Fire
As of right now, Fire is the preferable mage spec in terms of raid utility and DPS due to its excellent DPS mobility, strong AOE power, and even the ability to cash when out of mana.
For a really in-depth look at the Fire Mage, please visit Elitist Jerk’s Fire Mage Compendium.
http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t110326-cataclysm_fire_mage_compendium/#Glyphs
Fire Spec
Mage Fire Spec – RaidingThis is a good starting raid spec for a fire mage. Obviously, there are other talents you may or may not want to have, but this is recommended for now.
Playing a Fire Mage
After endlessly smashing the same buttons over and over at the end of Wrath, playing a mage can actually become challenging and a lot more fun if you play fire. Here are a few of things you want to keep in mind when playing a fire mage:
- Always use Molten Armor because it increases your critical strike change, which is key for the fire spec.
- Single Target DPS – Always try to keep Living Bomb up after every explosion. Use Flame Orb whenever its cooldown is up. Use Hot Streak (Pyroblast!) whenever it procs. Use a filler whenever you’re not casting these. Fireball has the highest DPS while Scorch can be cast while running or while being knocked back. Scorch is key in Cataclysm raids as you tend to be moving a lot more compared to Wrath raids. Furthermore, Scorch is actually not a tremendous drop-off in terms of DPS compared to Fireball, so it’s definitely viable. Frostfire bolt is another alternative, but is not recommended.
- Multiple Target DPS – Put Living Bomb on 3 targets, cast Blastwave when it is off cooldown, and spam Flamestrike. If you’re having mana troubles, put Living Bomb on 3 targets, cast Blastwave (a very mana-efficient spell), and cast Scorch at a single target.
- Combustion – Ideally use Combustion when Ignite (the most important), Pyroblast (dot), and Living Bomb are on the target. A very helpful Add-On for knowing when to cast Combustion is called CombustionHelper. It’s also very helpful for being able to track when Living Bomb is up on your target.
Gearing a Fire Mage
The current order of importance for stats for a Fire Mage is:
1. Intellect – By far the most important stat for a Fire Mage. It increases our spell power, mana, and critical strike chance.
2. Hit – Getting hit capped (17% or 1742 rating) is important for Fire Mages, but not at the cost of Intellect. The best way to get Hit Capped is to 1) Find gear with Hit, 2) Use Purple Hit Gems if the socket bonus is worth it (often it’s not due to Intellect being the strongest stat), 3)Enchant your gear for Hit, and 4) Reforge the weakest combat ratings into Hit.
3. Spell Power – Spell power can be found on weapons and trinkets.
4. Haste OR Crit – The relative importance of these two stats completely depends on YOUR character. Use a program such as RAWR to determine which is best for you depending on your current gear.
5. Mastery – Right now, Mastery is the weakest important stat of a mage.
Spirit is virtually useless for a mage, but sometimes you can find a piece of gear that is still better than your own if you reforge the Spirit. Currently, you can roll on pieces of gear with Spirit as your offspec.
Recommended Glyphs
• Prime – Glyph of Molten Armor, Glyph of Pyroblast, and Glyph of Fireball.
• Major – Glyph of Evocation and Glyph of Polymorph
• Minor – Glyph of Conjuring, Glyph of Arcane Brilliance
Fill in the rest with whatever you feel like…