www.Tobold.com
Tobold@GMail.com
A blog with my thoughts regarding games I am playing and other stuff in life. Please read my Terms of Service
RSS Feed
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Mage of Frozen Wrath
When I rejoined World of Warcraft and started leveling up my new mage, I commented on how little effect twinking had on that mages performance. The usual mix of gear that everyone is wearing, between quest items, loot, better loot from instances, and gear bought from the auction house mostly adds to your base stats, like intellect or stamina. And while intellect determines the size of your mana pool and has a small effect on your crit chance, the overall effect of such stats on a mage isn't large. Even my heavily enchanted twink mage with all the gear he couldn't have bought with his own money was performing barely better fully equipped than running naked.
So when thinking about it a bit more, I started to come to a radical conclusion, and a crazy idea: As all the gear that adds to basic stats is of very little added value to my mage, I should simply forget about it, and only look for the only secondary stat that really counts for a mage: spell damage, or particularly for my frost mage, frost spell damage. So every time I logged on my bank alt, the one who gets send all the stuff to sell and who is doing all the AH buying, I searched the auction house for "frozen", and bought all the gear "of frozen wrath" up to 20 levels higher than my mage level.
A month later I'm level 35 and I'm nearly completely equipped with gear which is either "of frozen wrath", or which gives a general bonus to spell damage. And the result is astounding: I have a frost spell damage bonus of "up to 169". Now I'm not a theorycrafter, I need to find a mage theorycraft guide comparable to the warrior guide I linked to today. But the base damage of my current frostbolt rank 6 is 174 to 190. And the simple trial and error experiment of shooting mobs with and without my frozen wrath gear tells me that without the gear I do about 200 points of damage with my frostbolt, and with the gear I do about 300 points of damage, a huge 50% more. That results in me needing one or two frostbolts *less* to kill the same mob. I can often kill mobs of my own level with frostbolts before they even reach me! That constitutes a huge gain in kill speed and mana efficiency, as not only do I need less mana to cast less frostbolts, I also don't need to spend the added mana on freezing the attacker with frost novas. Though although I have less mana as I forewent all the +int bonuses (except for enchants), I don't have more downtime, because the added mana efficiency makes up for the smaller mana pool. And of course if I'm running low on mana there is always free water, and a smaller mana pool is faster to fill up again.
I'm sure going to continue like this and concentrate on spell damage gear and consumables. I've started using self-made Lesser Wizard Oil, and soon I'll be able to use Arcane Elixir potions from my warrior alchemist. I'll keep looking for frozen wrath gear on the auction house, but I'll have to find out the other code names for the general spell damage gear. I think there is "of the Invoker" and "of the Sorcerer", but those only seem to exist on Outland gear. Of course once I hit the level cap and start joining groups I'll need to balance that better. Maximum dps doesn't make the best mage for groups, it only messes up aggro management. But for soloing and leveling up, maximizing spell damage is sure the way to go for a mage.
- posted by Tobold @ 9:11 AM Permanent Link
Comments:
<< Home
Newer› ‹Older
I'm rather impressed you managed to find that much +frost damage on the auction house. Those types of items are often very valuable for twinking for the exact same reason you love them for lvling: they scale much much better than stat items do. Also, I'd say check out some of the quest items and dungeon drops (if you do any instances that is) that have +spell damage, and also +crit rating on them. Patch 2.3 added a lot more +dmg and +crit to items that used to be all stats at low levels.
# posted by 
: 12/12/07 10:54
: 12/12/07 10:54
This used to be more of a problem in old Azeroth; almost no items had +dmg stats before level 60, and then suddenly, once you started raiding or collecting the D1 set, spell damage/crit/hit stats started to appear, but there was no obvious reason why you needed them, without either reading up on it or being told by someone.
At least now, that balance is being addressed a bit more.
At least now, that balance is being addressed a bit more.
# posted by : 12/12/07 11:23
: 12/12/07 11:23
Actually.. there is little need to balance stats even at level 70. Single-stat items dry up after the Karazhan animal bosses, and all items you acquire will have a mixture of stats, whether you want it or not. Spelldamage has always been the most important stat for a mage, and there's rarely any point in accepting any reduction in spelldamage. Unless you do PvP, that is. Then it's all about stamina and resilience, the mage's role is not DPS there.
