This thread is intended as a consolidated resource for fire mages in Mists of Pandaria, and is a work in progress. If you notice any errors, or if you have any ideas regarding improvements that could be made to the thread, please send me a PM. As Tyrion and Guromin said in the Cataclysm compendium threads, the goal is to encourage people to better educate themselves, and not need to come to EJ to ask redundant questions or make posts that just get deleted.

Please feel more than welcome to chime in with theorycrafting specifics.

 

Contents

1 Acronyms & Abbreviations 2 Key abilities 2.1Mastery 2.2 Spells 2.3 Procs 2.4 CDs 2.5 Passive 2.6 Buffs 2.7 Symbiosis 3 Spec 3.1 Talents 3.1.1 Tier 1 3.1.2 Tier 2 3.1.3 Tier 3 3.1.4 Tier 4 3.1.5 Tier 5 3.1.6 Tier 6 3.2 Glyphs 3.2.1 Major 3.2.2 Minor 3.3 Stats 3.3.1Haste and Ticks Breakpoints 3.3.2 Stat priority 4 Races 4.1 Alliance 4.2 Horde 5 Gearing 5.1 BiS 5.2 Enchants and Enhancements 5.3 Gemming 5.4 Reforging 5.5 Consumables 5.5.1 Food 5.5.2 Flasks 5.5.3 Potions 6 Play 6.1 Buffs 6.2 Rotation 6.2.1 Single target 6.2.2 AOE 6.2.3 Moving 6.2.4 *Pyro, Alter Time, and Combustion 6.3 Mana management 6.4 Professions 6.5 Secondary Professions 6.6 Macros 6.7 Helpful Mage Addons 7 Resources 8 Credits 9 Edit Log

[top] Acronyms & Abbreviations

BiS	Best in slot
CC	Crowd Control
FB	Fireball
FFB	Frostfire Bolt
GCD	Global cooldown
HoT	Heal over Time
HU	Heating Up
IB	Inferno Blast
MI	Mirror Image
PoM	Presence of Mind
Pyro	Pyroblast
RoP	Rune of Power

[top] Key abilities

[top]Mastery

The mastery ability for fire mages in MoP is Ignite, a DoT applied by FB, FFB, IB, Scorch, and Pyro, which causes the target to burn for 12% of the spell's total damage 4 sec. If this effect is reapplied, any remaining damage will be added to the new Ignite.

[top] Spells

Fireball	Fire’s main nuke.
Frostfire Bolt	The staple spell for mages, replaced by FB at level 12. FFB does the same damage as FB as well as applying a 40% snare, but has a longer casting time unless the Glyph of Frostfire Bolt is used.
Inferno Blast	an instant crit that spreads all DoTs on the target to the surrounding targets.
Mage Bomb	Main DoT. This will be Nether Tempest, Living Bomb, or Frost Bomb, depending on which you take as your tier 5 talent.
Pyroblast	A heavy hitting single target spell, but the cast time is significantly longer than FBs.
Flamestrike	The most powerful AOE spell for mages, doing damage as well as placing a DoT on the ground. In MoP it now has a 2 sec cast time and a 12 sec CD.
Arcane Explosion	No longer just for arcane mages, Arcane Explosion is an instant AOE that can be cast while moving.
Blizzard	A channeled AOE frost spell, with a channel time that conveniently fits into Flamestrike's CD.
Counterspell	Interrupts an enemy's spell and prevents them from casting from that school for 6 sec.
Remove Curse	Self explanatory.
Spellsteal	Removes a buff from an enemy target and applies it to the mage instead.

[top] Procs

Heating Up	Procs when the previous direct damage spell is a crit. If the next spell is a crit, Pyro! will proc.
Pyroblast!	Procs when two direct damage spells in a row are crits/when a spell crits while HU is active, and makes the next Pyro an instant cast. Pyro! can be forced to proc by casting IB while HU is active.

[top] CDs

Alter Time	Functions like a less powerful, one person version of the hourglass on Murozond in End Time. Upon casting AT, your current position, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs are saved. When AT ends (at most 6 sec later), you are returned to your initial position and those stats and de/buffs are restored to what they were when AT was cast. Be careful not to cast AT before using a cooldown or buff that goes for longer than 6 sec, or you will lose it when AT ends.
Combustion	Takes the Ignite DoT on a target and creates a new, additional DoT. 45 sec cooldown (or 1.5 min CD when glyphed).
Evocation	Unless you have taken the Rune of Power talent at level 90, channelling Evocation will restore some of your mana. If you use the Glyph of Evocation, you will regen both health and mana while channelling.
Ice Block	Emergency damage mitigation. Ice Block will make you immune to all damage for 10 sec.
Invisibility	Another aggro dump, although unless you have the Greater Invisibility talent, it takes a few seconds to kick in, during which it can be broken.
Mirror Image	A long time aggro dump and DPS increase for mages, Mirror Image’s damage has been increased to make it one of the highest damage spells for the cost of one GCD, in addition to hiding aggro while the images are up. The three images case Fire Blast and Frostbolt, and benefit from your spell power, haste and crit.
Polymorph	Our main CC spell. Polymorph will change the target into an animal (sheep is the default) and remove them from the fight for 30 sec or until they receive damage. The Glyph of Polymorph will also remove any DoTs that were on the target prior to Polymorph’s cast.
Time Warp	The mage version of Bloodlust/Heroism.

