#1 - Feb. 12, 2016, 4:42 a.m.
My own thoughts:
It feels pretty similar to how it is on live, overall. I'm happy with that, naturally. The artifact questline was ok but I heard it is pretty much the same as the Disc Priest (not Holy, my bad!) one which is a shame. It should get at least some variation in there. Also there are some parts of it that need work (the portal to the vault should be more obvious what you need to click, I actually thought it was bugged because you have to back up quite a bit to get the use icon to appear. Additionally, if you die after Azuregos has brought you over and you defeated the ethereal, there is no way to get back over. That needs fixing). edit: Oh, and maybe pizzazz up the vault a bit. Aluneth is seemingly leaking out power, causing a lot of problems in the Nexus proper. Yet you reach it and its just...there. Aside from hurting you when you're "subduing" it, nothing happens. Maybe have it like an arcane storm in there.
(Also, Azuregos refers to you as a priest when you leave it)
I feel like Supernova isn't working quite right. I didn't notice it hitting all that hard. I also miss having two charges but I get why its gone.
edit: Oh, and I do like the new location for arcane charges, even if its just a blue-tinted shadow orb thing.
Arcane Familiar seems neat. I was actually pleasantly surprised by it being a geode and not, as I had assumed, a small mana fiend-like model. I like it!
Be nice to have Glyph of Slow baked into Arcane Blast. Unless that's planned as a glyph or whatever the system will be now.
Now, on to Aluneth. First, I like the look, seems good. Some of the alt skins don't look too great though, but eh, variety. That said, Aegwynn's Fall, while cool, is...well, overly dark. I'm flipping through the various colors of that one and they're all too similar.
Up next, the ability it gives you, Mark of Aluneth. I haven't used it too much yet (only tested it a few times before logging, really) but first impression is, not a fan. At all.
If you cast it first on a mob, they will pull themselves out of it within half a second or so, rendering the mark useless. And this is with its inherent slowing debuff. So, you'd have to cast it when they're going to stay put. Which means when they're in your face. You have to cast it, though, its not instant, and it has a buildup. By the time you're done, either you're dead, or they're dead from the rest of your spells.
Could be useful on bosses, but sudden movements will render it useless as well (and the slowing debuff won't work on them, I imagine).
So, first impression of Mark of Aluneth, it REALLY needs retooling. I don't feel it at all.