Tier 3 (Level 45)
Mirror Image is the pure single-target talent of the row. It does not scale well with many of the mage's stats, and it is very much a fire and forget spell. Its DPS contribution is only barely more than the other options. So, balance wise, it is a very poor talent. However, thematically, I think it's interesting and has real potential. The ability to summon multiples in order to trick an enemy into fighting the wrong one is interesting, and it provides a threat drop, despite that being barely relevant in the current game. It's rooted in the illusionist archetype of magic, where spells are cast in order to deceive others, and this is something that could be explored more in WoW (see Mesmer from GW2 for an example). Storm, Earth, and Fire, a Windwalker Monk base ability, has a similar theme, except it focuses on splitting the monk's damage and controlling each clone rather than using magic to trick enemies. Despite the strong thematic side of the talent, I feel that it could be a lot more interesting design-wise. Since this is a shared talent across the three specs, it could have a unique flair for each. For example, for Fire, Mirror Image could end with the images exploding for AoE damage, with the ability to end it early. This would move it from a simple fire and forget spell to one with a real decision to be made: should I explode it now or allow it to continue doing damage? Good judgment is rewarded, which is an important facet of gameplay. Or, allow the images to produce the procs for each spec, turning this into a cooldown that has heavy synergies with other talents and overall changes gameplay, as opposed to a basic talent with little implication for a spec (like Incanter's Flow). To sum it up, the theme is fantastic, but the implementation is simplistic and doesn't affect gameplay, which means there's two talents on this row that are just too simple.
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Stream Legends is a newly released semi-idle RPG that runs in the panels underneath a Twitch stream, and features a Diablo-like loot system and the ability to play with the others in the stream to build up a town and take on raids. In my opinion, the best part of the game is that the combat system is actually fairly deep. While heavily RNG-based, it has a lot of nuance, and making a "perfect" gear set is something you are always working towards, going for synergy and robustness.
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Nicholas PorterMMO-Focused Archives
November 2018
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