[top] Passive

Critical Mass	Crit strike chance of FB, FFB, Pyro and Scorch increased by 50%.
Shatter	Crit chance against frozen targets is doubled, and then increased by another 50%. The target’s crit chance modifiers (if any) are applied before the doubling.
Nether Attunement	Mana regen from passive ticks, mana gems, and Evocation is increased by your haste.
Wizardry	Intellect (from all sources) increased by 5%.

[top] Buffs

Arcane Brilliance	A raid-wide buff that increases spell power by 10% and critical strike chance by 5% for all party/raid members.
Molten Armor	Now reduces physical damage to you by 6%, and increases your crit strike chance by 5%. It stays on until you remove it – there is no time limit, it’s undispellable, and it persists through death.

Frost Armor slows melee attackers by 30% and provides 7% spell haste, while Mage Armor reduces duration of harmful magic effects by 25% and increases mastery. For fire mages, neither of these are a better option than Molten Armor.

[top] Symbiosis

When the target of a druid’s Symbiosis, mages gain the spell Healing Touch, a medium-large sized, mana-intensive heal with a 2.5 sec cast time and 10 sec CD.

[top] Spec

[top] Talents

Talents are now a choice between 3 1-point talents every 15 levels, and most have some degree of utility to all specs. Given how changing talent choice has been made cheaper and simpler, redoing talents for situational benefits between raids, or even encounters, looks to be a viable option for now.

[top] Tier 1

Presence of Mind	Can be used every 90 sec to make one spell insta-cast. Not on the GCD.
Scorch	Low cast time fire spell that can be cast while moving, and can proc Ignite, HU and Pyro!
Ice Floes	Can be used every 60 sec to make the next two spells with a cast/channel time of less than 4 sec able to be cast/channelled while moving. Can be cast while in the middle of casting another spell, and is not on the GCD.

Presence of Mind and Scorch are our best options, depending on the fight. Presence of Mind is better for stand and burn fights, as it allows an insta-cast Pyro every 90 sec. Scorch is excellent for fights involving a lot of movement, as it enable you to keep DPSing while moving. Scorch is also an excellent way to fish for HU procs, and currently seems to add a decent DPS increase this way as crit levels get higher.

[top] Tier 2

Temporal Shield	All damage received for the next 4 sec after casting is then returned to you as a HoT over the next 6 sec. There is no limit on the amount of damage it can heal – provided you don’t die during the initial 4 sec, you will get all of that health back. Not on the GCD.
Blazing Speed	Speed increased by 150% and all movement impairing effects dropped for 1 sec after casting, but may only be cast after receiving damage, or after killing a target. Not on the GCD.
Ice Barrier	Shields you for 60 sec, or until the shield has received enough damage to break. The damage the shield can take scales with gear. While the shield is active, it also prevents incoming damage from interrupting spellcasting (although it does not prevent knockbacks).

All three have their uses, depending on the situation and what other talents you have taken. Temporal Shield + Cauterise makes a strong combination, especially if Ice Block is off CD to ensure you survive the 4 sec if you end up taking more than 200% of your health in damage. Blazing Speed + Ice Floes will allow casting while moving out of pretty much anything. Ice Barrier doesn’t have cute tricks like the other two do, but will be a huge help to your healers during heavy-damage fights, and while being on the GCD has a negative DPS impact, the pushback negation should make up for this on heavy-pushback fights.

[top] Tier 3

Ring of Frost	After a 2 sec cast time, places a 10 yard ring that lasts for 10 sec, and will freeze up to 10 enemies entering the ring for 10 sec. 45 sec CD.
Ice Ward	Places a ward on a friendly target (yourself included), that lasts for 30 sec or until triggered. When the warded target is next hit by an attack, Ice Ward triggers and casts a Frost Nova, which freezes every enemy within 10 yards for 5 sec. 20 sec CD, and can be on two friendly targets at the same time.
Frostjaw	Will freeze and silence one target up to 30 yards away for 8 sec, or until the target receives damage. 20 sec CD.

Which of these three to take primarily depends on personal preference, as well as some situational considerations. Ring of Frost will allow you to CC multiple targets at range, Frostjaw allows you to CC one target at range (and is particularly good for CCing casters), while Ice Ward is useful to pop on a friendly target who needs to either kite something, or keep it in place for a few seconds.

