The Arcane Tales

Spanish Blog

2010-07-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday I'm also writting in The Arcane Tales (in spanish), a brother blog of this one you are currently reading. If you are from spain you will enjoy the spanish version a lot more.

(Just a quick update ^^)

5-Man Dungeon Set

2010-07-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

The Cataclysm 5-Man Dungeon Set has been found in the game files, WE RETURN TO CLASSIC!

This is the Mage Set

I'm a FIBer!

2010-07-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

I've good news from my academic life, I've entered FIB, the Computers and Programming Faculty of Barcelona, on September I'm starting university! yeeehay! This will be amazing, I'm anxious to start and learn lots of new things.
This will also help me in order to continue and improve the Simulator

Arcane Mage in Cataclysm

2010-07-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

Cataclysm, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, will shatter Azeroth and change it forever, so what will this affect the Mage Class?

New Spells & Changes to Abilities and Mechanics:

-Time Warp: Haste buff for the party/raid similar to Bloodlust/Heroism (Shaman Spell)

-Flame Orb: The Mage will cast a Flame Orb that will travel in straight line, you will cast it and leave it, no channeling :)

-Wall of Fog: 30-yard wide Wall of Fog in front of the target, it slows down and does damage. And it's not channeled so you can use it with Blizzard
-Arcane Missiles will be a proc-based spell

Is there a place for mages in the Cataclysm Expansion?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY YES and in my opinion a very important one, let me explain why: Cataclysm dungeons seem to be by far more dynamic than WotLK ones, being CCs, Stuns, Silences and all kinds of Class mechanics absolutely needed in order to succeed. Mages have one of the best CC spell in game: [Polymorph], and improved with the [Improved Polymorph] talent that will stun the target for 3 seconds if the target is damaged when polymorphed, what will become in a very important class for survival in Dungeons. We also have the [Counterspell], a ranged spell casting silence, that silences the target the magic school they were casting for 8 seconds. I don't think it's useful to get [Improved Counterspell] because mobs usually cast only one magic school spells. In order to control mobs we will have [Wall of Fog], and [Time Warp] that will be very useful for the raid/party (as much as it is nowadays Heroism/Bloodlust).

New Gear:

[Sanctified Bloodmage Hood]
[Muradin's Spyglass]
[Kilt of Untreated Wounds]
[Ashen band of Unmatched Destruction]

New Talents in WoWTal

2010-07-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

WoWTal, the talent calculator from MMO-Champion, has been updated with the last build talents

What do you think about your talent tree at this current moment?

New Computer: AlienwareM15x

2010-07-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

I'm buying a new computer (I NEED IT! my current computer can't even run World of Warcraft, in low settings, fluently) and I've decided that to buy the Alienware M15x. Also I'm going to start Computer Engineering this year so I needed a laptop, and I've chosen this one:

GPU nVidia Geforce GTX260M with 1GB graphical dedicated memory
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM (1.60Ghz, 6MB L3 cache)
RAM: DDR3 SDRAM de 4.096 MB a 1.333 MHz canal dual [2x2.048]

Cataclysm Instances

2010-07-21T03:44:00.000-07:00

I'm impressed by the first images and videos of the Cataclysm Instances and very, very happy, because as I see there are interesting mechanics and long fight bosses!

Take a look at this videos from Stonecore:

What do you think about the videos?

Warcraft News

2010-07-21T03:18:00.000-07:00

Some World of Warcraft News from MMO-Champion.com

cecrown Citadel Buff increased to 30%
The highest Icecrown Citadel Buff is now available, Strength of Wrynn and Hellscream's Warsong spells now increase your health, healing, damage, and damage absorption by 30%.

Interface

New strings have been added to the game files.
Archaeology
ARCHAEOLOGY_COMMON_COMPLETED = "Completed Common Artifacts";
ARCHAEOLOGY_COMPLETED = "Completed Artifacts";
ARCHAEOLOGY_KEYSTONE_ADD_TOOLTIP = "Click here to add a %s from your bag and reduce the amount of fragments needed to complete this Artifact.";
ARCHAEOLOGY_KEYSTONE_REMOVE_TOOLTIP = "Click here to remove this %s.";
ARCHAEOLOGY_NONE_COMPLETED = "You currently do not have any completed artifacts. Find fragments and keystones to complete artifacts.";
ARCHAEOLOGY_RARE_COMPLETED = "Completed Rare Artifacts";
ARCHAEOLOGY_RUNE_STONES = "Rune Stones";
Raids
RAID_SUMMON_FAILED = "The raid summon failed.";
RAID_SUMMON_FAILED_MEMBERS = "The raid summom failed because of the following members:";
Spell
SPELL_FAILED_IN_COMBAT_RES_LIMIT_REACHED = “You can no longer resurrect during combat”;
Classes

Death Knight (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Blood

Dark Simulacrum now costs 20 Runic Power and has a 1 min cooldown. (Old - No cost, 2 min cooldown)

Frost

Icy Touch no longer generates very high threat when in Frost Presence.

