Cataclysm Class Preview: Mage

[Feedbot]

Cataclysm Class Preview: Mage (Mage Forum)
The last class getting a preview this week is the mage!

Paladin will have to wait next friday for their preview (see this post for more information).

Keep in mind that this is the only the beginning, things will get pretty wild in the next days and weeks!
<div class="blizzquotewrap"><div class="blizzquoteinner">Quote from: Blizzard (Source)
<div class="blizzquote">In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we

More...

 

[Notus]

O shit, gnomes with heroism >.<

 

[Draeleon]

Personal or raid wide?

 

[Notus]

Personal or raid wide?

its raidwide

 

[xikinna]

it's a better heroism with speed boost to mage.. now short gnome can run faster

 

[Draeleon]

Shlda been for warriors noooooooo

 

[Salogel]

yeah warriors really needed a boost in all forms of the game amirite

 

[Germaximus]

The more i read on other classes the more im pissed off about the priest class.

 

[Draeleon]

yeah warriors really needed a boost in all forms of the game amirite

Right! What do mages know about being heroic anyway.

 

[xctasy]

we dun need trillie heroism now.
go mage

 

[xctasy]

We are planning to remove spells that don't have a clear purpose. Amplify Magic, Dampen Magic, Fire Ward, and Frost Ward are being removed from the game, and we may remove more.
bah

 

[xctasy]

The Burnout talent will allow mages to cast spells using health when they run out of mana

this is kool

 

[Ely]

The Burnout talent will allow mages to cast spells using health when they run out of mana
l

They couldn't make mages catch up to locks, so now they gave lifetap to mages as a consolation?

 

[Vye]

We are planning to remove spells that don't have a clear purpose. Amplify Magic, Dampen Magic, Fire Ward, and Frost Ward are being removed from the game, and we may remove more.
bah

Yeah the wards are closely related to the Incanter's Absorption talent - maybe they are removing that too? That would be a shame because that is one way we can increase damage on a case by case basis - meaning that you actually have to be aware of incoming damage to take advantage of it rather than just use the same rotation on auto pilot.

 

[Vye]

I think the most significant thing here is this:

Mana Adept: Arcane will deal damage based how much mana the mage has. For example, Arcane mages will do much more damage at 100% mana than at 50% mana. If they begin to get low on mana, they will likely want to use an ability or mechanic to bring their mana up to increase their damage.

Wow. Mana efficiency is going to be crazy important. It is looking like arcane at least will be a high maintenance spec to get the most out of it. A feature like this will certainly widen the difference between an average arcane mage and a good one. Theoretical output will matter less and be much more situationally dependent. This is exciting stuff.
Will be interesting to see how the fire/arcane balancing plays out. Even if (for example) fire might be theoretically better over 6 minutes, this is the sort of situation where a good arcane mage could really shine.