[top] Tier 4

Greater Invisibility	Removes the fade time from Invisibility, removes 2 DoTs, and reduces all AOE and splash damage by 90% for the duration of the spell and for 3 sec after becoming visible again. 2.5 min CD.
Cauterise	A passive effect with a 2 min internal CD. When hit by an attack that would otherwise kill you, Cauterise puts you back to 50% health, and then applies a fire DoT that burns away 40% of your health over 6 sec. Ice Block will negate most (if not all) of the damage, as will Temporal Shield and Incanter’s Ward. Note that it will now only absorb damage that is up to 200% of your maximum health.
Cold Snap	Restores 30% of your health, and resets the CD of Ice Block, Cone of Cold, and Frost Nova. 3 min CD, and off the GCD.

Of these three, Cauterise is best option, being essentially a passive battle rez that can proc every 2 min. As it no longer burns away more health than it gives you, and having several options for negating or restoring the health it does burn away, it’s good for pretty much any situation. Next is Greater Invisibility, with its situational use for reducing AOE damage and removing DoTs and threat. Cold Snap is not particularly useful for fire mages.

[top] Tier 5

Nether Tempest	12 sec DoT that scales excellently with haste. Every tick launches a half-damage missile at another target within 10 years. Primary target damage is based on your stats when the spell is cast, while secondary target damage is based on your stats when the missile launches.
Living Bomb	12 sec fire DoT that can be on up to three targets at any one time. Living Bomb deals 50% of its damage as ticks, then at the end of the 12 sec, it explodes and deals the remaining 50% damage to three targets within 10 yards. Now also explodes if the target dies before the 12 sec is up.
Frost Bomb	A single target, one-tick DoT. The base time is a 6 sec tick and 10 sec CD, both of which are reduced by haste. After one tick, Frost Bomb explodes and deals damage to all targets within 10 years, and applies a 70% slow for 2 sec.

Which bomb is best depends on how many targets you will be using it on. Nether Tempest is the best single target bomb, or with spread out targets. Living Bomb’s rapid multidotting is best for 2 – 5 targets, and Frost Bomb is best against 6+ targets as there is no limit on the number of targets hit by the detonation as long as they are within 10 yards of the primary target.

[top] Tier 6

Invocation	Reduces the CD on Evocation to 10 sec, and gives +25% spell damage for 40 sec after successfully completing an Evocation. On the downside, reduces your passive mana regen by 50%.
Rune of Power	Places up to two runes on the ground, which each last for 60 sec. When standing in one of your own runes, you get +15% spell damage and +100% mana regen. You need to get approx. 10 sec use out of a rune to make it worth casting. On the downside, you lose Evocation as a spell, and you won’t get much use out of it on fights requiring a lot of movement.
Incanter’s Ward	Gives you two passive buffs, a +6% to all damage and +65% mana regen. When used as a spell, the passive buffs are removed until the spell is off CD, and you gain a shield that lasts for 8 sec, or until max. damage is absorbed (approx. 23% of what Ice Barrier will absorb), and regens up to 18% of your mana. When the shield breaks or expires, you get up to +30% damage for 15 secs. The mana regen and increased damage both depend on how much damage the shield absorbed – if the shield absorbed half the damage it could, you’ll get 9.5% mana regen and +15% damage. The shield stacks with Ice Barrier, and will absorb damage before Ice Barrier does.

As with previous tiers, each talent is better for different situations. Rune of Power is the best on fights with no movement, or where you have a small amount of movement and can arrange to be moving between two or three particular places. Invocation is good for fights with moderate movement, when you have time to pause to cast an Evocation before moving again. Incanter’s Ward is best on high-movement high-damage fights, as it has no impact on mobility, can’t be interrupted, gives some damage mitigation, and to get the maximum benefit you need to ensure that you’re getting enough damage that the shield breaks rather than expires.

[top] Glyphs

[top] Major

Of the 18 major glyphs for fire mages, only 9 have any use for fire, and two of those (Polymorph and Spellsteal) are extremely situational. Fire Blast, Evocation, Combustion, and Frostfire Bolt appear to be the most consistently useful.

Armors	Improves each of the Armor spells. Frost Armor’s snare increases to 40%, Mage Armor decreases harmful magical effects by 45%, and Molten Armor decreases physical damage taken by 16%.
Combustion	Doubles both the initial damage and CD of Combustion.
Cone of Cold	Triples the damage of the Cone of Cold spell, making it a viable AOE for any spec at 6+ targets.
Counterspell	You can cast counterspell while casting another spell, but CD is increased.
Evocation	Evocation will now regen health as well as mana. However, if you’ve taken Invocation at tier 6, glyphed Evocation will only heal you for 40%, and will only heal you if the Evocation is successfully completed. If you’ve taken Rune of Power you lose Evocation, so this glyph means you will regen 1% health per second when standing in your rune.
Fire Blast	Fire Blast/Inferno Blast now adds to the functionality of mage bombs. Nether Tempest fires a secondary missile at every target within 10 yards, Living Bomb is spread to two nearby targets, and Frost Bomb instantly explodes. Especially good with Living Bomb, as spreading the DoT as opposed to multidotting saves 0.5 sec, means you don’t have to switch targets, and you’re adding the Inferno Blast damage to your primary target.
Frostfire Bolt	Lowers the cast time of FFB to be the same as FB, giving you a slow in addition to the damage.
Polymorph	Polymorph now removes all DoTs from the target.
Spellsteal	Each time you successfully steal a spell, you gain 3% health.

