For the last several weeks, Mages have been untouched on the World of Warcraft: Drgaonflight public test realm. Mage players have patiently waited for their time in the spotlight as Blizzard tuned and adjusted every other class in the game.
And today, the WoW dev team has answered the collective prayers of Mage players, announcing changes to all three of the class’ specializations, with Fire, Frost, and Arcane all receiving a fistful of buffs.
Arcane received the biggest buff out of all three specs, with Radiant Spark and Touch of the Magi both having their durations upped from 10 seconds to 12. Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Barrage all got damage increases on today’s PTR build, while the throughput received via the upcoming two-set tier bonus from Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, will also be increased.
Fire Mages are getting a flat buff to the damage of foundational spells like Pyroblast, Fire Blast, Fireball, and Scorch, as well as a particularly strong buff to Improved Combustion, which will grant Mastery equal to 75 percent of your Critical Strike, an increase up from 50 percent. These buffs should give Fire Mages an even stronger burst option during their Combustion windows, while also having a reliable amount of damage through their core spells when Combustion is on cooldown.
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Finally, Frost Mages are receiving buffs to many of their talents, including a 20 percent buff to the damage of Glacial Assault, a 10 percent buff to Comet Storm, and a 12 percent (per stack) buff to Snowstorm. Core abilities such as Frozen Orb, Blizzard, and Brain Freeze are also getting flat damage increases.
All of these buffs aim to make Mage a more viable option moving forward. The class has largely fallen out of favor among ranged DPS players in the later stages of Dragonflight season one. While top-level players have made use of the class in both the Race to World First and Mythic Dungeon International, the class has taken a step back behind classes such Warlocks and Hunters among the average population of the player base. All three Mage specs rank in the bottom third of all DPS options in Mythic raids this patch, according to WoW stats site Warcraftlogs.
Mage wasn’t the only class to be changed in today’s PTR build, though. Elemental Shamans, Unholy Druids, and Priests were also given adjustments.
The changes to Mage can currently be tested on the WoW: Dragonflight PTR. Mythic raid testing for Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible is currently ongoing. These buffs and alterations are subject to change with each wave of PTR testing, and Mages could receive even more changes before WoW Patch 10.1 launches on May 2.
