Focus Magic: Cataclysm Talents - Part 2: Arcane
WoW Blogs - Focus Magic Mage Blog
Welcome to the 6th edition of Focus Magic, your weekly WoW Mage Blog, right here on crusaderscoliseum.com! As Cataclysm draws ever closer the speculation for its release increases and seems to dominate most of the Warcraft chat. Honoring this, we will continue to analyse the upcoming Mage specs, and this week, it’s time for Arcane!
As you can see from the picture, the left hand side shows the menu for the Arcane Talents. The benefits you receive from choosing Arcane are;
Arcane Barrage – [5 sec cooldown] Launches bolts of Arcane energy at the enemy target, causing X arcane damage. – Arcane Barrage is currently obtainable at Level 60, in the arcane tree. However, in Cataclysm, retrieving this talent at level 10 is a huge much-needed boost to make Arcane a viable levelling spec. Although, the cooldown has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds, this spell is still extremely versatile in levelling situations.
Arcane Specialization – Increases the damage of your arcane spells by 25%. Doesn’t take a genius to work out this is awesome. Frost and Fire have copied versions of this, just respective to their own tree, and an extra 25% damage is a brilliant tool, from whichever perspective you look at it from.
As we delve into the actual Arcane talents, it’s obvious to see a lot is subject to change from the lovely 51-point trees we’re used to in WotLK. The small, concise talent trees of 31-points will certainly get rid of most filler, useless talents we see so much in WotLK. So let’s see what we get from the new Arcane talent tree… (Note: The number in brackets next to the name of the talent, is the amount of maximum talent points you can spend in that talent.)
Tier 1
Arcane Concentration (3) – Gives you a 3/6/10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%. – Ah, one of the best Arcane Talents there is, and it’s good to see it being unchanged in Cataclysm. Being moved up to Tier 1 will give added accessibility after other specs have filled out their respective trees, but for the Arcane users, this will help to keep your mana management on course.
Improved Counterspell (2) – Your Counterspell also silences the target for 2/4 sec. – Mainly a PvP oriented talent, but this has also been moved up to the 1st tier of Arcane, so it’s easier to access for other specs. This seems to be unchanged from the current talent.
Netherwind Presence (3) – Increases your Spell haste by 1/2/3%. – A talent most current Arcane Mages will know and love, and to see this talents being moved up from the current penultimate tier, to Tier 1, is a great addition to the new and improved levelling Arcane Mage.
Tier 2
Torment the Weak (3) – Your Arcane damage spells deal 2/4/6% more damage to snared or slowed targets. – Similar to the current talent, except this one seems to be less powerful than the current Torment the Weak. Although it has been moved up a Tier, which is nice, since the target is almost always snared or slowed, an extra 6% damage boost won’t go unnoticed.
Invocation (2) – You gain a 5/10% damage bonus for 8 sec after successfully interrupting a spell. – At first glance, this would act as a PvP talent, to help with a Mage’s revenge after stopping that pesky Warlock from Chaos Bolting your ass. However, this could also have some levelling benefits although I would imagine most Arcane levellers would skip this talent (unless they prefer to level through Battlegrounds, of course).
Improved Arcane Missiles (2) –Increases the number of missiles fired by your Arcane missiles spell by 1/2. – A much needed boost to a primary spell used in the Arcane Mage’s rotation. I’m a bit sketchy about this talent however, will this mean your Arcane Missiles spell will launch extra missiles in the channelled time? If so, that’s awesome. I guess we’ll have to wait and see when Cataclysm goes live to experience this beauty.
Improved Blink (2) – Increases your speed by 35/70% for 3 sec after casting the Blink spell. – A great talent in all aspects, a great getaway talent for levelling and PvP, it’s uses in PvE are also quite obvious, or maybe for just getting around your factions capital city that bit quicker. Quite a utility based talent.