[top] Minor

Glyph of Mirror Image will give a DPS increase, the other minor glyphs are fun or cosmetic, and don’t really offer much advantage. Take whichever you like the most. Situationally, Discreet Magic’s reduction of mage bomb’s damage distance could help with not pulling yellow mobs by accident, and Glyph of Momentum will allow you to blink while strafing.

[top] Stats

Intellect	Intellect remains our most important stat. It is what spell power is based off of, and it also increases crit strike chance. As mana pools are now standardised, Int no longer increases mana.
Hit	Your chance of hitting your target. Hit cap is 15%, or 5100 hit rating at level 90. Hit above this is useless, and should be reforged into something else. Some races have racial abilities that effectively lower the hit cap to 14% (4760 hit rating), so keep that in mind if your mage is one of those races.
Expertise	Expertise now increases spell hit in exactly the same way that hit does. While you won’t generally get gear with expertise on it, you can increase spell hit by reforging into expertise if you can’t reforge to hit.
Crit strike	The higher your crit chance, the more often you’ll get HU and Pyro! procs.
Haste	Haste increases the number of ticks on your mage bomb, Pyro, and Combustion, lowers your cast time and GCD of insta-casts, and increases your rate of mana regen.
Mastery	Increases the damage of Ignite.

[top]Haste and Ticks Breakpoints

With thanks to Binkenstein, who has great haste breakpoint cards over at Totem Spot.

This table does not take into account the Frost Armor buff, as fire mages should be using Molten Armor.

				NON-GOBLINS		GOBLINS
Spell	Extra Ticks	Total Ticks	Haste %	With 5% Haste Buff	Without Haste Buff	With 5% Haste Buff	Without Haste Buff
Combustion (glyphed)	1	21	2.51	0	1 068	0	637
Nether Tempest	1	13	4.22	0	1 794	0	1 356
Combustion	1	11	4.99	0	2 120	0	1 678
Combustion (glyphed)	2	22	7.47	1 000	3 175	569	2 723
Pyroblast	1	7	8.32	1 345	3 538	911	3 082
Living Bomb	1	5	12.51	3 039	5 316	2 588	4 843
Combustion (glyphed)	3	23	12.55	3 056	5 334	2 605	4 860
Nether Tempest	2	14	12.55	3 056	5 334	2 605	4 860
Combustion	2	12	15.01	4 052	6 379	3 591	5 895
Combustion (glyphed)	4	24	17.44	5 036	7 412	4 565	6 918
Nether Tempest	3	15	20.85	6 414	8 860	5 930	8 352
Combustion (glyphed)	5	25	22.47	7 073	9 552	6 582	9 037
Pyroblast	2	8	24.97	8 -85	10 614	7 584	10 089
Combustion	3	13	25.08	8 127	10 659	7 626	10 132
Combustion (glyphed)	6	26	27.47	9 095	11 675	8 585	11 139
Nether Tempest	4	16	29.12	9 762	12 375	9 244	11 831
Combustion (glyphed)	7	27	32.54	11 147	13 829	10 616	13 271
Combustion	4	14	35.04	12 161	14 894	11 620	14 326
Combustion (glyphed)	8	28	37.46	13 138	15 920	12 587	15 341
Nether Tempest	5	17	37.46	13 138	15 920	12 587	15 341
Living Bomb	2	6	37.52	13 163	15 947	12 612	15 368
Pyroblast	3	9	41.68	14 846	17 713	14 278	17 117

[top] Stat priority

Intellect > Hit = Expertise (until 15% spell hit) > Crit > Haste > Mastery

[top] Races

Useful racials for mages.

[top] Alliance

Draenei get Gift of the Naaru, which is a small HoT, Heroic Presence, which gives them +1% hit, and Shadow Resistance, which reduces shadow damage taken by 1%.

Dwarves get Stoneform, which will reduce incoming damage by 10% for 8 sec and remove all poison, disease, and bleed effects.

Gnomes get Arcane Resistance, which reduces arcane damage taken by 1%, Escape Artist, which removes movement impairing effects, Expansive Mind, which increases mana by 5%, and Shortblade Specialisation, which gives them +1% spell hit when using a sword or dagger, and also have an increased mana pool.

Humans get Every Man for Himself, which removes movement impairing or loss of control effects, and Sword Specialisation, which gives them +1% spell hit when using a sword.

Night Elves get Quickness, which reduces the hit chance of incoming attacks by 2%, and Shadowmeld, which can be a useful aggro dump when necessary.

Pandaren get Epicurean, which doubles the stat bonus from food buffs.

Worgen get Aberration, which reduces shadow and nature damage taken by 1%, and Viciousness, which gives them +1% crit, and Darkflight, which is helpful in moving out of crap.

