Fire Mage Nerfed: Why It Feels Clunky Now
45sPlayers love to see class changes dissected, especially when the change is controversial and impacts gameplay fluidity.
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The video discusses the state of Fire Mage in Patch 11.1, focusing on changes to charges and cooldowns that reduce instant spell flexibility, making the spec feel clunky and unintuitive. The speaker, a Fire Mage main, explains the negative impact on gameplay, especially during Combustion, and criticizes the design philosophy.
Chapters
[00:01]
Reduced Charges and Increased Cooldown
Fire Blast now has two charges instead of three, and its cooldown is increased, reducing the number of instant spells available.
[00:16]
Design Philosophy: Fewer Instant Spells
The change is based on the philosophy that Fire shouldn't have many instant spells, but this removes flexibility in responding to procs and cooldowns.
[00:31]
Clunky Gameplay
Fewer charges make the spec feel clunky, forcing hard casts of Scorch and reducing Sunking procs due to fewer instant Pyroblasts.
[00:58]
Excess Frost Proc Issue
Excess Frost now procs more often, but without enough Phoenix Flames to consume it, leading to over-proccing and wasted procs during Combustion.
[01:25]
Combustion Breakdown
In Combustion, you can run out of Fire Blasts and Phoenix Flames, leaving you with Frostfire Bolt charges and Excess Frost stacks but no way to consume them.
[01:41]
Unintuitive for New Players
The rotation is so unintuitive that it's nearly impossible for players who don't read guides or watch videos to play the spec effectively, which is a design flaw.
The Fire Mage changes in Patch 11.1 reduce flexibility and create unintuitive gameplay, particularly during Combustion, making the spec less accessible and enjoyable.
Study Flashcards (4)
How many charges does Fire Blast have in Patch 11.1?
easy
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How many charges does Fire Blast have in Patch 11.1?
easy
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Two charges instead of three.
00:01
What is the design philosophy behind the Fire Mage changes?
medium
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What is the design philosophy behind the Fire Mage changes?
medium
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Fire shouldn't have many instant spells.
00:16
What problem occurs with Excess Frost procs?
medium
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What problem occurs with Excess Frost procs?
medium
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You get too many Frostfire Bolt procs and not enough Phoenix Flames to consume Excess Frost, leading to over-proccing.
00:58
What happens during Combustion due to the changes?
hard
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What happens during Combustion due to the changes?
hard
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You run out of Fire Blasts and Phoenix Flames, leaving you with Frostfire Bolt charges and Excess Frost stacks but no way to consume them.
01:25
💡 Key Takeaways
💡
Design Philosophy Shift
Explains the core reason behind the changes, which is a deliberate reduction in instant spell flexibility.
00:16
📊
Excess Frost Proc Overload
Highlights a specific mechanical issue that breaks the rotation during Combustion.
00:58
⚖️
Accessibility Concern
Points out that the spec is nearly impossible to play without external guides, a significant design flaw.
01:41Full Transcript
[00:01] you have two charges instead of three now, which for Frostfire matters a lot and I'll tell you why in a second. And they also increased the cooldown on Fire Blast because the whole philosophy is
[00:16] fire shouldn't have these many instant spells, which is I mean, personally, does. Super super high amounts of instant spells and flexibility in responding to procs, cooldowns, combat context, and
[00:31] all of that stuff. So, giving you fewer charges of that takes away the the flexibility that fire had and makes the spec feel incredibly clunky because you will not be able to have combust where you won't have to hard cast a scorch
[00:45] not necessarily that bad, but what's worse is first of all, you'll have very few sunking procs cuz you won't just have that many instant pyroblast because the cooldown is increased and you have fewer charges. And the worst thing is
[00:58] they've changed excess frost into a proc where now you get more than one and have enough Phoenix Flames to consume your excess frost. So, what ends up happening is you will over proc your excess frost with frostfire bolt because
[01:13] you'll get too many frostfire bolt procs and you'll and you won't have Phoenix Flames to consume your frost before you generate more frost from the frostfire bolts. And you'll have a situation in combustion where you have no more fire
[01:25] blasts, no more Phoenix Flames, you'll have two charges of frostfire bolt and two stacks of excess frost with no Phoenix Flame. So, what do you do then? that I haven't discovered because I'm just a average mage, that's fine, but if
[01:41] unintuitive and makes it almost impossible for somebody who doesn't read guides or watch YouTube videos to be able to play the spec, which I think it's a design flaw by default.
[01:54] That's that's my opinion on fire as of current fire main.
