So, it came up on last week’s stream, and I did some digging through the forum for the last couple hours. I didn’t see anyone else suggest what I came up with, so if you did, please link me the forum post - I really did try to find your suggestion!
The Mage Skill Focus has one major drawback to it - you have to stand in place and channel. For the one-sentence version of my feedback: give us the option to have Focus become a buff, and let us keep moving. Even if that buff ends when you attack/cast a spell, being able to Cast Focus then move along would go a long way.
The Null Profusion, Null Infusion, and Calm Mind nodes almost do this - they’re designed to make Focus a “pop and move” skill, where you focus more on the bonus from being at Negative Mana, and less on the bonus for Channeling.
I propose that Null Profusion instead provides a self-buff to your character, that provides the increased mana regeneration that channeling Focus would provide - for a duration equal to the cooldown penalty they provide - allowing Mages who are “recovering from their battle” to collect themselves while they seek their next challenge.
In order to not invalidate other nodes, and the Focus intrinsic bonus for Channeling for 1 Second; we shift this bonus to be based on how long the buff lasted, but happen at the end. Null Infusion then increases the cooldown of Focus, and increases the duration of the buff - letting a Mage decide they’ve rested long enough, and to gather a burst of strength as they leap into the next harrowing fight.
Unfortunately, this style of buff would be incompatible with Channeling Focus as a Lightning Damage skill - but that’s part of what make the decision important.
While everyone seems to think that the solution is to provide the Mana regeneration a significant boost, I think the Devs have said enough that they enjoy the thought of users needing a moment to recharge, so let’s drop that for now.