[top] Horde

Blood Elves get Arcane Torrent, which restores 6% mana, silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec, and interrupts enemy spellcasting within 8 yards for 3 sec.

Goblins get Time is Money, which gives +1% haste, Rocket Jump, which is useful when Blink is on CD, and Rocket Barrage, which can be used to keep up a small amount of DPS if you’ve been silenced.

Orcs get Blood Fury, which gives +584 spell damage for 15 sec, and Hardiness, which reduces the duration of stuns by 15%.

Pandaren get Epicurean, which doubles the stat bonus from food buffs.

Tauren get Endurance, which increases health by 5%, and War Stomp, which stuns up to 5 enemies with 8 yards for 2 sec. Nature Resistance doesn’t appear to be as useful in MoP as other resistances.

Trolls get Beserking, which gives +20% haste for 10 sec, Da Voodoo Shuffle, which reduces the duration of movement impairing effects by 15%, and Regeneration, which increases health regen by 10% and allows 10% health regen while in combat.

Undead get Cannibalise, a channelled effect which genes 7% health and mana every 2 sec for 10 sec if there are human or undead corpses within 5 yards, Shadow Resistance, which reduces shadow damage taken by 1%, Touch of the Grave, which gives damaging spells a chance to further deal 13,413 to 15,589 damage and heal you for the same amount, and Will of the Forsaken, which removes charm, fear, and sleep effects.

[top] Gearing

[top] BiS

Back	Cloak of Overwhelming Corruption
Belt	Belt of Malleable Armor
Chest	Robes of the Burning Scroll
Feet	Sandals of the Blackest Night
Fingers	Watersoul Signet
	Fragment of Fear Made Flesh
Hands	Gloves of the Burning Soul
Head	Hood of the Burning Scroll
Legs	Dreadwoven Leggings of Failure
Neck	Worldwaker Cachabon
Off-hand	Tornado-Summoning Censor
Shoulder	Mantle of the Burning Scroll
Trinket	Relic of Yulon
	Essence of Terror
Weapon	Loshan, Terror Incarnate
Wrists	Twisting Wind Bracers

[top] Enchants and Enhancements

	Profession specific
Back	Lightweave Embroidery (for tailors)	Superior Intellect
Belt	Socket Belt	[Living Steel Belt Buckle]
Chest		Glorious Stats
Feet		Greater Haste	Pandaren’s Step	Greater Precision
Fingers	Greater Intellect
Hands	Socket Gloves	Superior Expertise	Greater Haste
	Synapse Springs
Legs	Master’s Spellthread	Greater Cerulean Spellthread
Off-hand		Major Intellect
Shoulder	[Secret Crane Wing Inscription]	[Greater Crane Wing Inscription]
Weapon		Jade Spirit	Elemental Force	Windsong
Wrists	Fur Lining - Intellect	Superior Intellect

[top] Gemming

Until epic gems are available, your best options are either rare gems or the blue-quality ‘Perfect’ cuts of regular gems.

Unlike previous expansions, in MoP it appears that the best DPS outcome is to gem with hybrids in all sockets, as the secondary stats on gems are now double that of primary stats. Another option is to gem straight secondary stats, especially as your gear gets better, given that the value of crit increases as gear gets better. It is strongly recommended that you run your own sims to determine the best gemming options for your gear.

The stats you want to gem for are Int, Hit (until hit cap), and Crit.

			Optional alternatives	JC only
Meta	Burning Primal Diamond
Blue	Veiled Imperial Amethyst / Perfect Veiled Roguestone	Rigid River’s Heart / Perfect Rigid Lapis Lazuli	Piercing Wild Jade / Perfect Piercing Alexandrite	Rigid Serpent’s Eye
			Accurate Imperial Amethyst / Perfect Accurate Roguestone
Red	Potent Vermilion Onyx / Perfect Potent Tiger Opal		Crafty Vermilion Onyx / Perfect Crafty Tiger Opal	Brilliant Serpent’s Eye
Yellow	Smooth Sun’s Radiance / Perfect Smooth Sunstone	Crafty Vermilion Onyx/ Perfect Crafty Tiger Opal		Smooth Serpent's Eye
	Piercing Wild Jade / Perfect Piercing Alexandrite			Quick Serpent's Eye
Cogwheel	Smooth Tinker’s Gear	Rigid Tinker's Gear	Precise Tinker's Gear

[top] Reforging

Generally, you can’t reforge into a stat that is already on an item. However, with expertise now adding the same amount of spell hit that hit does, you can get around this by reforging into expertise if an item already has hit on it.

Reforge into hit/expertise until hit cap (15%, or 5100, unless you’re a draenei, or a human or gnome using a sword), then reforge into crit.

Reforge out of hit/expertise above the hit cap first, then out of mastery, then haste. Avoid reforging out of crit as much as possible.

[top] Consumables

[top] Food

Note that buffs are doubled for Pandaren.

Mogu Fish Stew gives +300 Int.
Braised Turtle, Great Pandaren Banquet, & Banquet of the Pot gives +275 Int.
Swirling Mist Soup & all other Banquets gives +250 Int.

