I thought that this week I would spend some time going over some of the mage specific items currently in the game. Realize, of course, that the selection of gear is a personal decision, and no one can tell you how to deck out your mage. These are just some suggested items I found useful as I leveled my mage. Also, I play an alliance mage, and the horde mage I have leveled isn't above level 16 last I checked, so if there are items you know of that your fellow mages would find valuable, please let us know. After all, this column is all about learning together how to improve ourselves as mages. Also note that this isn't a comprehensive list by any means. I've simply pulled a selection of items from the vast choices out there to try to give you some idea of what is out there.

We're going to start at the beginning, since I've heard it's a very good place to start, and move chronologically up through the levels. Our first segment will be on items for mages levels 1-20, so those of you that are higher level, hang in there, more is most definitely on the way.

It's time once again to celebrate our mageness with Arcane Brilliance, and this time we're going where I certainly have not gone before: the PTR. I finally got my character transfers to go through, and my immediate thought was to slip on into the PTR and check out how the changes to mage spells and talents affected my character with the addition of Patch 2.3. A lover of experiments, I figured one was in order, and so happily spent the morning blasting things in the name of gaming science.

The parameters of said experiment were the following: I used the same spec on both the PTR and the live server, and decided that for simplicity's sake I would record data on three separate types of spell damage: using only Fireball, using only Scorch, and using my normal spell rotation. Now, you'll notice that my spec is a basic fire spec, newly reclaimed after some time spent as a blended POM/Pyro mage. I have decent gear, not the best, not the worst. I would say that I wear middle-of-the-road items, some Tier 4, Spellstrike and Spellfire, and the enchants and gems I have are also of the meh category. They aren't terrible, but I haven't had the opportunity to deck out this mage with all the snazzy +12 spell damage gems I would like. So the following are the experiences of a mage with some lower-end raiding gear, a fire spec, and a curious nature.

So there is all this information oozing out all over the internets about the patch, and since the other classes aren't really my priority, we'll look at the really important stuff. First off, let's look a little at what information is different from what we originally knew about the patch and how it related to mages. We knew we had a new spell coming, that the damage coefficient was being "obliterated" as Drysc said, and that we would see changes to Arcane Meditation and Ice Barrier. This is what we know now:

First off, let me begin by restating my original premise: no one can tell you how to play, or in this case who to play. In the end, it is you who log into the game, it is your set of characters that load in with the resounding intro music plays in the background. But maybe you read Arcane Brilliance and said to yourself, "hey, maybe I might like to try my hand at playing a mage." Here's the short and the long of it.

I have a group of friends that enjoy trying out new characters. Sometimes they ask me this very question, and I reply with some questions in return. First is the easy one: where do you prefer to be in a fight? Do you want to stand up close and personal, breathing in the putrid stench that is the monster's breath, hacking away at him piece by piece? If so, then a mage isn't for you. They are a cloth-wearing DPS class, and with the exception of a few fights, we are standing at the back of the crowd dealing death from a safe distance.

Also, I like to ask: How difficult a challenge are you looking for? Mages are not the easiest class to play. They take a lot of juggling. With the various spell resistances of the monsters in Azeroth and Outland, a mage has to keep constantly aware of who they are fighting. Your spell rotation can be totally different depending on who or what you are up against. I've heard it said that anyone can play a mage, but few play them well.

Arcane Brilliance is here again, this time looking at mage PvP. When I began playing the game, PvP consisted of standing outside of Goldshire spamming the "duel" request. Sure there was world PvP, but it didn't really take off until the honor point system was in place. A couple months after that, the battlegrounds were born, places specifically designed for factions to duke it out. The next iteration of WoW PvP came in the form of arenas, the caged death match of the game. Dueling was never my style, but I enjoyed the battlegrounds quite a bit (mostly due to the geek-out factor as a result of playing Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.)

I bring this up to make a point. PvP has changed dramatically in two years, and each aspect requires a different set of skills. In the battlegrounds I was a ninja mage who spent so much times camping Iceblood Graveyard my Alterac Valley ram and I could have built a winter cottage there. I stood in the trees or on ledges and nuked anyone who might happen by. I see much that is similar in dueling and arena combat. Lock down your opponents by any means possible, and once you have the adds controlled, nuke 'em into next Tuesday.

The PvP of today is a vast new world that sometimes scares me, and in the words of Illidan much of me is not prepared. But I can save you the trouble by giving you a glimpse into the stats required for mage PvP.

Arcane Brilliance is back again, if belatedly so, to fill your day with more magey goodness. I thought that this week we would look into some of the finer points of magecraft. No matter how good you are as a mage, at some point you will have to shift your focus from your technique to your gear.

The bonuses to your spell schools can mean the difference between being at the top of the DPS charts and wallowing in your own caster tears somewhere near the bottom. But building up a huge amount of spell damage gear, although good, may not be the most effective way to epic out. There are two other stats mages need to look at, specifically spell hit and spell crit, and without knowing the proper balance between these three stats you will never be the best mage you can be.

