Could also have been a LB explosion crit between the HS pyro and the next crit fireball. I see this a lot.

I don't think it ever worked this way. You needed 3 FB crits in a row to use Hot Streaks in this manner and you still can.
Example
Crit Crit Crit HS pyro Crit HS pyro

The first two count as the first HS, and the third crit counts towards the second one, then the fourth fireball crit of course procs the second Hot Streak

Hi

I've been beavering away with Rawr but can't for the life of me work out why it makes one particular choice.

When I'm hit capped with other gear and I compare [Dying Curse] and [Abyssal Rune] it always tells me that Dying Curse will give me approx 100 more DPS. Even if I change to a level 80 boss where there are no hit requirements it still says Dying Curse is better?

Could anyone shed any light on this?

I'm in 4pcT8 if that's of any relevance and my other trinket is [Sundial of the Exiled] which it also thinks is superior to the Abyssal Rune.

Si

That's because the proc isn't added. Right click on the rune, click edit, add a custom effect. The ICD is probably 45 seconds.

I find it interesting that the proc of Abyssal Rune is listed with 25% chance and the proc of Sundial has only 10% (if Wowhead is correct).
I wonder if this is intended, it shifts the value of the new trinket considerably (compared to Sundial) and makes it the superior choice even for FFB.

I've been looking around for how to edit the values for Abyssal Rune in Rawr (2.2.13) and this is what I've found.
Equip the Abyssal Rune in one of your trinketslots, now right click it and choose Edit. In the middle-right area of the edit window you have an area called "Special Effects", click on "Add" and input the following, 590 Spellpower, Trigger = Spellcast, Duration = 10 sec, Cooldown = 45 sec, Chance = 25%.

Click okay and the parameters for the Abyssal Rune are now correct. Thanks to Grarlex in the comment section at wowhead for this fix.

I have tested the two trinkets [Abyssal Rune] [Sundial of the Exiled] on a Testdummie for several rotations. The number of times the buffs proc is almost the same, so the 25% chance for the [Abyssal Rune] is not correct as listed in Wowhead, but it should be 10%.
It would be nice if someone could confirm this, so it is possible to change the settings in Rawr for the [Abyssal Rune] with the 10% chance.

Can someone elaborate for me?

If one has Tailoring you obviously wouldn't be using Engineering's sub-par cloak enchant. Does this mean that if you have Tailoring, Engineering is the next 'best' profession?

I simply don't understand the sentence, s'all. :P

Short Version:
Are Tailoring and Engineering combined currently the top DPS professions? My maths says yes.

Engineering + Jewelcrafting is the best profession combination currently. Short version: My Rawr dps is 7907.58 with Tailor+Eng, and 7909.04 with JC+Eng with Springy Arachnoweave on cloak.

Long version, relative stat values says:
SP=1.84dps, Haste=1.84 - they're roughly equal, point for point.

Eng
Hyperspeed Accelerators = 340*12/60 = 68 passive haste, -28 spellpower = +40SP
Springy Arachnoweave = +4, 44 SP
Saronite Bombs = can crit, rough crit rate of 50%(it's based on your basic spellcrit, probably) = 1325*(0.5*0.5+1) = ~1656/60 seconds, about 27dps. 27dps/1.84 ~= 14.67 SP

Total: 58.67 +sp, which doesn't include doing anything with Nitro Boosts, which can be a significant dps gain depending on the fight and how much movement is involved, not to mention Nitro Boosts can sometimes save your life(see: Mimiron).

Tailoring

295 SP every ~62 seconds for 15 seconds = 71.31SP

71.31 - 23(haste) = 48.31, HOWEVER, if you do Tailoring + Eng, you lose 4SP from the cloak enchant which makes tailoring only "worth" 44SP due to the opportunity cost.

Jewelcrafting
+48SP, passive. Doesn't conflict.

Other things to consider: In full Icecrown gear, it's quite possible that gemming haste will be superior to spellpower. Jewelcrafting will win for you in that case.