Unholy

Anti-Magic Shell - Damage absorbed no longer energizes the DK with additional runic power.
Ebon Plaguebringer now also affects Chains of Ice
Ghoul Frenzy now grants your pet 50% haste. (Up from 25%)
Unholy Frenzy now increases melee and ranged haste by 20%. (Up from 10%)

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Balance

Sleep (Tier 6) - Puts nearby enemies to sleep for up to 6 sec. Any damage caused will awaken them. / 80 Mana, 30 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
Feral Swiftness is now a Tier 1 Talent. Down from Tier 2.

Hunter (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Survival

Counterattack no longer costs mana.

Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Arcane

Mage Armor is now trained at level 68. Up from 64.
Arcane Explosion is now trained at level 58. Up from 56.
Mana Shield is now trained at level 46. Down from 52.
Arcane Intellect is now trained at level 52. Up from 48.
Conjure Mana Gem is now trained at level 48. Up from 46.
Slow Fall is now trained at level 32. Up from 26.

Fire

Frostfire Bolt is now trained at level 56. Down from 68.
Molten Armor is now trained at level 64. Up from 54.
Scorch is now trained at level 26. Down from 32.

Frost

Frost Nova is now trained at level 8. Down from 9.
Frostbolt is now trained at level 7. Down from 8.
Frost Armor is now trained at level 54. Up from 7.

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Holy

Healing Hands now has a 1 min cooldown.
Divine Plea is now trained at level 58. Down from 68.
Light's Beacon now affects each heal you cast on the target instead of just Holy Light and Holy Shock. Now heals the beacon for 50%. (Down from 100%)
Holy Wrath no longer scales from attack power and deals 2400 Holy damage divided among all targets within 10 yards.
Holy Shock now grants a charge of Holy Power.
Seal of Wisdom is gone.
Seal of the Pure now seems to have a chance to restore the Paladin's mana.
Holy Light is now trained at level 14. Up from 5.
Divine Light - A large heal that heals a friendly target for 7761.99 to 8648.14. Good for periods of heavy damage. / 30% of base mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
Divine Favor now increases your chance to critically hit with your next Word of Glory, Holy Shock, Flash of Light, Holy Light or Divine Light by 100%. / Instant, 1 min cooldown
Denounce - You have a 50/100% chance when any of your Holy spells get a critical effect to make your next Exorcism spell instant and cost no mana.
Sacred Cleansing is now a Tier 4 Talent. Down from Tier 5.
Infusion of Light is now a Tier 3 Talent. Down from Tier 4. It now only affects Holy Light. (No longer affects Divine Light)
Blessed Life is now a Tier 6 Talent. Up from Tier 4.
Enlightened Judgements is now a Tier 3 Talent. Down from Tier 4.
Healing Light now affects Words of Glory.
Tower of Radiance (NYI) *New* - Directly healing the target of your Beacon of Light has a % chance to generate Holy Power.
Judgements of the Pure is now a Tier 1 talent. Down from Tier 2.
Sanctified Light now affects Word of Glory and increases critical chance by 6/12%. (Up from 5/10%)
Speed of Light *New* - Casting Holy Shock grants 5/10/30% spell haste for your next Flash of Light, Holy Light or Divine Light, and casting Healing Hands grants you 10/20/60% movement speed for 10 sec. Also lowers the cooldown on Healing Hands by 10/20/30 sec at all times.
Clarity of Purpose *New* - Reduces the casting time of your Holy Light and Divine Light spells by 0.1/0.2/0.3 sec.

Protection

Shield of Righteousness is now trained at level 44. Down from 74.
Sacred Duty now only Reduces the cooldown of Divine Protection by 1/2/3 min.
Improved Crusader Strike has been replaced with Grand Crusader - When your Shield of Righteousness and Hammer of Righteousness deal damage, they have a 20% chance of refreshing the cooldown on your next Crusader Strike and causing it to hit for 50/100% additional damage.
Ardent Defender is now a Tier 4 talent. Down from Tier 5.
Divine Guardian is now a single rank talent and has been revamped (but is probably NYI) - Party or raid members within 30 take 20% reduced damage for 6 sec.
Holy Shield has been revamped - Increases your chance to block by 30% for 10 sec, and deals 97.8 Holy damage for every attack blocked. Consumes Holy Power to extend duration by 10 sec per stack of Holy Power. / 10% of base mana, Instant cast, 1 min cooldown
Hallowed Ground is now a Tier 3 talent. Down from Tier 4.
Vindication is now a Tier 5 talent. Up from Tier 4.
Shield of the Templar is now a Tier 6 talent and has been revamped - Increases the critical strike chance of your Shield of Righteousness by 5/10%. In addition, your Shield of Righteousness critical strikes have a 50/100% chance of making your next Judgement a critical strike.
Spiritual Attunement is gone.
Divine Sacrifice is gone.
Improved Exorcism is now Wrath of the Faithful - Increases the damage by 10/20% and critical strike chance by 10/20% of your Holy Wrath spell.
Improved Devotion Aura is now Protector of the Innocent - Your Auras reduce your damage taken by 1/2/3% and the amount healed on any target by 2/4/6%.
Sanctuary Reduces the chance you'll be critically hit by melee attacks by 2/4/6% instead of reducing damage taken from all sources.
Sacred Oath is gone.
Reckoning now gives you a 10/20/30% chance after blocking an attack for your next 4 weapon swings within 8 sec to generate an additional attack.

