Hi there, I play on the PvP server as a mage, 50 and counting. I have a few comments, don't take this as a flame or anything. Just an opinion.
"Improved Frost Nova
1 point â Decreases Frost Nova cooldown by 2 seconds.
2 points â Decreases Frost Nova cooldown by 4 seconds.
Two points buys the cooldown of Nova down from 25 seconds to 21 seconds. The impact will be assuredly minimal. Still, youâll have to take this if your frost build includes Shatter. By itself, itâs a junk talent."
On paper it seems junk but in pvp situations 4 seconds a long time, 4 seconds worth of distance, especially if they're slow which gives plenty of time to cast another spell. ie: another frostbolt.
"Wand Specialization
1 point â Increases your wand damage by 5%.
2 points â Increases your wand damage by 10%.
3 points â Increases your wand damage by 15%.
4 points â Increases your wand damage by 20%.
5 points â Increases your wand damage by 25%.
At first glance, this talent doesnât look very good. And, well, it really isnât. Most of the time youâll be casting spells â wands are just going to be finishers, if you bother training them to the point where you can hit something with them. However, itâs not all bad. A cursory examination of the wands in the game shows that most tend to have somewhere around 1.5x to double the damage of similar-level bows and guns, for the reason that castersâ agility (and therefore, ranged attack power), wonât be very high, and because you canât enhance wandsâ damage with ammo. It could be made to work, but Iâd advise putting points elsewhere."
Wand DPS is bugged I believe, if it works as (min+max)/speed like other ranged weapons. And depending on lag or not, you almost will never shoot your wand bolt after bolt anyhow. Wands give good bonuses and when you're low on mana, it is a good finisher indeed.
Most of your talent opinions are fairly accurate and are equal to mine as well.
My ideal talent build is:
Improved Fireball Rank 5
Impact Rank 5
Ignite Rank 5
Flame Throwing Rank 2
Incinerate Rank 1
Pyroblast Rank 1
Burning Soul Rank 3
Critical Mass Rank 3
Fire Power Rank 5
Fire Total: 30
Arcane Subtlety Rank 3
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Again I play on a PvP server so at any moment I could be attacked from behind and when I'm not looking and insta-cast spells are important. But being attacked from behind isn't a good thing so you have to have control. Even if things go wrong (rule number 1) You have presence of mind depending on how much health the guy attacking you has (usually full) so that you can either a) insta-pyro or B) insta-poly so that you can set up to you own leisure and work your way from there.
Blizzard is good in group PvP situations especially with the snare effect. 15% of normal speed is HUGE especially in a gigantic raid. Flamestrike has VERY little use in game. I don't think I've ever casted it for anything other then looks (and it doesn't look as good as the WarIII version either). And in instances IAE is the _BEST_ spell when surrounded by non elite mobs, such as the scarabs in Zul'Farrak, but only when your healers are willing to devote all their mana to heal you (since you are wearing paper after all) Your dps can actually break 1500 or so depending on how many mobs your tank rounds up for you. I personally hit 1675.38 with arcane explosion in maraudon when we aggroed up roughly 25 larvae.
Opinion: Your talent build shouldn't start with arcane missiles because it's not totally worth it at such low levels. You can usually finish mobs in 2-4 fireballs or 3-5 frostbolts up to around level 20. Around level 20 is when you notice the downtime increasing and you have to sit and drink more often. Around level 20 or so, you should consider getting improved arcane missiles and the clearcasting proc. Improved arcane explosion isn't needed until the higher level instances, Zul'Farrak or higher so you can plan that in around level 30+. However plan as you like because you should plan your talents around your playstyle and not conform to the 'ideal' build. Although some talents are seriously RECOMMENDED.
You should also let'em know bout the gigantic downtime we get starting at roughly level 35-50 ;)
"Improved Frost Nova
1 point â Decreases Frost Nova cooldown by 2 seconds.
2 points â Decreases Frost Nova cooldown by 4 seconds.
Two points buys the cooldown of Nova down from 25 seconds to 21 seconds. The impact will be assuredly minimal. Still, youâll have to take this if your frost build includes Shatter. By itself, itâs a junk talent."
On paper it seems junk but in pvp situations 4 seconds a long time, 4 seconds worth of distance, especially if they're slow which gives plenty of time to cast another spell. ie: another frostbolt.
"Wand Specialization
1 point â Increases your wand damage by 5%.
2 points â Increases your wand damage by 10%.
3 points â Increases your wand damage by 15%.
4 points â Increases your wand damage by 20%.
5 points â Increases your wand damage by 25%.
At first glance, this talent doesnât look very good. And, well, it really isnât. Most of the time youâll be casting spells â wands are just going to be finishers, if you bother training them to the point where you can hit something with them. However, itâs not all bad. A cursory examination of the wands in the game shows that most tend to have somewhere around 1.5x to double the damage of similar-level bows and guns, for the reason that castersâ agility (and therefore, ranged attack power), wonât be very high, and because you canât enhance wandsâ damage with ammo. It could be made to work, but Iâd advise putting points elsewhere."
Wand DPS is bugged I believe, if it works as (min+max)/speed like other ranged weapons. And depending on lag or not, you almost will never shoot your wand bolt after bolt anyhow. Wands give good bonuses and when you're low on mana, it is a good finisher indeed.
Most of your talent opinions are fairly accurate and are equal to mine as well.
My ideal talent build is:
Improved Fireball Rank 5
Impact Rank 5
Ignite Rank 5
Flame Throwing Rank 2
Incinerate Rank 1
Pyroblast Rank 1
Burning Soul Rank 3
Critical Mass Rank 3
Fire Power Rank 5
Fire Total: 30
Arcane Subtlety Rank 3
Improved Arcane Missiles Rank 5
Arcane Concentration Rank 5
Improved Arcane Explosion Rank 5
Improved Counterspell Rank 2
Presence of Mind Rank 1
Arcane Total: 21
Again I play on a PvP server so at any moment I could be attacked from behind and when I'm not looking and insta-cast spells are important. But being attacked from behind isn't a good thing so you have to have control. Even if things go wrong (rule number 1) You have presence of mind depending on how much health the guy attacking you has (usually full) so that you can either a) insta-pyro or B) insta-poly so that you can set up to you own leisure and work your way from there.
Blizzard is good in group PvP situations especially with the snare effect. 15% of normal speed is HUGE especially in a gigantic raid. Flamestrike has VERY little use in game. I don't think I've ever casted it for anything other then looks (and it doesn't look as good as the WarIII version either). And in instances IAE is the _BEST_ spell when surrounded by non elite mobs, such as the scarabs in Zul'Farrak, but only when your healers are willing to devote all their mana to heal you (since you are wearing paper after all) Your dps can actually break 1500 or so depending on how many mobs your tank rounds up for you. I personally hit 1675.38 with arcane explosion in maraudon when we aggroed up roughly 25 larvae.
Opinion: Your talent build shouldn't start with arcane missiles because it's not totally worth it at such low levels. You can usually finish mobs in 2-4 fireballs or 3-5 frostbolts up to around level 20. Around level 20 is when you notice the downtime increasing and you have to sit and drink more often. Around level 20 or so, you should consider getting improved arcane missiles and the clearcasting proc. Improved arcane explosion isn't needed until the higher level instances, Zul'Farrak or higher so you can plan that in around level 30+. However plan as you like because you should plan your talents around your playstyle and not conform to the 'ideal' build. Although some talents are seriously RECOMMENDED.
You should also let'em know bout the gigantic downtime we get starting at roughly level 35-50 ;)