How much mastery is needed to make FFB better then FB.

FFB will in its current state never be a valid mainnuke.

When comparing profession bonuses, we shouldn't forget that permanent Intellect bonuses are far more valuable for Arcane then temporary procs because of way Mage Armor works. Also, the additional initial mana is another small boost. Early Simcraft output suggests that 1 Int ~= 2 SP, so it seems that Tailoring will not be a competitive option anymore.

With the above in mind, it seems that Leatherworking will be the best option for Arcane with a good margin, followed by Jewelcrafting and all the other 80 Int professions.

The Chaotic meta gem requirements will be reversed back to what they were in Wrath (Blizzard Post, thanks CedricKT). So, there is only 1 meta for DPS, 2 for healing (int/mana vs. spi/crit) and 2-3 for tanks (armour, magic, block) and some for PvP. Oh, well, it felt nice to have a choice between 2 meta, even if it took some effort to figure out which setup was better.

Perhaps one day there will we another meta gem for DPSers, perhaps an effect like the Mystic meta like in BC, just a bit more balance and less broken. When 2/3 of the raid use 1 meta and spam rubies, the whole system feel a bit bland and hollow.

I wouldn't rule out the Ember Shadowspirit Diamond for Arcane yet (until more theorycrafting is done). With Crit as our weakest stat and with the low crit rates in the first gear tiers, I don't see it adding a whole lot to our damage output.

What would it take for the other metas to come close? Ember could probably be viable for Arcane, but reduced threat and minor run speed just don't cut it for any spec. Minor run speed isn't too bad, but most of the time the run speed boots are taken anyway. Reduced threat, though? It seems like it's one of those traps they're trying to cut out of the game, and even if someone was bad at watching their threat, it wouldn't likely be taken anyway.

Adding at least one more viable meta choice would make it more interesting, at least.

As an aside, what would the impact have been if the requirements wanted more yellows than reds, rather than more blues than reds? Would it not have changed enough, or would the difference between having straight int/ a combination of int and secondary stats even it out?

When calculating the % increase worth of intellect (102 int =1% at 10200 int), I think that you forgot to take the spell's base damage in consideration. Spellpower would scale linear (2 times more sp= twice the damage) if the base damage of a spell was 0 but this isn't the case. When you calculate it, you should add the coefficient of the spell multiplied by it's base damage to your spellpower to have a more appropriate value of the % of increase 102 int actually gives.

Would there be any interest in a pre-raid preparation heroics loot list? I just finish making one for my guild, and if it's not already done somewhere else on this site (I mostly lurk mage forums) then I will gladly copy / reformat it for EJ use. Basically it's: every 346 or non-raid 359 item, sorted by item slot, with a summary listing the most desired heroic dungeons (by number of DPS caster drops per). I realize some of the rep and craftable items are already listed in this thread but I have taken further steps by including all heroic drops.

If there's no need, I will gladly request deletion of this post.

Below is a preview; I'm looking up how to fix the errant ilvls right now.

EDIT: After quite a bit of searching about, I just can't find a fix for the tooltips showing the 333 version, since they have the same names. Someone please bonk me over the head here, if you know the answer.

EDIT 2: After posting, I received several PM's asking for the full version and am posting it here. SOME item links don't have the accurate ilvl; please just click on them to see the correct version on Wowhead until I've figured it out.

EDIT 3: I somehow forgot feet. Fixed.

ITEMS PER HEROIC DUNGEON

7 - Halls of Origination
6 - Deadmines
5 - Throne of the Tides, Blackrock Caverns, Lost City of the Tol'vir
4 - Shadowfang Keep, Grim Batol, Stonecore
3 - Vortex Pinnacle

ITEMS PER REPUTATION

2 - Earthen Ring, Hellscream's Reach, Therazane, Dragonmaw Clan, Ramkahen
1 - Guardians of Hyjal

HEAD

359 [Lightweight Bio-Optic Killshades] - 525 Engineering
346 [Cowl of Pleasant Gloom] - Hit/Crit - 2,200 Justice Points
346 [Helm of the Typhonic Beast] - Hit/Mastery - Halls of Origination
346 [Crown of Enfeebled Bodies] - Crit/Haste - Grim Batol
346 [Blinders of the Follower] - Crit/Mastery - Shadowfang Keep
ENC [Arcanum of Hyjal] - Guardians of Hyjal (Revered)

