The Mages of AA Team

Well since i couldn't sleep tonight i though that i may do something beneficial for our guild... So i took a look at every mage of the AA Team Guild so we could get a picture of who we are inviting. I didn't look at the other classes since i know most about mages and i'm pretty sure that there are other people that have a greater knowledge about the specific classes.

Some of the mages are currently PVP specced/equipped so i cant tell if they have some nice PVE gear in the bank or something, which means that i can't tell you anything about them for now.

But here is the resume:

Clazzi

Is currently using PVP gear and is PVP specced so cant comment on him yet



Delafray

-A few blue items
-Lacking enchants on almost everything
-Not the best gem choice

Because of the things above, his spelldmg and spellhit are both low.
His frost spec looks a little like a PVP spec, although he is not using any resilience items at this time.

Perhaps with the right spec, enchants and gems and a little item upgrade he could pull through, but its not looking very good right now...



Krogulec

+Pretty good gear
+Good enchants
+Good gems choice
+High spelldmg (although the arcane spec helps a lot on that)

Spellhit is pretty ok for the current build but could be better.

One thing that bothers me is his build. 40/21/0 the Arcane/Fire spec. Sustained dps with Arcane Missiles
lags a good 10-15% behind fire or frost dps, while Arcane Blast requires a restrictive gear setup to work properly.
And there are a few talent points that i would have place different or even spec 40/0/21 instead.
And of course arcane damage spells have poor mana efficiency, and the tree is highly dependent on outside mana regeneration and encounter duration to sustain good dps.

But if we are gonna progress through SSC he can get the proper gear for this spec, and with a right group setup he can easily pwn, so i would not be a problem. And if he knows how to play, hes gonna do just fine...

So i say thumbs up for this guy



Lorin

Is currently using pvp gear and is pvp specced so cant comment on him yet.



Mummie

Heh im not quite sure about this one... Cant really tell what he is doing, since he got a mix of pvp and pve gear.
But i can say that his talent spec looks like it was random clicked... i have never seen anything like that really
Besides that he is using green gems, in most of his gear (the ones that are not green are +8 int, which are basically worthless)
and he lacks a few enchants.

I don't know if he has some better PVE gear in his bank so its a little unsure, but looking a the other things it doesn't look very promising.


Robbaq

+Good gear
+Good enchants
+High spelldmg
+Good spec

Well all the things above makes this guy a good candidate for our guild.

The only thing that im not pleased with, is the fact that he lacks a lot of spellhit... But he could easily improve that, by for example buying the cenarion expedition ring and changing a few of his gems if necessary.

But other then that it looks very good IMO



Syloria

Seems to be PVP specced atm. He is running around with a mix of pvp items, some crafted epics and a little blue stuff. His gems choice seems to be PvP focused.
His rep with The Violet Eye is 2175/3000 so he hasn't done much Kara on this char or and is prolly lacking the necessary PVE gear to do anything beyond Kara. His other "reps" are not looking promising either, so i doubt that he has any badge items hidden in the bank...


Yatashi

Is currently using pvp gear and is pvp specced so cant comment on him yet.

I have a few questions/comments in relation with this (I did not inspect the chars and dont know their spec)

SPEC:
How do you define a pvp-spec in contrast to a pve-spec?

Which PvE spec is best?

My answer to the second question is: It depends on the raid-instance you are doing and the temper and skills of the player playing the char. In general fire/frost spec gives the highest dps. However in a lot of instances a single mage with this spec is not able to scorch up and dps until the target is dead. With 2xT5 items epuipped the arcane spec can do extreme damage. Frost-spec can also do pretty good dps. Further some mages (my self included) likes to experiment to find the optimum spec for the individual player based on gear, skills, temper, etc. The spec for one player could be different to another player.


ITEMS

Why is it bad to have pvp items?

In general many people has an assumption that PvP-gear is not half as good as PvE-items. The pvp-items obtained from BG's (S1+S2) is often better than random/blue/crap epx. If you get S3 or S4 its on the level of T5 items. My hunter is S1 epuipped and is quite often very high on dps compared to other raid-members with gear from Kara and equivalent.

My mage is currently raiding MH/BT and is also epuipped with a few pvp-items. This is for dps-reasons and for stamina reasons.

So in my mind things is not either black or white. I believe the single player should do what he/she finds best. However it is allways good to learn from other players playing the same class and discuss with them/your CL how to improve your gameplay.

Happy raiding

Axzili

How do you define a pvp-spec in contrast to a pve-spec?

