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. Rune of Power is quite an interesting talent. When it first came out, I was intrigued by the idea. It rewards forethought and encounter knowledge with burst damage, and for this reason, it stands as a good talent in certain situations. The main issue with this talent is when it is simply too good compared to the other choices, which is a balance flaw rather than a design flaw. If it's too good, Rune of Power will be used even for mobile fights where the Mage may not even be able to stand in it the whole time for any part of the fight, which feels like a waste. Luckily, the other choices are quite valid for Fire at least. Rune of Power for Fire synergizes quite well with Combustion, giving a multiplicative damage increase on top of half the critical strike stat going towards mastery, which provides excellent burst. The only issue I have with regards to Fire Mage specifically is that it doesn't last long enough for our Combustion window to finish. However, it is not a significant issue in the least since the Fire Mage works around this by focusing on Fire Blast to Pyro chains or Phoenix Flames to Pyro chains depending on the targets, and later in the fight you occasionally run out of steam anyway towards the end of a Combustion. Overall, I think this is a fine talent that rewards good play quite well, and provides nice natural synergy with the rest of the Mage's kit. It helps fulfill the fantasy of being a "turret" much like Flame Cannon in the PvP tree does, and it is also the only player-used Rune in the game for those who are interested in the often-seen Rune-based combat of some NPCs. As long as its balance does not get out of hand like it had before, Rune of Power should remain as is.
Incanter's Flow is the ideal option for those with a more sustained damage output in a fight, at the cost of adding a bit of variance to the Mage's DPS. However, at the moment, all three Mage specs revolve around burst windows (in fact, most specs in the game do), which weakens this talent choice. Theoretically, the player could hold onto their burst for a higher stack, but given the numbers, it simply is not worth it. Personally, I enjoy the idea of delaying the burst portion of cycles to line up. It's this notion of patient gameplay that is not seen too often that I think should be explored. The Fire Mage would need a hefty rework to accommodate this style of gameplay, pushing it out of its current concept of a chaotic, explosive spec, so the style should not be explored with the Fire Mage. When considering the other options in this tier, and my proposed Mirror Image changes, Flow fits very well as a passive option, which is something Blizzard is valuing in the current iteration of talents--the option of simplicity. Plus, the subtle maximization opportunity makes this talent interesting to handle in theorycrafting, which is something I value as a min-maxer myself. So, Incanter's Flow fits solidly into this tier, fulfilling the simplistic niche.
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November 2018
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