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10.2.7
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Mage PvP Guide
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Post by
Achloryn
There's a couple ways of looking at this.. Personally, I think the 4pc pvp bonus is bunk. .15s off of your poly spell won't really be much noticable in the grand scheme of things. However, as you mentioned, the 2pc set bonus of t7 gear you will DEFININTELY feel every time you pop a mana gem.
However, the downside of not using full gladiators gear is a serious lack of health... Even the t8/8.5 gear doesn't offer as much in the way of health as the pvp gear.. There's also no spirit on
any
of the pvp gear, and that affects your mana regen as well as your crit chance... The amount of intel on gladiators gear is also... modestly laughable.
A good talent would be
Arcane Fortitude
which provides you armor instead of the lost health equiping PvE gear (but i'm not sure if this makes a significant difference when fighting against melee opponents).
Well, the problem with arcane fortitude is that the amount of armor it gives you is almost laughable.. If you max it out, and have ice armor on.. you'll have about as much armor as your common rogue or druid in caster form... which is to say, still not very much. It might make you last a
little
bit longer against melee classes, but not enough to make it worth the 3 points, IMO.
So here's how you have to look at things.. More health vs more mana. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to run out of mana quite a bit when i'm pvping, especially if you're against a healing class or some class you have to spellsteal dry. So I think the gear that you wear would be pretty situational
Well I'm pretty sure that when fighting against healers the most common thing to do is to sheep them when their HoTs are up and use evocation if you are low on mana (things become more harder against a tree obviously). But after many minutes of continuous combat, healers would be the winners. So i believe it would be good to have an enchant or two on your gear which gives Intellect or Mana if you are full PvP geared. Also the meta gem
Ember Skyflare Diamond
could provide you a small amount of Intellect since mages dont need resilience on their gems and generally.
You're right on both counts... If a fight with a healer (especially a druid) goes on for a couple minutes, you won't win, cause they'll win the mana war, and you'll end up trying to find a safe place to evocate while their partner comes and murders you. The ember skyflare meta CAN be useful, but overall I would say that the chaotic is still a better choice... mainly because that extra crit damage will negate
some
of the resilience that your opponents have. Also, until they fix mages and resilience, it almost seems like you're fighting a losing battle for having any at all.. So you're right.. Most people would gem/enchant for SP and Intel over all else.
Post by
347090
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Achloryn
I'm wondering about dinging 80. I have this great dream of PvPing till the cows come home and getting gear. However I am lvl 74 and this is my top Character. After reading tons of threads and of course this very guide I guess I need to know whats gonna happen when I hit 80.
My main goal is to PvP in battlegrounds and Arena. In arena's I plan to spec frost and in BG I will probably spec some sort of PoM fireball homebrew.
So I guess my main question is I wanna PvP in arena as soon a possible what should I do?
--Should I just run heroics and then raid for PvP gear?(Im under the understanding you can get PvP gear from raiding)
----Should I just BG all day long and honor grind to the gear I need?
To be honest I have just realized that I have been focusing on getting to 80 and dont really have a plan for after I ding.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated (even if its a link to the thread I should have checked).
For PvE I understand I need to run heroics till I get good gear and then start running raids.
the only actual
raid
that drops pvp gear is vault of archavon. However, you can use heroism badges to buy your first set of pvp gear, the Savage Gladiator's set. so you can get a halfway decent set simply by grinding your heart out in heroics. If you don't have any real pve endgame ambitions, this would probably be your best course of action. With the savage set, you'll probably stand a much better chance of doing well in BGs, thus making honor farming in there much quicker, thereby making it easier to get the Hateful Gladiator's set. If you do have some actual raiding in mind, then your heroism badges are going to be tossed up between some t7 gear and your pvp gear.. prioritizing is really up to you, but you could still get a good chunk of gear in a few days time if you farm those heroics hard.
the problem with honor farming in BGs is.... it's very time consuming.. You would be very well served hitting every Battle for Wintergrasp you can.. that brings in tons of honor, for very little real work in comparison, and you can also get some REALLY nice gear from their quartermaster (
Titan-forged hood of Salvation
, for example, is one of the most widely used head items.. and it's also quite good for pve.. Probably wouldn't be replaced by anything short of t7.5)
tl:dr, Hit WG every chance you get. Prioritize where you spend your heroism badges with what YOU want out of your level 80 mage. WG PvP gear is a very solid choice, and modestly easy to farm as well.
