects. I noticed that it was reporting munched Ignites from my FFB DoT when it shouldn't be proccing Ignite at all (and didn't). Hopefully that will be fixed.
Arcane is still bad, sorry. It can do great damage if I don't have to move and have gear from Sinestra. Otherwise I'll pass in favor of Frost for single target and Fire for AoE.
The changes simply aren't enough for Arcane. The spec is a turret, and has situational uses on fights like Chimaeron and Halfus (on certain weeks), but other than that it's just a waste of my talent points when both Fire and Frost have far more utility and interactivity. When the day comes that Arcane Missiles (or Barrage, probably not both) gets the Arcane Blast buff back or Arcane Missiles can be cast while moving, we'll talk.