Retribution

Divine Storm - An instant weapon attack that causes 20% of weapon damage to up to all enemies within 8 yards. The Divine Storm heals up to 3 party or raid members totaling 25% of the damage caused. Consumes all applications of Holy Power to increase damage dealt:
1 Holy Power: 22% Weapon Damage
2 Holy Power: 50% Weapon Damage
3 Holy Power: 90% Weapon Damage / 20% of base mana, Instant cast
Crusader Strike now grants a charge of Holy Power.
Inquisition *New* - Consumes Holy Power to increase your Holy Damage by 30%. Lasts 10 sec per charge of Holy Power consumed. / 20% of base mana, Instant cast
Conviction is now a Tier 2 talent. Down from Tier 6.
Sanctity of Battle is now a Tier 3 talent. Down from Tier 6. Now reduces cooldown of Exorcism by 3/6 secs. (Up from 2/4 secs)
Swift Retribution is now a single rank talent increasing melee and ranged attack speed by 20%.
Fanaticism (Tier 4) is now Improved Judgement (Tier 2) - Increases the damage of your Judgement spell by 15% and decreases its cooldown by 3 sec.
Judgements of the Wise now grants you 40% of your base mana over 10 sec. (Old - immediately grants you 25% of your base mana)
The Art of War is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 3. It now has a 15/30% chance to proc from any melee attack (Old - 100% proc from Critical) and no longer reduce the casting time of Holy Light.
Seals of Retribution is now a Tier 4 talent. Up from Tier 3.
Eye for an Eye is now a Tier 1 talent. Up from Tier 2. It now gives you a 5/10% chance to cause 30% of the damage taken back to the attacker.
Righteous Vengeance is now a Tier 6 talent. up from Tier 2.
Improved Judgements is now Improved Crusader Strike - Increases the damage of your Crusader Strike by 15/30% and decreases its cooldown by 1.5/3 sec.
Heart of the Crusader is now a Tier 3 (Up from Tier 1) single-rank (Down from 3 ranks) talent.

Priest (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Holy

Healing Prayers is now Binding Prayers - Reduces the mana cost of your Binding Heal by 5/10%, and your Desperate Prayer also heals the lowest percentage health friendly party or raid target within 40 yards for 50/100% of the amount healed.

Rogue (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Assassination

Venomous Wounds now also gives you a chance to regain 3/6 Energy.
Focused Attacks is gone.
Master Poisoner is now a single rank talent - Increases the spell damage taken by any target you have poisoned by 8%, your Envenom has a 100% chance not to consume Deadly Poison, and the duration of all Poison effects applied to you is reduced by 50%.
Murderous Intent is now a Tier 5 Talent. Up from Tier 4.
Deadly Momentum now increases the critical chance of your next attack by 40% at both ranks.
Deadened Nerves now reduces damage taken by 3/7/10%. (Up from 2/4/6%)

Subtlety

Shadowstep no increases the damage of your next Ambush or Garrote. (Old - Increased the damage of the next ability)
Redirect *New* - Transfers any existing combo points to the current enemy target. / 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown

Shaman (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Elemental

Elemental Devastation is now an Enhancement talent.
Ancestral Knowledge is now an Elemental talent.
Improved Lava Lash is now a 2 Ranks talent (Down from 3). Increases the damage of your Lava Lash ability by 15/30%, and by an additional 10/20% for each of your applications of Searing Flames on the target, consuming those applications in the process.

Enhancement

Improved Shields is now a Tier 1 talent. Down from Tier 2.
Ancestral Swiftness is gone.
Frozen Power *New* - Increases the damage done by your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Lash and Shock spells by 5/10% on targets afflicted by your Frostbrand Attack effect, and your Frost Shock has a 50/100% chance to root the target in ice for 5 sec. when used on targets at or further than 15 yards from you.

Restoration

Earth Shield is now trained at level 10. (Down from 50)

Warlock (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Affliction

Bane of Doom - Curses the target with impending doom, causing 2213.37 Shadow damage every 30 sec. When Bane of Doom deals damage, it has a 25% chance to summon a Demon guardian. Only one Bane per Warlock can be active on any one target. / 15% of base mana, 30 yd range, Instant cast, 1 min cooldown
Jinx *New* - Your Curse of the Elements also effects all nearby enemy targets within 20/40 yards of the cursed target, and your Curse of the Weakness also reduces the targets energy, rage, focus or runic power generation by 5/10 while active.

Demonology

Ritual of Doom is now Summon Doomguard - Summons a Doomguard to fight beside you for 45 sec. The Doomguard will assist you by attacking the target which is afflicted by your Bane of Doom or Bane of Agony spell, and will sometimes dispel harmful magic effects from you. / 80% of base mana, Instant cast, 10 min cooldown, Reagents: Demonic Figurine
Inferno is now Summon Infernal - Summons a meteor from the Twisting Nether, causing 28.87 Fire damage and stunning all enemy targets in the area for 2 sec. An Infernal rises from the crater, under the command of the caster for 1 min. The Infernal deals strong area of effect damage, and will be drawn to attack targets afflited by your Bane of Agony or Bane of Doom spells. / 80% of base mana, 30 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 10 min cooldown, Reagents: Infernal Stone
Create Firestone is gone.
Create Spellstone is gone.
Detect Invisibility is gone.
Sense Demons is gone.
Unending Breath is gone.
Nemesis is now a Tier 5 Talent. Down from Tier 6. Now 2 ranks, down from 3.
Molten Core is now a Tier 4 Talent. Down from Tier 5.
Demonic Brutality is gone.
Hand of Gul'dan cast time has been increased from 2.5 to 3 sec.
Ancient Grimoire now increases the duration of your Infernal and Doomguard summons by 10/20 sec. (Up from 6/12 Sec)
Improved Succubus is gone.
Improved Healthstone is gone.
Improved Imp is gone.
Dark Arts *New* - Reduces the cast time of your Imp's Firebolt spell by 0.25/0.5/0.75 sec, increases the attack power bonus of your Felguard's Demonic Frenzy by 1/2/3% and increases the damage done by your Felguard's Shadow Bite by 5/10/15%.

