[Discussion] Mage Changes for WoD

The Mage class has good specialization distinction when it comes to their single-target rotations, but utility and area-of-effect spells were heavily shared between specializations. Commonly, these spells were redundant as well. We made many of their spells specialization-specific (as described in Ability Pruning above). And probably most significant, we made changes to several existing Talents.

Presence of Mind was extremely strong for instant CC, which we wanted to curtail. Rather than completely remove Presence of Mind or make it not affect CC abilities, we made it a base Arcane spell, where we don't expect that it will be a problem, since Arcane has less CC than the other Mage specs already. In its place, we've added a new talent, Evanesce.

Presence of Mind is no longer a Talent, and is instead learned by Arcane Mages.
Evanesce is a new Talent available at level 15.
Evanesce: Fade into the nether, avoiding all attacks against you for 3 seconds. This spell may be cast while a cast-time spell is in progress and is not on the global cooldown. Replaces Ice Block. 45-second cooldown.

Going along with our goals to reduce cooldown stacking across all of the classes, we decided to remove Alter Time's DPS contribution. Alter Time has a number of clever movement and utility uses, but in practice it was mostly being used for additional uptime of offensive cooldowns. Mages also had many redundant forms of survival utility, so we moved a utility-only version of Alter Time into the Talent tree, replacing Temporal Shield.

Temporal Shield has been removed.
Alter Time is now a level-30 Talent, replacing Temporal Shield.
Alter Time now lasts for 15 seconds (up from 6 seconds), has a 90 second cooldown (down from 3 minutes), and no longer affects the casting Mage's mana, buffs, or debuffs.

A few of the abilities reset by Cold Snap were made spec-specific, or could be overridden with Talents, so we expanded what it can affect to compensate.

Cold Snap now also resets the cooldown of Presence of Mind, Dragon's Breath, and Evanesce.

The Mage Bomb level-75 Talent row, the Bomb row, was also problematic. We chose to add the Bombs to all Mages' rotations in order to spice them up a bit, to provide rotational variety. That succeeded, and we're overall happy with how they interact with your rotation in a single-target situation, but they also came with the prospect of multi-dotting (applying your damage-over-time spell to many enemies, individually), which we don't feel is an appropriate fit for Mages. Additionally, in order to make all 3 Bombs useful to all specializations, we had to lose some of their spec-specific perks. And, even more importantly, many Mages did not like DoT gameplay at all.

In order to solve all of these problems, we decided to merge the 3 current Bomb Talents into one that changes based on spec. That allows us to reintroduce spec-specific perks to each Bomb, and makes room for some non-DoT alternatives.

Nether Tempest, Living Bomb, and Frost Bomb are now available to their corresponding specialization only, and share the left Talent slot.
Nether Tempest can now only be on 1 target at a time (down from unlimited), but its secondary damage now hits all targets in range (up from only 1), and deals 100% of the primary damage (up from 50%).
Living Bomb can once again be applied to multiple targets, can be spread by Inferno Blast, and has a normal 1.5 second cooldown. More of its damage has been moved into its explosion.
Frost Bomb has been redesigned. It now lasts 12 seconds, has no cooldown, and explodes every time the target is critically hit by the Mage's Ice Lance. The damage per explosion has been reduced by 75% to compensate.
Unstable Magic is a new Talent available at level 75, in the middle Talent slot.
Unstable Magic: Arcane Blast, Fireball, and Frostbolt have a 25% chance to explode on impact, dealing an additional 50% damage to the target, and all other enemies within 8 yards.
The right level-75 Talent slot is now filled by a new Talent that varies by specialization.
Supernova: Cause a pulse of Arcane energy around the target enemy or ally, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and knocking them up. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 25-second cooldown. Instant cast.
Blast Wave: Cause an explosion of fiery force around the target enemy or ally, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and dazing them, reducing their movement speed by 70% for 4 seconds. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 25-second cooldown. Instant cast.
Ice Nova: Cause a whirl of icy wind around the target enemy or ally, dealing Frost damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and freezing them for 4 sec. If the primary target is an enemy, they take 100% increased damage. Replaces Frost Nova. 20-second cooldown. Instant cast.

