WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com WoW Insider http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com prods@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Producers) (Weblogs, Inc. Web Support) en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. View our terms of service here: http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Going back to the future with Alter Time]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/19/arcane-brilliance-going-back-to-the-future-with-alter-time/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/19/arcane-brilliance-going-back-to-the-future-with-alter-time/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/19/arcane-brilliance-going-back-to-the-future-with-alter-time/#comments Image Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're going to jump into the not-so-distant future -- specifically, the day we hit level 87 in Mists of Pandaria. We're going to need 1% of our base mana, some plutonium, and 1.21 gigawatts, and we're going to need to be moving at 88 miles per hour.

Mages are getting a fair number of new or reworked spells and talents in Mists of Pandaria, but arguably the most intriguing of the bunch is Alter Time. Continuing along with the time -manipulation theme already established by spells like Time Warp, upcoming talents like Temporal Shield, and the time chicken tier 13 armor set, Alter Time allows us to transport our mages back in time to the ancient era of six seconds ago.

It's an incredibly interesting mechanic that works in practice about how I expected it to in theory, which is both good and bad.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Going back to the future with Alter Time

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Arcane Brilliance: Going back to the future with Alter Time originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 19 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alter-timearcane-mage-arcane-brillianceback-to-the-futurefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-spellsmage-talentsmistsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-talentsmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentswow-expansion-betawow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 19 May 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magic]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/#comments Pandaren Female Mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Even when the guy who usually writes it is trapped by the ancient warlockian curse known as Long-work-hours-and-three-kids-and-no-free-time-makes-it-hard-to-write-about-Warcraft ... Bolt. A deeply sincere thank you goes out to the incredible Josh Myers, who stepped in and handled my business for me with uncommon style and undeniable skill for the past month and a half. Josh, the next warlock I kill, I will kill for you.

Holy crap, it's good to be back.

I'd toyed with the idea of quitting entirely, seeing no practical way to consistently scrape together enough time each week with the current demands on my time to provide you guys with quality mage columns. But as the weeks went by, I found I simply couldn't abide not writing about turning warlocks into sheep and then hurling volleys of Arcane Missiles at those sheep until they explode. There was a gaping hole in my life that could only be filled with a massive Pyroblast.

So this past week, after squeezing in some quality time with the Mists beta, I sat down at my keyboard and began typing. At first, I wasn't even writing with a clear goal in mind. I had no intention of posting any of my thoughts. But as I played, and wrote, and played, and wrote, I found I was becoming more and more stupidly excited about the prospect of talking to you guys about new stuff. So I had to come back, you see. And it's all your fault. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

Josh has already done a marvelous job of sharing his beta analysis with you over the course of several columns. If you haven't already, check them out here, here, and also here. Though some of the ground we cover today may overlap, what follows isn't anything resembling analysis. As I get myself back up to speed, I'll go more in-depth -- but this week, we're going the full stream of consciousness, random observational impression route. Strap in, and for God's sake, keep your arms, legs, and wands inside the vehicle.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magic

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Arcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magic originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aoe-lootingarcane-barragearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostfire-boltguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-magemistsofpandariamop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentswandswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/03/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/03/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/03/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we finish what we started in our last cloumn, which will involve wild speculation, irresponsible levels of optimism, and a giddy and in all likelihood unwarranted sense of unchecked excitement about tooltips.

If you missed part one, what were you thinking? We talked about the updated Mists of Pandaria talents and even made some disparaging comments about warlocks. It was super fun -- you should go check it out. But hurry up about it.

Because we have new spells to discuss.

Like that one up there in the picture. It's rad.

Arcane spells

Arcane Charge An Arcane Charge, generated by Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles, and consumed by Arcane Barrage. Stacks up to 4 times (Passive).

This is a brand new spell, and it's by far the single biggest game-changer for arcane mages in the new calculator. You pick it up if you spec arcane at level 10, alongside good old Arcane Blast, and it changes how that spell works, along with every other major arcane nuke.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 2

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Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-barragearcane-blastarcane-chargearcane-chargesarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-missilesbrain-freezecombustioncritical-massfingers-of-frostfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefireballflamestrikefrost-armorfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostboltfrozen-orbguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksigniteinferno-blastmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-armormage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-new-spellsmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmolten-armormop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentsmopedpyroblastscorchwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 1]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/18/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/18/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/18/arcane-brilliance-mop-talent-calculator-changes-for-mages-part/#comments MoP talent calculator update Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we use our mystical time chicken powers to gaze into the future, which, incidentally, is so bright, we gotta wear shades. Or rather, we gotta wear mystical time chicken goggles.

No time to talk. We need to focus. A whole lot of ground to cover, guys. The Mists of Pandaria talent calculator has been updated, and all sorts of craziness be jumpin' off, yo. We've got entirely new abilities, we've got fresh takes on traditional favorites, and we've got substantial retoolings of the root mechanics of whole specs. Let's dive right in.

Talent changes

Talent tier 1 has stayed the same as the last go round, but tier 2 has a brand new ability in it, as well as a reworking of Blazing Speed that should make it a far more attractive choice.

Temporal Shield (New ability) Envelops you in a temporal shield for 4 seconds. Damage taken while shielded will be undone over 6 seconds. Not on the global cooldown. (3% base mana, Instant Cast, 25-second cooldown)

Blazing Speed Suppresses movement slowing effects and increases your movement speed by 150% for 1.50 seconds. May only be activated after taking a melee or spell hit greater than 2% of your total health. This spell may be cast while a cast time spell is in progress. (Instant cast, 25-second cooldown)

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 1

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Arcane Brilliance: MoP talent calculator changes for mages, part 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alter-timearcane-bombblazing-speedcauterizeclass-helpcold-snapfeaturedfrost-bombguideguide-to-magesincanters-shieldinvocationmage-guidemage-infomage-talentsMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-new-spellsmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsMoPmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentspandariaring-of-frostrune-of-powertalenttalentstemporal-shieldworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Top 5 things my mage is looking forward to in Mists of Pandaria]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/11/arcane-brilliance-top-5-things-my-mage-is-looking-forward-to-in/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/11/arcane-brilliance-top-5-things-my-mage-is-looking-forward-to-in/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/11/arcane-brilliance-top-5-things-my-mage-is-looking-forward-to-in/#comments Kung Fu Panda Cannonball Scene Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we look forward to our bright post-Cataclysm future. May it be warlock-free and panda-filled.

That Super Bowl commercial that inexplicably featured the guy from The Darkness singing that song that I loved back in 2003 reminded me of one thing: The end of the world is coming. We all know it. I mean, come on. When have the Mayans ever been wrong about anything? These are the people who invented basketball! Only instead of baggy shorts, tattoos, and millionaires who can't hit free throws, Mayan basketball features decapitations. I'm fully prepared to declare the Mayans right about everything ever.

So with the world coming to an end, what else do we have to look forward to other than a new World of Warcraft expansion? Well, Diablo III, I guess, but we all know that's not going to release before Armageddon (Blizzard's claiming Q2, which we all know is Blizzard-speak for "after the zombies rise up and civilization descends into chaos"). So let's just assume Blizzard's release schedule will somehow outpace the coming apocalypse, and set our sights on what may very well be the last game we'll ever buy: Mists of Pandaria.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Top 5 things my mage is looking forward to in Mists of Pandaria

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Arcane Brilliance: Top 5 things my mage is looking forward to in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alter-timearcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpdouble-polymorphfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksKung-Fu Pandakung-fu-pandaKung-fuPandamage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmistsMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-pvpmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsMoPpandamagepandarenpandaren-magepyroblastskadooshtalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Do mages really need 3 competitive PvE specs?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/04/arcane-brilliance-do-mages-really-need-three-competitive-pve-sp/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/04/arcane-brilliance-do-mages-really-need-three-competitive-pve-sp/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/04/arcane-brilliance-do-mages-really-need-three-competitive-pve-sp/#comments female mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're talking about specs, and DPS, and possibly smurfs, though I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

Patch 4.3.2 has dropped, and for mages, the only item in the patch notes is a 6% damage nerf to Fireball and Pyroblast, ostensibly to bring fire mages back in line with arcane mages for top prize in the What Spec Will My Raid Leader Expect Me to be Raiding With This Week Sweepstakes. For good or ill, every patch brings changes like this, as the spec balance carousel continues its eternal round.

