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Kewangeder · 10/05/07, 3:45 PM

This is one reason why I wish the Theorycrafting thread was updated to reflect new thinking, at least on mages. Here's my distilled impression from browsing the mage threads for a few months. Corrections are welcome, and I will attempt to edit this post to reflect them.

Historically, 10/47/3 was the safest, highest DPS spec for any newly minted 70 mage. (That leaves 1 point floating, which you can put nearly anywhere without further affecting your DPS.) Start was 5xScorch, then 8xFireball,1xScorch until dead. Add Combustion and use trinkets when a solid burn window appears.

No fireblast on CC. This would require checking for CC after every cast where fireblast is off cooldown, rather than just starting another cast immediately; this reduces your DPS considerably. Even if you had zero lag and perfect reaction time, it still consumes a GCD, part of which could have been spent casting a fireball; IIRC, some sources report this results in lower DPS as well.

The biggest challenger to 10/47/3 was deep arcane, notably an ABx3,AM,scorch rotation until a certain point where you switch to AB spam, with the goal of killing the boss just as you go OOM (including evocation). This proved to beat 10/47/3 only when the two-piece T5 bonus was acquired. It is also highly dependent on the presence of a shadow priest in the mage's group, with a mana totem and JoWisdom as well.

Patch 2.2 buffed the Mystical Skyfire Diamond, ushering in the age of AM-spam. This seems to be the hot fad now; not only does it beat both 10/47/3 and AB/AM alternation, but it also comes much earlier in the mage's gear ladder (namely, a T4 helm).

(One thing I'm not quite clear on is whether it beats AB/AM arcane if you have two T5s and either fully gemmed spellstrike or VR cowl, but no meta-gem hat better than season 2, or - shudder - Incanter.)

Patch 2.3 promises a repeal of the fireball (and frostbolt) damage tax, which puts deep fire strongly back in play. Theorycraft shows very close results so far between arcane and fire; naturally, there are no empirical numbers yet.

10/05/07, 3:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
Kewangeder Piston Honda Kewangeder Gnome Mage <Anonymous> Gilneas	This is one reason why I wish the Theorycrafting thread was updated to reflect new thinking, at least on mages. Here's my distilled impression from browsing the mage threads for a few months. Corrections are welcome, and I will attempt to edit this post to reflect them. Historically, 10/47/3 was the safest, highest DPS spec for any newly minted 70 mage. (That leaves 1 point floating, which you can put nearly anywhere without further affecting your DPS.) Start was 5xScorch, then 8xFireball,1xScorch until dead. Add Combustion and use trinkets when a solid burn window appears. No fireblast on CC. This would require checking for CC after every cast where fireblast is off cooldown, rather than just starting another cast immediately; this reduces your DPS considerably. Even if you had zero lag and perfect reaction time, it still consumes a GCD, part of which could have been spent casting a fireball; IIRC, some sources report this results in lower DPS as well. The biggest challenger to 10/47/3 was deep arcane, notably an ABx3,AM,scorch rotation until a certain point where you switch to AB spam, with the goal of killing the boss just as you go OOM (including evocation). This proved to beat 10/47/3 only when the two-piece T5 bonus was acquired. It is also highly dependent on the presence of a shadow priest in the mage's group, with a mana totem and JoWisdom as well. Patch 2.2 buffed the Mystical Skyfire Diamond, ushering in the age of AM-spam. This seems to be the hot fad now; not only does it beat both 10/47/3 and AB/AM alternation, but it also comes much earlier in the mage's gear ladder (namely, a T4 helm). (One thing I'm not quite clear on is whether it beats AB/AM arcane if you have two T5s and either fully gemmed spellstrike or VR cowl, but no meta-gem hat better than season 2, or - shudder - Incanter.) Patch 2.3 promises a repeal of the fireball (and frostbolt) damage tax, which puts deep fire strongly back in play. Theorycraft shows very close results so far between arcane and fire; naturally, there are no empirical numbers yet.