Post by
307382
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
nerform
i wonder about the gear. i've seen some mages that have 3/5 gladiators and 2/5 frostfire (t7.5). they will probably want the special ability that gives +SP when consuming a gem. Is this better than the 4/5 PvP that lowers the casting time of your polymorph?
frostfire shoulders and legs are the best pve items u can bring to pvp
2pc bonus of t7.5 is good (pretty good) but u will also want them for the hit rating they give (u want to be hit caped) and most important the
haste
rating
go for this its much better then 4pc pvp bonus
Post by
Achloryn
i wonder about the gear. i've seen some mages that have 3/5 gladiators and 2/5 frostfire (t7.5). they will probably want the special ability that gives +SP when consuming a gem. Is this better than the 4/5 PvP that lowers the casting time of your polymorph?
frostfire shoulders and legs are the best pve items u can bring to pvp
2pc bonus of t7.5 is good (pretty good) but u will also want them for the hit rating they give (u want to be hit caped) and most important the
haste
rating
go for this its much better then 4pc pvp bonus
if you can't get 6% hit from your ring, necklace, trinkets, and other gear that doesn't belong to sets... there's some other serious problems shambling about.
Post by
nerform
i prefer haste for my necklace and ring ..and sp on trinkets
Post by
Achloryn
i prefer haste for my necklace and ring ..and sp on trinkets
my point is that there's 14 pieces of gear that you wear.. there's no reason you can't find 6% hit between the other 9 of them that aren't included in the "set bonuses"
Post by
Achloryn
it looks like i have a lot of editing to do to my professions section when the new patch comes out. When the next major content patch launches we will be introducing epic quality gems and updating the perks for each profession. Please keep in mind that any of this information may see further changes before the patch launches.
The design recipes for cutting epic gems will be made available for purchase with Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s Tokens and there are several ways to obtain raw epic gems:
Prospecting Titanium Ore
Alchemy transmutations
Purchased with Honor
Purchased with Emblem of Heroism
Coinciding with the implementation of epic gems and the gain that Blacksmiths will receive through their perk from these new gems, we have gone through all of the perks in every profession and increased their values to match up accordingly.
Alchemy
The Mixology benefits from Northrend elixirs and flasks have been increased.
Added a new pattern for Flask of the North, usable by players with a high alchemy skill. The recipe is purchased from the honor potion vendor. The Flask of the North increases your spell power, attack power, or Strength for 1 hour, and is usable in arenas. It is not consumed when used.
Endless Healing Potion and Endless Mana Potion no longer usable in arenas. Amount of health and mana has been increased, and the cooldown reduced. They are still usable everywhere else.
Blacksmithing
No changes will be made to this profession; it will continue to have the 2 additional prismatic sockets (which can hold the new epic gems).
Enchanting
Values on Northrend ring enchants increased.
Engineering
Increased benefits from Hyperspeed Accelerators, Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket, and Reticulated Armor Webbing glove modifications
Herbalism
Increased healing from Lifeblood.
Lifeblood now scales slightly with maximum health.
Lifeblood no longer affected by global cooldown.
Inscription
Master's Inscriptions increased.
Jewelcrafting
Dragon's Eye gems stat bonuses increased.
Leatherworking
Fur Lining values increased.
Mining
Toughness provides more Stamina.
Skinning
Master of Anatomy provides more critical strike rating.
Tailoring
Embroideries improved.
Source
. Sorry i didn't format it like they did.. i really didn't feel like it
Post by
Achloryn
so... they've released a ton of changes for Wintergrasp... i'm not sure how i feel about this..
* To provide players with a more transparent notification of when Wintergrasp battles occur, as well as better control zone population and stability, several changes have been made.
* Players now have the option to queue for Wintergrasp from a Wintergrasp Battlemaster in any capital city or by simply entering the Wintergrasp zone.
* Queuing will begin 15 minutes before each battle. If chosen, you will automatically be teleported to the zone. Any players in the zone who have not been chosen from the queue will be teleported out when the battle begins.
* The queue system remains active for the entire battle. As soon as a player leaves, a new one will be chosen from the queue.
* Trying to enter Wintergrasp during an active battle for which you have not been chosen will teleport you out. Please note that, as you are now able to fly over Wintergrasp, you will only be teleported out if you try to land and join the battle.
* Level 80 players get higher priority in the queue than lower level players. In addition, a random selection of queued players will be taken from both the Battlemasters and the zone itself.
* The queue will accept up to 100 players from each faction, resulting in a maximum battle of 200 players at a time.
source - mmo-champion.com
Post by
Karang
Engineering
Electroflux Sight Enhancers
. So, it appears that engineers have a lot of things that can be nice for mages to use. 73 Crit, and 87 Spell power? wow... And this item is equippable at 72? that just seems unreal. This item is on par with
Greensight Gogs
,
Unbreakable Healing Amplifiers
, and
Visage Liquification Goggles
.
*looks at recommendation for a MAIL item* o_O
Looks like you got mixed up with
Electroflux Sight Enhancers
/
Visage Liquidification Goggles
.
Post by
291040
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
347090
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Achloryn
Can anyone give some guide lines to gemming for pvp. I currently do have hateful chest and legs, and the cord of salvation from WG for my belt. (armory is WAY out of date if you click my name in my sig).
