TTW/Fire Mage Guide

[Sky]

Feedback is always welcome, in order to improve this guide.

Introduction-

Hi! My name is Sky or BlueSkies, and I've written a guide intended to help people to become knowledgeable with the Torment the Weak/Fire (TTW/Fire) Spec for Mages.

This guide assumes the reader is raiding Icecrown Citadel, or wants to raid Icecrown Citadel.

This spec brings extremely high DPS, 5% spell crit debuff, and Focus Magic to the raid.

TTW/Fire becomes superior to Arcane in sustained DPS past a certain gear point because of how TTW/Fire scales. Arcane also suffers from scaling issues from reaching the soft and hard haste caps with a certain level of gear. Fire also has the advantage of superior itemization compared to Arcane when using ICC gear.

Here is a comparison of the benefits between Fire vs. Arcane-

Fire- Superior sustained DPS, Vastly superior multi-target damage ability for AoE damage. The more AoE damage there is through Living Bombs, the more more Hot Streaks will proc, increasing single-target damage as well.

Arcane- Less gear reliant, superior controlled burst damage. Burst damage is superior through two ways, some of the strongest cooldowns in the game and intelligent usage of Missile Barrage. Very mana efficient with 2T10. (http://www.frostnova.ch/tachyon/blog...ew&id=38567936)


Table of Contents-
1. Talents
2. Glyphs
3. Stats and other Things
4. Gear
5. Mods and other useful Programs
6. DPSing Priority order
7. Cooldowns
8. ICC25 and Heroic Halion Boss fights tricks

1. Talents-

Talent Spec-
The basic spec, with all required talents, is 18/51. http://www.wowhead.com/talent#of0Vck0cZ0Ec0RhIhVubhct

The last two points can be put into Magic Absorption, Student of the Mind, Arcane Meditation, or Flame Throwing. It’s entirely up to a person to decide which talent points are the most important.

In the second tier of Arcane Talents, it’s entirely reasonable to move one or two points from Arcane Concentration or Student of the Mind to Magic Absorption if a situation calls for it.

What the Talents do-

Improved Fireball- Reduces the base casting time of fireball by .5 seconds, at max rank this is from 3.5 seconds to 3 seconds.

World in Flames- Increases the critical strike for Flamestrike, Pyroblast, Blastwave, Dragon’s Breath, Living Bomb, Blizzard, and Arcane Explosion by 6%. This is a solid talent, by investing 3 talent points, Pyroblast and Living bomb, two of the three main fire spells, gain 6% critical strike chance. Blizzard and Flamestrike are used for AoEing as well, making this talent useful for trash.

Ignite- Everytime a fire spell crits, it leaves a dot that ticks twice for 20% of the damage done, for a total of 40% of the damage done. This spells ticks every two seconds, but this can be pushed back if another spell lands and critically hits before the first tick goes off. When this occurs, the Ignite pool, in other words, the total amount of damage Ignite has to tick, will be increased by that amount.

Here is a easy way of understanding.

This following scenario presents what happens when a fireball crits.
00:00:00 Fireball lands and crits for 10,000, creating a Ignite pool of 4,000
00:00:02 Ignite ticks for 2,000, Ignite pool is now 2,000
00:00:04 Igite ticks for 2,000, Ignite pool is now 0.

Now this scenario presents what happens when a fireball critically hits consecutively. (ignoring Hot Streak here)
00:00:00 Fireball critically hits for 10,000, 4,000 Igite pool
00:00:02 Ignite ticks for 2,000, 2,000 left in Ignite pool
00:00:03 Fireball critically hits for 10,000, 6,000 Ignite pool (2,000 left from the first critical hit fireball, 4,000 from the new critical hit fireball)
00:00:05 Ignite ticks for 3,000, 3,000 left in Ignite pool

A somewhat-important thing to know is the phenomenon of Ignite Munching. This occurs when two spells critically hit simultaneously. When this happens, the Ignite of the earlier critical hit is lost.

