This is a fun post to read.
I started playin about 4 months after release. I played for 6 months, getting a 60 Mage and 40 Hunter and then quit, gave my account away to friends (who gave it to friends who got it banned for scamming -- irrelivent.)
My Mage only respecced 4 times. Started Fire, went Arcane, went Ice, and then back to Arcane throughout his leveling and never once did I determine that I needed to switch out of Arcane. Granted, back then alot of the Mage Talent Tree was drastically different; the Arcane tree was by far my favorite for both DPS and DPM.
I rerolled again, this time trying a Warlock and I loved it, but I miss my Mage so much that on a different server I just rolled out a Mage. He's 30 right now.
I see alot is different -- ALOT. One of the main reasons I rolled Arcane is because I recognized the power of Evocation (now a generic mage spell.) I also appreciated the fact that it did not rely on crit%, whereas now a good mage can get above 30% static crit, and with spells such as Combustion can achieve a crit% that is worth counting on. Arcane Power (the old mastery spell) also used to have a unique effect, where as with the introduction of Burning Crusades you can get relatively the same effect with no mana drain.
Still I look for some redemption in my old love, as many high end PVP cling to Ice, and many high end raiders cling to Fire.
I've fought this battle once -- disproving ice's efficiency and survivability and fire's DPS with math, but I'm sort of afraid I cannot do it again.
Too many variables are now entering the equation, too many stats dramatically effect the outcome. Gear escalation puts my old end-all-beat-all-strategy of Arcane Explosion at a place of uselessness (you run out of mana before killing anyone.) Instead they replaced it with a spell that does not belong in my old Tree -- Arcane Blast??? Non-instant?? Sub-par DPS and DPM with a relative effect? What have they done with my Arcane Tree?!?
I cling to my old habbits. My 30 Mage is 21/0/0 as we speak... I antipicate the PVP effectiveness of my Slow and Mind Mastery... but I also sit in wait... knowing that I'm going to have to try out the effectiveness of the new Fire and especially the new Ice builds.
I've been out of this game too long, it seems - I hope my old love has some respectability left it in...
If you wanna see some of my old posts go to page 60-63 in Mage forums -- Haha... So old school!
Peace!
P.S. - As I advance through here and start to deal with my new Talents and abilities, I'll try my best to bring math back into the equation. Honestly I wish I could again prove that the underdog (Arcane) is the best route. But with my 70 Lock I am noticing that everything has become so much more complex than when I first played!
What I will say - since the base spells are somewhat the same - is that Arcane is a very VERY effective non-invasive DPSer in raids/5rs. With a simple macro or well-timed hands you can make a constant DPS that is higher and will STILL last longer than a fire or ice, draws less agro, and spreadsn enough single shots to even out your crit% into pure extra DPS. Combined with a Malediction Warlock's Curse of Shadow, a MissleMage can still put out max DPS on a raid while minimizing agro and reducing resist%-- I've seen it and through this I've convinced an entire Top-End guild to switch from Ice to Arcane (recently.)
While all this stands true, I would like to point out that
RPZip wrote:
1) Each tick of Arcane Missiles can proc on spell hit/crit effects, which makes it unique among all channeled spells. Moreover, each tick can proc Clearcasting, but will not consume the Clearcasting buff (thus leading to a higher than expected crit boost from Arcane Potency).
I do not believe that AM will proc Clearcasting x5 (if it is the way it was before CC simply has a chance to activate after a forgiveness period when mana is spent on AM), however your point about it's effect on Arcane Potency is absolutely true. This leads to a debate about the fact that since each shot is lower damage, the damage after being crit per hit would be lower than competing spells, but begs that question that since AM still reigns as the highest total non-crit-relying spell in the Mage's spellbook, would this not equate to a higher% comaritively equating to MORE and MORE STABLE damage?
Like I said... I'll be checking stuff out -- I'm still only 30 here so shoot me down and make me look like a ****** if you want, last time though I proved my Arcane build so hard that apparently Blizzard had to revamp it =P