Destruction

Empowered Imp now seems to gives your Imp's Firebolt a 6/12% chance to cause your next Soulfire spell to be instant cast within 8 sec. (Rank 2 Not Yet Implemented ... Could be a bug)
Bane of Havoc now lasts 5 min. Up from 2 min.
Nether Protection now reduces all damage by that spell school by 15%. (Down from 30%)
Afterburn is now named Burning Embers, now lasts 7 sec (Down from 10). The damage done by your Burning Ember effect cannot exceed [ 1/2% of Spell Power + 167.45 ] total damage.
Backlash now has a 13/26% chance to proc. (Up from 8/16%)
Shadowburn base damage has been increased by 23%. Now only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.
Improved Soul Fire now has a flat chance to increases your spell haste by 7/15% after you Soul Fire a target above 80% health.
Emberstorm now reduces the cast time of Soul Fire by 0.5/1 sec. (Down from 1/2 sec)
Bane no longer reduces the casting time of Soul Fire.
Improved Shadow Bolt is now Shadow and Flame - Increases the damage done by your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells by 4%, and your Shadow Bolt has a 33/66/100% chance to cause the Improved Shadow Bolt effect to the target.
The Improved Shadow Bolt effect causes the target to be vulnerable to spell damage, increasing spell critical strike chance against that target by 5% for 30 sec.
Shadowflame now also fears the enemies.

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Arms

Thunder Clap now decreases attack speed for 30 sec. Up from 10 sec.
Rend damage has been increased. Now deals [ 8.57% of Weapon Speed * AP + 60% of Weap. Min. Damage + 60% of Max. Weap. Damage ], up from [ 7.14% of MWS * AP + 50% of MWB + 50% of mwb ].
Second Wind is now a Tier 6 talent. Up from Tier 5.
Throwdown *New* - Knocks the target to the ground and stuns it for 5 sec. / 15 Rage, 5 yd range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown

Fury

Heroic Leap now decreases attack speed for 30 sec. Up from 10 sec.
Enraged Regeneration no longer consumes Enrage effects.
Berserker Rage now requires you to be in Berserker Stance.
Death Wish is now a Tier 3 talent. Down from Tier 5.
Rampage is now a Tier 4 talent. Down from Tier 5.
Heroic Fury now has a 30 sec cooldown. Down from 45 sec.
Even the Odds is now named Meat Cleaver.
Flurry is now a Tier 5 talent. Up from Tier 4.
Impending Victory is now a Protection Talent.
Piercing Howl is now a Tier 2 talent. Down from Tier 3.
Enrage now procs from any damage.
Unbridled Wrath now generates 5 rage points when you deal melee damage with a weapon. (Up from 1)
Enrage - After taking any damage, you have a 30% chance to become Enraged, giving you a 6% damage bonus for 12 sec. /
Raging Blow *New* - A mighty blow that deals 100% weapon damage from both melee weapons. Can only be used while Enraged. / 20 Rage, 5 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown

Protection

Shield Wall now reduces damage taken by 40%. Down from 60%.
Shield Block now costs 10 Rage and has a 30 sec cooldown. (Old - No rage, 1 Min cooldown)
Warbringer is now a Tier 6 Talent. Up from Tier 5.
Vigilance now let you gain vengeance as if 20% of the damage was done to you.
Sweep and Clear was changed to Thunderstruck - Your Thunder Clap leaves a crackling zone of energy on the ground for 5/10 sec, dealing 5.63 damage every sec to enemies that cross it.
Hold the Line now increases the critical strike and critical block chance by 10% for 5 sec.
Impending Victory *New* - Using Shield Slam on a target with 20% or less health has a 50/100% chance to allow the use of Victory Rush but that Victory Rush only heals for 5% of your health.

New Gear

2010-07-21T02:41:00.000-07:00

I have recently got some new gear (which I'm a little proud of) is from the very start from ICC10 (we have killed the first 6 bosses only):

[Bloodmage Hood]
[Bloodmage Gloves]
[Scourgelord Baton]
[Ashen Band of Greater Destruction]
[Signet of Putrefaction]

FallingLeavesandWings: The Anti Gear-Score Experience

2010-07-21T02:12:00.000-07:00

In the resto druid blog Falling Leaves and Wings, I saw some time ago an interesting article about an Anti Gear-Score experience. It's a very interesting article about a PUG raid to ICC25 without any kind of Gear Score filter and how, with some illusion and interest GearScore is less important.

