Spell Travel time

[tyresias]

There are two things that annoy me about my mage. One is Travel Time, the time it takes me to key in the command to the time the spell gets to the boss seems to be unusually long, so long that lets say for example i cast natures touch followed by void life. the void life will begin to tick instantly and start healing before the natures touch even hits the mob. that has to be at least some of the problem with mage dps in the game, as i notice this problem when casting spells on the occasion that I have to dps. I have to ask, is it my computer, or does anyone else have this problem? If you do have this problem, is there anything other than standing closer to the boss that can be done to mitigate it?

[Kazzin]

Why would travel time affect DPS? You begin casting again as soon as the spell leaves your hands.

Since the dawn of MMO's caster classes have always had direct damage type spells, and bolt type spells. This isn't going anywhere.

[tyresias]

Why would travel time affect DPS? You begin casting again as soon as the spell leaves your hands.

Since the dawn of MMO's caster classes have always had direct damage type spells, and bolt type spells. This isn't going anywhere.

i know its not going anywhere, i just think that spells should land in the order i cast them in and shouldnt take forever and a day to hit their intended target. and at least for me there seems to be a long delay between when the spell graphic leaves my hands, then it hits the target and when the yellow numbers light up my screen.

[Dezyne]

Spell travel time is just another mechanic. It has it's positives and negatives.

Spell Travel time allows mages in general to burst by stacking up their damage load. A necro lock could cause Voidbolt, Draining Bolt and Soul Purge to all hit at nearly the same instant, this can serve to catch oposing healers off guard in PVP. (let's not argue about effectiveness of my technique, it's an example)
You can also use this to quickly put an effect on target. You could, as an elementalist, first cast Crystaline Missle and follow it with Icy Carapace. Because Icy Carapace does not have travel time it will hit first and it's burst effect will be triggered by the Missle.

Now some of the negatives.

If you need something to hit NOW! travel times are a problem. If your rotation is dependant on keeping up a debuff, travel times can hurt you. As a lock you never want Life Leech to drop, so do you start your void bolt at 2 seconds left? Only if your target is right up in your grill, otherwise starting at 4 is probably a better idea. If you are healing and your tank takes a big shot, that Natures Touch might not hit the target in time if you are standing far away.

All and all I feel that travel times just add a layer of dimension to our gameplay, weather they be a help or a hinderance they can serve to make our rotations more dynamic.