That's been mage history, in a nutshell -- fire and arcane take turns pushing each other from the top of the PvE heap, and frost just shakes its head and queues for an Arena match. It's like a giant teeter-totter, with fire damage stacked on one end and arcane damage stacked on another. Blizzard goes back and forth between the ends, adding just a bit more of each type of damage or taking some away in an attempt to get the thing perfectly balanced, but try as it may, one end or the other is always sticking up in the air.

The number crunchers crunch the numbers after every damage pass and crown one spec king ... until the next pass, when the cycle repeats. And frost mages just watch and wonder when it will be their turn to go raiding.

Continue reading Do mages really need 3 competitive PvE specs?

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Do mages really need 3 competitive PvE specs? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpcompetitive-mage-specsfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-dpsmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-specsmage-talentstalenttalentsviable-mage-specsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The best trinkets for mages, patch 4.3 edition]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/21/arcane-brilliance-the-best-trinkets-for-mages-patch-4-3-editio/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/21/arcane-brilliance-the-best-trinkets-for-mages-patch-4-3-editio/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/21/arcane-brilliance-the-best-trinkets-for-mages-patch-4-3-editio/#comments carrot on a stick keychain Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we focus on those two most vital gear slots for making your keychain look cool: trinkets. You put them right next to your tiny NES controller and that little rubber pig that poops when you squeeze him, and so what if the trinkets on your key ring outnumber the actual keys on your key ring? Now if only we still had key rings in WoW ...

Trinkets do three things:
  1. They keep your keys from being lonely.
  2. They hurt like hell when you forget to take them out of your pocket before playing pick-up basketball.
  3. They have the potential to increase your DPS more drastically than any other single gear slot in the game.
No other gear choice we make in this game will either positively or negatively impact our raw output than the two trinkets we select, and no other loot drop can be more infuriating to wait for. With trinkets, it's imperative that you identify what you want, know where to go to get it, and then focus your efforts until you reach your goal.

With that in mind, let's go over the best trinkets available for mages in the game right now and where to go get them.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The best trinkets for mages, patch 4.3 edition

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Arcane Brilliance: The best trinkets for mages, patch 4.3 edition originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: 5 ways to increase your mage's DPS right now]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/5-ways-to-increase-mage-dps/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/5-ways-to-increase-mage-dps/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/5-ways-to-increase-mage-dps/#comments Undead Mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we try to help you accomplish the most important thing any mage can ever do: kill something just a little bit faster.

You're a mage, so right away we know two things about you:
  1. You're awesome.
  2. You're in the business of damaging things.
We hear jokes about mages being portal-merchants/sheep-bots/cake-vendors, but our real purpose -- the only role we play that really matters -- is that of DPS. We destroy things, and we do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. And if we can't provide that service, our raid will replace us with someone who can.

So if damaging things is our business, it follows that we should always be striving to make sure business is good. We're in competition for DPS slots with literally every single other class in this game. It's in the interests of all mages that we work to improve ourselves at every opportunity. If we don't, it's entirely possible that our raid might take a warlock along instead.

And with God as my witness, I will not allow that to happen.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: 5 ways to increase your mage's DPS right now

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Arcane Brilliance: 5 ways to increase your mage's DPS right now originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpdamage-per-secondfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-mageshow-to-increase-dpsi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-damagemage-dpsmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsraising-your-dpstalenttalentsways-to-increase-mage-dpsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Gearing your mage up for the Raid Finder in patch 4.3]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/07/arcane-brilliance-gearing-your-mage-up-for-the-raid-finder-in-p/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/07/arcane-brilliance-gearing-your-mage-up-for-the-raid-finder-in-p/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/07/arcane-brilliance-gearing-your-mage-up-for-the-raid-finder-in-p/#comments Raid Finder Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we discuss some ways to make sure your mage's wardrobe is filled with only the prettiest dresses, most mysterious cowls, sparkliest wands, and ... er, staffiest staves.

Patch 4.3 has been with us for a good solid month now, and I sincerely hope that by now we've all escorted our mages through a good portion of the new content it offers. As all the best patches do, 4.3 has ushered in a fresh tier of gear and a new progression hierarchy to follow in getting said gear. Best of all, we have a whole new gearing tool to play with in the Raid Finder.

If you happen to be one of those mages who looks at his item level and finds it still languishing somewhere below the minimum requirements to join the battle to vanquish Deathwing, I believe a gearing guide is in order. Without further preamble, I present Arcane Brilliance's Handy Guide to Shiny Things, patch 4.3 edition.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Gearing your mage up for the Raid Finder in patch 4.3

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Arcane Brilliance: Gearing your mage up for the Raid Finder in patch 4.3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 4.3-drops-for-mages4.3-loot-for-magesarcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpend-timeend-time-loot-for-magesfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancegearing-up-for-raid-findergearing-up-for-raidinggearing-up-your-mageguideguide-to-mageshour-of-twilighthour-of-twilight-loot-for-magesi-hate-warlockslooking-for-raid-toolmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-gearmage-gear-guidemage-gearingmage-gearing-guidemage-gearupmage-guidemage-heroic-gearmage-infomage-lootmage-loot-guidemage-patch-4.3mage-talentspatch-4.3raid-finderraid-finder-lootraid-finder-tooltalenttalentsvalor-point-gear-for-mageswell-of-eternitywell-of-eternity-loot-for-magesworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: New Year's resolutions for mages]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/31/arcane-brilliance-new-years-resolutions-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/31/arcane-brilliance-new-years-resolutions-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/31/arcane-brilliance-new-years-resolutions-for-mages/#comments winter veil Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we leave 2011 behind and look toward 2012, which I predict will be the magiest year ever!

A new year is upon us, my wizardly cohorts. It is a time for reflection, a refractory period when we bask in the afterglow of the year that was and then take a quick shower to rinse off the stink of it. But most importantly, it's a time to look forward, to set new goals, to examine ourselves and determine how best to progress, to improve, and to somehow avoid ending the world in a fiery apocalypse that only John Cusack can save us from.

In that spirit, I thought this eve of the new year might be a good time to take an honest look at the mage class, examine our weak points, and conjure up some ways to shore them up in 2012. I figure we still have a at least a few months before Armageddon, and I can think of no better way to spend those last few moments of our existence than by killing as many warlocks as possible.

I'll do a full column on gearing up in 4.3 in the coming weeks, but for the time being, suffice it to say there is some phat, epic mage loot out there right now, and all you need to do is take it. Preferably from a warlock's smoking corpse, but we'll take it however it comes. We're at the point now in this expansion where the epics are flowing with almost ridiculous ease. If you've been waiting to level a mage, it has never been easier to get that mage fully kitted out in purples than it is right now. And if, for some reason, you've been neglecting your mage, now is the time to get him up to speed.

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Arcane Brilliance: New Year's resolutions for mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2012arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-new-years-resolutionsmage-talentsnew-year-2012new-yearsnew-years-evenew-years-resolutionnew-years-resolutionstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Guide to leveling a mage in Cataclysm]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/17/guide-to-leveling-a-mage-in-cataclysm/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/17/guide-to-leveling-a-mage-in-cataclysm/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/17/guide-to-leveling-a-mage-in-cataclysm/#comments Mage character creation screen Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. this week, we seek to aid those of you who have made or will make the noble decision to level a mage in the coming months.