Simulator News and Description of the project

2010-07-20T04:22:00.000-07:00

I have some news involving the simulator;

The first thing I have to do is to explain exactly WHAT is going to be.

I am planning to do something that could be called as "Raid Simulator + Personal Simulator",so, the simulator is going to have two parts, first the typical DPS simulator for a Character (but with some improvements; Fight Timeline with Spell casts, Procs, etc.., Possibility to set your own rotations, support for ALL classes, buffs, racials, CD's Logic with configuration, different settings based on boss fights, possibility to choose three types of simulation: Real, with median values, a), the second part is a Raid Simulator, so...

What is a Raid Simulator?

Imagine you import 10 (or 25) characters in the simulator, you specifiy (maybe the simulator himself can) which ones are Healers, Tanks and DPSs. You choose a boss and the program simulates the whole fight, then shows everything in a timeline, plus statistics, graphs for healing and damage, for mana efficiency etc... you can also specify the personal and global CD's logic at the beginning of the fight. It's a huge project so it will take time but if I can do all that it will be a powerful tool for guilds.

If everything works, it will be also great to define strategy in a map. For example, you are going to fight the Deathbringer, so you place everyone in his position in a map of the encounter and you define some logic in movements and casts and the program will simulate the fight using this logic. If I reach this in the program it will be an amazing tool for guilds and raids.

Give me some feedback in order to let me know what you like and what you don't like and tell me what would you like to see in my simulator.

PD: The next version of the simulator, with mage simulation, armory import, new interface, CD's logic, some useful graphs and Timeline should be available within the next weeks.

PD2: I would appreciate some comments :)

Simulator News

2010-07-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard but finally the simulator imports from Armory! (yeeeha!)
I've optimized a lot of code and I've made some graphics to try how the Toolkit Works.

I've also been re-designing the interface:

The Mage is Working: News

2010-07-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

I don't have so much time now to write here because I am working until August, but I have some news for you:

I'm working on a new version of the Simulator. I'm re-writing all the code using C#, doing all the code Object-Oriented and working hard to do it easily extensible (for further non-mage class support). I'll try to do some Armory Import also. It should be ready for the next week.
I have started raiding with and we have started ICC, I have 6/12 bosses killed and today we are going to try Putricide.
I've been developing a Blue Tracker for www.ddm-wow.com

Also I have to cancel my talent series as the talents have changed a lot, 31 point trees, 1 talent point every 2 levels, etc... I will post what's new and my opinion about it in the afternoon.

My new Interface [05/07/2010]

2010-07-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

And with my Druid (level 17)

Addons used:

PitBull4
Dominos
ButtonFacade
Chinchilla Map
Doom_CooldownPulse
ForteXorcist
HudMap
Mage Fever
Quartz3
Recount
SatrinaBuffFrame

Damage with WotLK Stats and Cataclysm Build: Part 1 Basic Rotation

2010-07-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

In the next series of posts I will do some comparisons between WotLK Arcane Build and Cataclysm Arcane Build shown in the previous post.

In this first part I will show the difference of damage and DPS (and tomorrow I will add DPM) so let's start!

I will define a basic rotation in Arcane as the rotation using the three main Arcane Spells: Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage and Arcane Missiles (with Missile Barrage proc), and the use of Arcane Barrage and Arcane Missiles only when Arcane Blast is stacked to 4.

WotLK Rotation: Arcane Blast x 4 + Arcane Missiles (if Missile Barrage procs) or Arcane Barrage (if Missile Barrage doesn't proc)

WotLK damage multipliers:

Torment of the weak (+12% = 1.12 mult.)
Spell Impact (+6% = 1.06 mult.)
Arcane Empowerment (+9% of spell power in Arcane Blast = +(spell power*0.09) / +45% in Arcane Missiles = +(spell power*0.45), +3% = 1.03 mult.)

Cataclysm Rotation: Arcane Blast x 4 + Arcane Barrage (does not consume Arcane Blast debuff + 100% chance to proc Missile Barrage) + Arcane Missiles

Cataclysm damage multipliers:

Improved Arcane Missiles (+9% = 1.09 mult. only Arcane Missiles)
Spell Impact (+6% = 1.06 mult. only Arcane Blast)
Torment of the weak (+6% = 1.06 mult.)
Arcane Instability (If pushbacked +60% = 1.6mult)
Arcane Empowerment (+9% of spell power in Arcane Blast = +(spell power*0.09) / +45% in Arcane Missiles = +(spell power*0.45))
Arcane Tactics (+3% = 1.03 mult.)
Spell damage mastery multiplier (+9.11% = 1.0911 mult.)
Mana Adept (+13.69% = 1.1369*(actual_mana/total_mana))

(Warning: This mana adept mechanic is just an assumption)+

Cataclysm stats multiplier

Spell haste mastery multiplier (+9.11% = 1.0911 mult.)