Tier 3
Presence of Mind (1) – [2 min cooldown] When activated, your next mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell. – Ah, good ol’ Presence of Mind. Giving Mages the sweet satisfaction of an otherwise non-instant spell, to be an instant spell. Who’d of thought firing off an Instant Arcane Blast would be so much fun?!
Arcane Flows (2) – [Requires Presence of Mind] Reduces the cooldown of your Presence of Mind, Arcane Power and Invisibility spells by 15/30% and the cooldown of your Evocation spell by 1/2 min. – Partnered with Presence of Mind, Arcane Flows is a great talent, as it grants you access to use some of your most important Arcane abilities more often. Looking forward into Cataclysm, this talent seems generally unchanged, which is good.
Missile Barrage (3) – [Requires Improved Arcane Missiles 2/2] Your Arcane Missiles spell will fire it’s missiles every .8/.65/.5 sec. – Woah. This is amazing. Although it seems quite unbelievable, does this talent give Arcane Mages access to fire off constant Arcane Missiles under the effect of the current Missile Barrage? Even if it’s something similar to that, chain casting an Arcane Barrage straight after a quickfire Arcane Missiles will almost defiantly send an enemy mob to impending doom. A great talent in all aspects, and I really look forward to seeing how this one turns out when Cataclysm goes live.
Prismatic Cloak (3) – Reduces all damage taken by 2/4/6% and reduces the fade time of your Invisibility spell by 1/2/3 sec. – Similar to the current talent, and defiantly PvP based, reduced damage and the ability to go Invisible instantly can be a real help in those Player vs Player environments you find yourself in. This could also be a decent levelling tool, however it may be wiser to spend the 3 talent points elsewhere to boost your levelling prowess.
Tier 4
Improved Polymorph (2) – When a target you've polymorphed is damaged, that target is stunned for 1.5/3 sec. This effect cannot occur more often than once every 10 sec. – This is where Arcane levelling really seems to just get better and better. Polymorph your target (assuming it is able to be Polymorphed), launch off a super quick Arcane Missiles, stunning the helpless sheep for a short period of time, chain cast an Arcane barrage with it, and fire off another Arcane Missiles. Target eliminated, whilst you still remain unscaved.
Arcane Tactics (1) – [Requires Presence of Mind] Increases the damage of all party and raid members within 100 yds by 3%.. – This is pretty much our current Arcane empowerment talent, although it seems to have moved up the tree quite a bit, giving lower level Arcane Mages access to empower their group’s damage. A great talent to have, giving it only takes 1 point of your hard earned talents to gain.
Incanter’s Absorption (2) – When your Mana Shield or Mage Ward absorbs damage your spell damage is increased by 10/20% of the amount absorbed for 10 sec. In addition, when your Mana Shield is destroyed, all enemies within 6 yards are knocked back 12 yards. – It’s always been a discussion point of all Arcane Mages, and it seems that discussion will continue into Cataclysm. Although this talent is slightly more appealing for levelling purposes now, as it knocks back the target when your lifesaving Mana Shield is destroyed. This talent will also be a great help to those in a PvP playstyle, imagine that cocky warrior charging in and destroying your Mana shield, while you’re trying to capture Lumber Mill in Arathi Basin. But, oh no! That Warrior gets knocked of the cliff and falls to his death. Lumber Mill? Captured.
Focus Magic (1) – [6% of Base Mana] - Increases the target's chance to critically hit with spells by 3%. When the target critically hits the caster's chance to critically hit with spells is increased by 3% for 10 sec. Cannot be cast on self. – Ah, Focus Magic, how we love you so. And how other casters also love you. It’s good to see this talent being unchanged come Cataclysm, so don’t expect to see this spell gathering dust on your action bars any time soon.