In the past, we've done our leveling guides here at WoW Insider as sprawling, multi-post epics, spanning 10 or 20 levels a week over the course of a month, covering every aspect of every facet of everything you could ever want to know about leveling each class in the game. The problem with that approach is that you could probably just go in blind and level your mage from 1 to 85 faster than I could tell you how to do it. The simple fact of the matter is that the leveling game just isn't terribly difficult. The process has been streamlined over the years to the point that I don't believe such detailed leveling guides are really necessary anymore. Most of this game is intuitive and user friendly now, and the part of the game that really requires in-depth strategy doesn't really start until after the experience-gaining part of it has stopped.

Knowing this, I won't be filling this guide with talent analysis, ways to optimize your level 45 boss fight rotation, or a detailed travelogue of every quest hub you'll be traipsing through along the way. This will be a more stripped-down endeavor, focusing on the parts of leveling that I think are important -- not the spell coefficients and spreadsheets, but the basic concepts your mage needs to learn while leveling, not only to make the process easier and more enjoyable, but also to help them step from mage adolescence into mage adulthood so they can shoot Deathwing in the face with a Fireball of wisdom and maturity.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Guide to leveling a mage in Cataclysm

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Arcane Brilliance: Guide to leveling a mage in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-cataclysm-levelingmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-levelingmage-leveling-advicemage-leveling-buildmage-leveling-guidemage-leveling-specmage-leveling-tipsmage-talentstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, the epic conclusion]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/10/mage-mists-of-pandaria-talent-analysis/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/10/mage-mists-of-pandaria-talent-analysis/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/10/mage-mists-of-pandaria-talent-analysis/#comments MoP mage talent build Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we finish our conversation about things that may or may not ever happen, and even if they do, they won't for a very long time. Man, I love wild speculation.

This week, because they hate me, and because I actually had something written in advance for once, Blizzard went and stealth-updated the MoP talent calculator with no warning whatsoever. I submit that from here on out, Blizzard needs to give me at least a week's notice before it makes significant changes to the game or any of its future versions. I think it's only fair, since mages are getting the ability to Alter Time, that we get just a little bit of a jump on the future. I have deadlines to meet, people! Work with me here.

The good news is that the majority of the changes appear to have been made to the part of the talent calculator we haven't discussed yet: the actual talents. If you missed them, here are the first two parts of this discussion:
And now, if you click the link below, you'll magically teleport to part three. No, I won't port you to Org. Stop asking.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, the epic conclusion

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Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, the epic conclusion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-bombarcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-bombfrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksliving-bombmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-new-spellsmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part deux]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/03/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/03/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/03/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/#comments mage MoP talent calculator Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we teleport ourselves back into the thick of the newly revealed MoP talent calculator, and this time, we aren't teleporting out until we get that calculator down and it drops phat loot.

I trust you're all knee-deep in patch 4.3 by now, snatching up sparkly new gear from the new dungeons, raid, and Darkmoon Faires and such, and then promptly transmogrifying that gear to look like something you wore five years ago.

Last week, we talked about the baseline abilities that all mages will be learning. If you skipped it for some reason, kill a warlock as penance (I'm not sure how that could be considered a punishment, but just stay with me here), go read part one, then come back and resume the conversation with us this week.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part deux

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Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part deux originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.3talenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part 1]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/26/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/26/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/26/arcane-brilliance-blinking-into-the-mists-of-pandaria-talent-ca/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we have all kinds of talents to talk about. New talents, old talents, old talents with new talent scent, talents that look new but smell old, old talents that kill warlocks in new ways, cupcakes that taste like cranberry sauce, skillets that cook pastries that look like this ... I may or may not have eaten too much pie this week.

OK, we'd better get started. Lots to talk about and not much time or space with which to discuss it. I assume you've all had a chance to fiddle with the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator Blizzard just put on the official site? If not, go look, then come back.

It's interesting stuff. It's important, I think, that I stress that even though this is an official, Blizzard-sponsored reveal, all of this information is pre-pre-pre-alpha stuff, and it absolutely will change substantially before any of it goes live. So don't get married to the mechanics of any of these talents and skills as they're presented here. Don't squint too hard at the specific numbers, either. This is being presented so we can mull it over and give constructive feedback, and so that we can get a more detailed sense of the direction MoP's major talent overhaul will be taking our beloved mage class.

So let's get busy mulling.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part 1

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Arcane Brilliance: Blinking into the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, part 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alter-timearcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-spellsmage-talentsmists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-talent-calculatormists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsMoPmop-expansionmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentsnew-mage-spellstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The Class Balance Q&A -- more Q's than A's for mages]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/arcane-brilliance-the-class-balance-qanda-more-qs-than-as-fo/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/arcane-brilliance-the-class-balance-qanda-more-qs-than-as-fo/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/arcane-brilliance-the-class-balance-qanda-more-qs-than-as-fo/#comments female gnome mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we look at a few mage-related questions, and the answers to those questions, which end up raising even more questions, which then get answers that only provoke even more questions ... it's like an episode of Lost, only one in which the smoke monster was made of frostfire. I'm 99% sure Desmond was a mage, anyway.

So just a heads up in case you haven't seen it somewhere else: The latest build on the PTR is tagged as a release candidate, which means patch 4.3 is imminent. I'm expecting it some time in the next few weeks. I wouldn't be at all surprised to be eating turkey and pie while queuing for the Raid Finder. Although, disclaimer: I eat turkey and pie for every meal. In other news, my heart just stopped. No worries, though. That also happens every meal. It's nothing a good chest compression or two can't fix. Look for a mage patch prep column right here next week.

Now, on to the business at hand. On Wednesday, the developers allowed us to pick their brains with all of our most burning questions about our classes. The mage community asked some good ones, and some of them even got answered. And though the answers given are perhaps not as definitive as you or I may have preferred, there's still a great deal of enlightening information to be gleaned from what the developers did share. And no, my own question -- "If I turn a warlock into a sheep, then hit him with a Pyroblast, then add a bit of mint and some red potatoes, what should I serve for dessert?" -- wasn't answered. Though I think we all know the answer to that question is "pie."

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The Class Balance Q&A -- more Q's than A's for mages

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Arcane Brilliance: The Class Balance Q&A -- more Q's than A's for mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-balanceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsq-and-atalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Adventures with and observations on the Raid Finder]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/05/arcane-brilliance-adventures-with-and-observations-on-the-raid/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/05/arcane-brilliance-adventures-with-and-observations-on-the-raid/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/05/arcane-brilliance-adventures-with-and-observations-on-the-raid/#comments raiders Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we spend some time sniffing around the PTR. Which is difficult, because all I can smell right now is burnt warlock. How do you guys get that out of your robes? Maybe some Febreze.

I have to admit: Nothing in patch 4.3 excites me as much as the Raid Finder. Not transmogrification, not the Deathwing raid, not the fact that we're drawing ever closer to me being able to roll a Pandaren kung fu mage. Nope, I'm excited about the Raid Finder.

There was a time during my WoW career when I was able to adjust my schedule around my guild's raid nights, but that time hasn't really existed for some time now. My family has grown, my work responsibilities have grown, and my WoW time has become increasingly limited and far more unreliable. I play when I can play these days, and it's nigh impossible to plan a raid schedule around that. I'd wager I'm not alone in this.

So the idea of being able to see much of the same endgame content and gear up enough to help my guild on my own schedule much the same way I gear up through 5-mans now ... that just thrills me to death.

But putting together a 25-man raid is an exponentially more complex endeavor than simply throwing together a 5-man run. How does this Raid Finder tool function in practice? Well, I've taken my mage to the PTR, and I've tested it out for myself. And I'm here to tell you:

It totally works. And it totally doesn't.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Adventures with and observations on the Raid Finder

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Arcane Brilliance: Adventures with and observations on the Raid Finder originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlockslfrlooking-for-raidlooking-for-raid-toolmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.3ptr-raid-finderraid-finderRaid-Finder-4.3raid-finder-tooltalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: A preliminary look at the Pandaria talent tree for mages]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/29/arcane-brilliance-a-preliminary-look-at-the-pandaria-talent-tre/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/29/arcane-brilliance-a-preliminary-look-at-the-pandaria-talent-tre/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/29/arcane-brilliance-a-preliminary-look-at-the-pandaria-talent-tre/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we engage in wild, baseless speculation and make hasty, groundless assumptions based on that wild, baseless speculation. So ... just like every week.