Another exception to the spelldamage-comes-first rule is Spell Hit. If you raid or do Heroics, you should get Spell Hit whenever you can do so without compromising your spell damage too much. Ideally you should have around 8% Spell Hit for Arcane, 13% for Fire and 10% for Frost, but you'll do adequately with less.
The other exception is AoE. If you decide to try out AoE farming again, stock up on Intellect. Damage coefficients for AoE spells are very low, so you're better off being able to cast more AoE spells even if you get less bang for the buck.
Another exception to the spelldamage-comes-first rule is Spell Hit. If you raid or do Heroics, you should get Spell Hit whenever you can do so without compromising your spell damage too much. Ideally you should have around 8% Spell Hit for Arcane, 13% for Fire and 10% for Frost, but you'll do adequately with less.
The other exception is AoE. If you decide to try out AoE farming again, stock up on Intellect. Damage coefficients for AoE spells are very low, so you're better off being able to cast more AoE spells even if you get less bang for the buck.
I fully agree with everything Shalkis wrote, with one small exception - I wouldn't let my stamina go below 6k at level 70.
Any lower and you're not leaving any margin at all for error, while with >6k health and Ice Barrier you should have (effectively) around 8k health unbuffed, enough to survive a random hit from a boss.
Dead mages don't do damage... ;)
Any lower and you're not leaving any margin at all for error, while with >6k health and Ice Barrier you should have (effectively) around 8k health unbuffed, enough to survive a random hit from a boss.
Dead mages don't do damage... ;)
"Maximum dps doesn't make the best mage for groups, it only messes up aggro management."
Maximum DPS is the only thing you can do in PVE groups. You can't heal, you can't tank... just sheep, sometimes drop a nova and rarely decurse. So the only gear you need is damage gear.
Stamina is 95% useless for pve, it only helps when your healers are asleep or other things go wrong. And even then you can press the iceblock button.
(there are a few fights where the whole group gets, say 8000 aoe damage, but these are rare.)
Spelldamage is always a wise choice. Talent and mob dependant stats are crit-, hit- haste rating, int and spirit/manareg. But to simplyfy things:
1 point spelldmg >>> 1 point of any other stat
Only in raid pve settings:
1 point hit rating >>> 1 point of any other stat (until you reached the 16% cap including talents, maybe totem)
Maximum DPS is the only thing you can do in PVE groups. You can't heal, you can't tank... just sheep, sometimes drop a nova and rarely decurse. So the only gear you need is damage gear.
Stamina is 95% useless for pve, it only helps when your healers are asleep or other things go wrong. And even then you can press the iceblock button.
(there are a few fights where the whole group gets, say 8000 aoe damage, but these are rare.)
Spelldamage is always a wise choice. Talent and mob dependant stats are crit-, hit- haste rating, int and spirit/manareg. But to simplyfy things:
1 point spelldmg >>> 1 point of any other stat
Only in raid pve settings:
1 point hit rating >>> 1 point of any other stat (until you reached the 16% cap including talents, maybe totem)
# posted by : 12/12/07 12:51
: 12/12/07 12:51
Actually once you get into Black Temple and Hyjal, stamina is crucial for PvE, and you'll see raiders wearing PvP gear while doing the bosses. Prior to that though, you probably only need 6-7k health, yeah. Any btw, I believe you need 6% spell hit, not 8, to be at the cap for arcane.
# posted by : 12/12/07 13:08
: 12/12/07 13:08
Maximum DPS is the only thing you can do in PVE groups.
Don't confuse damage with DPS (damage per second). You can only do damage, but you have to cap your dps to stay under the threat level of the tank. And in long boss fights your ability to deal maximum damage per second isn't as important as your ability to deal a constant stream of damage over the whole fight. If you run out of mana half way through the fight, you're not much help any more. Thus +int and +mana regeneration gear is more useful in PvE groups than in solo situations.
Don't confuse damage with DPS (damage per second). You can only do damage, but you have to cap your dps to stay under the threat level of the tank. And in long boss fights your ability to deal maximum damage per second isn't as important as your ability to deal a constant stream of damage over the whole fight. If you run out of mana half way through the fight, you're not much help any more. Thus +int and +mana regeneration gear is more useful in PvE groups than in solo situations.
Theres gear with +dmg to every school, and then theres gear with +dmg for one specific school only. Any yeah, Tobold's right, endgame you really have to balance intellect, spell hit, and spell damage as a mage. Stamina is important later on in raiding.
# posted by : 12/12/07 13:54
: 12/12/07 13:54
http://elitistjerks.com/ is a very good site for all your questions about theorycrafting.
