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World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm Release Date Set →

Set your callanders people. Its almost here. Azoroth changes forever on December 7th.

Source: The Escapist

whatsthedaily:

Today is not really a slow news day as we’ve leraned patch 4.0.1, which will continue the series of pre-Cataclysm events, will go live on Oct. 5 or 12. One of the two dates.

What I really wanted to talk about was Arcane Mages in Cataclysm.

There are quite a few changes incoming.

Arcane is already a pretty unique spec, but it’s diverging further from Fire and Frost via the talent Improved Mana Gem and the specialization Mana Adept. Imp Mana Gem’s tooltip says, “Mana gained from your Mana Gem also increases your spell power by 2% (2/2) of your maximum mana for 10 seconds. If you have 40,000 mana, that’d be an 800 spell power, independent of any other +sp buffs you may have. That alone sounds pretty good, even if you have plenty of mana, right? Well having plenty of mana is the point, because the specialization Mana Adept means Arcane mages will do more damage the more mana they have. In other words, one of your goals as an Arcane Mage is to keep your mana levels as high as possible, all the time. It also means you’ll want to use your cooldowns when your mana is high, to get the biggest DPS increase from those cooldowns.

Arcane Mages will no longer have Icy Veins (out of the Frost tree), because getting Icy Veins would require them to skip their ultimate talent, Arcane Power, the activated ability that gives them +20% damage at a 20% higher mana cost per spell. Also, Arcane Mages will be given Heroism/Bloodlust, which will be identical to the Shaman spell but be called Time Warp. Any Mage can cast this spell, not just Arcane mages. The point is that Time Warp will function in lieu of Icy Veins for Arcane Mages. Except it’s better — Time Warp lasts quite a bit longer than Icy Veins and the haste buff will extend to the entire party/raid now.

Talented, Missile Barrage will always be on — Arcane mages no longer have to wait for the proc. With no new damaging spells from the Arcane tree, you might be wondering why Blizzard would make a herpderp spec even herpderpier. Only Saurfang knows, guys. I guess Blizzard figures you’ll be too busy watching your mana levels to watch for Missile Barrage procs. Arcane Barrage is getting buffed, but it appears it still is really for hitting stuff on the run.

Arcane Mages may be using Fire Orb on trash. I can’t tell with 100% certainty, but it appears that talented, Arcane Explosion will once again be Arcane’s main AOE ability (not Blizzard). Close combat ftl?

My biggest question is whether or not Arcane Mages should use Mage Armor or Molten Armor. Molten Armor, which in Wrath is the armor all mages use, increases Mages’ crit chance relative to their total spirit, but Mage Armor will allow Arcane Mages to retain more mana over the course of a fight, which in turn would keep the Mages’ damage higher than if they used Molten Armor. A Prime Glyph allows more mana regeneration with Mage Armor on. It may be that max Arcane DPS requires the creative uses of both armors — for example, starting a fight with Molten Armor, popping cooldowns, nuking the shit out of the boss, then switching to Mage Armor until cooldowns are back up.

One thing I do know — Arcane Mages, stock up on mana potions. You’ll still have Mana Gems and Evocation, but you’ll want that one extra mana boost to keep your max DPS up.

I’ve taken a stab at an Arcane raid build. I’m not sure about this, as I feel I’m throwing away 3-4 points on talents that don’t seem all that useful in boss fights. It is clear that there’s no point specing any deeper than the first tier in either Fire or Frost.

Last note: Beta testers have been saying Arcane and Fire are actually pretty horrible when it comes to leveling, so Frost seems to be retaining its crown as Queen of the Leveling Specs.

-Sees 4.0.1 date-

-lets all the stuff about mages go over his head but rebloggs so it’ll be around for when he makes one-

YESSSSSSSSS

(via dorkisms)

octopansy Asked:

I'm excited for it all. I can't wait to experience all the changes they made to the land. Plus, I usually play troll, and they changed starting area, so it looks amazing. Kinda really pissed that the Alliance gets Worgens. They seem more like something that should belong to the Horde, while we get goblins. I watched the trailer today, and almost stopped breathing.

Questionable Opinions Answered:

Actually, to someone who knows the Lore, the Gilneans belong on the alliance. Besides, they aren’t always in their worg form, usually they just look like standard humans. Goblins, (even though i plan to despise them with the same intensity i do gnomes) on the other hand, are very hordeish, especially when you figure in what that idiot Garrosh is gonna start doing to it.

Also, other thing that makes me mad in Cata…. Tauren Paladins… I am making am ally JUST to hunt Cow-lidans.

octopansy Asked:

are you excited for cataclysm?

Questionable Opinions Answered:

In short: OMGCATACLYSMIMSOHYPEOMG

In slightly longer, yes, i am excited for cataclysm. I am interested in how they are gonna balance the new talent trees, ready to see some cool new dungeons, and get some awesome new gear.

One thing I am most decidedly NOT excited about: Garrosh as Warchief… I pledged my self to Thrall’s Horde, not that psychopath’s definition of it.