BLUE: Trainable Iceblock

[Dune]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2765962725&postId=28557790894&sid=1#33

It's a deliberate change. We initially felt like it was too quick at 30s and decided to test it out at 45s, but after playing with it for a while we felt like it opened mages to focus fire a little too much so we decided to keep it at 30s. It's worth pointing out that making changes like this and later un-doing them is not at all uncommon, it's just most of you generally don't see that process in action since it often happens before the patch even gets to the PTR.

Since I'm here, I'll also make a small pre-emptive strike against the incoming "what about other mage concerns!" replies I'm about to get and say the following.

Two things we'll be making improvements to in the near future (although these aren't likely to make it in on time for 2.3) are having iceblock be trainable (to make sure all mages have it as a tool for pve encounters and to open up other trees as being more viable options for pvp), and to-be-finalized improvements to mana issues in longer fights.

Wonder how long we have to wait? And if deep fire will be worth a shot, mm :o

[Kiing]

i wonder what they will replace it with for frost talent tree

[Haet]

Wonder how long we have to wait? And if deep fire will be worth a shot, mm :o

i hopes so, they would definitly have to put a lot of work into mana issues for fire though. GG all burst damage coming from 500 mana aoe spells compared to 100 mana icelances

[Nukah]

i wonder what they will replace it with for frost talent tree

and also what will help our mana issues! i hope its not JUST a slightly better gem, i always liked the idea of drain mana/mana tap thing for mages

[Pharaun]

Man it'll be interesting to see if there will be a viable non-frost spec...

[sX]

we ll see next week or in 3 months

[Cigma]

I believe AP/Fire will be perfectly viable now. Hell, Kzn played it at a high 5v5 rating without ice block. LoS ftw.

[Speedo]

OH GOD THANK YOU ICE IS SO DAMN BORING!

[Haet]

we ll see next week or in 3 months

I doubt they will even come close to releasing it on tuesday, it would be bad ass if it happened though

[jgwentworth]

I'd really like to spec like this if ice block were trainable
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZVgGzfccReRzq0Ghob

ignites make imp scorch worse than winters chill, but still viable for covering your sheeps.

[sX]

still depends what we will get in frost instead of IB

[Lexly]

still depends what we will get in frost instead of IB

i think we are gonna get some nerfs, coz i can't really think that they will give IB trainable without asking anything.

[Elaglo]

i think we are gonna get some nerfs, coz i can't really think that they will give IB trainable without asking anything.

they're doing it to buff other trees, not nerf frost

[Cynik]

Knowing blizz, they will probably make icelance the new 21 pt talent (thread on the mage forums made the joke before me)

But although it is going to be nice to have iceblock trainable, unless mages get a ton more mana or some better way to manage mana the only other option than deep frost is an arcane fire build with a 10k mana pool...deep fire just blows too much mana too fast (dragons breath and blastwave are one of the worst mana:damage spells in game)

[buena]

I'm looking forward to trying out all kinds of fun and crazy new viable builds. A friend mentioned DB / shatter as an interesting possibility, and it looks pretty good on paper.

However after I blow my 500g on respecs I'll tell you that I do fully expect to end back up as full frost. Ice block is far from the only adavantage it has.

[Haet]

i think we are gonna get some nerfs, coz i can't really think that they will give IB trainable without asking anything.

its not really a buff, because 95% of the top rated mages have iceblock anyways. its just giving us some versatility

[Steamboat]

its not really a buff, because 95% of the top rated mages have iceblock anyways. its just giving us some versatility

the buff will be whatever the 21 point talent is.

[Lexly]

bha i don't see the news for pvp tbh, it's a totally pve buff, i seriusly hope you don't think you can run 2vs2 or a 3 vs 3 without WE or icebarrier,

[Hoove]

Mana effeciency is our #1 issue.
- Scale down INT cost by 1/4 - 1/3
- Buff Mana Gems
- Add Evocation to IMP AM
- Make our regen based of INT?

If we do actually end up getting Ice Block I'll be running 0/41/20.