Mainly I am wondering if I should be focused on SP or more on STAM and RES for gems.
Thanks in advance for any help =D
From what I understand, spell power and spell penetration are never amiss for gemming.. Those are probably the two main things you want to gem for at the moment. Resilience, at the moment, is kind of a joke for mages... but we'll see how that changes with the new patch (which is why I haven't done an update in quite some time). I'm going to leave out the gemming part of this guide until all the new gems come out, get a feel for how people are working with their sockets in the future, etc etc etc.
Usfs and Karang, thanks for pointing those out. There was a couple days when i was rather vacant from wowhead and didn't see those mistakes, so I'll be sure to get those fixed. (Keep in mind that the times I write the majority of this guide are late at night, so feel free to point out any other mistakes I make!)
Post by
30936
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Achloryn
no offesnse taken Fayden, but I did state right off the bat that I am not a pvp expert.
The reason i said the hit is almost unncessary for pvping is because 4% is such a ridiculously small amount that it is EASILY attainable by gear. You don't need to talent into anything that gives you hit rating, and you certainly shouldn't be gemming/enchanting for it.
Frozen core - i stand by what i said to a point. Spell damage reduction is spell damage reduction, and almost all classes have some sort of "Spell" that this will benefit from. Maybe saying that you "need this" is a bit steep, but this is a flat out damage reduction that isn't affected by things such as spell penetration (as it's not a resistance effect, it's just flat ignoring the damage).
Arctic winds - In retrospect, you're probably right. 5 points is rather hefty for 5% damage increase, but the reduced chance for range/melee attacks to hit you is quite beneficial imo, as this really IS world of meleecraft at the moment.
Is there a spell penetration enchant for cloaks? I didn't mean to miss it if there is.. It was probably just an oversight (part of the problem with writing things at 3am).
Now, I do always welcome criticism and I take people's suggestions seriously, but saying I don't know the mechanics of the game is a bit steep. Besides.. If out of that whole pvp guide I only got 4 things wrong, well then I would say that I have a
pretty good
handle on the mechanics of the game.. No one is perfect and as i stated in the opening paragraph....
a lot of this is my opinion
, and I am willing to take, and HAVE taken, lots of suggestions from people. If you're going to say i don't know the mechanics of the game, be sure to have more than 4 points from such a long guide to deconstruct, 3 of them being solely based on opinion and preference.
Post by
30936
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
120665
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Achloryn
Fayden, in retrospect, i prolly jumped your shiz a little harder than I should've, so thanks for the criticism. No hard feelings :)
Godwolf, you bring up some really good points as well, and I thank you for all the kind words. It's good to know that I am appreciated for writing this. (/internet validation.. hah!) Anyway...
Y'know, I honestly hadn't considered people who didn't gear up at least somewhat thru pve. You, my good man, must be a masochist of the harshest degree, and I salute your......... masochism? heh.
Frozen core..... hmmm..... alright... there's nothing in that statement I can refute, tbh.
I'll add the spell pen cloak enchant soon. :)
Arctic winds - yeah. After reading Fayden's post, 5 points is awfully heavy, and I even made that point for several other 5 point talents thruout most of the mage tree. I should probably change it from "necessary" to "situational with available points" or something to that effect. God willing, in patch 3.3, blizzard will do something about arcane's bloated tree, cause this will help pve AND pvp, regardless of spec.
CoC - you have a good point, but for one, I feel that if you're gonna use a spell it better be worth it's salt. 45% damage to a mediocre (at BEST) spell isn't much, i know, but it IS something. i also remember reading that they're lowering the mana cost of CoC in the new patch (which i can't find the source for atm... grr mmo-champion) so it might be something to consider. That having been said, I haven't re-written this guide for 3.2 yet, so i'll take your point into consideration. I don't, however, want to do a lot of re-writing for 3.1 when 3.2 is looming "soon".
Permafrost - i know so many mages who are drooling over the MS on permafrost, but as I said, i'm not gonna do a lot of changes to this guide until 3.2 is finalized, or at least gone live.. I am keeping an eye on everything though.. Crossing my fingers with the rest of you on some things and staring blankly going "WHAT THE @#%@#" with the rest of you on others. However, in 3.1 which is live now, permafrost remains......magoo in pvp.... Don't worry.. when 3.2 is finalized and goes live... i've got a LOT of writing to do. :D i'm well aware. haha.
Anyways... It's been a long week, and I am keeping up with all the forthcoming changes, and what their potential ramifications are for pvp, keeping in mind that with every passing blue word on mmo-champion, i'm gonna have more to have to re-write.. haha. So, I hope everyone continues to find my guide useful.. Fayden, as I said, no hard feelings. Godwolf, thanks for all the ideas and....... wait.. you run pms? o.O HAHAHAHAHHA.. /falls of chair.. (sorry, i literally JUST got the name)
Post by
120665
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