A quick recap for those of you who have limited internet access and choose (understandably) to use each of your precious online moments reading this column each week, but otherwise ignore the internet completely:

Blizzard announced a new expansion for World of Warcraft. It has pandas. The WoW online community appears to be simultaneously overjoyed, mildly excited, meh, and borderline suicidal. Monks are the new class, and they will be able to tank while drunk, which makes them pretty much identical to every other tank I know. Most importantly, though, the design team plans to throw our current talent system into a virtual wood chipper, pick up the pieces that come out of the other side, and mash them together into a completely new, singular talent tree for each class.

The three distinct mage trees will survive, but the majority of the school-specific talents and spells we have now are slated to become baseline abilities that we'll gain as we level (automatically -- no more going to a mage trainer). Ability customization once Mists of Pandaria hits will exist as six talent choices available regardless of spec, one choice between three talents every 15 experience levels. Talent specs as we have known them since the game began in 2004 will cease to exist once patch 5.0 hits, and I expect that to occur in less than a year.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: A preliminary look at the Pandaria talent tree for mages

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Arcane Brilliance: A preliminary look at the Pandaria talent tree for mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-of-pandariaMists-of-pandaria-mage-talentsmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmists-of-panderiamists-of-pandriaMoPMoP-mage-talentsnew-mage-talentspandarentalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Why the one true spec assumption is a lie]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/22/arcane-brilliance-why-the-one-true-spec-assumption-is-a-lie/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/22/arcane-brilliance-why-the-one-true-spec-assumption-is-a-lie/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/22/arcane-brilliance-why-the-one-true-spec-assumption-is-a-lie/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Now, before we get started, I want you all to look at that picture and realize that at one point in my life, that kid was rad. He was cool. I was never that cool, but you better believe I wanted to be that cool. I wanted to have a sweet mullet and wear acid-washed jeans and a pink shirt and give a thumbs-up while I played Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers one-handed in my Nintendo/baseball/helicopter lair. Just remember that. This kid was the absolute best, and everybody knew it.

I don't know how to tell you this, but we are all wrong.

All of us.

Oh, we mages are right about some things: Most everything can be improved by turning it into a sheep, If you're going marshal arcane energy and bend the fabric of space time to conjure food from thin air, you might as well be conjuring cake and strudel, and yes, it is still and always will be true that the only good warlock is the one that has been reduced to unrecognizable chunks of scorched viscera. But about a few very important details, we are most definitely all mistaken. Here are a few things we all seem to accept as true:
  1. Arcane is the undisputed top mage raiding spec.
  2. If you are a mage, and you are raiding as anything other than arcane, you are hurting your raid and limiting your own effectiveness.
  3. Frost is a PVP spec, and hasn't been a viable raid spec since the days when Ragnaros lived in Molten Core and didn't have legs.
All of those statements contain elements of truth, but I am here to tell you -- as emphatically as I can -- that they are lies. They are gross generalities that rise from popular perception, and I firmly believe that our almost universal acceptance of them as fact hurts the game as a whole.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Why the one true spec assumption is a lie

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Arcane Brilliance: Why the one true spec assumption is a lie originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-specbalerocbest-mage-specclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-specguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-dpsmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-specsmage-talentstalenttalentstop-mage-specviable-raid-specsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: News and notes from the patch 4.3 PTR]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/15/arcane-brilliance-news-and-notes-from-the-patch-4-3-ptr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/15/arcane-brilliance-news-and-notes-from-the-patch-4-3-ptr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/15/arcane-brilliance-news-and-notes-from-the-patch-4-3-ptr/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we come bearing information from the patch 4.3 PTR. Many warlocks died to bring you this information. Well, many warlocks died; bringing you this information had very little to do with that.

Coming soon.

Those words have mocked me for what feels like forever but in reality was only a couple weeks. When the initial patch notes were released for the patch 4.3 PTR, other classes got changes. Other classes had new things to discuss, new topics to broach on the official forums and then engage in rational, polite discourse about. But not mages. Under our section of the patch notes, we got those two hateful words, Blizzard's dubious trademark phrase.

Coming soon.

But no more! We can cease our waiting, our trembling, anxious vigil. For the latest build of the PTR has delivered to us a handful of discussion-worthy changes. Let's all release our collective bated breath and move forward as a class. Because, my fellow mages: Soon, apparently, is now.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: News and notes from the patch 4.3 PTR

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Arcane Brilliance: News and notes from the patch 4.3 PTR originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.3talenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Optimizing your mage's gear through Rawr]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/08/mage-rawr-usage-guide/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/08/mage-rawr-usage-guide/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/08/mage-rawr-usage-guide/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're talking about what is arguably the game's most trusted gear optimization program: Rawr. Also, we're planning to see how many times I need to type the word "rawr" before my spellchecker snaps and murders me through my computer screen.

Close your eyes.

Imagine, if you will, that you have a mage. Ha ha, of course you have a mage. Sometimes I crack myself up. Now imagine that your mage has gear, but that gear is not optimal. Now open your eyes.

Hello, every mage ever.

Yeah, chances are pretty close to 100% that no matter who you are and how religiously you play the game, your mage, beloved though he may be, does not have every slot filled with best-in-slot gear and does not have every item perfectly gemmed, enchanted and reforged so that your DPS is up to its fullest possible potential. WoW is a computer game -- an old one, sure, but still home to millions of algorithms and formulas and computations and other math terms that I don't fully understand. It would take, I firmly believe, a robot from the future to calculate all of those numbers and variables and turn them into something a human brain can parse accurately enough to actually benefit from.

Well, mages and magesses, I have recently contacted Kavan, one of the main authors of the ubiquitous gear optimization program Rawr, and I can tell you that he is that robot from the future. I only pray he can protect us from whatever other, more evil and technologically advanced robot from the future that might at some point follow him through the wormhole with a directive to kill our unborn children or something, because you know that's what's happening.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Optimizing your mage's gear through Rawr

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Arcane Brilliance: Optimizing your mage's gear through Rawr originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> addonsarcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpDPS-optimizationelitist-jerksfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancegear-optimization-programguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlockskavanmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-gear-optimizationmage-guidemage-infomage-rawrmage-talentsmana-adeptoldchapoptimizerrawrspreadsheetspreadsheetstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Time to talk about the mage tier 13 set bonuses]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/01/mage-tier-13-set-bonuses/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/01/mage-tier-13-set-bonuses/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/01/mage-tier-13-set-bonuses/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a look at the newly announced and quickly revised mage tier 13 set bonuses. I've provided a picture of the tier 13 helm above. Also, I am a liar.

So yeah, that isn't really the mage tier 13 helm at all. No matter how desperately I want it to be.

Still, any clothing that makes me look like a time chicken wizard is welcome. But we've spent enough time in past columns discussing the appearance of our tier 13 set. It's high time we started the conversation about the actual set bonuses this gear will provide. And what a conversation it will be ...

Mage tier 13 set bonuses:
  • Two-piece bonus Your Arcane Blast has a 100% chance, and your Fireball and Frostbolt spells have a 50% chance, to grant Stolen Time, increasing your haste rating by 50 for 30 seconds and stacking up to 10 times. When Arcane Power, Combustion, or Icy Veins expires, all stacks of Stolen Time are lost.
  • Four-piece bonus Each stack of Stolen Time also reduces the cooldown of Arcane Power by 7 seconds, Combustion by 4 seconds, and Icy Veins by 6 seconds.
All right -- let's discuss, shall we?