NECK

359 [Yellow Smoke Pendant] - Crit/Mastery - Dragonmaw Clan (Exalted)
346 [Eye of Many Deaths] - Haste/Mastery - 525 Jewelcrafting (BOE)
346 [String of Beaded Bubbles] - Hit/Mastery - 1,250 Justice Points
346 [Charm of the Muse] - Hit/Crit - Halls of Origination
346 [Tauntka's Necklace] - Crit/Haste - Lost City of the Tol'vir
346 [Pipefish Cord] - Haste/Mastery - Throne of the Tides
346 [Pendant of the Keep] - Crit/Mastery - Shadowfang Keep

SHOULDERS

346 [Meadow Mantle] - Crit/Mastery - 1,650 Justice Points
346 [Mantle of the Eastern Lords] - Hit/Mastery - Shadowfang Keep
346 [Mantle of Master Cho] - Crit/Haste - Lost City of the Tol'vir
ENC [Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone] - Therazane (Exalted)
ENC [Lesser Inscription of Charged Lodestone] - Therazane (Honored)

BACK

346 [Cloak of Ancient Wisdom] - Crit/Haste - Earthen Ring (Revered)
346 [Shadow of Perfect Bliss] - Hit/Crit - Vortex Pinnacle
346 [Periwinkle Cloak] - Haste/Mastery - Throne of the Tides

CHEST

346 [Robes of Orsis] - Hit/Crit - Ramkahen (Revered)
346 [Robes of Embalmed Darkness] - Haste/Mastery - 2,200 Justice Points
346 [Corsair's Overshirt] - Crit/Mastery - Deadmines
346 [Inquisition Robes] - Hit/Mastery - Blackrock Caverns
346 [Robes of Arugal] - Crit/Mastery - Shadowfang Keep
346 [Robes of Rampant Growth] - Crit/Haste - Halls of Origination

WRISTS

346 [Armbands of Exiled Architects] - Crit/Mastery - Deadmines
346 [Sand Silk Wristband] - Hit/Crit - Lost City of the Tol'vir

HANDS

359 [Flamebloom Gloves] - Haste/Mastery - Earthen Ring (Exalted)
346 [Gloves of the Painless Midnight] - Haste/Mastery - 1,650 Justice Points
346 [Mnemiopsis Gloves] - Hit/Crit - Throne of the Tides

WAIST

359 [Dreamless Belt] - Hit/Mastery - 525 Tailoring (BOE)
346 [Incense Infused Cumberbund] - Crit/Mastery - 1,650 Justice Points
346 [Stratosphere Belt] - Hit/Mastery - Vortex Pinnacle
346 [Beauty's Silken Ribbon] - Crit/Haste - Blackrock Caverns
346 [Girdle of Nobility] - Crit/Haste - UNKNOWN, possibly Deadmines

LEGS

359 [Breeches of Mended Nightmares] - Crit/Haste - 525 Tailoring (BOE)
359 [Flame-Ascended Pantaloons] - Crit/Mastery - 525 Tailoring (BOE)
346 [Pensive Legwraps] - Crit/Haste - 2,200 Justice Points
346 [Legwraps of Astral Rain] - Crit/Mastery - Halls of Origination

FEET

359 [Desert Walker Sandals] - Hit/Haste - Ramkahen (Exalted)
346 [Slippers of the Twilight Prophet] - Hit/Mastery - Stonecore
346 [Corpse Rompers] - Crit/Haste - Unknown

FINGERS

359 [Ring of the Boy Emperor] - Haste/Mastery - Archaeology
359 [Signet of High Arcanist Savor] - Hit/Crit - BOE World Drop
346 [Ring of Warring Elements] - Crit/Mastery - 525 Jewelcrafting (BOE)
346 [Band of Lamentation] - Hit/Mastery - Dragonmaw Clan (Revered)
346 [Diamant's Ring of Temperance] - Crit/Haste - Therazane (Revered)
346 [Abandoned Dark Iron Ring] - Crit/Haste - Grim Batol
346 [Anthia's Ring] - Hit/Mastery - Throne of the Tides
346 [Band of Rays] - Hit/Crit - Halls of Origination
346 [Lavishly Jeweled Ring] - Hit/Mastery - Deadmines
346 [Rose Quartz Band] - Crit/Haste - Stonecore
346 [Spirit Creeper Ring] - Crit/Mastery - Lost City of the Tol'vir