One of the most problematic Talent rows in the game has been the Mage level-90 row. The primary theme of the row was mana, which only Arcane Mages actually cared about. Bonus damage was added in, making it functional for all Mages, but muddled in its goals. Additionally, some of them just weren't fun to play with. We've revised the row to be purely about damage, and made them have less maintenance cost. Arcane Mages will have enough mana regeneration without these Talents to perform well.

Invocation has been removed.
Mirror Image is now a level-90 Talent, replacing Invocation.
Mirror Image now inherit 50% of the Mage's Spell Power (up from 5%).
Rune of Power no longer replaces Evocation, no longer increases mana regeneration, and now lasts 3 minutes (up from 1 minute).
Incanter's Ward has been removed.
Incanter's Flow is a new level-90 Talent, replacing Incanter's Ward.
Incanter's Flow: Magical energy flows through you, increasing all spell damage done by 5% per stack. While in combat, the magical energy builds up to 5 stacks over 5 seconds and then diminishes down to 1 stack over 5 seconds. This cycle repeats every 10 seconds.

Frost Mages enjoyed newfound PvE viability in Mists of Pandaria, and we intend to continue that into the future. However, we do want to clean up some rough spots, especially around their valuing of secondary stats, and the amount of instant-cast spells in their rotation. The Frost Armor and Shatter changes increase the amount of Haste/Critical chance that they can acquire on gear before they start hitting soft caps. The Shatter change also lowers the value of Critical Strike for a bit. The changes to the level-75 Talent row meant that having a Bomb spell is no longer guaranteed, so we changed the way that Brain Freeze is triggered. We also changed Brain Freeze's effect, in order to give Frost mages another cast-time spell in their rotation.

Frost Armor now grants 15% chance to Multistrike instead of 7% Haste.
Glyph of Icy Veins now causes Icy Veins to provide 75% chance to Multistrike, instead of 20% Haste.
Shatter now multiplies Critical Strike chance by 1.5 (down from 2).
The Brain Freeze effect no longer makes Frostfire Bolt instant, but it can now stack to 2. It also no longer triggers from the Bomb Talents, and instead has a 10% chance to trigger from Frostbolt casts. Each Multistrike of Frostbolt increases that cast's chance by an additional 45%. (Total of 100% on double-Multistrikes).

In order to make room for more Haste effects to apply to Arcane Blast, we raised its cast time and damage slightly. We also made Arcane Charges last longer, to aid in questing and encounters.

Arcane Blast's cast time has been increased to 2.25 seconds (up from 2 seconds), and its damage has been increased by 12.5% to compensate.
Arcane Charges now last 15 seconds (up from 10 seconds).