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Time to talk about the mage tier 13 set bonuses

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Arcane Brilliance: Time to talk about the mage tier 13 set bonuses originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-blastarcane-powerclass-helpcombustionfeaturedfireballfrostboltguideguide-to-mageshasteicy-veinsmage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-13patch-4.3stolen-timetalenttalentstier-13tier-13-mageTier-13-set-bonusestier-13-setstime-magetime-wizardworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: On mage healing and other miscellany]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/24/mage-healing-and-other-miscellany/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/24/mage-healing-and-other-miscellany/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/24/mage-healing-and-other-miscellany/#comments final fanatsy III white mages Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we talk about the concept of mage healing, which in my opinion is like the concept of warlock winning. It simply isn't a phenomena that occurs in nature.

Since those heady, halcyon days of 2004, when mages began to walk to wilds of Azeroth and players were introduced to their glass cannon awesomeness, the topic of mage healing has from time to time emerged, poking its strange and intriguing head up into the mage conversation and usually disappearing just as quickly. The idea has precedence. Healers in Final Fantasy lore are called White Mages. More recently, Dragon Age has its Spirit Mages. Archetypal wizards have had access to magical healing in one form or another throughout fantasy gaming and literature, though rarely is it their strongest focus.

And just lately, the idea has been gaining some unprecedented traction among the WoW mage community. Recently, I've seen the concept presented with consideration and clarity on the official forums, among my own contemporaries in-game, and even right here in the comments section of this very column. It bears thinking about. Though the idea is extremely unlikely to ever be implemented, its increasing popularity and the improving practicality with which its proponents conceptualize it warrant attention. Mage healing, whenever it is brought up, is immediately interesting and always at least a little bit tantalizing, even for its most vehement opponents.

Like me.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: On mage healing and other miscellany

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Arcane Brilliance: On mage healing and other miscellany originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-healingarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-treebrewfestchicken-headclass-helpcoren-direbrewcoren-direbrew-lootfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-healingmage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-13mithril-stopwatchtalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mage wishlist, late 2011 edition]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/arcane-brilliance-mage-wishlist-late-2011-edition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/arcane-brilliance-mage-wishlist-late-2011-edition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/arcane-brilliance-mage-wishlist-late-2011-edition/#comments mage tier 13 set Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. And by "every week," I of course mean "every week when I'm home, have access to the internet, and do not find my time entirely monopolized by my day job." Which, as you may or may not have noticed, did not include last week.

We have some things to discuss today, most notably the recently posted mage class feedback thread on the official forums. It's always interesting to see how mages respond when given an actual, legitimate forum to air their grievances with the promise of actually being heard by the developers in charge of designing our class. I have some thoughts, and if you'll indulge me, I'd like to share them with you.

But let me get this out of the way first and foremost: I love the tier 13 mage set. That's it up there in the picture. So steampunk, but in a good way. I love the goggles, the quilted armor, the gnomishness of it. I can tell you right now that I'll be transmogrifying back to this set for many tiers to come.

If you haven't checked it out yet, I suggest you visit the official site and take a look at that mage tier 13 preview and visual retrospective. It's really kind of cool to see all of our past tier sets in one place, though I have to feel bad for the poor lone Undead mage in his tier 9 gear, surrounded by all of those Humans. I can feel the racial tension from here.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage wishlist, late 2011 edition

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage wishlist, late 2011 edition originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-class-feedbackmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-forumsmage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-13mage-visual-retrospectivetalenttalentstier-13-setsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The threat hotfix and you]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/03/mage-threat/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/03/mage-threat/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/03/mage-threat/#comments Jim from Threat Level Midnight Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're applying a hotfix to Arcane Brilliance. Beginning now, any warlock who reads Arcane Brilliance will be overcome by intense feelings of self-loathing and an irresistible urge to reroll a mage. The column's actually been functioning this way for some time now, and we thought we ought to just make it official.

I figure it's about time we discussed the threat hotfix, mages. And before we go any further, I should point out that from now on, the threat level is always midnight. The hotfix has been in the game for a few weeks now, and I would have brought it up long before now but I got kinda sidetracked daydreaming about the whole transmogrification thing. Now that I've spent a few weeks going through all of the pretty dresses in my wardrobe and deciding which one I want to wear on my next date with Ragnaros (he's a passable conversationalist, a snappy dresser, and the dates are so much more fun now that he's bipedal ... but he tends to shout a lot, and he's a lousy tipper), I'm ready to talk about what amounts to the complete removal of one of the most basic MMO battle mechanics from the game.

Now, removal isn't the right word, I know. Threat is still technically in the game, but it no longer really matters much.

It's been sort of difficult to wrap my mind around, to be honest. It's as if I woke up one morning and discovered that I no longer needed to wear pants. For so long, pants (or a reasonable pants equivalent) were pretty much a requirement when leaving the house, but now, pantslessness is considered the style. Do I still have pants in my closet? Sure, but I only keep them in there to hide my porn beneath.

So how does this new status quo impact us as a class? And is the change good, bad, or does it lie somewhere along the spectrum between those two extremes?

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The threat hotfix and you

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Arcane Brilliance: The threat hotfix and you originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentstalenttalentsThreatthreat-changethreat-generationthreat-hotfixthreat-levelthreat-listthreat-meterthreat-removalworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/arcane-brilliance-old-mage-armor-sets-and-how-to-get-them-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/arcane-brilliance-old-mage-armor-sets-and-how-to-get-them-part/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/arcane-brilliance-old-mage-armor-sets-and-how-to-get-them-part/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we talk more about transmogrification, that oh-so-exciting upcoming feature in patch 4.3 that allows us to make our sweet tier 17 sets look like greens we got while questing in 2004. The aught-fours are so in right now!

Last week, we started our epic journey into old content to find some sweet retro threads for our totally trendy mages to wear at all the hottest mage events of the season, be they spellstealing soirées, Polymorph parties or warlock-wienie-roasts. This week, we delve into slightly more recent content.

Before we begin, we should point out a few important transmogrification details we've learned since we convened last week.
  • Apparently only items with stats are candidates for transmogrification -- and by stats, I mean "other than armor." That rules out most cosmetic items. So no running around wielding a fish in each hand while raiding, I guess. Unless you can find a pair of fishes with stats on them, I guess.
  • Weapons and off-hand items can only be transmogrified into similarly slotted items. That means no running around with two staves or dual-wielding daggers or perhaps a lantern in each hand. I don't know what you people are into ...
  • Heirlooms are eligible, so good news for you speed levelers. Now you're not stuck for 80 levels with a single armor model.
  • The gold cost isn't set but will probably be similar to reforging, meaning it will scale, being more expensive the higher the level of your equipped item happens to be -- so maybe not as much of a massive gold sink as I originally feared.
  • No legendary items, which I sincerely hope changes at some point. I feel like if you earned a freaking legendary item, you should be able to keep that model on your upgraded gear if you want. Forever.
  • All of this is still entirely subject to change.
And with that out of the way, on to some more of the armor sets you and I should both be hunting down and squirreling away right this very second.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 2

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Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-setsold-mage-armorold-mage-clothing-setsold-mage-gearpatch-4.3talenttalentstransmogrificationtransmogrifiertransmogrifyworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 1]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/mage-armor-sets-where-to-get-them/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/mage-armor-sets-where-to-get-them/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/mage-armor-sets-where-to-get-them/#comments female mage blizzard official art Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're talking about the stuff I now pledge to spend all my waking moments and most of my sleeping ones farming outdated content to obtain: old mage armor.

So what's this I hear about some newfangled patchamajigger? Transmogrifica-hoochawhatsit? Whachama-void storage? You kids and your crazy doodads and gizmos.