This most often happens when Hot Streak is Immediately used at the end of Fireball, resulting in both landing at the same time. If both of them critically strike, then the Ignite from the Fireball is lost.

This also happens with Living Bomb. If Living Bomb explodes while a Fireball or Pyroblast is in flight, the Ignite from the Living Bomb is lost.

This is quite annoying, and there is not much that can really be done to offset this from happening. One thing that can be done is to always prioritize Living Bomb over Pyroblast, and hold off from casting Pyroblast until the Living Bomb explodes if the Living Bomb is almost done. This runs the risk of wasting Hot Streaks.

Other methods utilizing the instant-landing nature of Fireblast and Scorch are almost certainly not worth it, except in the case of moving. In this case, it is not a bad idea to do Fireblast then Hot Streak while moving, if the last spell that landed was a not a critical strike to avoid wasting Hot Streaks.

Pyroblast- One of the three main fire spells, this is only used in conjunction with Hot Streak. This spell, since patch 3.3.3, both has a higher critical strike chance than Fireball and hits harder than Fireball. Combined with its instant cast nature with Hot Streak, this is a much more potent ability than Fireball.

Burning Soul- Reduces spell pushback by 70% and reduces threat by 20%. The 20% threat reduction is very valuable here, since it is preferable to not use 3 seconds to drop threat with invisibility. The spell pushback is very valuable for boss fights like Marrowgar, who’s Bonestorm causes constant spell pushback. With this talent in combination with Concentration Aura, the mage will be immune to spell pushback.

Flamethrowing- Increases the range of all fire spells by 3/6 yards. This talent is useful if there’s a risk of going out of range, or a large boss fight area. This talent is relevant for certain boss fights, Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Professor Putricide, Valrithria Dreamwalker, and most importantly Lich King.

Improved Scorch- Increases the critical strike chance of Scorch, Frostfire bolt, and Fireball.

The relevant parts of this talent is increasing Fireball critical strike chance by 3%, and the Improved Scorch debuff. If there is no warlock using Improved Shadowbolt, then it is up to the TTW/Fire mage to keep up the 5% debuff. Sucks to be you.

Master of Elements- 30% of base mana cost is refunded when a spell critically hits. This is the biggest source of mana regen by a significant amount.

Playing with Fire- Increases all spell damage by 3%, and increases all spell damage taken by 3%. This really means dealing 3% more damage and taking 3% more damage, because all damage you do will be spell damage, and the majority of raid damage done by bosses is spell damage.

Critical Mass- Increases critical strike chance by 6% for all fire spells. This really means all of the spells you cast, since Fireball/Pyroblast/Living bomb are fire damage.

Fire Power- Increases all fire spell damage by 10%, pretty self-explanatory.

Pyromaniac- Increases critical strike chance by 3% and 50% mana regeneration while casting. This is another important source of mana regeneration.

Molten Fury- Increases all damage done to targets below 35% HP by 12%. This talent essentially gives Fire mages an “execute.” Cooldowns should be popped when boss HP goes below 35% if possible.

Combustion- A cooldown that increases critical strike damage bonus by 50%, and causes each fire spell to cast to increase critical strike chance by 10%. This lasts for three direct-damage critical strikes. This cooldown should be used when a trinket proc with spell power has procced, or with the 4T10 bonus, or both. This is because the effect of Combustion is increased when a direct damage spell that crits, crits harder.

Empowered Fire- Increases the spell power coefficient by 15% for Fireball and Pyroblast. Also regenerates 2% of base mana every time Ignite ticks. This talent gives Fireball and Pyroblast an incredibly high spell power coefficient, far more than most other DPS spells.

Hot Streak- When 2 direct damage critical strikes caused by Pyroblast, Fireball, Fireblast, or Scorch occurs consecutively, the next Pyroblast ast will be instant. This talent is the reason why Pyroblast is used for TTW/Fire, as it makes Pyroblast, normally an unbearably long cast, instant-cast.