Arcane
Improved Arcane Barrage - Increases the damage dealt to secondary targets of Arcane Barrage from 50% to 100%.
Enhanced Arcane Blast - Each stack of Arcane Charge now reduces the cast time of Arcane Blast by 5%.
Enhanced Arcane Missiles - Increases the maximum stacks of Arcane Missiles by 1.
Improved Arcane Power - Arcane Power now reduces the cost of your spells by 10% instead of increasing the cost by 10%.
Improved Blink - Your movement speed is increased by 60% for 2 sec after using Blink.
Improved Evocation - Reduces the cooldown of Evocation by 30 sec.
Improved Arcane Blast - Increases the damage of Arcane Blast by 20%.
Improved Arcane Missiles - Increases the damage of Arcane Missiles by 20%.
Improved Arcane Explosion - Increases the damage of Arcane Explosion by 20%.
Fire
Improved Flamestrike - Flamestrike no longer has a cooldown.
Enhanced Inferno Blast - Reduces the cooldown of Inferno Blast by 1 sec.
Improved Pyroblast - Increases the critical strike chance of Pyroblast by 15%.
Improved Inferno Blast - Inferno Blast now spreads the damage over time effects of Pyroblast, Ignite, and Combustion to 2 additional targets.
Improved Combustion - Increases the duration of Combustion by 20%.
Improved Scorch - After casting Scorch, your movement speed is increased by 30% for 3 sec.
Improved Fireball and Frostfire Bolt - Increases the damage of Fireball and Frostfire Bolt by 20%.
Improved Dragon's Breath - Increases damage of Dragon's Breath by 50%.
Enhanced Fireball - When your Fireball fails to critically strike a target, you gain a 5% increased chance for Fireball to be a critical strike for 15 sec. This effect ends when Fireball successfully critically strikes a target.
Frost
Enhanced Frostbolt - Frostbolt's cast time is reduced by 0.5 sec. This effect is disabled for 15 sec after you benefit from it.
Enhanced Ice Lance - Fingers of Frost can stack 1 additional time.
Improved Frost Nova - After casting Frost Nova, you will instantly teleport 10 yards behind you.
Improved Icy Veins - Increases the amount of Haste gained from Icy Veins by 10.
Improved Frostbolt - Increases the damage of Frostbolt by 20%.
Improved Ice Lance - Increases the damage of Ice Lance by 20%.
Improved Blizzard - Each time Blizzard deals damage, it reduces the cooldown of Frozen Orb by 1 sec.
Improved Water Elemental - Your summoned Water Elemental now also knows the Water Jet spell. Water Jet - Channels a jet of icy water at the target, dealing XXXX Frost damage to the target over 4 sec. The Mage's Frostbolts that hit the target while it is being blasted with icy water will grant a charge of Fingers of Frost.
Improved Frostfire Bolt - Increases the damage of Frostfire Bolt by 20%.

Arcane Barrage now replaces Fire Blast for Arcane Mages.
Arcane Blast now replaces Frostfire Bolt for Arcane Mages.
Arcane Explosion is now available only to Arcane Mages.
Blizzard is now available only to Frost Mages.
Combustion now replaces Deep Freeze for Fire Mages.
Deep Freeze is now available only to Frost Mages.
Dragon's Breath now replaces Cone of Cold for Fire Mages.
Evocation is now available only to Arcane Mages.
Flamestrike is now available only to Fire Mages.
Pyromaniac has been removed.
Frost Armor is now available only to Frost Mages and is now a passive effect.
Ice Lance now replaces Fire Blast and is only available to Frost Mages.
Mage Armor is now available only to Arcane Mages and is now a passive effect.
Mana Gem has been removed.
Molten Armor is now available only to Fire Mages and is now a passive effect.
Shatter is now available only to Frost Mages.

TALENTS
Left
Overpowered (Arcane) - Casting Arcane Missiles extends Arcane Power by 2sec.
Kindling (Fire) - Your Fireball, Pyroblast, and Inferno Blast critical strikes reduce the cooldown remaining on Combustion by 1 sec.
Thermal Void (Frost) - Casting Ice Lance extends your Icy Veins by 2 sec.

Middle
Prismatic Crystal - Conjures a prismatic crystal at the target location, which is attackable by only the Mage, and takes 30% additional damage. When the crystal takes damage, it instantly releases a burst of energy dealing that damage, split evenly between all enemies within 8 yards. 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown.

Right
Arcane Orb (Arcane) - Launches an Arcane Orb forward from the Mage's position, traveling up to 40 yards, dealing XXXX Arcane damage to enemies it passes through. Grants the Mage an Arcane Charge every time it deals damage. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
Meteor (Fire) - Calls down a meteor which lands at the target location after 3 sec, dealing XXXX Fire damage, split evenly between all targets within 8 yards. Also burns the ground, dealing an additional XXXX Fire damage every 1 sec for 8 sec to enemies in the area. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown
Comet Storm (Frost) - Calls down a series of 7 icy comets on and around the target, each of which does XXXX Frost damage, split between all enemies within 4 yards of its impact point. 1,600 Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

GLYPHS
Glyph of Interruption - When you successfully Counterspell a target, the remaining cooldown on Counterspell is reduced by 4 sec.
Glyph of Dragon's Breath - Increases the damage done by Dragon's Breath by 100%.
Glyph of Regenerative Ice - You regenerate 4% of your maximum health every 1 sec for the duration of Ice Block.