Alright, so maybe my last article was a wee bit outdated, given that tier 8 has been out for a few months now, it doesn’t really need an analysis. It was just something that had been on my mind and I felt like it needed to be said.
Anyway, today I’m going to write about something a little more recent and relevant. Mage Tier Nine…we all want it right? Maybe, maybe not, let’s find out.
Reminder, these are the latest tier bonuses on the PTR and subject to change, so don’t hate me if something changes.
So, let’s start out by checking out the two piece set bonus:
Increases the armor you gain from Ice Armor by 20%, the mana regeneration you gain from Mage Armor by 10%, and converts and additional 15% of your spirit into critical strike rating while Molten Armor is active.
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……………..yay?
What is this? Seriously? In my opinion, this is one of the worst tier bonuses I have ever seen. Extra Armor from Ice Armor? Does anyone even use that while raiding? Sure, I use Mage Armor while raiding, but 10% is barely a difference, and not really going to change the fact that the arcane rotation sucks the mana out of you like a beastly mosquito. I suppose that an extra percentage of spirit converting to crit will be somewhat beneficial to fire and frostfire mages, but it’s still less than awesome.
Alright, so maybe the four piece bonus makes up for this lackluster two piece bonus?
Increases the critical strike chance of your Fireball, Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Blast spells by 5%.
Umm…I’m not really sure what to think about this one. Crit is nice, but is it really something we mages want as our tier bonus? It’s nice that the benefit is applied to two spells for arcane mages. Like I said, the jury is still out on this one for me.
So, final impressions: If you are a fire or a frostfire mage, you will be one happy caster if you manage to get four pieces of this set. Extra crit from molten armor stacked with a flat out 5% increase of crit on your main nukes will have you critting like a beast. For us arcane raiders, this tier is not as good as some other bonuses. I’m still reluctant to give up my tier 7 two piece bonus. That extra mana from mana gems is a godsend.