This is a pretty simple question to answer. Some talents are just made for PVP and others are typical for PVE. You won't gain much from talents like Impact or Frostbite on boss fights who can't be snared or stunned. Or lets say skipping some good dps talents just to get improved counter spell isn't the best way to go PVE. Or if you are a fire/frost mage, have only 20 spellhit and don't have the vital talent like Elemental Precision could also be a good sign that you don't have an optimal PVE build.

Which PvE spec is best?

If you spend some time on theory crafting you should know the answer. Im gonna quote something from the thread i posted in the mage corner:

"2/48/11: Fire with Icy Veins is currently the top dps spec. While frost may theoretically exceed fire in a small number of cases, frost spec also depends on taking full advantage of the water elemental and cold snap to deliver its damage. It is also the only tree with no pushback resistance on the primary nuke. Because of these downsides, fire builds are much more likely to deliver their full payload of damage than a frost build. On the plus side, frost builds have immensely better options for mass snaring, slowing, and bursting on frozen targets. As such, frost may be the preferred spec for certain raid encounters (Illidan might be a good example).

Arcane spec offers the highest short duration burst damage of any spec through timers like Arcane Power and Presence of Mind, and can burn mana quickly into damage through Arcane Blast. Arcane talents also provide the highest possible AoE damage. However arcane damage spells have poor mana efficiency, and the tree is highly dependent on outside mana regeneration and encounter duration to sustain good dps. Sustained dps with Arcane Missiles lags a good 10-15% behind fire or frost dps, while Arcane Blast requires a restrictive gear setup to work. Because of these factors, Arcane builds are only recommended for expert mages whose particular raid situations allow them to employ good use of this spec."

My answer to the second question is: It depends on the raid-instance you are doing and the temper and skills of the player playing the char. In general fire/frost spec gives the highest dps.

Yes you are right about that different specs can have some advantages in different instances. But my comments are based on that this guild is about to start SSC/TK.

However in a lot of instances a single mage with this spec is not able to scorch up and dps until the target is dead.

Who cares about how fast you can dps down a trash mob. This is all about the boss fights.

With 2xT5 items epuipped the arcane spec can do extreme damage. Frost-spec can also do pretty good dps.

Yep you are right... While having the 2xT5 items or other special item combination, the arcane tree is very good. I was an arcane mage myself on a different char. And also i never said that it is a bad choice going arcane. I made a comment on it because the player who had this spec, did not have any T5 or T6 bonuses which could result in bad DPS (and very bad DPM without the right group setup) compared to the frost and fire mages. But i also said that i would like to see this guy in our guild, since if he knows how to play this setup, he can easily pwn.

Further some mages (my self included) likes to experiment to find the optimum spec for the individual player based on gear, skills, temper, etc. The spec for one player could be different to another player.

Hey you can experiment, change and use every spec you like. As long its reasonable and logical of course . Everyone has their own play style and as long your dps doesn't suck compared to the other mages you can play as you like.

Why is it bad to have pvp items?

In general many people has an assumption that PvP-gear is not half as good as PvE-items. The pvp-items obtained from BG's (S1+S2) is often better than random/blue/crap epx. If you get S3 or S4 its on the level of T5 items. My hunter is S1 epuipped and is quite often very high on dps compared to other raid-members with gear from Kara and equivalent.

Ye some pvp items are easy to get and are quite good the get a quick start, but first of all we don't invite players with "random/blue/crap epx" when we are gonna start on SCC/TK. We expect people to be well geared and be at the point where they have replaced most the pvp items with better pve gear. And since you have a mage you should know that most of the mage pvp gear don't have any spellhit on it. So who cares if you have 1300 spelldmg if you are gonna get xx resists on every boss. The S3 and S4 gear can be good i agree on that and the stamina bonus is useful sometimes, but the people i commented on did only have S1/S2 and they were all lacking a hell lot of spellhit which just isn't acceptable at the point we are at.

So in my mind things is not either black or white. I believe the single player should do what he/she finds best. However it is allways good to learn from other players playing the same class and discuss with them/your CL how to improve your gameplay.

Of course every one deserves some fun and should play the game as he or she wants. Although doing your best by maxing your dps and helping progress your guild in that way is also a fun thing. Pawning everyone on the damage meters is the best thing about raiding imo xD.
And i believe that if you try out a spec and see thats its not working you gonna do your best to improve it. Many have tried different specs and theories. Thats where theory craft comes from and also most of my statements and view point. But i'm happy you asked those questions and you are welcome to continue the discussion.

PS. One last thing. My previous thread was not meant to insult any of the AA Team mages. I made it to help our officers make the right choice using my own opinions and experience.