Now let's start calculations! (see after the break)

First let's imagine there's no critical strikes

Griwald WotLK Stats:

Intellect = 1,430

Spell Power = 2,442

Haste = 814

Griwald Cataclysm Stats:

Intellect = 1367

Spell Power = 2,442 - Intellect*0.15 = 2,227

Haste = 814 * 1.0911 = 888.15

The WotLK rotation will deal

(100% + 118% + 136% + 168%) x Arcane Blast damage x mult. + 186% x Arcane Missiles damage x mult. =

= 522% x Arcane Blast damage x mult. + 186% x Arcane Missiles damage x mult. =

= 5.22 x Arcane Blast damage x mult. + 1.86 x Arcane Missiles damage x mult. =

= (5.22 x Arcane Blast x 1.12 x 1.03 x 1.06) + (spell power*0.09) + (1.86 x Arcane missiles damage x 1.12 x 1.03 x 1.06) + (spell power*0.45) =

= (6.38 x Arcane Blast damage) + (spell power*0.09) + (2.27 x Arcane Missiles damage) + (spell power*0.45) =

= (6.38 x Arcane Blast damage) + (2.27 x Arcane Missiles damage) +1318.7 =

= (6.38 x 3245.1) + (2.27 x 6389.8) + 1318.7=

36527 damage

cast time = 4 x AB + 1xMB = 4 x 2.5 + 1 x 2.5 = 12.5 sec. - (12.5 * ((haste / 32.79)) / 100)) = 9.39

DPS = damage/time = 36527/9.39 = 3.889,98 damage/sec

The Cataclysm rotation will deal

(5.22 x Arcane Blast x 1.06 x 1.03 x 1.06 x 1.0911 x 1.1369) + (spell power*0.09) + (1.86 x Arcane Barrage x 1.06 x 1.1369 x 1.0911 x 1.03) + (1.86 x Arcane missiles damage x 1.06 x 1.03 x 1.09 x 1.0911 x 1.1369) + (spell power*0.45) =

= (7.49 x Arcane Blast) + (2.51 x Arcane Barrage) + (2.74 x Arcane Missiles) + 1202.6=

47217.55 damage

cast time = 4 x AB + 1 x ABa + 1 x MB = 14 sec - (14*((haste/32.79)/100) = 10.208 sec

DPS = damage/time = 74134/10.208 = 4625.54 damage/sec

If we were affected by pushback the difference will be of 3,372.36 DPS and 37,607 damage.

If not the difference will be of 735.56 DPS

So it is a huge difference.

Cataclysm Mage Talents

2010-07-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

The Cataclysm Mage Talents are now available so I have tried to prepare an Arcane PvE Build for Cataclysm without knowing too much about the spell changes and how this will affect rotation.

I link the Wowhead calculator with this build here

Now I'm going to explain why I've chosen or not every talent.

ARCANE TREE

Tier 1

Improved Polymorph 0/2: Damage dealt is delayed for 1.5/3 secs. when hits a polymorphed target.
I don't think it has a lot of interest in advanced raiding.
Arcane Focus 2/3: When a spell you cast is resisted. 25%/50%/75% of the mana cost of that spell is refunded.
Let's see if this is useful to restore mana
Arcane Stability 1/2: Reduces the pushback while casting Arcane Missiles and Arcane Blast.
You don't want to reduce fully reduce pushback as Arcane Inestability will gain you 60% more damage when pushed back, but a 50% reduction will increase DPS
Improved Arcane Missiles 3/3: Increases damage caused by Arcane Missiles in 3%/6%/9%.
Improvement in damage of one of your most important spells.

Tier 2

Arcane Fortitude 0/3: Increases Armor.
Absolutely useless in PvE.
Magic Absorption 0/2: Increases Resistances and the spells you fully resist restore 1% of your total mana.
Maybe not useless in PvE but I think there are more important talents.
Arcane Concentration 5/5: 10% chance to get Clearcasting (+ proc Arcane Potency with the talent)
Absolutely necessary, mana efficency + Arcane Potency proc (+30% critical strike chance)

Tier 3

Magic Attunement 0/2: Increases range of your arcane spells by 3/6 yards.
Not useful.
Spell Impact 3/3: Increases the damage of Arcane Explosion, Arcane Blast, Blast Wave, Fire Blast, Scorch, Fireball, Ice Lance and Cone of Cold by an additional 6%
Damage increase in the basic Arcane spell.Arcane Repulsion 0/3: Frost Armor, Mage Armor and molten Armor cause successful melee attack to knock the attacker back 4 yards and be slowed by 50% for 2 sec. Cannot occur more than once a minute.
Not useful in PvE.

Focus Magic 1/1: Target's chance to critically ht by 3%. When the target critically hits the caster's chance to critically hit increases by 3% for 10 sec.
Very useful.

Tier 4

Arcane Shielding 0/2: Increases resistences granted by mage armor by 25% and mana lost per point of damage in Mana Shield by 17%.
Useless in PvE.
Improved Counterspell 0/2: Silences target for 2 seconds.
Useless in PvE.
Arcane Meditation 3/3: Regeneration of 3% of your maximum mana every 5 seconds
Amazing talent for mana efficiency
Torment of the weak 3/3: Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage damage increased by 6% against snared or slowed targets

Tier 5

Improved Blink 0/2: Reduction of mana cost and reduced chance to be hit.
Useless in PvE.
Presence of Mind 1/1: Next mage spell becomes an instant cast.
Procs Arcane Potency (+30% critical strike chance) and increase in DPS as instant casts only triggers GCD.
Arcane Mind 5/5: Increases intellect by 10%
In order to have a larger mana pool, very good for arcane mages (Mana adept)

