WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com WoW Insider http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogobig.gif WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. View our terms of service here: http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.1 preview for mages]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/17/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-1-preview-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/17/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-1-preview-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/17/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-1-preview-for-mages/#comments Ice Barrier Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week we realize there's a significant patch coming out any minute now and we haven't even mentioned it yet. Seriously, didn't we just get a whole expansion like yesterday? I'm still trying to figure out what a Shado-Pan is. I hope it's something I can use to make pancakes.

So the build of patch 5.1 that's currently up on the PTR is tagged as a release candidate, which means that the patch could legitimately drop any week now. It's time we discuss it.

We're getting new factions, which thank God, because I keep saying to myself "Self? I sure wish we had more daily quests to do," which my self responds to by punching me in the damn mouth. We're getting a fight club Brawler's Guild to distract us from all those dailies. They're bringing back Wintergrasp and Tol'Barad! We can solo all the old raids without being in a raid group! And of course, we're getting the requisite bunch of tweaks and fixes and quality of life improvements that always come with a patch like this.

But as always, I'm more focused on the changes that specifically affect mages. And while there's nothing here that will make or break the class, there are some class changes in 5.1 that will have a definite impact on the mage class as we delve further into Pandaria.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.1 preview for mages

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Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.1 preview for mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-powerblazing-speedcombustiondeep-freezedeep-freeze-nerffeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-nerfguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksice-barrierignitemage-5.1-previewmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-armormage-changes-patch-5.1mage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-patch-5.1mage-talentspatch-5.1patch-51pyroblastring-of-frostrune-of-powerspellstealspellsteal-nerfwater-jetwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, raiding edition]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-raiding-edition-sat/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-raiding-edition-sat/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-raiding-edition-sat/#comments Headmaster's Will Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we continue our epic journey through a giant list of equipment, interspersed with brief blocks of text. It'll be quite the trip, so don your robes and take up your staff, and join me in search of slightly better robes and staves.

Part one of this mage gear uber-compendium can be found at this location. It contains everything your mage should be looking for prior to raiding levels, or everything from item level 435 to 463. This week we hit the raid finder and then continue fearlessly forward, all the way to Heart of Fear and the current best-in-slot items for the class.

As with the last installment, the purpose of this list is to provide you with an easy reference guide when you're in the market for an upgrade. Just scroll down to the slot in question and identify the upgrade you want and the source for that upgrade. It's fun and educational!

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, raiding edition

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, raiding edition originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, pre-raid edition]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-pre-raid-edition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-pre-raid-edition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/arcane-brilliance-mage-gear-up-ultraguide-pre-raid-edition/#comments Liuyang's Lovely Longstaff Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we have a singular focus: shiny, shiny loot. And the warlocks we will kill with it.

I took some understandable flak last week when my "what to do at level 90" column contained a dearth of specifics. Well, fear not! This week's installment is all specifics, all the time. In fact, this column and the one to follow are going to be filled with so much specific, easily quantifiable information that your brains, trained by months of political campaign speeches to accept vague platitudes as factual policy, may not be able to process it.

My aim over the next two weeks is to provide you with a compendium of all the currently available mage gear from the heroic threshold of item-level 435 on up to best in slot. No matter where your mage is along the gear-grubbing spectrum, you should be able to look at these lists, identify an upgrade, and know where said upgrade is obtained.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, pre-raid edition

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, pre-raid edition originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancegearing-up-at90gearing-up-for-raidingguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-best-in-slotmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-gear-guidemage-gear-listmage-gearing-upmage-guidemage-infomage-itemsmage-talentsmists-magemists-mage-gearmists-of-pandariamopmop-magemop-mage-gear-listwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: What to do with your level 90 mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/20/arcane-brilliance-what-to-do-with-your-level-90-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/20/arcane-brilliance-what-to-do-with-your-level-90-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/20/arcane-brilliance-what-to-do-with-your-level-90-mage/#comments The Klaxxi Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we've hit level 90. We've stood up, stretched, rubbed the mucus out of our eyes, apologized to our wives, kids, pets, plants, and anyone else we have been neglecting, and gone outside to remember what outside looks like. Then we've promptly gone back inside because outside is way more attractive in Pandaria.

So what now?

You're a level 90 mage. Worn and scarred from your battle with Deathwing, you wandered into this new continent, leaning heavily upon your staff, beaten but not bowed. The beauty you found here inspired you; dense bamboo forests shrouded in mystery, jade mountains capped with white, ornate temples steeped in ancient wisdom. You felt the call of the unexplored sink its hooks into your weary flesh, fill you with renewed purpose, prod your aching bones forward into new adventure and fresh conflict.

And now you find yourself invigorated with new power. You've gained experience and wisdom, learned new spells and ancient magic--all things you thought impossible only weeks ago. But now that you've reached the peak of your wizardry once more, the 90th level, still you crave more. You wish to increase your power, obtain rare and deadly weaponry, and yes, murder more warlocks. Seriously, screw those guys.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: What to do with your level 90 mage

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Arcane Brilliance: What to do with your level 90 mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> -level-90arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefaction-gearfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlockslevel-90-magelevel-90-mage-guidelevel-90-now-whatlevel-90-reputation-gearmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-faction-rewardsmists-factionsmists-magemists-mage-gearmists-of-pandariamists-rep-grindmists-reputationmists-reputation-guidemop-factionsmop-reputationsrep-gearrep-grindrep-grindingrep-rewardsreputationswhat-to-do-at-level-90wow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Tips for leveling your mage from 85 to 90]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/arcane-brilliance-tips-for-leveling-your-mage-from-85-to-90/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/arcane-brilliance-tips-for-leveling-your-mage-from-85-to-90/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/arcane-brilliance-tips-for-leveling-your-mage-from-85-to-90/#comments Mage casting Alter Time in Pandaria Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a break from pet battling to actually level our mages. Seriously. Put down that Armadillo Pup for a second and let's get to level 90. I'm talking to myself as much as you. I want you to know that.

I imagine I'm not the only slow-poke out there who's taking their sweet time getting to level 90. My playtime since the expansion hit has been almost non-existent until recently, and in fact I only just dinged max level this week. Still, even though time-constraints kept me from playing as much as I wanted to, it still felt like I was getting to 90 slower than I should have been. What can I say? I like to read the quest text, watch the cutscenes, listen to all the dialogue, explore the countryside. Oh, and I may have indulged in the occasional pet battle. We all have our vices. Though in this case, I'd hazard to say we all have the same vice.

But I did eventually get there, late or not. And for those of you who are still enjoying the journey rather than the destination, I've compiled a few of the thoughts and observations I had along the way into this week's column. For those of you for whom this advice comes too late, I'll start hitting the post-90 content next week. Pinkie swear.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Tips for leveling your mage from 85 to 90

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Arcane Brilliance: Tips for leveling your mage from 85 to 90 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alter-timearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-armorfrost-bombfrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksice-barrierlevel-85-90-guideleveling-guideleveling-guidesmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-levelingmage-leveling-85-90mage-leveling-advicemage-leveling-guidemage-leveling-tipsmage-talentsmists-glyphsmists-levelingmists-leveling-guidemists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betaMists-of-Pandaria-Glyphsmists-of-pandaria-levelingmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-expansionmop-glyphsmop-levelingmop-leveling-guidemop-levellingmop-mage-glyphsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talentsshatterwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mage add-on guide for Mists of Pandaria]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/arcane-brilliance-mage-add-on-guide-for-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/arcane-brilliance-mage-add-on-guide-for-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/arcane-brilliance-mage-add-on-guide-for-mists-of-pandaria/#comments Male troll mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we look add-ons your mage might want to download or update for Mists of Pandaria. There are some great mage add-ons out there, but somebody needs to make one that tracks warlocks. I just think it'd make things a bit easier if I knew exactly how much killing I needed to do in a given area at all times.

We're down to just days now, guys. Days. I've been playing this game for the better part of 7 years now and at this point it's sort of amazing that I'm still capable of getting excited about anything it throws at me, but I have to say that I'm pretty damn giddy right now. I want to make a panda. I want to teach it to conjure pastries and hurl fireballs. I want to gain 5 levels on my main. I want to explore Azerothian Asia. I want to learn to sew new and prettier pairs of pants. I want to put a Rune of Power right outside Hot Topic, then just stand there like Gandalf, making sure all the warlocks most certainly do not pass.

But there are still a few items of business to attend to before that expansion hits and I can do all those infinitely fun things. We've already discussed a lot of them. A quick recap:
The item on today's agenda is mage add-ons. Every major patch or expansion is guaranteed to break all of your add-ons. Things you've depended upon for months suddenly stop working, and you look to to the heavens and cry out in anguish, your faith in a benevolent God shaken to its very core because Mage Nuggets is down. Well fear not. Most of the add-ons you love and need are already updated and ready for Mists to drop.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage add-on guide for Mists of Pandaria

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage add-on guide for Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> add-onadd-on-configurationadd-on-guideaddon-configurationaddon-guideaddonsarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancecauterizecooldowncombustion-helpercombustionhelperfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguideguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksIHATEWARLOCKSmage-add-on-guidemage-add-onsmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-mana-barmage-nuggetsmage-talentsmagebombtrackermagemanabarmikscrollingbattletextoldchapomenomen-threat-meterquartzrecountwow-add-onwow-add-on-guidewow-add-onswow-addon-guidewow-addonswow-guidewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage guide to stats and reforging]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-guide-to-stats-and-ref/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-guide-to-stats-and-ref/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-guide-to-stats-and-ref/#comments Human fire mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we talk about how awesome mages are. But did you know that you can make your mage even better? I know! It's like chocolate-covered chocolate. Or a cheesecake that also grants you three wishes. Or an Avengers movie that is also directed by Joss Whedon. Or a warlock that is also dead.

With just over a week of this pre-expansion/post-patch limbo to go, it's high time we covered one last piece of patch 5.0.4 mage business before we turn our eyes almost exclusively toward the impending influx of pandaren and monks and ... pandaren monks. But good news! Most, if not all, of what we discuss here today will also apply in Mists. Though there are always small shifts in stat weight at endgame, we're still quite far removed from knowing exactly how things will shake out when we're all doing hard mode raiding.

This expansion brings some major changes to our stats, radically altering the benefits they do and don't provide. Before we get to each spec and its stat weights, let's look at each stat and familiarize ourselves with its Mists of Pandaria version.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage guide to stats and reforging

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Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage guide to stats and reforging originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 15 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancecrit-chancecritical-strike-ratingfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesHastehaste-ratinghit-caphit-chancehit-ratingi-hate-warlocksintellectmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-hit-capmage-infomage-masterymage-mists-stat-guidemage-reforgingmage-reforging-guidemage-stat-prioritymage-stat-weightsmage-statisticsmage-statsmage-talentsmana-poolmastery-ratingmistsmists-magemists-mage-stat-guidemists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-mage-statsmists-of-pandaria-talentsmists-reforging-guidemopmop-magemop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsmop-stat-guidereforgingwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 15 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Things I love most about my mage in patch 5.0.4 (so far)]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/arcane-brilliance-things-i-love-most-about-my-mage-in-patch-5-0/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/arcane-brilliance-things-i-love-most-about-my-mage-in-patch-5-0/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/arcane-brilliance-things-i-love-most-about-my-mage-in-patch-5-0/#comments Arcane Barrage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, I'm taking a few precious moments that I'd otherwise be devoting to farming Tol Barad commendations so I can buy my Fox Kit to hammer out an ode to all the things I'm loving right now about patch 5.0.4. I hope you people appreciate my sacrifice. Seriously, guys. There are literally thousands of warlocks who are only still alive right now because the time I spend writing these columns is time I'm not spending killing warlocks.

There was a point on Tuesday night, while trying out my new rotations in the LFR against Ultraxion (several times, thanks to a long string of tanks who apparently have never used a taunt before), where I fully realized that my arcane mage had Living Bomb. I mean, I knew about it, had tried it out on the beta, but had never raided with it and actually inserted it into my rotation. So there I am, blasting away with my arcane mage and his new decidedly-more-than-one-button rotation, and I see that Living Bomb button on my action bar, and I press it, and then a few seconds later it explodes and I refresh it, and what's this? Am I crying? Yes ... yes, I'm crying like a child while I blow up that giant dragon.

So I'm happy with patch 5.0.4. I know not everybody is. Most of the complaints seem to revolve around the new talent system, which we'll get to in a minute. But me? I am completely on board. I have my quibbles. (Why do my Mana Gems vanish after logout again? I thought we fixed that annoyance a few patches ago.) But any minor issues I notice quickly drown in the massive wake of all the happy. And there is a lot of happy.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Things I love most about my mage in patch 5.0.4 (so far)

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Arcane Brilliance: Things I love most about my mage in patch 5.0.4 (so far) originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aoe-lootingarcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-rotationfamiliarsfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-pve-viabilityglyph-of-illusionguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksliving-bombmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentspatch-5.0patch-5.0-talentspatch-5.0.1patch-5.0.4patch-5.0.4-changespatch-5.0.4-glyphspatch-5.0.4-magepatch-5.0.4-mage-spellspatch-5.0.4-mage-talentsporcupinewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Your mage's new spell rotations in Mists of Pandaria]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/26/arcane-brilliance-your-mages-new-spell-rotations-in-mists-of-p/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/26/arcane-brilliance-your-mages-new-spell-rotations-in-mists-of-p/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/26/arcane-brilliance-your-mages-new-spell-rotations-in-mists-of-p/#comments Troll female mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we realize that everything we know is wrong, and learn how to make it right again.

Last time we had an expansion release, it was all about an actual Cataclysm, and when we made jokes about the end of the world and chaos descending and the impending apocalypse, those jokes were appropriate. This time around, we've got cuddly pandas and fun pet battles and ... I don't know ... Eastern philosophy? Jokes about impending apocalypses aren't as apt this time around.

Still, if any expansion has the potential to usher in mass chaos and confusion, Mists of Pandaria may be the one. Never before at any one time have our spellbooks and talent trees undergone such sweeping change. On Tuesday, the servers will go down, and when they come back up, the pre-expansion patch 5.0.4 will be in place (barring unforeseen maintenance mishaps), and everything we know about how to effectively wield magic will be completely different. Our current spell rotations will be gone, and we will need to go about the tricky business of learning our new spell rotations.

Which brings us to the reason I called you all together today. There's magical cake in the back of the room, and later on we'll be doing trust falls with warlocks where they fall and we hit them in the face with an Arcane Barrage. But for right now, our agenda has only one item on it: our new spell rotations. It's time we learned them.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Your mage's new spell rotations in Mists of Pandaria

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Arcane Brilliance: Your mage's new spell rotations in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 5.0.4alter-timearcane-chargearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-spell-rotationfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefire-mage-spell-rotationfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-spell-rotationguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksincanters-wardinvocationmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-cooldownsmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-spell-rotation-guidemage-spell-rotationsmage-talentsmage-tier-6-talentsmistsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmists-spell-changesmists-spell-rotationsmopmop--mage-spell-rotationmop-betamop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-spell-rotationsmop-talentsrune-of-powerspell-rotationspell-rotationswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.0.4 mage preview]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/18/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-0-4-mage-preview/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/18/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-0-4-mage-preview/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/18/arcane-brilliance-patch-5-0-4-mage-preview/#comments Blood elf female arcane mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, I need to apologize profusely for last week's sad lack of warlock hate. This week, I will hate them twice as much to make up for it.

So now we know when the expansion is coming (Sept. 25), and we also know when patch 5.0.4 is coming (Aug. 28). That means we'll be living with this patch and all of its sweeping changes to the systems and mechanics we're currently used to for the better part of a month before we get a whole bunch of new content to distract us from how different everything just became. That's a substantial amount of time to play with the new talent system, new spells, and ... erm ...pet battles that the pre-expansion patch will bring. I think this is a good time to discuss those changes and prepare ourselves mentally for all the shiny new bounty we are about to receive.

New talent system

This is by far the biggest change on the docket. Forget everything you currently know about talents. Gone is the 72-tier tree of talents that until now defined your mage's effectiveness. Gone are cookie-cutter specs that you had conform to or lose damage. Instead, we get six successive choices that are balanced pretty much equally.

Most of the talents we're used to now have either become baseline spells, been rolled together into current spells, or vanished entirely. Every 15 levels, we get to select from three talents. None of these talents are obviously better or worse than the others, freeing us to to choose the one at each tier that suits our playstyle or the needs of a particular situation.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.0.4 mage preview

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Arcane Brilliance: Patch 5.0.4 mage preview originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-magemists-mage-talent-guidemists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-spell-changesmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmists-spell-changesmopmop-magemop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsnew-mage-spellsnew-mage-talentspatch-5.0patch-5.0-talentspatch-5.0.1patch-5.0.4patch-5.0.4-mage-guidepatch-5.0.4-mage-spellspatch-5.0.4-mage-talentswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 18 Aug 2012 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage glyph guide]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/12/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-glyph-guide/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/12/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-glyph-guide/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/12/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-mage-glyph-guide/#comments Blood Elf Female Mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're talking glyphs and the mages who love them. Question: where do we keep our glyphs? Are they semi-permanent tattoos? Are they inscribed upon our clothing somewhere? Do we carry around a piece of paper with all our runes scrawled upon it? And if so, what happens to that scrap of paper when we forget to take it out of our pants before we run them through the laundry? The practical mechanics of inscription intrigue me.

As time marches forward, I find myself staring intently down the barrel of my wand at the approaching pandaren invasion, realizing with each passing moment that I am entirely unprepared. So much to cover! So little time. Good thing we can Alter and Warp time, right?

It's high time we discussed glyphs. I know Josh Myers previewed glyphs during my absence a few months back, but a whole lot has changed since then. This particular system has changed a bit from what we're used to. Gone are prime glyphs. Now it's just majors and minors. And the majors have been redesigned in an attempt to make them more situational and utilitarian, and this attempt seems to have been largely successful.

Instead of being forced to choose between damage increase glyph A and damage increase glyph B, you will now find yourself choosing the glyphs that appeal to you most or fit your playstyle best. Cookie-cutter, must-have glyphs are by and large a thing of the past, and I submit that this is a positive change.

Still, each spec will find that certain glyphs work better for them than others, and in the guide that follows, I will endeavor to advise you as best I can on which glyphs look most attractive for each school of mage.

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Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage glyph guide originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceGleeglyph-guideglyphsguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-betamists-glyphsmists-mage-glyph-guideMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betaMists-of-Pandaria-Glyphsmists-of-pandaria-pvpmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-glyph-guidemop-mage-glyphsmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talentswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria talent spec guide for mages]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/05/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-talent-spec-guide-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/05/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-talent-spec-guide-for-mages/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/05/arcane-brilliance-mists-of-pandaria-talent-spec-guide-for-mages/#comments Arcane Brilliance Mists of Pandaria talent spec guide for mages Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're looking at the overhauled talent system in Mists of Pandaria and figuring out which talent is best for killing warlocks. My initial impression is all of them. All of the talents are good for killing warlocks.

So with the expansion less than two months away and patch 5.0 looming on the "any week now" precipice, it's time we stopped messing around. I promise to stop skipping weeks of this column for trivial things like "family," or "crippling work schedule," or "violent and possibly terminal illnesses," because, damn. The time is short. The end of the end of the world is nigh, and the coming panda apocalypse is nearly upon us. We need to get down to the nitty-gritty here, guys.

Look forward to some extra mage content in between Arcane Brilliances as we ramp up in the coming weeks, in the form of basic class 101 guides for all the stuff you need to know before the expansion hits. I'll save the Saturday columns for more detailed analysis.

This week, we're wading neck deep into the new talent system, since it's probably the single biggest change our class is undergoing in Mists. It's a bona fide shock to the system and a radical departure from the status quo, and believe me when I say that it will take all of us some getting used to before it begins to feel even remotely normal.

The whole basis behind this talent system revamp is to eliminate cookie-cutter specs and provide us with six distinct choices between talents that serve roughly the same function as each other with slightly different mechanics. The idea is to provide freedom of choice by removing the need to pick the best talent at each tier. Each of the three choices at each tier is designed to be a good choice depending on playstyle, and no specific talent is supposed to provide measurably better DPS than another, so we can all hold hands, smoke the peace pipe, and pick whatever we like.

And now's the part where we all decide which of these equal talents are more equal than the others.

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Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria talent spec guide for mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-buildarcane-mage-talent-buildfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefire-mage-buildfire-mage-talent-buildfrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-buildfrost-mage-talent-buildguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talent-buildmage-talent-buildsmage-talent-changesmage-talent-comparisonmage-talent-guidemage-talent-specmage-talent-specsmage-talentsmists-betamists-mage-talent-buildsmists-mage-talent-guideMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentstop-mage-specstop-mage-talent-buildswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Why I still love my mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/21/arcane-brilliance-why-i-still-love-my-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/21/arcane-brilliance-why-i-still-love-my-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/21/arcane-brilliance-why-i-still-love-my-mage/#comments Raistlin Majere Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a short break from talking about pandas and mists and the delightful Asian-flavored turtle-nation where the pandas and the mists combine to form a giant kung fu turtle panda Voltron super expansion of glory. But don't worry, the break will indeed be short. Because pandas.

Let's all join hands, cast Alter Time together, and journey back to the halcyon days of early 2008. George Walker Bush was nearing the end of his time as the leader of the free world, a visibly checked-out Britney Spears was auto-tuning her way to the top of the charts while simultaneously losing custody of her children to this guy, we were all playing the first games in the Rock Band and Mass Effect series, and the Hollywood screenwriters strike was nearing its end. Which, thank god, because the world needed Ron Swanson.

And in February of that year, I started writing for this wonderful website, beginning with a column titled Why we Mage. In that column, I endeavored to crystallize my deep and abiding affection for the mage class in World of Warcraft. A dash of my deep and abiding loathing for the warlock class may have seeped in there, too, as warlock loathing tends to do.

A great deal of time has gone by since then. Over four years, to be precise. I just finished Mass Effect and I still play Rock Band, mostly for the Iron Maiden songs. It's 2012. We've killed Arthas and Deathwing, Ron Swanson just got renewed for a fifth season, and somebody's remaking Herzog Zwei.

And oh yeah, I still love mages.

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Arcane Brilliance: Why I still love my mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancedragonlancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksi-love-magesmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsraistlin-majerereasons mages-are-awesomereasons-to-play-a-mageReasonsMages-are-awesomewhy-we-magewow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Weighing the level 90 mage talents]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/arcane-brilliance-weighing-the-level-90-mage-talents/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/arcane-brilliance-weighing-the-level-90-mage-talents/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/arcane-brilliance-weighing-the-level-90-mage-talents/#comments Rune of Power Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're looking once again at the mage of the future. And just like the mage of the right now, the mage of the future needs two things in abundance: mana and spellpower. Fortunately, the mage of soon[TM] only has to get to level 90 to get a new way to gain both.

You've traversed the wilds of Pandaria. Your mage has decked himself out in shiny new quest reward greens that are better than the purples he farmed Deathwing for months to collect. You've killed X number of mobs, collected X number of inexplicably difficult-to-locate vital organs from those mobs and returned them to people with increasingly tough-to-reconcile reasons to want said organs, killing a potentially genocidal percentage of the warlock population along the way. Now, you're level 90.

Your reward is two new abilities. One is Alter Time, which we've already discussed at length. The other is entirely up to you. There are three new choices in your talent ladder to select from. They range from a fresh and infinitely more useful version of Mana Shield to a crazily improved buff for Evocation to a rune of wizardly sparklesauce that you place on the ground and then set up shop there, serving up magical deathfire to all customers forevermore, amen.

They sound quite different, but have one thing in common: You press a button, and you get mana and spellpower. I think we can all agree this is a button we want. The question is, which of those three buttons do we want the most? And the next question is, do we want any of them as our capstone talent?

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Arcane Brilliance: Weighing the level 90 mage talents originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksincanters-wardIndielevel-90-mage-talent-comparisonlevel-90-mage-talentsmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talent-comparisonmage-talentsmistsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentsnew-mage-talentspandariarune-of-powerwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Which spec will be best in Mists of Pandaria?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/23/arcane-brilliance-which-spec-will-be-best-in-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/23/arcane-brilliance-which-spec-will-be-best-in-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/23/arcane-brilliance-which-spec-will-be-best-in-mists-of-pandaria/#comments Undead fire mage Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we endeavor to answer that age old question: Which spec will other people insist my mage needs to be? We will try not to resort to that age old response to that question, which tended to involve punching those other people in the mouth.

One constant, no matter how hard I've tried to ignore it, that has always existed in WoW is that one spec is always "best." The class designers are constantly tweaking the numbers and trying to keep things balanced, but once we all sit down with our collective calculator and spreadsheet, one spec always emerges to rule them all.

It has been a sad reality that while we have always had freedom to choose a spec and personalize it to fit our preferences, when it comes time to raid at high levels or take part in PvP at high levels, that freedom essentially vanishes. You can make arguments for utility over damage or for certain specs in certain fights, but in most cases, under most circumstances, you're going with whatever cookie-cutter spec the internet has agreed upon that week, or you're not getting an invite.

Well, now we have a fresh expansion to leverage our calculators and spreadsheets upon. It's still early in the beta process, and hard numbers are in short supply. Still, the overall design of the specs seems to be fairly well-defined, even if the actual percentage points are still in flux. What conclusions can we draw at this stage? Which spec looks to put out the best damage? And most importantly, which spec will let us kill warlocks most efficiently?

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Arcane Brilliance: Which spec will be best in Mists of Pandaria? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancebest-mage-specclass-balancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-pveguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-spec-balancemage-talentsmistsmists-betamists-class-balancemists-mageMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-pvpmists-of-pandaria-spec-balancemists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmists-spec-balancemopmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: 4 things I'm going to miss the most in Mists of Pandaria]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/arcane-brilliance-4-things-im-going-to-miss-the-most-in-mists/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/arcane-brilliance-4-things-im-going-to-miss-the-most-in-mists/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/arcane-brilliance-4-things-im-going-to-miss-the-most-in-mists/#comments Flame Orb Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're discussing a sad topic: loss. Not that this is a new feeling for mages. We've loved and lost before; everyone pour one out for Wand Specialization. You were too beautiful to die.

Every time there's a new expansion, we get some new toys to play with. We tend to focus on these shiny new abilities or revamped mechanic -- and rightly so, as they are often pretty spiffy. But I fear we sometimes forget the casualties. For when Blizzard giveth, it also tends to taketh away. Spells are replaced, redundant talents vanish, and mechanics change, and as a mage, I always feel somehow diminished when I see a blank page in my spellbook -- even if it's a page that used to be occupied by something as useless as Arcane Fortitude or Amplify Magic, those ancient relics of fail.

Mists of Pandaria will be no exception. We're gaining some awesomeness but losing a few things too. And some of those things, I'm really, truly going to miss.

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Arcane Brilliance: 4 things I'm going to miss the most in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceblast-wavedeep-freezedeep-freeze-damagefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brillianceflame-orbfrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlockslost-mage-spellsmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-armormage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmistsmists-betaMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentsMophie Juice PackMophieJuicePackpandariaremoved-mage-abilitieswow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Bombs and tempests on the Mists beta]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/09/arcane-brilliance-bombs-and-tempests-on-the-mists-beta/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/09/arcane-brilliance-bombs-and-tempests-on-the-mists-beta/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/06/09/arcane-brilliance-bombs-and-tempests-on-the-mists-beta/#comments Frost Bomb Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're discussing my favorite kinds of mage spells: the ones that blow things up real good. Namely, warlocks. I like the spells that blow up warlocks. This should not come as any sort of surprise to anyone, ever.

I don't know about you, but I didn't roll a mage for the free strudel. I'm not going to lie; the prospect of magical baked goods didn't hurt. Unlimited pie is something of a draw for me. But when I chose mage for my first character lo those many dead warlocks ago, I did so because I wanted to make pixels explode in spectacular fashion.

And my mage certainly didn't disappoint. Over the years, I've thrown my share of Pyroblasts, Frostfire Bolts, and Arcane Explosions, and the resulting pixel explosions have been quite satisfactory. Still, I'm nothing if not greedy. In my opinion, when it comes to exploding pixels, more is always better.

And so, when I learned of the new talents, the ones I was secretly most excited by were the three bomb talents we were choosing between at level 75. The worst part? I had to choose just one.

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Arcane Brilliance: Bombs and tempests on the Mists beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-blastfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-bombfrost-mage-arcane-brillianceguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksliving-bombmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmistsmists-betaMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talent-calculatormop-talentsnether-tempestpandariawow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 09 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Arcane Brilliance: Familiars, porcupines and Frostbolt healing, oh my!]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/26/arcane-brilliance-familiars-porcupines-and-frostbolt-healing/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/26/arcane-brilliance-familiars-porcupines-and-frostbolt-healing/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/26/arcane-brilliance-familiars-porcupines-and-frostbolt-healing/#comments Fiery Familiar Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we'll be discussing a few of the more recent additions and tweaks to our class on the Mists of Pandaria beta. Some of them are awesome. Some of them are silly. And some of them are porcupines.

You see that thing up there in the picture? That tiny little legless flaming elemental from vanilla WoW? That's one of our three new familiars. That's right: familiars.

I've actively campaigned for mage familiars in the past, even as far back as this crusty old post from 2008, in which I also wished for more portals, a Blink spell that actually worked, and a rumored new ability called Mirror Image, which I believed would prove to be a combination of a bacon double cheeseburger, the second coming of Christ, and a double rainbow out of a leprechaun's butt. So young! So naive.

I always imagined my mage running around with a tiny furry minion, maybe mouse with glowing eyes, or an ominous crow, possibly animated by Don Bluth, that would do my bidding and tell me which cottage in the forest Princess Aurora was hiding in. I imagined a wizardly pet that would be always by my mage's side, part of the persona, perhaps conferring a passive buff or something.

Well that isn't quite what we're getting here.

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Arcane Brilliance: Familiars, porcupines and Frostbolt healing, oh my! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 26 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arcane-mage-arcane-brillianceconjure-familiarfamiliarityfamiliarsfeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefreezefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostboltglyph-of-porcupineguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-familiarmage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmana-attunementmistsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-beta-testingmists-of-pandaria-speculationmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsmopmop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talentspandaria-betapandaria-tankingporcupine creekPorcupineCreekwater-elementalwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mages (Christian Belt) Sat, 26 May 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![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.

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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.

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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