Skip to Content

WoW.com has the latest on the upcoming WoW: Cataclysm expansion!
Joystiq

Posts with tag glyph-of-scorch

Arcane Brilliance: WoW patch 3.3 primer for mages

It's time again for another Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that loves mages and all things magey. Take this picture, for example. That's a mage right there. If I'm not mistaken, she's getting ready to do something magey. Like plant a Fireball deep in the fertile soil of a warlock's grill. Arcane Brilliance loves everything about that.

So apparently patch 3.3 could literally drop any moment. I'm not even kidding. It might have happened while I was typing that last sentence. I don't know. More likely, though, is that it will come (as per the usual deployment-method) during the upcoming Tuesday maintenance. This means we've only got a little time left before we can enter Icecrown Citadel and begin the patch-long process of shaking its inhabitants down repeatedly for loot. I, for one, cannot wait to place an Arcane Missile or five directly up Arthas' frosty tailpipe.

But what, exactly, does this patch bring to the mage class? I'm glad you asked. Though this patch is admittedly a bit heavy on the new raid content and light on class changes, mages are one of the few classes that are getting some pretty significant new junk. From increased raid utility for Arcane, to buffed-up AoE for Fire, to actual, honest-to-goodness competitive raid DPS for Frost, 3.3 is delivering a little of something for everybody. Join me after the break for a full recap of all the newness we can expect come patch day.

Read more →

Filed under: Mage, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Features, Classes, Talents, Buffs, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance

Patch 3.3 PTR: Mages get simplified Scorch, Frost changes

Fire mages are ablaze with joy over today's patch 3.3 PTR build, frost mages are a little iffy, and arcane is... pretty much completely untouched! Let's skip over any additional preamble and dig right in. Do note, however, that some of this is so far unconfirmed and comes from datamining. Considering these changes come from the PTR, any of it could change before patch 3.3 goes live.

Fire
  • Improved Scorch: The debuff from this talent no longer stacks, and instead can apply the full effect from a single cast of Scorch.
  • Glyph of Improved Scorch now increases the damage of your Scorch spell by 20%.
This is going to make a lot of raiding mages very happy. It essentially normalizes the debuff to match equivalent debuffs, like Improved Shadow Bolt. Streamlining an unnecessarily complicated debuff is a great thing. It'll lift a needless burden from mage DPS. And yes, there are mages getting drunk in celebration this evening. It's somewhat disturbing, really.

Read more →

Filed under: Mage, Patches, Analysis / Opinion

Around Azeroth

Around Azeroth

Our Writers

Elizabeth Harper

Editor-in-Chief

RSS Feed

Dan O'Halloran

Managing Editor

RSS Feed

Allison Robert

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Amanda Miller

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Amy Schley

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Basil Berntsen

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Anne Stickney

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Brian Wood

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

C. Christian moore

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Christian Belt

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Chase Christian

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Daniel Whitcomb

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Dawn Moore

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Dominic Hobbs

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Eliah Hecht

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Elizabeth Wachowski

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Fox Van Allen

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Gregg Reece

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Joe Perez

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Kelly Aarons

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Lisa Poisso

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Matt Low

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Mathew Mccurley

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Matthew Rossi

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Michael Gray

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Robin Torres

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Scott Andrews

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Tyler Caraway

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Zach Yonzon

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

More about WoW.com

Featured Galleries

Plushies in the Wild
Plushies in Captivity
Rob Pardo @ GDC: Making A Standard and Sticking To It
Gryphon Hatchling and Wind Rider Cub plushies
GM Island and the Player Jail
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: PvP Legacy Armor, Weapons and Mount Changes
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: New toys
Cataclysm models and doodads
Patch 3.3.3: New models

 

Categories