Tier 6
Prismatic Cloak 0/3: Reduces damage taken by 2% and fade time of invisibility by 1 sec
Useless in PvE environment
Arcane Potency 2/2: +30% critical strike chance after gaining presence of mind or clearcasting.
Absolutely necessary.
Arcane Inestability 3/3: When your spells are pushed back or interrupted, your next damaging spell cast within 12 seconds causes 60% more damage.
Pure awesomeness.
(17k crits * 1.60 = 27.2k) + Missile Barrage ( 6k/tick = 30k * 1.6 = 48k)

Tier 7

Arcane Empowerment 3/3: Increases the damage of Arcane Missiles by an amount equal to 45% of your spell power and arcane blast by 9% of spell power.
Empowerment of the two principal abilities.
Arcane Power 1/1: 20% more damage with 20% more mana cost when activated. Lasts 15 sec.
We will have to test if this increases DPS as mana adept increases damage when you have more mana and this wastes a lot of mana but as there are now a lot of talents helping mana efficiency I think this will increase DPS.
Incanter's Absorption 3/3: When Mana Shield, Mage Ward or Ice Barrier absorbs damage your spell damage is increased by 15% of the amount absorbed for 10 sec.
I think this talent along with [Frost Warding] from Frost tree will make very useful to have Mage Ward active.

Tier 8

Arcane Tactics 3/3: Increases damage of all party and raid by 3%
Useful Aura for Raid
Arcane Flows 2/2: Reduces de CD of Presence of Mind, Arcane Power and Invisibility by 30% and de CD of evocation by 2 min.
Reduction of the principal short-time buffs CDs + evocation (mana efficiency)
Improved Mana Gem 3/3: Mana gained from your Mana Gem also increases spell power by 3% of your maximum mana for 10 sec.
Again pure awesomeness. With my mana this days (up to 29000 buffed the spell power gained is about 870 in cataclysm will be amazing.

Tier 9

Slow 0/1: Reduces target's movement speed by 60%, increases time between ranged attacks by 60% and increases casting time by 30%.
I'm doubting about if this would be useful in raid environment, I think the target will be snared or slowed without need of this in order to have active torment of the weak.
Missile Barrage 5/5: Gives you Arcane Barrage a 100%, your Arcane Blast a 40% and Fireball, Frostbolt and frostfire bolt a 20% to reduce the channeled duration of the next Arcane Missiles by 1.5 secs.
Great improvement in DPS, specialy because Arcane Barrage will not consume the effect of Arcane Blast and has a 100% chance of procing Missile Barrage.

Tier 10

Netherwind Presence 3/3: Increases your spell haste by 6%.
Vital for Arcane Mages.
Spell Power 2/2: Increases critical strike damage bonus of all spells by 50%
Amazing increase in critical strike damage bonus.

Tier 11

Arcane Barrage 1/1 : Launches several missiles causing 1124 to 1372 Arcane Damage. Does not consume the effect of Arcane Blast.
Amazing Improvement of this Spell, now is going to be a important part of the rotation because of the 100% chance to proc Missile Barrage.

FROST TREE

Tier 1

Frostbite 0/3: Chance to freeze the enemy.
If we could reach the [Shatter] talent we would love this talent but now is useless
Improved Frostbolt 3/5: Reduces the casting time by 0.3 sec
Frostbolt will make Torment of the weak be active all the time, and also used to reach Tier 2
Ice Floes 2/2: Reduces the CD of Frost Nova, COne of Cold, Ice Block and Icy Veins.
Reduction of some important CDs

Tier 2

Ice Shards 0/3: Critical strike damage bonus of frost spells increased by 33/66/100%
Frost is not our main way of attack so useless.
Frost Warding 2/2: Mage Ward a 30% to negate the warded damage and restore mana equal to the damage caused.
Amazing mana restoration talent.
Precision 3/3: Reduces the mana cost and increases your chance to hit with spells by 3%
Reduction of mana cost (mana efficiency) and lower hit rating needed in order to cap
Permafrost 1/3: Increases Chill effects by 1 sec, reduces target speed by 4% and healing by 8%
Healing is quite useless, but this will allow torment of the weak to be active 1 more second .

Tier 3

Piercing Chill 0/2: Frostbolt criticals apply chill effects to 1/2 additional targets.
Useless
Icy Veins 1/1: Increases spell casting speed by 20% and reduces pushback by 100%
One of the most important CDs.
Improved Blizzard 3/3: Lowers the target's movement speed by 50%
Just to reach next Tier

Tier 4

Frost Channeling 3/3: Reduces the mana cost of all spells by 10%.
Mana efficiency talent

As the most important tree is arcane, mastery affects
Increasing Spell Damage in a 9.11%
Granting a 9.11% of complementary spell haste
Increasing spell damage dealt by a % based on mana unspent: 13.69%

Now rotation should be something like Mage Ward (when expired), Frostbolt (Torment of the weak) (Scorch ?) , Arcane Blast x 4, Arcane Barrage, Missile Barrage.

In bursts Mage Ward, Frostbolt, (Scorch?), Arcane Power, Icy Veins, Time Warp, Arcane Blast x 2, Mana Gem, Arcane Blast x 2, Arcane Barrage, Missile Barrage.

That's all for now

Tomorrow I will write some conclusion because now I'm tired.

New Items & Good News

2010-07-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

I got [Frost Needle] and [Sister's Handshrouds] today.