TRINKETS

359 [Darkmoon Card: Volcano] - 525 Inscription (BOE)
359 [Stump of Time] - Hellscream's Reach (Exalted)
359 [Tyrande's Favorite Doll] - Archaeology
346 [Figurine - Jeweled Serpent] - 475 Jewelcrafting (BOP)
346 [Anhuur's Hymnal] - Halls of Origination
346 [Gale of Shadows] - Grim Batol
346 [Sorrowsong] - Lost City of the Tol'vir
346 [Tendrils of Burrowing Dark] - The Stonecore
346 [Witching Hourglass] - Blackrock Caverns

STAFF

359 [Staff of Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan] - Crit/Haste - Archaeology
346 [Insidious Staff] - Haste/Mastery - Hellscream's Reach (Revered)
346 [Cerith Spire Staff] - Hit/Haste - Thone of the Tides
346 [Emberstone Staff] - Crit/Mastery - Deadmines
346 [Staff of Siphoned Essences] - Crit/Mastery - Grim Batol

MAIN HAND

346 [Elementium Spellblade] - Hit/Crit - 520 Blacksmithing (BOE)
346 [Beak of Julak-Doom] - Hit/Mastery - Julak-Doom (world boss, Twilight Highlands)
346 [Modgud's Blade] - Hit/Crit - Grim Batol
346 [Blade of the Burning Sun] - Crit/Haste - Halls of Origination
346 [Biting Wind] - Crit/Haste - Vortex Pinnacle

OFF HAND

346 [Dungeoneering Guide] - Hit/Mastery - 520 Inscription (BOE)
346 [Hermit's Lamp] - Hit/Haste - 950 Justice Points
346 [Beauty's Favorite Bone] - Hit/Crit - Blackrock Caverns

RANGED

346 [Corla's Baton] - Hit/Mastery - Blackrock Caverns
346 [Cookie's Stirring Rod] - Crit/Mastery - Deadmines
346 [Wand of Dark Worship] - Crit/Haste - Stonecore

Thank you Valaran, that looks like a pretty good guide towards gearing up our mages as we get ready to raid. I did have 1 question regarding the trinkets - why is [Lifebound Alchemist Stone] on top? It looks like several other trinkets would be more valuable.

I only included it because, while it's not exactly the best option, it's still an option. But you're right, even if I were an Alchemist I wouldn't be likely to use it for raiding; I'm considering removing it as it's pretty shitty compared to the other choices. I'm still up in the air about [Tyrande's Favorite Doll]; if it's relatively safe to be within 15 yards of the boss, the Use ability could come out to an extra 70 DPS. Some of our awesome theorycrafters will probably have the math to tell me it's shit as well, but I'll see.

Update: removed the Alchemist trinket. More feedback is definitely welcome.

[Tyrande's Favorite Doll] is 4200 mana and 4200 damage every minute. [Theralion's Mirror] is around 50k damage per proc. Simcraft sadly doesn't have a DPS scaling value for MP5 or extra mana and Rawr doesn't seem to be polished enough for reliable difference analysis, but the DPM conversion for Arcane has traditionally been pretty bad when you're switching to AB spam. It really doesn't look good, unless all the other trinkets without intellect turn out to be terrible.

Something else that had me curious were staves. Up until Wrath, staves were inferior to dagger/off-hand combinations simply because weapons had no spell power budget. Any weapon had the same amount of it and it was outside the itemisation budget, so staves had slightly more stats (useless sta/int/spi, decent rating) but combinations had significantly more spell power. So, staves were slightly inferior but there was a weapon enchant for staves only that brought them mostly back to comparable levels.

Fast forward to Cataclysm. Intellect is now our most desirable stat, being 2-3 times as strong as any rating (considering all of them are fungible and hit has a cap). Spell power from budget is gone, all gear of the same item level has the same STA/INT and the rest of the budget is spread across two ratings. Let's look at level 372 items (it's similar on other gear levels]

Type	Stamina	Intellect	Rating 1	Rating 2
Main-Hand	248	165	110	110
Off-Hand	332	215	143	143
Total	580	380	253	253
Staff	578	385	258	258

So, combinations are verly slightly behind staves, weapon enchants are the same or both. But off-hand items suddenly get a +100 intellect enchant, bringing combinations way ahead of staves. Am I missing something here or are staves simply not desirable for any type of healer or caster?


[Edit]: The point that I was making is that staves are simply not much better than combinations, 5 INT + 10 Rating isn't really that much. Considering that you mix and switch for your best ratings, they could be considered pretty much equal. You made a good point about sockets like 3-socket-staves, but socket items seem to be better balanced now than before, they are not vastly to non-socketed gear any more. As for the number of sockets, I think they're saving them for later tiers.

