Mage question

[genocyde]

I run 4 mages in PvP and 2-3 mages in Heroics. They are extremely powerful. IMO they have among the highest DPS you can get on a multiboxed character and they really dish out the punishment in PvP. They are extremely mobile damage dealers as they have the most high damage instant spells. They are a little weak on the defensive side but I haven't had many problems in WG or BG's.

They are very powerful for AoE as well. Blizzard is not that hard to coordinate but they're real power lies in Arcane Explosion. 5-7k per GCD AoE while running can chew up large groups pretty fast.

I'll be starting Arena when season 8 begins here. I'm out to prove a mage team can compete to some level. I expect to miss out on the 2k+ range though. 1st season + running my own healer + starting out with trash PvP gear = you gotta start somewhere

[Ughmahedhurtz]

The main problem is that mages lack group utility for heroics. Basically, all you get is CC, long-cooldown spell interrupts, +/- magic dmg and remove curse. Consider the wealth of utility you get with shaman setups or multiclass setups. Resists, anti-fear, auto-poison/disease-cleanse, wipe-prevention, AoE heals, full-spectrum resists, high-utility/dmg pets, taunt pets, speed, all sorts of good things.

Back in the day, there were a few boxers that ran mage setups. Just not so many these days because shaman groups have proven so much more effective in a wide range of situations.

[genocyde]

The main problem is that mages lack group utility for heroics. Basically, all you get is CC, long-cooldown spell interrupts, +/- magic dmg and remove curse. Consider the wealth of utility you get with shaman setups or multiclass setups. Resists, anti-fear, auto-poison/disease-cleanse, wipe-prevention, AoE heals, full-spectrum resists, high-utility/dmg pets, taunt pets, speed, all sorts of good things.

I guess I don't see my team lacking any of these because I run either pally tank, disc priest, 3 mages or druid tank, disc priest, 3mages. So I've got all the cleanses, anti fear, some of the best resists a character can get, aoe, and the significantly higher damage output that mages bring.

Frankly, in heroics, I don't see the need for any of that junk. I can clear any heroic with significant speed and no deaths and not sweat it. I've even been debating trying some heroics with 4x mage and just a tank or healer. Only problem is both my tanks are on a mages account and not having a tank limits which heroics I want to try.

PvP might be a different story since I only run priest, 4x mage. I simply can't deal with as much incoming damage as a shaman boxer. I have to rely on putting more out and staying mobile, which in the end I think makes me more dangerous in some cases and less dangerous in others.

Edit: I will say my team probably take a bit more micromanaging then shaman though.

[pinotnoir]

I used to run pally tank, 3 mages and my druid healer. It really sucked without fear totem and poison and disease cleanse totem. I subbed one mage out for my shaman and it was pretty good. I had a better set of resist, fear totem ect.. Right now I am gearing my other toons up so I am running pally tank (may change to my dk because the pally needs no badge gear) 1 mage, 2 shaman, and my priest. The group is pretty solid. I like being able to chain heal with my two shaman to help out the priest if needed. The priest healer is much less button smashing over my druid. I think my ideal group setup would be pally tank, mage, shaman, priest, and lock. I love having mage buff, food, and ports so I think all groups should include 1 mage.

[HPAVC]

The mages crank out some serious DPS, I am fond of my Mage in my 10box sidebar team once I went Arcane and once I got some serious gear for it. Until the gear I was seriously thinking of dropping it. Plus arcane potency is nice and hard to replace integrate in a lot of common boxing setups. I guess amp / dampen magic is nice too.

I don't see how multiple mages add any synergy, more than one is an opportunity missed.

[genocyde]

The mages crank out some serious DPS, I am fond of my Mage in my 10box sidebar team once I went Arcane and once I got some serious gear for it. Until the gear I was seriously thinking of dropping it. Plus arcane potency is nice and hard to replace integrate in a lot of common boxing setups. I guess amp / dampen magic is nice too.

I don't see how multiple mages add any synergy, more than one is an opportunity missed.

Ya, but who needs synergy when an unbuffed mage puts out as much or more DPS than some raid buffed toons. Right now I have no clue how you could beat the following group in DPS

DK tank with ebon plaguebringer
3x arcane mage
Ele shaman with occasional spot heals.

That group would be pumping out close to 40k dps in T9 on heroic fights.

Edit: Of course, that is only until cataclysm when everything gets equalized and this group is mediocre again

[Ghallo]

My primary team was 2x mages. I really have to agree with the fact that more than 1 mage is a missed opportunity. I am running 3 warlocks now and while I miss the ports and food ... it isn't so bad that I want to give up my extra Felguard, Seed of Corruption, and DoTs.

At 73, DoTs are AMAZING in movement-based boss fights. My mages lose a ton of DPS as soon as they need to move, whereas my Locks can just DoT and wait. Sure it isn't the super DPS that they could have, but I'd rather lose 50% of a toons DPS rather than 90-100%.

Warlocks have a SS. That means it takes me less time to learn a fight - and some fights I can just cheese through if I just want it done.

Warlocks have a pet. Their pet can bring true utility to the fight. Off-tank, extra DPS, whatever you need.

My original team could not complete ANY instances until they were 3-4 levels above. I couldn't complete Nexus (the Mage) even at 80 until I totally outgeared it. That's a 71 instance. My new team has completed UK (71), Nexus (71), AN (72). I don't know how I would have beat the final boss in AN without my locks. I just set the Felguards to Aggressive and didn't have to worry. All that, and my new team's gear is garbage compared to my first team's gear at this same level. Since I had the other team at 70 for a long time before the expansion, and this team (other than the tank) are bran-spankin-new it really shows what a change swapping classes can make.