[top] Flasks

Flask of the Warm Sun gives +1k Int (+1320 for alchemists)

[top] Potions

Potion of the Jade Serpent gives +4k Int for 25 sec. Best used just before combat starts, as this way it can be used again during combat.
Master Healing Potion heals 60k health.
Master Mana Potion restores 30k mana.

[top] Play

[top] Buffs

Use Molten Armor, keep Arcane Brilliance up, and refresh your mana gem back to three uses before each raid boss encounter.

Use Potion of the Jade Serpent just before combat starts so that potions will be available to use during the fight.

[top] Rotation

[top] Single target

Single target is now more priority-based than a hard and fast rotation:

1. Evocation 1 - 2 sec before buff expires, Incanter’s Ward when guaranteed incoming damage (either raidwide or deliberate running into bad), or Rune of Power 1 - 2 sec before the rune expires.
2. Combustion when Pyro DoT and a large Ignite DoT are on target.
3. Mirror Image on CD (unless the fight is not likely to last another 30 sec, or unless you're keeping it in reserve for aggro dumping)
4. If both Pyro! and HU are procced:
   LB if about to expire.
   Fireball.
   Pyro!
5. Inferno Blast when HU procs (if HU procs with IB on CD, keep casting your filler instead).
6. Living Bomb/Nether Tempest on or just before expiry, or Frost Bomb on CD
7. Pyro when it procs*
8. Fireball (or glyphed FFB) as filler if Pyro DoT is on target, Scorch as filler if it isn't (and you have the talent)

As there is now 0.5 sec between HU proccing and the next non-crit cancelling it out, do not stop casting Fireball to hit IB when HU procs. Finish the cast, then hit IB for the Pyro! proc.

Alter Time complicates things a little, depending on how it’s best used for a particular fight. For straight DPS, Alter Time is best used after Pyro! procs (but before casting it), while Time Warp/Bloodlust/Heroism is running, or with powerful trinket procs. When using it with Time Warp/Bloodlust/Heroism/trinket procs, it's best to use it when there is approx. 6 sec remaining on the buffs. Alternatively, it can be used to bypass/defuse encounter mechanics such as cobalt mines on Stone Guard.

[top] AOE

2 – 4 targets:

1. Evocation 1 - 2 sec before buff expires, Incanter’s Ward when guaranteed incoming damage (either raidwide or deliberate running into bad), or Rune of Power 1 - 2 sec before the rune expires.
2. Combustion when Pyro DoT and a large Ignite DoT are on target.
3. Mirror Image on CD (unless the fight is not likely to last another 30 sec, or unless you're keeping it in reserve for aggro dumping)
4. If both Pyro! and HU are procced:
   LB if about to expire.
   Fireball.
   Pyro!
5. Inferno Blast when HU procs (if HU procs with IB on CD, keep casting your filler instead).
6. Living Bomb/Nether Tempest on or just before expiry, or Frost Bomb on CD
7. IB to spread DoTs
8. If Combustion is off CD, cast to reset IB’s CD
9. Pyro when it procs*
10. Fireball (or glyphed FFB) as filler if Pyro DoT is on target, Scorch as filler if it isn't (and you have the talent)

5+ targets

1. Evocation 1 - 2 sec before buff expires, Incanter’s Ward when guaranteed incoming damage (either raidwide or deliberate running into bad), or Rune of Power 1 - 2 sec before the rune expires.
2. Living Bomb/Nether Tempest on or just before expiry, or Frost Bomb on CD
3. IB to spread DoTs
4. Combustion to reset IB’s CD.
5. Flamestrike on CD
6. Mirror Image on CD (unless the fight is not likely to last another 30 sec, or unless you're keeping it in reserve for aggro dumping)
7. Blizzard or Arcane Explosion

[top] Moving

1. Living Bomb/Nether Tempest/Frost Bomb
2. Pyro when it procs*
3. IB when HU procs
4. PoM Pyro/Scorch/Ice Floes + FB

[top] *Pyro, Alter Time, and Combustion

When Pyro! procs, AT and Combustion (and PoM, if you took that talent) can be used to create and spread even larger DoTs, using the following method:

• PoM (if you took this talent)
• AT
• Cast two Pyros - one from the proc, one instant cast from PoM
• Deactivate AT
• Cast two Pyros - one from the proc, one instant cast from PoM
• Combustion

If you gain a HU proc over the course of this spell chain, you should turn it into a Pyro! with IB and fire it off. You should also be trying to align whatever other cooldowns you have, trinkets, procs etc with this spell chain, remember to utilize procs/cooldowns when firing off your Pyros, not just before you use Combustion.

Also note that if you have Windsong on your weapon and are using Invocation pre-pull, it's a good idea to unequip your weapon before casting your Evocation, then reequip it as you pull, to prevent a Windsong proc from being wasted.

[top] Mana management

Right now, fire mages don’t appear to have huge problems with mana management, despite mana pools being standardised.