There's a buttload of info being released about patch 4.3, but the following literally leaped from the web page as I was reading it, plunged through my widening eye sockets and jacked directly into the pleasure centers of my brain:
  • Patch 4.3 will be bringing us at least two massively important customization options.
  • We will be able to replace the look of our current gear with the look of any other mage gear we possess.
  • We will also have new storage space in which to store all of that gear.
There are more details, and you should go read about them if you haven't already. But what we really need to discuss here is how we can best start doing what I'm positive we all desperately want to be doing right this very second: hunting for sweet-looking gear sets. I don't know about you, but I am going to transmogrify every single bit of my tier 12 set the very instant it is possible for me to do so. I will log out on patch night in front of the spot where the transmogrifier guy is going to spawn; then when the servers come back up, I will log in and shove my gold in his pockets as forcefully as I can, so that I don't have to look like a stupid mage candle any longer than absolutely necessary.

But the questions I'm asking myself between that magical moment and this one are these: Which gear set do I want to replace it with, and what can I do right this moment to get that gear set in my inventory and ready to deploy the moment such a deployment becomes possible? Click through to see me attempt to answer my own questions.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 1

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Arcane Brilliance: Old mage armor sets and how to get them, part 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-armor-setsmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-setsold-mage-armorpatch-4.3talenttalentstier-armortier-armor-setstransmogrificationtransmogrifiervoid-storageworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What was your first addon?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/breakfast-topic-what-was-your-first-addon/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/breakfast-topic-what-was-your-first-addon/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/20/breakfast-topic-what-was-your-first-addon/#comments user-interface I had played the game for several months before I even realized such a thing as an addon existed. I came from a predominantly console-based gaming background, and the idea of an outside mod that could fundamentally alter or enhance the game I was playing was a completely new concept for me. It wasn't long before I ran into somebody who told me I ought to get Decursive to help me remove curses on my mage, and I remember asking this stranger, "de-whaty-what?"

He educated me about the mod a bit before the end of our dungeon run, and I promptly ran out and downloaded the thing, unzipped it into my interface/addons folder, and logged in to see what all the fuss was about. Lo and behold, it added a set of small buttons to my interface that, when clicked, cast Remove Lesser Curse on one of my poor, curse-riddled allies. (Remember when Remove Lesser Curse was called that? I always wondered where all the greater curses were.) I was blown away. This was infinitely easier than the clunky default interface! I immediately logged out, started perusing addon sites for other useful mods, and never looked back. Now my interface has evolved so far beyond the default that it's probably only one or two modifications away from identifying mankind as a threat and ending us all in a fiery hellstorm.

What was your first addon, and what prompted you to download it? Or are you one of the spartan warriors who insist on playing mod-free, as the good lord intended?

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Breakfast Topic: What was your first addon? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> add-onaddonsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Christian Belt) Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Addons your mage should probably be using]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/13/arcane-brilliance-addons-your-mage-should-probably-be-using/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/13/arcane-brilliance-addons-your-mage-should-probably-be-using/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/13/arcane-brilliance-addons-your-mage-should-probably-be-using/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we'll be talking about ways we can make something that is already awesome (being a mage) even better. It's like when you take heaping bowl of Joss Whedon and add in a liberal sprinkling of Nathan Fillion. Yummy.

I know, I know. We already get to fling massive, flaming boulders at warlock faces. Also, we wiggle our fingers and delicious cake spontaneously appears. Being a mage is already as close to nirvana as mortals can hope to aspire to. How can that experience be improved?

The answer is simple: more warlock-killing. And more cake! Also?

Addons.

They come in all shapes and sizes, and your particular load-out may differ greatly from those of other mages you know. I'm not here to tell you you're wrong. I am here, though, to spotlight a few of those addons that have improved my experience the most of late. Join me, won't you? I promise both brevity and wit. Mostly brevity. Cake and warlocks are available in the foyer. Only one is edible, but both are cooked to perfection.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Addons your mage should probably be using

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Arcane Brilliance: Addons your mage should probably be using originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> add-onadd-on-configurationadd-on-guideaddon-configurationaddon-guideaddonsaddons-for-magesarcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpcombustioncombustion-helpercombustionhelperdecursivefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-add-on-guidemage-addon-guidemage-addonsmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-mana-barmage-nuggetsmage-talentsmagemanabaromenomen-threat-meterquartzsheep-monitorsheepmonitorspellstealertalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-add-onwow-add-on-guidewow-add-onswow-addon-guidewow-addonswow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The state of the frost mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/06/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-frost-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/06/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-frost-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/06/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-frost-mage/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, though, we're all about frost mages. In case you aren't one, frost mages are the spec to be when fighting anything in Molten Core in 2005.

Just kidding. I kid because I love, guys. If the joke hits a little too close to home, though, it's because there's a very real, very prevalent, very false perception out there. It goes something like this:

Frost is for PVP. It isn't viable for raiding.

This sentiment has been around at various levels of general acceptance since patch 1.1, and even in the most enlightened corners of Azeroth, you'll still find those willing to perpetuate it. But then again, you'll also find people still willing to perpetuate things like racism and gender bias, so I guess ignorance, like a weed or a cockroach or a warlock, is remarkably resilient.

At any rate, in today's State of the Frost Mage address, you'll no doubt discover a recurring theme. That theme is this:

Frost is absolutely, positively viable.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The state of the frost mage

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Arcane Brilliance: The state of the frost mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> brain-freezeclass-helpdeep-freezefeaturedfrost-buildfrost-magefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-guidefrost-novafrost-specfrostboltfrostfire-boltguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksice-blockice-lancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsshatterstate-of-the-magetalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The state of the fire mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/30/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-fire-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/30/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-fire-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/30/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-fire-mage/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we resume our three-part look at the current state of the mage nation. If you say that fast, it totally sounds like "imagination." DELIGHTFUL.

I am so sorry, guys. I want to write this column. I want to write it every week. Given the choice, I'd like to write it every damn day. I have an incredibly demanding work and family schedule these days. Each week, it's like a magician's trick trying to produce enough time to sit down and provide you guys with a quality column, and some weeks, I wave my hands and say the magic words, and a puff of smoke appears, and when it fades ... nothing's there. I'm working very hard to change my current schedule, though, enabling me to have a regular, slightly more controllable block of time every seven days during which to deliver you something worth reading. So take heart, and keep me in your prayers or thoughts or whatever it is that you think will help, you godless heathens. And if you want someone to blame for the recent irregularity of Arcane Brilliance, blame my children. They are time-destroying merchants of pure evil, and I tell them so as often as I can. Keeps them in line.

Anyway, I know when I wrote the state of the arcane mage column way back in June, I remember promising two more columns, touching upon the current state of affairs for the other two mage specs. It is almost August now. Yikes. Why do you guys put up with my nonsense?

Without further delay, I present to you the 2011 state of the fire mage address, delivered to you from a pulpit of pure flame perched upon the highest peak in the Firelands, to a congregation of mages seated within an auditorium constructed entirely of flaming warlock skulls. It's incredibly uncomfortable, but also crazy-epic.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The state of the fire mage

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Arcane Brilliance: The state of the fire mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> class-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefire-mage-guidefire-mage-patch-4.2fire-mage-specguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsstate-of-the-fire-magestate-of-the-magetalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The two-button mage myth]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/16/arcane-brilliance-the-two-button-mage-myth/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/16/arcane-brilliance-the-two-button-mage-myth/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/16/arcane-brilliance-the-two-button-mage-myth/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we dispel mage-related myths, expose wizardly untruth, and separate magical fact from fiction ... just like the Mythbusters, only with more Fireballs.

You may not believe this, but lately I've been finding something more annoying than the continued existence of warlocks. I know, I know. Crazy, right? What could possibly be more annoying than our emo-loving, Hot Topic-frequenting, mascara-laden, parent-hating nemesises? Nemesi? Apparently the dictionary says "nemesis" is its own plural, which is just ... boring.

Anyway, the answer to the question that I just pretended you asked is this:

"Mages are a two-button class." -- The internet

These days, you literally can't post the word "mage" anywhere on the web without someone, usually multiple people, posting some poorly spelled, perplexingly punctuated amalgam of the above words. It's usually intended as an indictment of the class, a dismissal of what non-mages feel is the simplistic nature of of our major DPS spell rotations. The assumption is that mages are an easy, boring class to play, that one could be a successful mage simply by drunkenly alternating pressing two buttons.

