#0 - June 14, 2010, 3:11 p.m.
(I may fail but what the Hay)
Again rule of thumb is this is my way (which is prob Diff to others) if you feel comfortable doing it another way go for it as its just a guide not the law.
Key
Fb = Fireball
Pyro = Pyroblast
Lb = Living Bomb
Sc = Scorch
Fbl = Fireblast
Fm = Focus Magic
Com = Combustion]
HS = Hot Streak
Ign = Ignite
Mirror = Mirror Images
Hero = Heroism/Bloodlust
Evo = evocation
MG = Mana Gem
CD = Cool Down
Spec
The spec for fire at the moment is a standard cookie cutter spec which is also called the Fireball spec or Fire/arcane spec
http://eu.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=8&tal=23000503110003000000000000000000550320123033300531203003510000000000000000000000000000
you can if you wish remove the 2 points from flame throwing and place them elsewhere but I wouldn’t recommend it. The increased range means less moving so more nuking.
The glyphs
Major
Fireball - Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.15 sec, but removes the damage over time effect.
Molten Armor - Your Molten Armor grants an additional 20% of your spirit as critical strike rating.
Living Bomb - The periodic damage from your Living Bomb can now be critical strikes.
Minor
Can be anything you like here frost ward and fire ward are quite good as is glyph of slow fall but these are fun glyphs so you can choose :p
Stats
Hit
Your first and foremost stat to aim for is Hit rating until you reach the hit cap
Hit cap for fire mages is 17% as they have no talents that increase there hit unlike frost mages (3% to hit) Arcane Mages (6% to hit)
17% hit is 446 hit rating
16% hit or 420 hit rating is needed if you have a drenai in your party (or you are one)
14% hit or 368 hit rating is needed if you have a shadow priest and or moonkin in the group (the 3% hit buff dosnt stack)
13% hit or 352 hit rating is needed if you have both a drenai and shadow priest/ Moonkin in the group
Spell Power
Is a good stat, you cant have too much of it as it dosnt cap each time you increase your spell power your damage and therefore dps will increase
Haste
Haste is a good stat as it allows quicker casting of spells and faster channelling of Evo however as a fire mage you need to juggle this stat with crit (see below)
Crit
Is probably the second best stat for a fire mage after hit due to its 3 fold bonus.
First every time you crit 40% of the damage is converted into a 4 second dot meaning more dps. Also everytime this dot ticks you gain mana back.
Second everytime you crit you gain 30% of the mana back from the spell you crit from (Ie mana regen)
Thirdly (but most important) should you score 2 direct crits in a row (dot ticks do not count) you will gain the buff hot streak, arguably the most important part of the fire tree, that allows you to instant pyro
The current priority for stats is Hit (until capped) > spell power > Crit > Haste
Many will argue on the haste crit priority due to the fact that you need less haste for a dps increase than crit (due to scaling) however without a decent amount of crit (over 60% at least raid buffed) you wont see the true dps of fire.
Additional Hot streak works on the chance of getting 2 crits in a row
this means that should you have 50% crit chance the probability of getting 2 crits in a row is 25%
or 50/100 x 50/100 = 2500/10000 or 25/100
so gaining more crit acutally benifits this as the probability increase expodentially the closer you get to 100% to crit
Also as a forwarning many say (and I agree) that the 2 set bonus of tier 10 is a must have for fire (as arcane) so I suggest getting this as fast as possible (see gear later)
When can i go fire
for those looking at this and thinking at what point should i go fire here it is
Many state that you need to be in at least full iLvL 264 (ie full 25 man raiding gear) however you can go fire when you wish but keep the below in mind
you need at least 50%-60% crit buffed
id say at least 650 haste (though about 800 is what you should aim for)
Hit cap (depending on your raid set up see above)
and around 3k spell power (not as arcane due to talents boosting it)
if you have the above go for it but please remeber this, to begin with arcane is better the shorter the fight is where as fire gets better over time (due to its steady dmg) so you will notice a difference
Also as arcane you will get higher DPS but its dmg fluctuates through out the fight (due to CD's)
and finally a warning as a fire mage the better your gear gets the more threat you will produce (i can pull off most tanks if im not careful) so make sure you keep your threat in check