For mana regen on longer encounters, several options are available:

• Your tier 6 talent will have some form of mana regen built in.
• Evocation (unless your tier 6 talent is RoP).
• [Tome of Conjure Mana Gem IV].
• [Recipe: Master Mana Potion].
• Arcane Torrent (for blood elves)

[top] Professions

Most profession bonuses have now been standardised. With the exception of gathering professions, each will give you approx. the same bonus.

Alchemy	Approx. +320 Int from Mixology.
Blacksmithing	Socket Bracer + Socket Gloves will give +320 Int (or other chosen stat) or +160 Int and +320 secondary stat or +640 secondary stat.
Enchanting	Enchant Ring: Greater Intellect gives +320 Int (+160 per ring).
Engineering	Synapse Springs average out to approx. +320 Int.
Herbalism	Lifebloom gives a small heal and +2880 haste for 20 sec. 2 min CD.
Inscription	Secret Crane Wing Inscription gives +320 Int.
Jewelcrafting	Serpent’s Eye gems will give +320 Int (or other chosen stat).
Leatherworking	Net gain of +320 Int.
Mining	+480 Stamina, so probably the weakest profession bonus for us.
Skinning	+480 crit.
Tailoring	Lightweave Embroidery and Master’s Spellthread average out to approx. +320 Int, and +165 crit.

[top] Secondary Professions

Archaeology – is again mostly toys and items better for levelling toons. It does, however, give us Umbrella of Chi-Ji (a Pandaren artefact), which is one of the better pre-raid caster off-hands.

Cooking – Once you get up to Banquets at 575 skill level, all Banquets will provide each person with their best stat (so Int for us), with Banquet of the Pot providing and Great Pandaren Banquet providing +25 over the other Banquets. From 525 to 575, or for single-person food, Way of the Pot is the Int food. If you’re only going to work on one Way, Pot should be it. If you plan to level multiple Ways, Pot should be first.

First Aid – The same as it’s always been. Useful to help your healers out in a pinch, especially when it’s a choice between stopping DPS to get a bit of bandaging in and then back to casting, or stopping DPS for the entire fight by dying.

Fishing – As always, the cheapest way to get some of your cooking mats.

Farming – Not a secondary profession per se, but may as well be. Farming in Halfhill is where you get the rest of your cooking mats. The higher rep you are with the Tillers, the more you’re able to grow. At higher rep levels you can also plant seeds which will grow into mats for other professions.

[top] Macros

Stops casting your current spell in order to immediately cast Ice Block. Clicking again removes Ice Block.
#showtooltip Ice Block
/stopcasting
/cast Ice Block
/cancelaura Ice Block

Stops casting your current spell in order to immediately cast Counterspell.
#showtooltip Counterspell
/stopcasting
/cast Counterspell
(if you use the [Technique: Glyph of Counterspell], the /stopcasting line in the macro becomes unnecessary).

Casts Remove Curse on your mouseover target.
#showtooltip Remove Curse
/cast [target=mouseover,exists] Remove Curse
/cast Remove Curse

Casts your Mage Bomb (whichever you have chosen).
#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover,harm,nodead,exists]Mage Bomb

[top] Helpful Mage Addons

• CombustionHelper
• Mage Nuggets

[top] Resources

• Icy Veins
• Lhivera’s Library
• Rawr
• SimulationCraft
• Wowhead

[top] Credits

Guromin, Pasture, Nathyiel, Muaddib, Pyryte, Sunaseni, Lhivera, Coopthefat, Vykina, Rogptor, Damien, NickSeng, nathanbp, Lyan, Elge, Gregory, Fex, Spacedonkey, Bhorin, spaace, Ushikawa, semata, Dyspho, midgettoes, Fex, Binkenstein

[top] Edit Log

• 10/23/12 - Minor edits to spell descriptions, gemming, macros, and rotation.
• 10/24/12 - Edits to gemming and rotation, and minor corrections to profession and racial descriptions.
• 10/25/12 - Minor edits to rotation, added BiS raid gear, formatting edits.
• 10/26/12 - Added some glyphs and macros, formatting edits.
• 10/28/12 - Updated glyphs and rotation, some formatting edits.
• 11/15/12 - Updated and clarified rotation.
• 11/17/12 - Rotation edit.
• 11/25/12 - Haste breakpoints table added.
• 11/27/12 - Patch 5.1 edits.

Inferno Blast after a Heating Up proc is higher priority than recasting your mage bomb. That's what the Simulationcraft priority list has, and it makes sense that getting a Pyroblast! proc is worth delaying your mage bomb cast for a GCD. The Simulationcraft priority list also puts using a Pyroblast! proc as higher priority than recasting your mage bomb, which doesn't seem to make as much sense to me. Unless you're going to overwrite a Pyroblast! proc (and you should be able to tell by if you have Heating Up or not), it should be more dps to refresh your mage bomb first.

