At the beginning of World of Warcraft Dragonflight, Mages were your go-to class for both Mythic+ dungeons and Solo Shuffle. In time, other classes rose to prominence and Mages became the definition of a “meh” class. In Patch 10.1.5, coming sometime in the summer, the Mage class will be getting a substantial rework.
Predominately focused on updating class and Arcane talent trees, the rework will make some abilities baseline, add new capstones, tweak talent trees, and remove Rune of Power. In Patch 10.1.5, Arcane Mages can look forward to having more consistent AoE damage output without relying on Touch of the Magi or Radiant Spark, and access to more utility spells like Arcane Barrage and Clearcasting.
Although the Fire and Frost Mage changes have yet to go live on the PTR, Blizzard promised it didn’t forget about them and more details on their changes should be coming soon. With Fire Mage, the devs have plans to move away from the “one-build-fits-all talent tree.” Frost Mages, on the other hand, can expect to see Blizzard giving more love to lesser-picked talents and changes to the “minimal Ice Lance” builds.
Generally speaking, all these Mage changes should give you more leeway when selecting talents, give access to more utility and therefore survivability, and free you from the chains of Rune of Power. Removing Rune of Power is by far the most welcomed change since Mages won’t be limited to just a couple of yards during combat.
So, aside from Dragonriding coming to the rest of Azeroth and the new megadungeon, Mage players have a lot to look forward to in Patch 10.1.5.