For a very long time, it was easy for me to ignore this. It was stupid, and false, and perpetuated by non-mages who were either clear trolls or outright ignorant. But lately, I've been hearing self-deprecating versions of this same phrase from actual, honest-to-goodness mages. Are we really buying into the ignorant assumptions of the rest of the community? It was at that moment that I realized that it was time I addressed what I call the two-button myth.

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Arcane Brilliance: The two-button mage myth originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpdps-rotationeasy-modefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-rotationmage-talentsspell-rotationstalenttalentstwo-buttontwo-button-mageworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Beginner's guide to being a mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/09/arcane-brilliance-beginners-guide-to-being-a-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/09/arcane-brilliance-beginners-guide-to-being-a-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/09/arcane-brilliance-beginners-guide-to-being-a-mage/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're taking a trip through the first 20 levels of the game, which are now eternal. The important thing to remember about rolling a mage is that you've made the right choice; congratulations.

Between the newly adopted unending demo, the extended Recruit-a-Friend promotion, and the freshly bargain-priced WoW/The Burning Crusade bundle, it seems Blizzard is making a concerted effort to woo new players. And from my limited viewpoint, it seems to be working.

I have a brother, a year and some change younger than me, who doesn't live near me. This sucks, because he and I have absolutely everything in common. We grew up taking turns watching each other play Shining Force, or designing Dungeons & Dragons campaigns to force each other to play through, but then college, family, and career separated us. I'm here in Las Vegas playing copious amounts of video games and ignoring my kids, and he's at Purdue, working on his doctorate and just generally making me ashamed of the waste my life has become. Naturally, I've been trying for years to drag him down to my level. Thus far he's resisted, but when I notified him of these new opportunities to play the game on the cheap, he finally took the plunge.

And rolled a warrior.

Sigh.

Oh well. At least it wasn't a warlock, right?

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Beginner's guide to being a mage

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Arcane Brilliance: Beginner's guide to being a mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-barragearcane-blastarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-missilesarcane-specarcane-talentsblast-waveclass-helpconjure-refreshmentdeep-freezedemofeaturedfire-blastfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefire-specfire-spellsfire-talentsfireballfree-to-playfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-novafrost-specfrost-spellsfrost-talentsfrostboltguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksice-barrierleveling-guideliving-bombmage-abilitiesmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-beginners-guidemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-first-10-levelsmage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-levelingmage-specialtiesmage-starter-guidemage-survivabilitymage-talentsmana-cakepolymorphpyroblastrecruit-a-friendremove-cursesummon-water-elementaltalenttalentswater-elementalworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-demowow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Upgrading your mage's gear in patch 4.2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/02/arcane-brilliance-upgrading-your-mages-gear-in-patch-4-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/02/arcane-brilliance-upgrading-your-mages-gear-in-patch-4-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/02/arcane-brilliance-upgrading-your-mages-gear-in-patch-4-2/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Other things, too, but none of those things are nearly as important. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Arcane Brilliance is, without a doubt, the single greatest weekly mage column on this website. Period.

New patch day has come and gone, and we're all now furiously blasting through the new content, hoping to upgrade our old uber gear for new uber gear. I love the weeks following patch days. It's like the twelve days of Christmas, only instead of turtle doves and french hens we get magical flaming staves and giant angry lava spiders.

Sadly, all that new gear doesn't simply come down the chimney and appear below our flaming Christmas trees. We have to earn it, farm for it, slay bosses for it, and quest for it. All of those things take time, a thing I find I have precious little of these days. So where best to allocate our time in order to get the gear we want in the most efficient ways possible?

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Upgrading your mage's gear in patch 4.2

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Arcane Brilliance: Upgrading your mage's gear in patch 4.2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpdragonwrathfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefirelandsfirelands-daily-questsfirelands-dropsfirelands-lootfirelands-mage-gearfirelands-raidfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancegearing-upgearing-up-for-firelandsgearing-your-mageguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-gear-guidemage-gearing-guidemage-gearupmage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.2talenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.2wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: How to be legendary]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/25/arcane-brilliance-how-to-be-legendary/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/25/arcane-brilliance-how-to-be-legendary/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/25/arcane-brilliance-how-to-be-legendary/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. The title of this week's column is a bit misleading. As we all know, mages are, by virtue of their magehood, already legendary. I probably should have called it "How to be more legendary," or "How to be legendarier." Too late now, it's already been typed.

Last week, as I neared completion of Arcane Brilliance's mage guide to patch 4.2, I touched upon one of the more exciting aspects of our impending foray into the Firelands: Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. Dragonwrath will be the new legendary staff available to casters in this patch. It will be difficult, but not by any means impossible, for a good guild to obtain. It will require a long term commitment to the new Firelands raid content. Most guilds will only obtain the staff once, and even the really high-speed guilds will only be able to pick up this staff for a select few of their caster members.

It's an incredible piece of statistical candy. Dragonwrath will be the best-in-slot weapon for every variety of DPS caster the moment it becomes available, by a very large margin, and it will likely remain that way for the rest of this expansion and into a good portion of the next one. If you are able to get your hands on it, you won't be letting go of it any time soon. Absolutely every caster class/spec will want it, including hybrids and classes that use spirit. Take a look at your guild. How many level 85 DPS casters do you raid with? Now look at yourself. How many of you are there? No, your mirror images don't count.

Those are your odds. So how do you lower those odds? How do you stack the deck a bit in your favor. My mission this week, ladies and gentlemen, is to help you be the chosen one in your guild who gets to wield this spectacular weapon. No, not you, warlock. My mission, this week as every week, is to see you die in a fire.

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Arcane Brilliance: How to be legendary originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpdragonwrathdragonwrath-tarecgosas-restfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefirelandsfrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlockslegendarieslegendarylegendary-itemslegendary-stafflegendary-weaponmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.2talenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.2wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mage's guide to patch 4.2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/18/arcane-brilliance-mages-guide-to-patch-4-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/18/arcane-brilliance-mages-guide-to-patch-4-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/18/arcane-brilliance-mages-guide-to-patch-4-2/#comments

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we're taking a quick break from our look at the state of the three mage specs to deal with the impending release of patch 4.2. Yes, I know it has only been one column, and we're already taking a break. Honestly, why do you always have to point things like that out? Sheesh.

So with patch 4.2 dropping at any moment (all signs now point to the 28th of this very month), I figure we'd better just sit down, look deeply into one another's eyes, and discuss our future. You see, we're going places, you and I ... more specifically, we're going into the Firelands, to kill Ragnaros and his buddies. We're looking for increasingly elaborately decorated dresses to wear, and one very impressive magical staff. I just want to make sure that we're both prepared for what we will find there, for the challenges we'll be facing, and for the changes we will be experiencing before we start the journey. We'll have deeper voices, hair where we didn't have hair before ... no wait, that was what happened when we started middle school. This is pretty similar, actually, only with fewer pimples and slightly more Fireballs.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage's guide to patch 4.2

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage's guide to patch 4.2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.2talenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.2wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: The state of the arcane mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-arcane-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-arcane-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/arcane-brilliance-the-state-of-the-arcane-mage/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Well, almost every week. Okay, every other week. Semiannually. Every leap year.

Seriously, sorry about the inconsistency lately. Family illness struck last week, and though the situation made it impossible for me to write a column, I still feel bad about leaving you guys in the lurch. I'll do everything in my power to keep the column weekly going forward. Because if I don't, the warlocks win. And they can never win, you guys. Never.

With that out of the way, we're at the point in the expansion when most of what I said about the various specs early on is now almost completely false. I feel it is time again for me to address the mage nation about the state of the mage. This time around, though, I thought I'd tackle each spec separately, since the state of the mage is quite different depending upon what sort of mage you happen to be. Over the next three weeks, we'll take a hard look at the state of the three mage specs, focusing on PVE, and see where we're at as a class.