Thanks for that, edits made. And goes to show how often I've used Symbiosis Healing Touch


Edits made taking both into account. I agree on the Pyro! proc, given the time it stays up is longer than the time it takes to recast mage bomb. I've now added Pyro into the rotation twice - once before mage bomb as an 'only if both procced' and once after as the default placement.

The gemming section is inconsistent. Since gemming secondary stats seems superior to gemming anything primary, I would suggest the following gemming advice:

Red: [Precise Primordial Ruby] or [Crafty Vermilion Onyx] or [Accurate Imperial Amethyst]
Yellow: [Smooth Sun's Radiance] or [Crafty Vermilion Onyx] or [Piercing Wild Jade]
Blue: [Rigid River's Heart] or [Accurate Imperial Amethyst] or [Piercing Wild Jade]

1. Molten armor reduce only physical damage not everything. So this bonus (and Glyph of Armors) pretty much useless in current content.

2. "Rune of Power whenever the rune is about to expire" is incorrect imo. Better cast only after it expired and use full time buff duration to deal damage. Same for Invocation. Obviously both can be refreshed when there is some downtime or you need to deal buffed uninterrupted damage later.

O.o Wow. That's...special.


Don't forget that mages get +5% Int, and only Int, making an Int/secondary hybrid still a little better than a straight secondary (unless you really need the hit/expertise to reach hit cap).

I should take out the haste gems, though, they were in there from the first draft and I forgot to remove them. And add in the onyx and jade for options for the yellow slot.


The Counterspell glyph isn't as good as some of the other major glyphs, and I don't think it should be amongst the three taken unless we get an encounter that is heavy on spell interrupts. I'll make a note of it in the macro section, though



Ah, thanks, I'll correct Molten Armor to specify physical damage. Molten Armor is still the best option for us because of the increased crit, though, and the glyph itself is still one of the more useful ones. Mage glyphs this expac aren't that fantastic, IMO.

I think it's probably better to refresh RoP with a second or so left on the buff than it would be to not have the buff for a second or two because it's expired while you're casting, say, a FB. I'll edit to clarify.

That does not seem logical. There are two possibilites: a) x Intellect > 2x secondary stat or b) x Intellect < 2x secondary stat. If a is true, we should be going for Intellect, Intellect Crit and Intellect Hit gems. If b is true, it is secondary stats all the way. Keep in mind, Expertise is now equal to hit, but is a red gem, allowing you to gem secondary stats in red sockets.
Regarding modifiers: Mages get a 10,25% bonus to intellect (Wizardry passive and 5% stats raidbuff) and a 50% buff to crit for FB, FFB, Pyro and Scorch (Critical Mass passive).

At 600 Herbalism, it's +2880 haste, which is significantly more than +480.

Edit: might be worth noting the 2m CD also, for number-crunching.

I feel like this is missing some important info about Combustion. Combustion doesn't take dmg from LB anymore, so simply saying to Combustion when all DoTs are up is not optimal. We need a big ignite to make a worthwhile Combustion. You might also want to throw in the whole Alter-Time double Pyro + Combustion method.

With regards to Combustion as well as just overall, we should probably set up the haste plateus to receive additional ticks from dots.

*Note that if 5.1 PTR goes live, Combustion will only be affected by ignite, pyroblast dot will no longer influence Combustion. As our mage bombs already don't influence Combustion, it will be calculated based off Ignite alone.*

Honestly, the whole gemming situation right now really depends on personal gear. Person A's sims will be different than Person B's sims depending on their gear setup. It's hard to give a flat out 'this is better' anwser when they are so close.

I recommend everyone to run sims on their own gear and make a decision based on the data, not someone elses with different gear.


Here is the Alter Time + Combustion method I was talking about earlier if you want to add it:

*You have Pyro! proc*
>Pop PoM
>Pop AT
>Pyro! + Instant cast Pyroblast from PoM
>Deactivate AT
>Pyro! + Instant cast Pryoblast from PoM
>Combustion

It should also be worth noting that if you gain a HU proc over the course of this spell chain, you should turn it into a Pyro! with IB and fire it off. You should also be trying to align whatever other cooldowns you have, trinkets, procs etc with this spell chain, remember to utilize procs/cooldowns when firing off your Pyroblasts, not just before you use Combustion.

I find this spell chain method extremely beneficial, especially on pulls. As a side note, if you have Windsong on your weapon and are using Invocation pre-pull, it's a good idea to unequip your weapon before casting your Evocation, then reequip it as you pull, to prevent a Windsong proc from being wasted.

*Heres to hoping the 5.1 3 second CD on pyro doesn't get implemented, or the above spell chain is moot, although you could still use a variant of it.*

Thanks! Corrected.


Thanks. I'll add the AT/Combustion/Pyro info in.

Good point on haste. I'll look up the ticks/haste rating and add it into the stats section. I'm waiting to see if the Combustion change makes it into live before changing the Combustion section to say it only takes Ignite into consideration. I hope it doesn't.


Now there you go bringing sense into things! I was planning to edit the gemming section with Elge's alternative section, and I'll make a note that with how close things are, it's better to run your own sims.


Thanks! Added that in.