38 thoughts on “Just because…

  1. You mean the staff hasn’t dropped from Curator for you yet? Also, consider getting spell penetration enchant on your cloak. Good effort on the HKs. It’s always nice to see ones name at the top of the chart.

    Alliance are still avoiding AV for us, because we keep winning so convincingly. At least an hour wait in queue. After the next patch though, you will be able to run pre-made AVs.

    • Subtlety is better, assuming you do much PvE.

      Now that I’m looking at all the mid-Kara epics, it sounds like that’s the case.

      Have you tried going for Icy Veins instead of clearcasting? When I made the switch I found my DPS went way up.

      I’ actually considering going 6/44/11. Dropping Pyroblast, Blastwave, and Dragon’s Breath in order to have 2% clearcasting and keep Icy Veins. I never PvP anymore and those threee spells are useless in 25-man raiding, which is all I focus on these days.

      • I haven’t re-specced my mage since the new talent tree came out quite while ago. I’m actually thinking about re-speccing before I go into Kara tonight. Might be going into Gruul’s for the first time tomorrow, and it’s be handy to get some more DPS going.

        I still do a lot of battlegrounds, so I don’t want to give up Dragon’s Breath–I use it a lot.

        • Fire is insane for 25-man raiding. My guild doesn’t require any sort of mandatory spec, but our mage cadre frowns at the regular raiders who don’t go deep fire.

          I am in love with the 2/47/11 +1 fire build. Even with only 2 other mages you only have to cast scorch twice to get full improved scorch on a boss, and the extra damage gets ridiculous pretty quickly.

          Timing your invisibility correctly is crucial on Gruul, because you’ll probably have to do it twice if your guild doesn’t have him on farm status.

          The High King Maulgar fight is a ton of as well, especially if you’re the mage tank. Aggro city.

          • You know, I have to say I love going deeper into Arcane to get clearcasting, though. It procs often enough that I’ve found it makes a big difference in my mana pool during a long boss fight. On Netherspite, for example, I invariably finish the combat with some mana left (after using a gem and evocation), whereas our other Kara mage (who’s deep frost) is almost always tapped out even with a potion, gem, and evocation.

          • Any idea how long your average Netherspite fight is?

            Optimal spec can vary a bunch, and my guild is pretty much post-Kara so that might explain the difference.

            For example, we ran Badgestan last night and Netherspite died just as we got the 5-minute enrage warning, so that might be why my experience is slightly different.

            The only boss I wind up using a mana potion on at the moment is Solarian in Tempest Keep. Mana gems, evocate, and Master of Elements keep me going until well after anything else. My mana pool is 9221 for reference.

          • Last time we downed Netherspite, we were within about 20 seconds of him going Enraged, so it was a long fight. One of the things I’ve noticed about Kara gear is that it tends to have a lot of +damage but not a lot of +int; my mana pool is actually smaller, if oyu can believe it, than it was before I got all my epics.

          • Oh, absolutely. Same thing happened to me. When I was deep arcane and we were just beginning to start killing Illhoof and Prince I had just over 12,000 mana, and all the Arcane perks to keep you going nigh on forever.

            I almost don’t count or +int anymore when I am considering gear. Well, almost. I probably value int at about 5-8 int per 1 spell damage. I pretty much ignore stamina. I keep a stamina set for Mage-tanking the HKM fight but other than that, if I’m dying from damage either me or the healers are screwing up and 1-2k extra hitpoints isn’t going to make a difference.

    • The staff hasn’t dropped from Curator yet. In fact, I’ve killed Curator 7 times now, and haven’t seen that #@$% staff drop once!

      I’m actually thinking about getting the PvP staff if I can’t get anything out of Kara soon, though knowing my luck the next day I’d see the drop. I want the staff from Curator, the shoulders from Aran, and a trinket that drops from Ilhoof and I’ll be set as far as Kara gear goes.

      In my battle group, Alliance pwns AV; we win probably 6 out of 7 times.

      I can’t do the spell penetration enchant yet. I keep trying to level my enchanting, but I’m in a “dead zone” where it’s hard for me to get the mats. My bank is filled with mats for higher-level enchants I can’t do yet…. *cries*

  2. You mean the staff hasn’t dropped from Curator for you yet? Also, consider getting spell penetration enchant on your cloak. Good effort on the HKs. It’s always nice to see ones name at the top of the chart.

    Alliance are still avoiding AV for us, because we keep winning so convincingly. At least an hour wait in queue. After the next patch though, you will be able to run pre-made AVs.

    • You hanging out in Loch Modan these days? 🙂

      You’ll get to know about all that other fun stuff–you’re on a PvP server, right? An honorable kill is when you kill an enemy player who’s about your level; a killing blow is when you’re the one what does the deed.

      • well not Loch Modan at the moment, went to help a friend in Darnassus and stayed. FINALLY found out how to get back to Ironforge so if you want hunting company let me know! Right now I am finishing off quests in Darkshore.

        It just seems like everywhere I go I fight bears, cats, or murlocs lol

  3. Subtlety is better, assuming you do much PvE.

    Now that I’m looking at all the mid-Kara epics, it sounds like that’s the case.

    Have you tried going for Icy Veins instead of clearcasting? When I made the switch I found my DPS went way up.

    I’ actually considering going 6/44/11. Dropping Pyroblast, Blastwave, and Dragon’s Breath in order to have 2% clearcasting and keep Icy Veins. I never PvP anymore and those threee spells are useless in 25-man raiding, which is all I focus on these days.

