Looking at Cataclysm through Mage Colored Glasses
With the Beta in full swing and rumors floating around the Internet regarding what is happening to each class I thought that I would take you through a look at what has been seen as far as changes to the Mage class. We all know that Blizzard is making some pretty major changes to every class in the game and this week I thought maybe you would like a little insight as to what I have seen happening to the Mage so far. Remember this is still Beta information and the final results may vary.
Any way you slice it, from an Ice Lance that has been beefed up to more stamina than ever, the lowly Mage that has been so heavily nerfed for so long is finally going to get some of his mojo back. Changes in both spells that you have and new ones as well as major modifications in the talent trees will account for much of this new found power, the rest of it will be in learning how to play with all the changes that are being seen.
To start with Mages will be getting a total of three new spells in Cataclysm, which while it may not seem like many, when you combine them with the changes to the talent tree and the gear stats, are more than ample. I was watching someone play their level 81 mage in the Beta and they definitely had some serious killing power.
Here is a look at the three new spells you will be getting in Cataclysm, however remember this information is Beta only and may change by the release date:
|
Level 81 |
Level 83 |
Level 85 |
|
Flame Orb |
Curtain of Frost |
Time Warp |
| This spell will cast a flaming orb that will travel in a straight line out from you. As it travels it will also hit enemies along the way with beams of fire energy until it hits its intended target and explodes. You can continue casting more spells to stack extra damage. | This is a crowd control spell that will place a wall of frost 30 yards long on the ground. The curtain will trap all enemies who enter it, giving you plenty of time to stack Blizzard on top of it and do massive amounts of damage. | This is a spell that will grant your entire party Haste and affects them in much the same way as Bloodlust and Heroism. It will stack with either unless you have Exhaustion cast on you, in which case you will only benefit from Time Warp. |
| Damage Done = 477 Fire per second for a total of 15 seconds.
Cool Down is one minute. |
Damage Done = 2522 Frost Damage.
Movement reduced by 70% over 4 seconds. Total duration 15 seconds. Cool down is two minutes. |
Bonus = 30% Haste to all casters, melee attacks and DPS for 40 seconds. |
Additional Changes that Will Help Out
While adding new spells is a definite plus, Blizzard is getting rid of a bunch of useless fluff such as Dampen and Amplify Magic as well as both the Frost and Fire Wards. Since no one really uses them, no one is likely to miss them and some of these will be built in as passive abilities. Your stamina is going to get a major boost and as such you should not need food or water to keep going, Blizzard is so sure of this that you won’t be able to conjure either until you hit level 40 when rumor has it you will be getting something similar to a Mana Biscuit.
The Big Change is in the way that Arcane Missiles will work in Cataclysm, up until now this has been a cast spell, after the release of the expansion it will be a proc instead. In other words it will work a lot like Overpower does for Warriors. Every time one of your spells does damage, there is a chance that it will proc Arcane Missiles. Lower level Mages will gain extra damage benefits from having this type of spell.
Overall this is just a hint as to what you can expect when you take your Mage into Cataclysm, there are some major changes to the talent tree that I will cover next time. Until then keep building up your gold reserves, you are going to need them!
The list of “Mounts and/or Pets NightSkye wants for Cataclysm” is just getting longer and longer! Thanks to 
The Dark Phoenix Mount has been given animations now and all I can say is that I want one so so badly! You can bet that I will be pulling my weight doing whatever is needed for this mount to be available. Check out the animations video 
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