Combinations need two items compared to a single staff. But with a 100 INT enchant, a weapon with any off-hand of the last 3 tiers will beat a staff (epic 372 weapon + rare 333 off-hand + 100 INT ~= epic 372 staff). We'll just see how it goes.

Early content has always had less sockets/worse socket bonuses.

Lightweave Embroidery is actually proccing 580 Intellect in game now. The Tailoring menu lists it as Spell Power, but the proc shows and gives Intellect. I'm not sure whether this is a bug or intended, but I like it! This makes Tailoring far and away the best profession if kept as is.

Base Mana is the amount of mana you'd have if you were at 0 intellect. Not +0 intellect from gear, but really 0 total intellect in your character screen. (There might be some World/NPC debuffs that reduce intellect, might be able to get to 0 with resurrection sickness.) Base Mana is important, because it's the base for the cost of all spells. You can calculate it by hovering over your Intellect entry in your character screen and substractiong your "mana from intellect" from "total mana", assuming you have no buffs that grant only mana (ESD meta, Gnome racial, enchantments). Oh, when calculating it by hand, be careful that the first 20 points of intellect only grant 1 mana each, only intellect past 20 grants 15 mana each.

See Base mana (level 85) (20th post, 1st page) for base mana of all classes at 85:

From Kavan's profile, it looks like the ESD meta (2%) and gnome racial (5%) intellect buffs are multiplicative. They don't change the displayed amount of mana from intellect in your character screen, so don't be confused if numbers don't add up. Max Mana = (Base Mana + INT Mana + [buff mana])*1.05[Gnome]*1.02[ESD]

All the same did apply to base health as well until level 80, but something seems to be different now at 85. I'm getting base values of 54521, 54373, 53161 when pulling profiles from mages of different races.


So, not sure what's going on with base health, but you should add Mage Base mana to the OP since it's the basis for all spell cost.

The gnome racial used to affect only base mana previously, right? Did anyone keep track of when that changed?

edit: thanks Ekto for clarifying.

No, gnome racial used to affect total intellect. It was changed to increase total mana pool by 5% in cata.

You're confusing it with the Endurance tauren racial which is 5% more base health.

If my math doesn't betray me, the engineering enchant actually gets better on a fight that gets cut short.

Taking your example.

If you use the enchant on cooldown, you'd get 96 int for the first 3 minute on average, but for the last 50 seconds, the tinker is worth 115.2 int or am I'm looking at it wrong?

480*12/60 = 96 => for the first 3 minutes
480*12/50 = 115.2 => for the last 50 seconds.

It's true, that is the best case scenario, on use haste (just like procs with ICDs) or any other stat is more valuable just AFTER the use/proc; the fight ending just BEFORE it comes up again it is the worst case scenario.

What's the haste and hasterating needed to reach a 1sec gcd without anything, with icy veins, with time warp, with TW AND IV... It seems like it's never worth casting IV and TW at the same time, but i'm not sure.

I suppose it would be best capping haste at where TW + haste would make the CGD 1 sec.

You are GCD capped for 1,5 Second Casts with 4955 Haste Rating on your Gear with 3/3 NW and 5% from Raid. With Icy Veins/ and the Buffs mentioned before you need 2000 Haste Rating and Icy veins + Bloodlust + Buffs you are GCD capped with 0 Haste.

For Casts with a 2,5 Cast Time f.e. Fireball you need 6170 Haste Rating to be GCD capped with 3/3 NW, 5% from Raid, Icy Veins and Bloodlust. I think the other Ratings are useless to list because that is totally out of Range

edit:
Maybe some have missed this little nifty and handy tool, so i post it again:
Spellhastecap Calculator

Regarding Gnome passive racial Expansive Mind: my tooltip still reads 5% *INT* increase. Perhaps an add-on jacked my tooltips or Blizz hasn't changed the tooltip yet or a ninja change back to give Gnomes a decent PvE racial with recent patch? Any gnome mages able to double check as I'm at work?

EDIT: Got home and double checked... I was wrong. Expansive Mind is 5% mana pool, it was Wizardry that was 5% INT.

Great list. Thanks for putting it together.

346 [Wand of Dark Worship] - Crit/Haste - Stonecore
The heroic version of this item doesn't actually exist in game.
In heroic mode, since it's BoE, it actually only drops
316 [Wand of Dark Worship]