I am now part of the Staff of Distrito de Mercaderes (Trade District in Spanish) Thank you for that DdM!

Working on Theorycraft and Cataclysm Screenshot #2

2010-06-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'm a little busy doing some research as well as well as gathering everything I have in a comprehensive way. I beg your pardon as you will have to wait a little bit more.

Abyssal Maw

Cataclysm Screenshot of the day

2010-06-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Southern Barrens

Game Archives Models

2010-06-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Watching through game archives I've found some interesting stuff, models of the Twilight hammer (the first raid encounter we will find in Cataclysm, leader: Cho'gall disciple of C'Thun), of Ruby Sanctum (part of the Twilight Hammer), a burnt Hippogryph, a Jade Tiger and the rocket mount and a few more things.

After the break you can see the images

Jade Tiger

Burnt Hippogryph

Cupid

Hippogryph Mount

Modified Lich (Minister of Death)

Orc Drake Raider

Rocket Mount

Ruby Sanctum

Ruby Sanctum Door

Ruby Sanctum Sky

Ruby Sanctum Trees

Twilight Hammer

Twilight Drake

Twilight Altar

Twilight Hammer Magical Device (Wind, Earth, Fire, Water)

Twilight Hammer Spanners

Twilight Hammer Summoning Portals (I suppose Wind, Water, Fire, Earth)

Cataclysm Mage Changes

2010-06-29T05:54:00.000-07:00

First I am going to talk about a general change MASTERY that will help us understand some of the changes in the Mage class

Mastery is a new addition in Cataclysm, it gives you some bonuses depending on how far you are in a talent tree, so it is a new way of character progression. It will basically give you 3 bonuses:

Role: It will increase the effect of the intended role for the tree, Damage, Healing, Tanking/Survivability
Stat: The second bonus will be related with the most important stat in the tree
Unique Effect: A unique effect for that tree granting you some important bonus you can not get if you are not specialized. This unique effect will be benefited by the new stat: Mastery Rating that will be found in gear between level 80-85

Ok so... how this will affect the Mage Class?

In the first bonus: Role; is clearly Damage Dealing either for Arcane, Fire and Frost
In the Stat Bonus will change, in Arcane the bonus will affect Haste being this the most important stat in this tree, in Fire the affected Stat will be Spell Crit, and in Frost Spell Crit Damage (the multiplier of damage if you get a crit)
Tree Bonus, here is where you benefit mostly from the mastery system. In Arcane your damage will be affected by the mana the caster has at a given moment in time, so you will deal more damage when you are at 100% of your mana that when you are at 50%, the bonus is named Mana Adept. In Fire all direct-damage Fire spell will add a DoT (Damage-over-Time) to the target: Ignite. The Frost bonus is similar to the Arcane Blast debuff, when you cast a Frostbolt, you will increase the damage for all Frost, Fire and Arcane spells. Frostbolt will no be affected by this increase (No more Frostbolt spam!)

More after the break!

New Spells

Flame Orb (level 81): Mages will be able to cast a ball that will travel in straight line, the amazing thing about it is that is not going to be channelled, you will cast and forget about it. It will continuously doing AoE damage to all nearby enemies. There will be a Mage Talent that will allow the ball to explode when it reaches it's destination.

Time Warp (level 83): A haste buff similar to Heroism/Bloodlust that will share the debuff Exhaustion/Sated. There will be also a speed bonus for the mage.

Wall of Fog (level 85): An area similar to Frost Trap that will slow down enemies and deal damage to them. Is not a channelled spell so you can use it along with other spells.

Mechanics

Arcane Missiles will be a proc spell, each time the mage does damage there's a chance to Arcane Missiles to be available. The damage and mana cost will be changed in order to be something you want to use when it procs.
Amplify Magic, Dampen Magic, Frost Ward, and Fire Ward will be removed from the game as they are practically unused and does not have any clear use.
A change I didn't expect!: The ability to conjure food and drink will become available around level 40. At first when I read that I thought: "Poor new mages they are going to spend a lot on money on buying water because when I was at level 15 I was resting after every mob". But it seems Blizzard will increase the mana regeneration at low levels.
Scorch will give a damage bonus to fire spells and some more benefits, improved by talents, will be a spell every mage will use.

Talent Changes

Arcane Focus will return mana for every spell that don't hit the target (Bad news).
Playing with fire will reduce the cooldown of blast wave when hit melee.
Pyromaniac will grant a haste bonus when 3 or more mobs are affected by Fire DoTs
Burnout will allow mages to cast spells using health when they run out of mana

In conclusion, I think mages will be a most dynamic class to play in Cataclysm thanks to the masteries, the Arcane Missiles proc and the Scorch.
I don't like the Arcane Focus change and I expect a little bit more Hit in gear with Haste because if not getting Hit Capped with an Arcane Mage will be a sacrifice. Burnout, I think is interesting for leveling and PvP (more than in raid except we have a lot more stamina). Pyromaniac is great and will increase the DPS in large pulls and in bosses with adds and will be an important part of the rotation.
The new spells are quite interesting, for Arcane Mages Time Warp will be amazing, Wall of Fog will add survivability, and Flame Orb will be good at PvP and maybe in PvE.
So that's all, when we have some new information I will upload it.

Griwald