Burnout- Increases spell critical strike damage bonus by 50%, and increases the cost of critical strikes by 5% of base mana cost. This increases your damage from critical strikes from 150% of a normal hit to 175%. The increases mana cost is pretty trivial. This spell also increases the damage Ignite does, since Ignite damage is based on how much the critical strike hits for.

Living Bomb- The third major TTW/Fire spell, this ability leaves a 12 second dot on the target. The dot ticks 4 times total, and at the end of 12 seconds, an explosion occurs. The explosion hits harder than the dot, and is also a 10 yard AoE direct damage spell.

Every hit of the explosion counts towards Hot Streak, meaning that if multiple enemies get hit by the explosion, Hot Streak can proc several times instantaneously. While this means wasted Hot Streaks, this spell does provide good ways to do more Hot Streaks.

This spell is not worth using if the enemy dies before the explosion goes off.

Living Bomb is an extremely powerful AoE spell if the explosion is allowed to occur. Do notice that it takes 12 seconds for Living Bomb to explode, so the Effect of Living Bomb is measured by how long the trash pack lives –after- 12 seconds.

In other words, if the trash pack lives for 24 seconds, then that’s 12 seconds of Living Bomb explosions. This is an important distinction because most AoE spells like Seed of Corruption or Mind Sear do not have to worry about this. To put this into perspective, imagine what would happen if 24 seconds was changed to 16 seconds. There would only be 4 seconds of Living Bomb explosions compared to 12, which is a much more drastic reduction in AoE damage than Seed of Corruption or Mind Sear.

Arcane Subtlety and Arcane Focus are filler talents to access the rest of the Arcane tree.

Arcane Concentration- 2/4/6/8/10% chance of a clearcasting state, which makes the next spell cast cost no mana.

Magic Absorption- 40/80 Spell resist, and fully resisted spells regenerate 1% of total mana. This is a strong PVE talent because most raid damage is spell damage, so a mage can take a significant amount of less damage in a boss fight.

Student of the Mind- Increases Spirit by 4/7/10%. Not that strong of a talent, but it does increase your crit strike chance. It’s not a very strong talent because the closer a mage gets to Best in Slot gear, the less spirit the gear will have. Complete Best in Slot has no spirit at all. At or near this point, Student of the Mind will be a very weak talent.

The first point is more valuable than the second and third points.

Focus Magic- The reason why everyone else loves mages. The recipient of this ability gains 3% critical strike chance as long as the ability is up. This also grants the mage 3% critical strike chance for 10 seconds every time the recipient critically strikes with a spell.

Order of usefulness for Focus Magic, assuming all things are equal-

1. Fire Mages
2. Shadow Priests
3. Elemental Shaman
4. Arcane Mages
5. Warlocks
6. Balance Druids
7. Frost Mages

Torment the Weak- The main reason for going down the Arcane tree instead of the frost tree for Icy Veins. This talents causes Fireball and Pyroblast to do 12% more damage on slowed and snared targets, and in a raid, the boss will almost always be affected by Judgements of the Just, Infected Wounds, Thunderclap, or Icy Touch. Those abilities count as a slow because they reduce the boss's attack speed and will enable Torment of the Weak on the target.

2. Glyphs-

There are only three viable choices for glyphs, Fireball, Living Bomb, and Molten Armor.

Glyph of Fireball- Lowers cast time of fireball by .15 seconds. This is weaker than the previous incarnation of 5% more fireball critical strike chance, but still solid.
Glyph of Living Bomb- Living Bomb ticks can now be critical strikes. The critical ticks can also cause Ignite.
Glyph of Molten Armor- Molten Armor grants another 20% more critical strike chance from spirit. This increases your critical strike rating from spirit from 35% to 55%.

3. Stats

There are three main stats for a TTW/Fire mage, which are Spell Power, Critical Strike Rating, and Haste.

Hit is assumed to be hit capped.

TTW/Fire gains no hit from talents, so 13 or 14% will be needed. 3% hit will be provided by either a Shadow Priest or a Balance Druid. 1% more hit may be provided by a Draenei.