  4. my friend razeil on sentinels just went 40/21/0 and his dps went through the roof. he is now our mage tank 🙂

    my little mage is only a lvl 9, but i have a 70 shaman, kyrdwyn, and a 70 hunter, chathi both on sentinels.

      • 40/0/21 was insane for PvE until 2.3 came out. However, 2.3 both nerfed Mystical Skyfire Diamond, and made it so improved fireball/frostbolt didn’t make you lose extra spell damage. That put fire unquestionably back on top for raiding. The new mana gems also got rid of deep fire’s primary problem – Mana.

        The trick with deep arcane was that you still used your frostbolt exclusively. Your crits were doing 2.5x regular damage and you were getting them all the time. Deep arcane also fixed any mana problems raiders would have on long boss fights.

      • we do have a geared out group, so we can deal with his crazy 8k crits. he is also our mage tank for hkm. helps that he is both alive and has his victim down pretty far when the group turns it’s attention to that one.

  5. my friend razeil on sentinels just went 40/21/0 and his dps went through the roof. he is now our mage tank 🙂

    my little mage is only a lvl 9, but i have a 70 shaman, kyrdwyn, and a 70 hunter, chathi both on sentinels.

  6. The staff hasn’t dropped from Curator yet. In fact, I’ve killed Curator 7 times now, and haven’t seen that #@$% staff drop once!

    I’m actually thinking about getting the PvP staff if I can’t get anything out of Kara soon, though knowing my luck the next day I’d see the drop. I want the staff from Curator, the shoulders from Aran, and a trinket that drops from Ilhoof and I’ll be set as far as Kara gear goes.

    In my battle group, Alliance pwns AV; we win probably 6 out of 7 times.

    I can’t do the spell penetration enchant yet. I keep trying to level my enchanting, but I’m in a “dead zone” where it’s hard for me to get the mats. My bank is filled with mats for higher-level enchants I can’t do yet…. *cries*

  7. I haven’t re-specced my mage since the new talent tree came out quite while ago. I’m actually thinking about re-speccing before I go into Kara tonight. Might be going into Gruul’s for the first time tomorrow, and it’s be handy to get some more DPS going.

    I still do a lot of battlegrounds, so I don’t want to give up Dragon’s Breath–I use it a lot.

  8. You hanging out in Loch Modan these days? 🙂

    You’ll get to know about all that other fun stuff–you’re on a PvP server, right? An honorable kill is when you kill an enemy player who’s about your level; a killing blow is when you’re the one what does the deed.

  9. Fire is insane for 25-man raiding. My guild doesn’t require any sort of mandatory spec, but our mage cadre frowns at the regular raiders who don’t go deep fire.

    I am in love with the 2/47/11 +1 fire build. Even with only 2 other mages you only have to cast scorch twice to get full improved scorch on a boss, and the extra damage gets ridiculous pretty quickly.

    Timing your invisibility correctly is crucial on Gruul, because you’ll probably have to do it twice if your guild doesn’t have him on farm status.

    The High King Maulgar fight is a ton of as well, especially if you’re the mage tank. Aggro city.

  10. 40/0/21 was insane for PvE until 2.3 came out. However, 2.3 both nerfed Mystical Skyfire Diamond, and made it so improved fireball/frostbolt didn’t make you lose extra spell damage. That put fire unquestionably back on top for raiding. The new mana gems also got rid of deep fire’s primary problem – Mana.

    The trick with deep arcane was that you still used your frostbolt exclusively. Your crits were doing 2.5x regular damage and you were getting them all the time. Deep arcane also fixed any mana problems raiders would have on long boss fights.

  11. You know, I have to say I love going deeper into Arcane to get clearcasting, though. It procs often enough that I’ve found it makes a big difference in my mana pool during a long boss fight. On Netherspite, for example, I invariably finish the combat with some mana left (after using a gem and evocation), whereas our other Kara mage (who’s deep frost) is almost always tapped out even with a potion, gem, and evocation.

  12. Any idea how long your average Netherspite fight is?

    Optimal spec can vary a bunch, and my guild is pretty much post-Kara so that might explain the difference.

    For example, we ran Badgestan last night and Netherspite died just as we got the 5-minute enrage warning, so that might be why my experience is slightly different.

    The only boss I wind up using a mana potion on at the moment is Solarian in Tempest Keep. Mana gems, evocate, and Master of Elements keep me going until well after anything else. My mana pool is 9221 for reference.

  13. Last time we downed Netherspite, we were within about 20 seconds of him going Enraged, so it was a long fight. One of the things I’ve noticed about Kara gear is that it tends to have a lot of +damage but not a lot of +int; my mana pool is actually smaller, if oyu can believe it, than it was before I got all my epics.

  14. Oh, absolutely. Same thing happened to me. When I was deep arcane and we were just beginning to start killing Illhoof and Prince I had just over 12,000 mana, and all the Arcane perks to keep you going nigh on forever.

    I almost don’t count or +int anymore when I am considering gear. Well, almost. I probably value int at about 5-8 int per 1 spell damage. I pretty much ignore stamina. I keep a stamina set for Mage-tanking the HKM fight but other than that, if I’m dying from damage either me or the healers are screwing up and 1-2k extra hitpoints isn’t going to make a difference.

  15. well not Loch Modan at the moment, went to help a friend in Darnassus and stayed. FINALLY found out how to get back to Ironforge so if you want hunting company let me know! Right now I am finishing off quests in Darkshore.

    It just seems like everywhere I go I fight bears, cats, or murlocs lol

  16. we do have a geared out group, so we can deal with his crazy 8k crits. he is also our mage tank for hkm. helps that he is both alive and has his victim down pretty far when the group turns it’s attention to that one.

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