# posted by : 12/12/07 14:09
: 12/12/07 14:09
Now you are really in the world of a mage :) I played a frost mage since release and up to about 4-5 month after TBC release, and a frost mage with spell dmg gear is really awesome.
I remember the times when people really started to notice the spell dmg potential and when we had 3 mages in WSG. 3 mages, 1 hunter and 1 rogue was our usual defense team and we manages to wipe out full teams of 10. (This easily shows how broken PvP in WoW is raiders fights non raiders).
At level 70, without really much raiding a mage can get up to +1000-1200 spell dmg, maybe this has changes since I left, but it's really a huge difference. But I agree - 5-6k stamina should be the minimum as well and once you reach 900-1000 spell dmg bonus, I would also add crit bonus.
I remember the times when people really started to notice the spell dmg potential and when we had 3 mages in WSG. 3 mages, 1 hunter and 1 rogue was our usual defense team and we manages to wipe out full teams of 10. (This easily shows how broken PvP in WoW is raiders fights non raiders).
At level 70, without really much raiding a mage can get up to +1000-1200 spell dmg, maybe this has changes since I left, but it's really a huge difference. But I agree - 5-6k stamina should be the minimum as well and once you reach 900-1000 spell dmg bonus, I would also add crit bonus.
If you're threat-capped, you need a better tank, or a hunter who uses Misdirection on every cooldown, or a Paladin for blessing of Salvation. As a frost mage, you can share some of your DPS and threat load with your water elemental. If all else fails, wait a bit before spamming your spells. :)
If you're mana-limited, drink pots or group with a shadowpriest or shaman.
I guess my overall point is that the best mages I know try to maximize spell damage, and they account for the other factors (threat, mana regen) in different ways.
If you're mana-limited, drink pots or group with a shadowpriest or shaman.
I guess my overall point is that the best mages I know try to maximize spell damage, and they account for the other factors (threat, mana regen) in different ways.
Leveling my Arc / Frost mage to 60 over the last two months, I completely focused on +spell damage. I picked up the Staff of Jordan (nice Int and Stam bonuses, with +35 spell damage) and splurged for another +40 spell damage enchant onto it. As I moved up into my late 30s and 40s, I made her the Black Mageweave set, and then graduated to the Dreamweave gear. All of this was crafted by one of my other characters, and I blew on through to 60 without having to set foot in The Temple of Atal'Hakkar, Mauradon or Blackrock Mountain. Approaching 60 I had an average of +250 overall damage, with a few pieces of bonus frost or fire damage.
# posted by : 12/12/07 15:59
: 12/12/07 15:59
This is a great idea Tobold! I'd already been doing this a bit. After the 2.3 patch, the quests my Warlock is doing in his 20s now have a lot of cloth rewards that forgo intellect for spell damage (and are usually loaded with spirit for some reason). I've been replacing my +stam and +int greens with those as I get them, but I had totally forgotten that AH greens could have spell damage as well. As a Aff lock, I'll be searching the AH for "Shadow Wrath" next time I log on. Hopefully there will actually be some around.
# posted by : 12/12/07 20:01
: 12/12/07 20:01
Haha, you got the same exact idea as me Tobold. I started this mage not long after the expansion, and have been leveling her slowly since then. I focused on +dmg, and while I never had as much health or mana as other mages, I can absolutely destroy mobs. I was originally frost until level 31 when I then went fire, which is why I, sadly, have the wrong wand. And nothing on her is intense or anything, just stuff I've scrounged around for.
After 2.3, it became MUCH easier to go this route, and I see a change in trend for future mages.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Silvermoon&n=Alma
After 2.3, it became MUCH easier to go this route, and I see a change in trend for future mages.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Silvermoon&n=Alma
Shadow wrath gear for a mid-level lock or priest is also overpowered in many ways. Single-school damage is about 20% cheaper in terms of stat value so you can really load yourself up in class specs that only depend on one.
# posted by : 13/12/07 15:01
: 13/12/07 15:01
I'm also levelling up a frost mage...although I seem to have fallen off the pace, as he's only 22! But now I'm glad that I just bought up a bunch of azure silk gear for future use! I haven't had much of a problem finding cheap frozen wrath daggers, off-hands or armor, either. Looks like I inadvertently stumbled on the same solution...but thanks for doin' the math!
Post a Comment
# posted by : 13/12/07 20:45
: 13/12/07 20:45<< Home
