If you truly had 'no' buffs then Algalon is just a target dummy. You could quite easily check on the dummy what your dps is and then make adjustments for DPS loss during Big Bang/Cosmic Smash movement time
I also do Algalon10 as the only caster, in a melee group with very few buffs. For this reason i'm on Collapsing Star duty. If your getting 0 buffs, your other DPS must be hunters+melee? Who is doing Collapsing stars in your group, if not you? If they are all synergised, it'd make more sense to keep them on Algalon and put the odd person out (aka the unsynergised caster) on stars.
Would you recommend going arcane for stars or is fire fine?
Any should work fine. It's more about player confidence and skill with their spec. Different specs do have different nuances however.
Arcane does have some nice benefits: Magic Absorption, Focus Magic to help a healer, can apply its own Slow to stars for TTW (Unlike Fire), good CD's to assist in the -20% zerg and better control over DPS/DPM (to kill stars on demand, with more precision in your timing. Big FB/FFB crits exploding stars faster than you expected can be painful. But with practise, you can use Scorch/Fire Blast to be more precise)
Canceling the 19SP difference and the extra red slot this really equals:
62 spirit VS 43 hit + blue socket / 7sp socket bonus
I have the option of getting this made by the guild, and I thought it was BIS, but being already over hit-cap I see it as a potential downgrade. Just posting this for Arcane's that might pickup up this real costly crafted belt from looks alone.
If you spend some time as FB-TTW spec (requires 14% hit, highest single target dps spec) then the sash will shine and is Bis for many gear configurations. FFB requires 11% hit so it may be useful depending on your hit on other items. If you're going to raid mostly with the arcane spec, then you wont get much out of the sash and probably is a downgrade from your current belt.
Check out RAWR, it will answer all your questions like this. I think the other crafted belt [Cord of the White Dawn] is actually better dps for some specs if you don't need the hit.
I'm a frostfire spec mage 0/53/18 and I'm a bit curious about the scorch mechanic. You see, my mage has about a 29% chance to crit with fire spells (i believe this includes Frostfire bolt spells) however I thought that when combined with improved scorch*5 it would have a 49% chance to crit. This isnt the case as my recount results say that my frostfire only crits about 29% of the time. I usually cast nothing until scorch has been re-applied so I know the results are not skewed due to the lack of it not being on my target.
Clearly I dont understand what the buff is actually for, though, a 49% chance to crit does seem unusually high for me as im just adequately geared.
Am I supposed to be having that crit percentage of 29 with frostfire? If not what exactly is the benefit of me using scorch?
Thanks.
Where are you getting this 20% leap from 29% to 49%? It suggests to me that you're misunderstanding what the improved scorch talent actually does, though reading the tooltip again I can see where the ambiguity can occur if you weren't familiar with the talent before it gained its "selfish" component.
"Increases your chance to critically hit with Scorch, Fireball and Frostfire Bolt by an additional 3% and your damaging Scorch spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to spell damage, increasing spell critical strike chance against that target by 1% and lasts 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times."
The talent is broken into two halves. The first is a 3% bonus crit on your scorch/fb/ffb. This is the "selfish benefit" of taking a raid buffing talent which was added a few patches back, to make the talent more attractive. The second half is the actual raid buff, the 1% spell crit vulnerability that is applied each time you cast scorch. It is this, and only this, that stacks five times, giving a 5% spell crit vulnerability when stacked. The 3% selfish buff does not stack.
Would you recommend going arcane for stars or is fire fine?
Best spec for dpsing stars as a mage is arcane, the question is do you have another mage in the raid. If not you are much better served putting imp scorch on algalon (fb/ttw) than killing stars and someone else should be doing it (hunter or ele shaman are your best bets). Your warlocks should all be destro for algalon so a mage is the only way to get the 5% crit buff. Either way, arcane or fire make sure you have MA as it helps immensely especially in 25 man.
I'm using a frost spec at Vezax (normal and presumably hard mode as well) -- is there a general rule of thumb on how to use the "Fingers of Frost" proc?
Standing in a shadow crash pool -- would it be better (dps and/or dpm wise?) to use a "classic" shatter combo (i.e. FoF -- FroBo -- Frobo + Icelance) or should todays anti-Vezax frost mage just keep spamming frostbolt with the occasional fireball on brain freeze proc?
Ghost charge shatter lances and fireballs are better DPM, so you would probably go for that. Given the shadow crash haste buff, a ghost shatter is either going to be DPS-neutral or a slight DPS loss.
edit - Forgot that Algalon talk is still disallowed.
Fire brings the scorch debuff, how useful is that for a full melee group? Is a 5% spell crit buff really that meaningful for a Ret Pally or DPS Deathknight?
