So, I’ve dealt with specs in this blog, though come 3.3.3 there will be some changes to them, which I’ll cover soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d take 2 posts to talk a little more in-depth about mage Glyphs. I’m going start nice and easy with Minor Glyphs.
For the most part Minor Glyphs really live up to their name. They aren’t all the important. As a general rule Minor Glyphs do not affect your toon very much, whether it be DPS or survivability. Minor Glyphs are all about convenience. But some are more convenient than others.
Glyph of Slow Fall – This is as close to mandatory as it gets with Minor Glyphs. I highly recommend every mage everywhere take this glyph as soon as you get the Slow Fall spell (lvl 12 I believe – though you don’t get glyphs until lvl 15). Normally Slow Fall requires a Light Feather to cast, these aren’t that hard to find, but you can’t just buy them off a vendor, so this Glyph will save you a lot of time and/ or money.
Glyph of Blast Wave – If you are a PVE fire mage and you took Blast Wave, I would highly recommend this Glyph. It is especially valuable in a raid environment. The knock back component of Blast Wave is my favorite part of the power, but you will upset your tank to no end if you are knock-backing mobs around while the tank is trying to keep them organized. I would not use this glyph if you are a PvP or Farming specced Fire mage, the knock back is key in those situations.
Glyph of Fire Ward and Glyph of Frost Ward – These make a slight difference in PvP survivability, but are situational at best. When I arenas a while back I had these Glyphs on me, and tried to keep up either ward depending on what classes I was facing. The 5% reflection isn’t going to make you OP, but it will help and these two Glyphs are the only ones for mages that aren’t just cosmetic or convenient.
Glyph of Frost Armor – I’m not sure why this Glyph exists. I suppose its pretty good for leveling as you really only have Frost Armor available at low lvls. So I guess that it is pretty good for soloing, you get to worry less about keeping it up, but it is pretty lacking generally.
Glyph of Arcane Intellect – Here is another one that I’m not sure why it exists. I mean, the two spells it benefits are kind of expensive, mana-wise, but in any raid/ party situation everyone is going to buff up then top off their mana and health with some sweet mana food and drink before the tank pulls. But hey, if you like seeing that little arcane eye thingy appear over your head and like to spam it for some totally cool mage stylin’ at the Dalaran bank then this Glyph is for you.
Glyph of the Penguin – Of course I saved the best for last. If you are in Northrend then a sheep just doesn’t fit in. When in Rome, right? Well, to solve the intellectual and spiritual conflict mages were feeling when they first they sheeped their virginal northrend mob, they created this Glyph. But if you really want to ‘sheep’ in style then you need to head on down to the old world and pick up Polymorph: Pig. You can grab that from this quest that starts here.
Happy Glyphing!!!