Tier 5
Arcane Potency (2) – Increases the critical strike chance of your next two damaging spells by 7/15% after gaining Clearcasting or Presence of Mind. – Interesting to see this talent without a Pre-requisite or being a requirement for another talent. This will give Arcane Mages much more freedom in the choice of their talents, and although this talent is quite useful for PvE purposes, it will be interesting to see if this talent is included in any Arcane PvE specs at Level 85.
Slow (1) – [12% of base mana] Reduces target's movement speed by 60%, increases the time between ranged attacks by 60% and increases casting time by 30%. Lasts 15 sec. Slow can only affect one target at a time. – It’s great to see this talent unchanged from the current version as we dive into the depths of Cataclysm. This talent on it’s own is a great addition to any Arcane Mage, but the next talent discussed will show how this spell will really shine for an Arcane Mage, come Cataclysm.
Nether Vortex (2) – [Requires 1 point Slow] Gives your Arcane Blast spell a 50/100% chance to apply the Slow spell to any target it damages if no target is currently affected by Slow. – Apart from being a flat 6% damage increase from Torment the Weak, this will also give Arcane Mages the ability to begin their levelling rotation with an Arcane Blast, as Slow will be immediately applied, after the initial Blast. Although it seems Arcane will be a viable levelling spec, this talent only improves the chances of a Mage levelling as Arcane.
Tier 6
Improved Mana Gem (3) – Mana gained from your Mana Gem also increases your Spell Power by 1/2/3% of your maximum mana for 10 seconds. – Whether this talent is used for primary raiding purposes, or just as a filler talent, it seems at first glance to be quite a disappointing talent, this deep into the Arcane tree. However, closely analysed, take for example, if your maximum mana is 30,000, this could increase your Spell Power by 900 for 10 seconds, which isn’t too shabby at all, and could give a boost to an Arcane Mage’s damage after a much needed mana gain.
Tier 7
So we’ve reached the end of this wonderful, improved Arcane Talent Tree, and since the current 51 point Arcane Talent (Arcane Barrage) has already been included in the spec, there seems to be one ability the Arcane Mage is without so far. It can only be…
Arcane Power (1) – [Requires 1 point in Slow, 2 min cooldown] When activated, your spells deal 20% more damage while costing 20% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec. – Like the current 31-point Cataclysm Frost end talent, this seems to be unchanged from the current Arcane Power. Ask any Arcane Mage and they will tell you this talent is a godsend when used effectively with other cooldowns and their primary nuke. A great spell to have, although leaving as the last talent in the tree can seem a little disappointing for those levelling as Arcane.
So, overall, the Arcane Mage’s Cataclysm tree looks very interesting indeed. I cannot wait to try this one out, especially all the new levelling talents and helps on offer. I will definitely be levelling another Mage as Arcane to try these new talents out and experiment with them, just as I said with Frost. Looks like I’ll be very busy come Cataclysm! I don’t have any access to the Cataclysm Beta, as I’m trying to avoid as many spoilers as I can, but I feel looking ahead at the talent trees is a great way to get a headstart on those other Mages. So if you have any first hand experience from inside the Beta, please feel free to share your views to us via comments or the Kuurg Contact Page!
Before we end, check out this video by NilesyRawr as he discusses the Arcane Cataclysm Talents, further. If you’re more of a visual learner, this will be of great help to you. WARNING: This video may contain spoilers, so if you’re like me, and wish to keep Cataclysm as a surprise, just skip it!
I hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of Focus Magic, and if you have any comments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to drop them by via the comment box below! Next week, we’ll analyse the last of the 3 Cataclysm trees; Fire! Until then, keep well fellow Mages, and as Cataclysm draws ever closer, be ready for all those new and improved challenges, only a Mage can complete in pure style!
Got any mage related screenshots? Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and they could be featured in the next edition of Focus Magic! The more dead Warlocks involved the better! Remember to include your character name and Server. Please title the e-mail "FM Mage" or the e-mail may not get through.
Last Updated on Friday, 27 August 2010 00:13 Written by Kuurg Wednesday, 25 August 2010 01:25
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