Conclusion
Realistically, these two options are as close to equal as any sane person would be willing to consider, so pick whichever you prefer. There isn't a true "best" profession combination anymore, but Tailoring, Engineering, and Jewelcrafting are all slightly better than the other options. Engineering does require you to throw bombs, which can be quite annoying, and could cause a dps loss for people who fail and waste actual casting time with the targeting time, instead of doing it during a GCD. Even a small mistake here can cost you dps. Nonetheless, it is the clear winner for the perfectionist.

This is somewhat pink colored, Saronite Bombs might not be on the GCD but they do have a targeting circle you need to point and click which wastes time. So unless you're moving and can use them (bombs) I doubt they provide a dps boost.

But that said all professions are quite close to each other now days, it's a wash on what's better, Engineering however does provide very nice perks.

You can do the bomb 'cast' during the GCD of a living bomb or hotstreak proc.

You can bet however much you want, but Sancus and I are raiding as mages with engineering and can actually tell you rather than speculate: there's no problems throwing a bomb during a gcd.

I dont even play a mage, but due to politics and whatnot i needed to learn some fundemental class stuff. So i came here.

Firist i wondering if mages had a lingo or abbravation section. AB4MBAM thing got me, no clue what that is.

Next can anyone link the Arcane/IV, Fire, and Arcane Scorch builds. I think i can figure it out from there.

Thanks for your time

AB4MBAM means you cast Arcane Blast 4times and then Arcane Missiles (assuming it procs which it should).

Fire: 20/51/0
Arcane/IV: 57/3/11
Arcane/Scorch: 53/18/0

Anyone checked if it's correct? 10% proc , not 25%?

If anyone does such a test make sure to do it in a way that eliminates as many sources of error as possible. You should only count the number of casts it takes to get a proc and as soon as you get a proc wait until you're sure internal cooldown is over and repeat.

I'm looking at arcane specs for 3.2.2. The one linked earlier on this page has 0/5 in Arcane Stability (the push back resist talent) and but 3 points in each hit talent. I was curious if dropping arcane focus for points in stability might be worthwhile since I plan to use it with a fire dual spec and my regular fire gear, meaning I would not benefit from the hit talent (although the 3% mana reduction might be a large dps loss; I'm inexperienced with arcane).

There's a decent amount of raid damage gimmicks that can cause push back in ToC (snobolds/worm spit, fel chain lightning, faction champions (big time), and possibly anub'arak) so I'm considering how I should spend those points with some input from fellow mages. I know 4/5 arcane stability was required to lose 0 arcane missile ticks with a concentration aura (which I would always have) so if I decide to spec it I'd draw a point out of arcane subtlety (would this be a problem for arcane threat? again; inexperienced with the spec).

In my opinion it's hard to utilize all of the 6% hit you can get for arcane, if you're dual speccing fire I'd definitively skip focus for stability.

It's really a case by case analysis. Recently I've picked up too much hit so I've dropped the hit talent. If I drop hit I'll pick it back up again. Just do what suits your gear choices.

Heres the data from 50 procs of the trinket.

Number of Casts	Number of Procs
1	13
2	12
3	5
4	8
5	2
6	3
7	4
8	1
9	0
10 and up	2

I honestly dont remember much of stats to make much use of this data, but from what I see I would guess the proc rate is at least 25%. If someone knows the math feel free to use my data. Also I can verify every cast was outside the internal CD as I waited a minimum of 45 seconds from the time the buff wore off to the next cast.

The proc rate that most closely matches your data is 27.85%. Since proc rates are usually round numbers, it is likely to actually be 25% or 30%.

I did some testing and it looks like offhand that the abyssal rune has a higher proc chance.

The testing was done using the abyssal rune alone for 17 trials and then for the remainder with both the abyssal and sundial equipped (I realized that I could test both assuming that they both have the same ICD and are independently proc'd.)

I counted the number of casts to either proc. Then I waited 45 secs to clear the ICD. And tested again.

It looks like my distribution is very similar Noshei's. The sundial appears to have a smaller proc chance at least.

UPDATE. 3 hour raid. Elusive magic (abyssal) proc'd 99 times while Now is the time! (Sundial) proc'd 79 times. Approximately 670 casts