We start this week with the left-most mage spec: arcane.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The state of the arcane mage

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Arcane Brilliance: The state of the arcane mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcanearcane-barragearcane-blastarcane-blast-nerfarcane-explosionarcane-magearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-missilesarcane-powerarcane-specarcane-treeclass-helpfeaturedfirelandsguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmana-adeptnerfpatch-4.2state-of-the-magetalenttalentsthe-state-of-the-magetier-12world-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.2wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Do mages need to be hit-capped?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/28/arcane-brilliance-the-hit-rating-dilemma/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/28/arcane-brilliance-the-hit-rating-dilemma/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/28/arcane-brilliance-the-hit-rating-dilemma/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're discussing a topic near and dear to a caster's heart: the problems associated with reaching the hit cap. Because when you conjure a flaming boulder from the ether and hurl it toward the hideous walking nest of claws and teeth that's currently eating your tank, you don't want to miss.

We've discussed this before. But this is a new expansion, and a new crop of players seems to be playing it, and I just had to berate a holy pally in Zul'Gurub for like 15 minutes about how he doesn't want the Hakkari Loa Drape that just dropped because he doesn't need the hit rating on it and he should give it to the elemental shaman instead -- and did I mention it took 15 minutes to convince him of this? Needless to say, the run was long, yeah, and lo, it was also full of wiping.

So the facts are these: The game has been out a long time, but the playerbase is constantly rotating. It may be hard for old-timers to accept, but even the most basic of gameplay concepts still need to be explained, and ignorance of a thing doesn't constitute a bad player, necessarily -- just a new one or one who is returning after an extended absence.

All of this is the long way of answering the many emails and comments I've gotten lately about hit rating, its importance, and whether or not mages still need to worry about capping it.

The short way? Cap hit.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Do mages need to be hit-capped?

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Arcane Brilliance: Do mages need to be hit-capped? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 May 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancecapping-hitcaster-hit-capcaster-statsclass-helpcritfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-mageshastehithit-caphit-chancehit-ratingi-hate-warlocksintellectmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-statsmage-talentsreaching-the-hit-capspirit-to-hitstump-of-timetalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 28 May 2011 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Patch 4.2 changes, clarifications and legendary staves]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/21/arcane-brilliance-patch-4-2-changes-clarifications-and-legenda/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/21/arcane-brilliance-patch-4-2-changes-clarifications-and-legenda/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/21/arcane-brilliance-patch-4-2-changes-clarifications-and-legenda/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we discuss the perils of writing about the PTR, which stands for "Public Test Realm." For a very long time, I thought it stood for "Pirate Taco Restaurant," which I thought sounded more fun, frankly.

Yes, it's always a good time when I write something and the testing process immediately renders almost every word of it completely moot. Testing is testing, I guess, and absolutely everything that pops up on the PTR at pretty much any stage of the testing cycle is entirely subject to change. So remember what we talked about last week? The whole tier 12 set bonus thing?

No longer true.

Well, okay, I guess some of it still holds true, but not the really interesting part. Gone is the moving Arcane Missiles. To me, that was the single most significant bonus being offered by the tier 12 set for mages, but it's been removed entirely in the latest PTR build. The other bonuses remain, in slightly altered form, but mobile missiles is apparently out.

Still, I'm not perturbed, other than my simmering rage at having a thousand or so of my words -- wrung from my brain only a week prior, sweat out over a hot (or at least lukewarm, perhaps slightly moist) keyboard, painstakingly arranged into mildly pleasing, competently conjugated sentences -- become instantly irrelevant. You see, I actually think this could end up being a good thing for mages, and I promise that in a minute or two I will tell you why I think that, and the answer will not be "because of all that paint I huffed."

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Patch 4.2 changes, clarifications and legendary staves

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Arcane Brilliance: Patch 4.2 changes, clarifications and legendary staves originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 21 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-blastarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-mobilityarcane-missilesarcane-powerarcane-shotarcane-treeatieshatiesh-greatstaff-of-the-guardianbrain-freezeclass-helpdragonwrathfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefirelandsfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostfire-orbguideguide-to-mageshot-streaki-hate-warlockslegendarylegendary-itemslegendary-weaponsmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-12mirror-imagepatch-4.2ragnarostalenttalentstarecgosas-resttier-12tier-12-armortier-12-armor-setstier-12-bonustier-12-set-bonustier-12-set-bonusestier-12-setsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.2wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guidezarhym (Christian Belt) Sat, 21 May 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: On the 12th tier and the set bonuses thereof]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/14/arcane-brilliance-on-the-twelfth-tier-and-the-set-bonuses-there/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/14/arcane-brilliance-on-the-twelfth-tier-and-the-set-bonuses-there/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/14/arcane-brilliance-on-the-twelfth-tier-and-the-set-bonuses-there/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we'll be discussing the Firelands patch and the sweet new mage gear it will be providing to us. Also, what is that thing sticking out of our helmets? Is that a tail? Made of fire? A flaming headtail of magical might?

So we're only a few weeks into patch 4.1, and already our sights are focused squarely on patch 4.2. You can hardly blame us, though. I mean, while I am thoroughly enjoying the current patch, what with its freshly recycled 5-man content and its new Dungeon Finder Call to Arms that I don't seem to benefit from in the slightest (my queue times are right back up to 30 minutes, thanks), but I think we can all agree that for a major content patch, 4.1 was substantially light on ... well, content.

Not so with 4.2. Patch 4.2 will be bringing us the Firelands, which is apparently a raid where epic cupcakes fall from the sky like rain, hardcore raiders experience orgasms just by zoning in, and we all ride flaming unicorns across lava bridges to do battle with volcanic dragon manticores. I'm not kidding. The entire raid sounds like something you'd see painted across the side of a rock band tour van in the '70s. We're also getting two new daily quest areas with their own epic loot vendors, and yes, the game's first legendary staff. And no, it doesn't have spirit on it.

New raid content means new tier sets, and this time around, we're reaching a cool dozen. The tier 12 set bonuses are interesting, to say the least, and bear a bit of looking at. Keep in mind, though, as we discuss these bonuses that we're still early in the PTR process, and everything on the test realms right now is entirely subject to change -- which is, in this case, a very good thing.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: On the 12th tier and the set bonuses thereof

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Arcane Brilliance: On the 12th tier and the set bonuses thereof originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 14 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 4.242arcane-blastarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-missilesbrain-freezeclass-helpfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefireballfirelandsfirelands-raidfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostboltfrostfire-boltguideguide-to-mageshot-streaki-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmage-tier-12mirror-imagemoving-arcane-missilespatch-4.2patch-4.2-informationpatch-4.2-patch-notespatch-4.2-ptrpatch-42pyroblastspellstealspellsteal-nerftalenttalentsteir-12tier-12tier-12-armortier-12-armor-setstier-12-mage-set-bonusestier-12-set-bonusestier-12-setsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-talent-guide (Christian Belt) Sat, 14 May 2011 15:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Assorted patch 4.1 thoughts]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/30/arcane-brilliance-assorted-patch-4-1-thoughts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/30/arcane-brilliance-assorted-patch-4-1-thoughts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/30/arcane-brilliance-assorted-patch-4-1-thoughts/#comments Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a break from slaughtering trolls and digging up ancient relics long enough to discuss our early impressions of patch 4.1. My first impression: Cobraaaaaa!

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?

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Arcane Brilliance: Assorted patch 4.1 thoughts originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 4.1-mage-changesarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancecall-to-armsclass-helpcombustioncombustionhelperdalaranfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostboltguideguide-to-mageshot-streaki-hate-warlocksice-lanceigniteignite-bugignite-fixignite-munchingmage-4.1mage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-4.1pyroblastqueue-timesrandom-dungeon-findertalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.1wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-patchwow-patch-4.1wow-patch-4.1-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guidezul-amanzul-gurub (Christian Belt) Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider