I agree with others how boring and clunky the spec feels. Or rather, how useless Arcane Missiles is now. Sure, I know people wanted it removed as a proc. I'm fine with that. Give us the ability to cast it whenever we want, with a proc for CC to get a freebie. But removing it and everything else but Arcane Blast from benefiting from Arcane Charges is killing the spec. Arcane used to be a super bursty "super nuke" spec that now just feels like a tickle. I really hope down the line they allow Arcane Charges to affect Arcane Missiles again. I understand what some players were complaining about, having to wait to build up charges or Arcane Missiles was sup-optimal, but the pleasure from firing off 2-3 fully charged Arcane Missiles was an awesome feeling. My other complaint is Arcane Charge itself. It only buffs Arcane Blast. Who cares? It feels like Arcane Charge doesnt really have a place in the class anymore. Why not just remove it at this point? The only benefit is the talent that allows Arcane Barrage to restore mana based on how many charges. Which brings me to my last issue: mana management. There is no need for it. I might be one of the few that will complain that spells dont use enough mana. I liked the Legion gameplay of having to conserve mana and play smart to prep up for a huge burn phase. Now.... well only if I choose to spam Arcane Missiles nonstop can I run out of mana. And an Arcane Barrage can have me back to full. Just feels... underwhelming. But that seems to be a theme in BFA. All the classes seem underwhelming. Maybe we got so used to being godlike in Legion with artifact weapons that losing that godliness has just made everything feel blah. Or maybe Blizzard decided to greatly underwhelm the classes and we have another Cataclysm on our hands.
Maybe my reading comprehension sucks, but I guess this is written entirely through the lense of end game raiding? If so, that's fine and I get it. I think it's somewhat shortsighted to ignore every other aspect of playing this game. I mean, in raiding, aside from the broken clearcasting meta gem in bc, I think arcane has always been virtually unraidable when compared to fire and frost. However, in a 3 dps class, I'm fine with one of those specs filling different purposes, and as of now arcane is just beastly in battleground pvp, an area of gameplay in legion that was better off just coming to terms that it wasn't for us. Some of the utility and survivbility are like nothing I've ever seen playing the Mage class. I feel like a destro lock in their prime. In a world of min/maxing I find it somewhat irrelevant if one spec lags here or there because there's zero chance all 3 are going to be completely equal and if one is even .1% more powerful ALL the top players will play that spec. So if we fall into a niche where arcane = bg/world pvp, frost = M+ (Arena), and fire = end game raiding, I'm entirely ok with that. Plus it gives you opportunity to actually use all three specs, which I think is more the point.
I've been saying this for a while, but Arcane is basically awful to play in the beta at the moment, which doesn't bode well for BfA's release
No, we're not just talking about end game raiding, it applies to everything. I pvp too, and I feel actually hobbled with these changes. I've read people talking about how "oh wow, leveling as arcane mage doesn't make me want to uninstall the game - how excellent", and it's stunning to think people believe that because you're able to get through leveling content the spec is in a good place. That'd be like saying, I was able to clear mythic hellfire citadel so the spec's just fine! Similarly with the "Oh I don't play the spec but when i tried it out I thought it felt good"; this has the problem that if players entirely unfamiliar with the spec have the ability to play it just about at its maximum potential then it means the spec has lost nearly all its complexity. Finally, to the "I don't mind if a spec sucks at just about everything, it's balance - give it world pvp"; that's just flat out saying I don't care about the spec which is not a valid opinion on the spec in a discussion about whether changes are good or bad.Instead, how about listen to the players who actually play arcane and have played it for a long time (a very long time). Since cata arcane has been the spec about having great burst given the right conditions and timing. Now the spec has lost nearly all it's burst in lieu of more spread out damage, which not only feels terrible but also is functionally ineffective. I wouldn't call this a nerf, I'd call it a break in that it has broken the core concept of the arcane mage and simultaneously nuked its viability.
"The addition of the buff application delay, similar to Frost’s Brain Freeze, also serves to reinforce this fluidity by eliminating loss of procs."Hey what does this mean? What is "buff application delay"? I main mage and have no idea what you're talking about
Don't like arcane rotation and damage these days...However i'm stayin arcane cause its a lot easier to do aoe for killing adds in open world while frost and fire need some casting and are time consuming...
Where are those "thoughts" of pro players? All I can see is just a summary of what has changed... I've read that like 10 times already in different articles on wowhead. wtf
Is there any good reason they made us only stack 1 AM charge instead of 3? Stockpiling them and then machinegunning them out at full stacks was fun.Now you can only hold one, and it doesn't feel as good. As long as frost is still playable and fire is still pretty fun though, I guess things will be ok, but I miss Legion Arcane already
Two simple things I'd like to see them consider:- Let Arcane Missiles be cast while moving (make it a talent if that's too powerful as baseline behavior)- Give a bonus to Arcane Missile damage based on arcane charges when clearcasting procs.