So, I need some help. I don't know wtf I'm doing wrong but my dps seems to just suck and I can't do anything about it. The only thing I think I can improve upon is my scorch timing. I tend to re-scorch too early which means i end up scorching too much.
My spell priority is LB>Pyro>FB. I pretty much cast fireball the whole time and refresh living bomb whenever it drops off. I cast the instant pyros after i finish whatever cast i'm doing and try to time it so that i can throw up living bomb right before i cast a pyro whenever possible. I know there isn't anything wrong with my spec/glyphs and the only thing wrong with my gearing is that I'm over hit capped (i was at 402 last night but picked up a new off hand) but I still feel like i'm under-performing.
I feel like trying a different spec like FFB or Arcane again. It's getting waaay obnoxious.
We were attempting XT hardmode last night. Try 6 we got him to 3% and was my best parse. Wow Web Stats
Looking at try #6 since you pointed that one out. In a 10 minute fight where scorch never drops off and you're the only one building up scorches, you should have to do around 25 scorches (5 at the beginning and 1 every 30 seconds after). However, you did 35. That's 10 scorches extra = dps loss. EDIT: Just noticed the other mage was also scorching. You should coordinate more with them who's refreshing and split the original build up 2/3. Also, do you trade Focus Magic with the other mages? I'd recommend it. If WWS is correct, you gained Hot Streak 54 times. However, you only casted 45 Pyroblasts. Nine lost instant pyros = dps loss.
It also looks like you took a destruction potion. I think [Deprecated Speed Potion Injector] probably would've been a bigger dps boost for you. Also, you don't appear to have used any armor (?) on this particular attempt. I assume you probably just forgot, which happens I guess. Mage Armor would've definitely saved you from having to evocate and use 3 mana gems. Molten would've both increased your dps and given you more mana back via Master of Elements.
That's all I can see at first glance, and just looking at that one attempt. I can look at the others later when I have some more time. Hope it helps!
Molten Armor doesn't show up as a buff if you cast it while the person which is logging is not in range (because he is still running from the graveyard for example). Molten Armor even did damage in Try 6, so it was definitely on. Well, at least until he died from the Life Spark that attacked him (you should definitely rebuff yourself with Molten Armor after getting combat-rezzed). After dying a DPS loss is to be expected. If you are nuking Life Sparks, you will also lose quite a bit DPS (no debuffs, lost Ignite damage, possible lost cast time). If you get bad debuffs and have to move, you are also going to lose DPS (might explain the missing Pyroblasts). Considering that, I'd say you didn't do so bad. Fire is just not very suited for this fight (killing Life Sparks).
Yea, i understand that this fight isn't really great for mages in general but on most attempts I was getting beat by the other casters. On attempt 6 i wasn't focusing too much on the sparks actually since they seemed to be going down quickly enough.
I always have molten armor up and we coordinate focus magics very well between the mages. We definitely suck at coordinating scorches though. I keep saying i'll take care of them but when it gets down to 5secs left one of the other mages always thinks it's gonna drop or something.
I just felt like my dps has been pretty meh lately in general.
Yeah, sorry, missed the Molten Armor thing. Overall if you're dpsing sparks that's really not that bad. And if another mage takes care of the refresh at 5sec, just keep fireballing away .
Would arcane be more viable than ffb for a newly-80'd mage? Im still miles away from the hitcap, and going through the various specs the high amount of hit from talents in the arcane spec is tempting to say the least.
I'd say Arcane is a good starter spec for "new raiders." Like you mentioned you won't need to gear as much hit, plus I think it's a great way to learn mana and rotation management. FFB or Fire specs have a lot more debuffs to keep up and manage, whereas for Arcane you need only give out FM and make sure your gem is full before every battle.
Would arcane be more viable than ffb for a newly-80'd mage? Im still miles away from the hitcap, and going through the various specs the high amount of hit from talents in the arcane spec is tempting to say the least.
FFB is perfectly viable for new 80s. There's abundant hit on gear and 3% less hit than Arcane won't hurt that much, especially if you are still running heroics to get out of blue gear. Although at pre-raid gear levels Arcane might felt comparatively more powerful, especially since the typical fight is short.
Originally Posted by Lucronax
I'd say Arcane is a good starter spec for "new raiders." Like you mentioned you won't need to gear as much hit, plus I think it's a great way to learn mana and rotation management. FFB or Fire specs have a lot more debuffs to keep up and manage, whereas for Arcane you need only give out FM and make sure your gem is full before every battle.
There's only two debuffs for Fire/FFB; I don't think keeping them up is that hard. Besides Fire/FFB has a lot less mana and CD management to do. Personally I find the difference to be largely a matter of personal taste rather than difficulty.