First, let's look at the stats themselves.

It's time again for Arcane Brilliance, your one-stop mage shop for all your magical caster needs. Last time we spoke about the macros mages should know and love, those little additions to your game play that will make you even more uber than you already are. At the end of that article I mentioned we would next talk about the addons that mages simply shouldn't do without, and even the comments in that article mentioned a few (thanks for stealing my thunder guys.)

This isn't to say that as a mage it is required that you use mods when you play. Think of these more as the added features on your luxury sedan, the DVD player and the auto-adjusting seats. The mods I use are an extension of the way I already play, but they don't play the game for me. Try them out, see if they work for you, and let us know how it went. Like I've said before, no one can tell you how to play your class; we can only suggest things that might make playing your class easier or more fun.

I used to be a mage purist. You know the type, those that would never load a mod, never write a macro for fear that it would taint the game. That was up until I recently discovered a little thing called focus. Now just about all my spells are macroed in one way or another, and I am a happier, more efficient mage for it. I thought this week, seeing as how it's been a while since Arcane Brilliance has posted, I would spend some time going over those macros that I use on a daily basis. If there are any that you particularly love, feel free to let us know. I'm always keen on adding to my collection.

Once again we're back with Arcane Brilliance, where we discuss all things mage-like. This week I'd like to talk a bit about our roots as mages in the World of Warcraft universe. In order to understand who you are and where you are going, sometimes you have to learn about where you've been. In this case, both our past as mages and our future are tied to the same place, namely Dalaran, or more specifically The Magical Nation of Dalaran.

Arcane Brilliance is a little late today, but for a pretty good reason: I'm writing the column from the floor of the Anaheim Convention Center. Seeing as how we are coming to you live from BlizzCon, I thought it might be of interest to show you how mages are receiving the love from the Blizzard dev team. The first class panel didn't give us much in the way of new info on the mage, but there certainly were a lot of references to mages during the convention.

It's Arcane Brilliance time again, and we're back with our third installment on the three types of mages. We've already talked about some helpful aspects and defining characteristics of both the Arcane and the Frost mage. Now we turn to the Firestarters among us.

About two weeks ago I actually respecc'd from Arcane/Frost to Arcane/Fire because I decided to get into raiding, returning to my roots as I originally played a fire mage. I'm still playing a blended spec, but my dps automatically went up a hundred points. Why is that? Because the fire tree is where the damage is at. Originally I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to change my frost-loving ways, but after one instance run I can confirm I am hooked on the flame. I really do miss the mana efficiency of my previous spec, but what I noticed as I burned down Bladefist without batting an eye, was that with a good potion supply and a reasonable spell rotation I was sitting pretty. Yes, I am drinking after every fight, but when you're critting like crazy, a girl builds up a thirst.

The last time we spoke, Arcane was the name of the game. Dealing with each of the types of mages is a challenge for me, seeing as how I play a blended spec myself. But more than simply talking about how one might considering speccing your mage (we'll get to that later) this series of posts is a discussion of the nature of the three types of mages themselves.

For a long while I was a Frost Mage, and I capitalize the term because it seemed like such a stiff, formal affair whenever I talked about my talents. All my damage was built into the frost spells on my bar, and I barely touched any of the others. While not the most imaginative when it comes to instance groups, the Frost Mage was definitely strong in the PvE realm of the game. Many of the talents available in the Frost tree include chill effects, those effects designed to slow your enemy. This makes this particular spec excellent for soloing, since you are able to freeze your enemies in place for longer periods of time with Improved Frost Nova, slow vast armies with Improved Blizzard, and Crit your way to victory with Shatter.

Welcome back to Arcane Brilliance, our column celebrating our mageness. The defense of the mage was our first topic, but it's time to move on to talk about mages themselves, specifically the three types of mages. Now I say three types knowing perfectly well that you can consider hybrids (such as me) another type of mage, but since there are three talent trees, we will stick with the notion of three mages.

When looking at the three types of mages, I thought I might as well discuss the type of mage I play (well technically anyway) first. It only makes sense, seeing as how I know her skills best and all. It is really interesting that I don't actually meet that many Arcane mages. You would think that this would be the spec of choice, going only by the name. Mages wield arcane weapons, and being trained in the arcane arts, it just seems natural that Arcane would be our home. I'm sure you're out there, you purists, those that have stepped down to the bottom of the tree and taken no other talents along the way, I just haven't met you yet.

Welcome back to another installment of Arcane Brilliance, an homage to the mages we are, and hopefully a place where we can learn a few things that will help us along the way towards becoming the mages we want to be. When we last sat down together, we went through the different types of mage armor, their stats and uses.

As a result of the comments on last week's article, I tried a little variation in the use of the three armor types in my gameplay. You were right when you said that Mage Armor can actually give more punch than Molten Armor in instances; my addiction to crit was blinding me to the amazing damage that can be done when you don't run out of mana half-way through a fight. See, that's exactly what this column is all about, learning from each other how to become better mages.