I find Arcane is harder to play, not only at the start because you constantly have to watch your mana bar, for procs, for boss abilities which may interrupt your Evo or cause you to move and waste your (stacked) CDs. Having CDs is of advantage where you need burst, but of disadvantage if the boss screws you to move during that time (e.g Hodir, Thorim, Freya). Since under CD stacking your dps is about doubled, this hurts a lot.
As comparison, I also have a shadow priest and find it easier to manage the dots, even with target changes than to watch basically everything as arcane mage. However, I play arcane, well, because I think that fits a mage best (yeah, I'm a bit of RP guy) and still do decent dps, on average not as much as fire/ttw though.
Would arcane be more viable than ffb for a newly-80'd mage? Im still miles away from the hitcap, and going through the various specs the high amount of hit from talents in the arcane spec is tempting to say the least.
The advantage of going arcane as a fresh 80 is that arcane curb stomps 5 man dungeons and in a completely unstacked 10 man maly/OS/naxx will most likely out perform, or be even to, any other spec. It's also the most involved spec with mana and cooldown management.
Fire is almost aways, no matter your hit or gear, the highest dps raid spec, special fight circumstances not withstanding.
Ok, here's a question that I've been trying to figure out as we work our way through Ulduar hard modes.
When is the proper time to pop a "power-up" potion?
I'll use Thorim as an example. Once we get into P2 and the fight is stabilized, we pop heroism so that everyone is alive to benefit from it. Is it best to pop the potion during heroism to multiply the potion effect by the haste from heroism? Or is it better to save the potion until Molten Fury range where you get 20% more out of the potion? It would seem the 30% haste from Heroism would provide a greater benefit than the 20% damage from Molten Fury, but haste is a funny beast. It doesn't actually provide any value unless you get an extra bolt off during the duration of the potion - there's a definite step function instead of a smooth graph.
Rawr shows Wild Magic and Speed as about the same. Since they also give higher DPM rather than higher burn rate, I tend use Wild Magic on all fights.
Has anyone done the math on this or can offer how to set up Rawr to test this out?
Is it best to pop the potion during heroism to multiply the potion effect by the haste from heroism? Or is it better to save the potion until Molten Fury range where you get 20% more out of the potion?
Heroism provides a significantly better synergy than the 12% damage modifier from Molten Fury. The precise benefit varies based on your haste level, and your luck with procs during the 15 second potion duration. However, the margin between 130% and 112% is large enough that an in dept numerical analysis isn't really needed.
The casual guild I play in has finally reached Yogg-Saron in 10 man, and I've noticed that my usual Arcane spec faces some difficulties in this fight, mainly involving random evocation interrupts which leave me "dry" for anywhere between 30 and 60 seconds.
I've tried adapting to the encounter by using Mage Armor instead of Molten Armor, and always using AM regardless of proc unless I'm on the move and want to land a finisher with ABarr. However, I can't help but wonder whether a different spec will be more useful in this fight. given how TTW will most likely not be active on every target, I figured the only likely alternative is FFB.
tl;dr
What spec should I use for Yogg-Saron?
Do note that I have gear to match the hit ratings required by both TTW/Fire and FFB.
Arcane is my favourite spec to use on Yogg-Saron. Some notes:
- You should never be going dry for that long. Your either mismanaging your mana, have no replenishment, dont have appropriate gear etc
- On the entry pull, hit MI and blow all your cooldowns on the first ~3 guardians (many guilds spawn an extra one). Because you have 0 threat the whole time you can nuke freely and take advantage of Arcanes burst cooldowns. Any spec can do this, arcane just has great cooldowns to really milk it.
- Your first evocation, if needed, can be safely done during the P1->2 transition.
- Subsequent evocations during phase 2 can be safely during the Illusion Room Stun.
- Evocation in P3 should usually be done only if you have simultaneously popped Mirror Image. Evocation ticks are a non trivial amount of threat. A fresh spawned Immortal WILL be coming to kill you unless the tank pulls it off in time.
Is your brain team stunning Yogg before the new crusher spawned? Your time spent during a stun should be to finish off a partly-dead Crusher and some Corruptors. If you are running OOM and having mana problems because your Brain Team stuns him late and fresh Crushers spawn, and you struggle to get those extra ones down in time - thats not your fault.
The Brain Team is partly responsible for your performance up top. You use alot of mana to kill Crushers. If they routinely fail to Stun Yogg in time and extras spawn, it might not be your fault if mana is always a huge problem. Essentially, other people need to clean up their act to make it easier for you to do your job (aka less need to use mana/evocate etc)
07/13/09, 12:45 PM
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