The usefulness of each stat compared to each other relies on your gearset. One particular gearset may place the order of importance in Spell Power>Haste>Crit, while another gearset may have Crit>Haste>Spell Power in order.

Spell Power- Increases the amount of damage spells do. Fireball and Pyroblast have a 115% and 130% spell coefficient respectively, meaning that the formula for those spells would be-
Fireball Damage = ((888-1132) + (115% of spell power)) * (Talent Modifiers)
Pyroblast Damage = ((1190-1510) + (130% of spell power)) * (Talent Modifiers)
Living Bomb follows a different formula.
Living Bomb Damage = (345(20% of Spell Power) + 345(20% of Spell Power) + 345(20% of Spell Power) + 345(20% of Spell Power) + 690(42.86%)) * (Talent modifiers)

Haste- This increases increases the speed you cast. For TTW/Fire, a desirable level of haste is to have enough haste so that three fireball casts are affected by the 2T10 bonus. This requires about 650 haste assuming all raid buffs. Of course, the more haste, the better. Depending on gearset, haste still may be the most valuable stat. Another useful amount of haste to have is 1175, meaning that with Heroism, it will be possible to fit in four fireballs within the 2T10 Mage bonus.

Here are the useful milestones for haste, ignoring the effect of lag. These all assume full raid buffs.
650 Haste- Fitting in three Fireballs within the 2T10 bonus.
781 Haste- GCD is at 1 second with 2T10 bonus.
925 Haste- Fitting in four fireballs within the 2T10 bonus with Heroism and Black Magic active.
1175 Haste- Fitting in four fireballs within the 2T10 bonus with Heroism active.

All of these numbers were calculated using http://milamber.ch/spellhastecap.html

Critical Strike Rating- This stat increases the chance of critical strikes. This stat is very powerful for TTW/Fire because about 40% of damage done will be through Hot Streak and Ignite. Both of these abilities cannot occur without critical strikes. Critical Strike Rating becomes better the higher a mage’s critical strikes chance gets. Usually, depending on gearset, as a mage’s gear gets closer to Best in Slot, critical strike rating becomes the most important stat.

At a certain amount of haste, Critical Strike Rating starts to become noticeably better than haste because GCD will become capped at 1 second with enough haste.

Critical Strike Rating also provides more haste indirectly by increasing 2T10 uptime through more Hot Streak procs.

Spirit- Gives critical strike rating through Molten armor.

2T10 Bonus- This gives 12% haste for 5 seconds. Realistically, this really means (5 – GCD) seconds of 12% of haste. The importance of this set bonus is to have it apply to as many casts as possible, not have as high of a % of uptime as possible. Having this bonus apply to the first .1 second or 1.5 seconds of a fireball cast does not matter, because the casting time of the fireball will be the same either way.

Gemming-

Meta- Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
Red Socket- Runed Cardinal Ruby, Potent Ametrine, or Reckless Ametrine depending on what is better for your current gearset.
Yellow Socket- Either Reckless Ametrine or Potent Ametrine, depending on what is better for your current gearset.
Blue Socket- Purified Dreadstone.

For TTW/Fire, -ALL- socket bonuses, except for ones that give Intellect and Spirit, are worth getting.

4. Gear

Gear-

TTW/Fire Best in Slot*-

Helm- Sanctified Bloodmage Hood
Neck- Blood Queen's Crimson Choker
Shoulders- Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads
Back- Cloak of Burning Dusk
Chest- Robe of the Waking Nightmare
Bracers- Bracers of Fiery Night
Gloves- Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves
Belt- Crushing Coldwraith Belt
Legs- Sanctified Bloodmage Leggings
Feet- Plague Scientist's Boots
Ring 1- Ring of Rapid Ascent
Ring 2- Ashen Band of Endless Destruction
Trinket 1- Charred Twilight Scale
Trinket 2- Phylactery of the Nameless Lich
Weapon- Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony
Off Hand- Shadow Silk Spindle
Wand- Corpse Impaling Spike

*Requires 2 Veiled Ametrine to reach Horde hit cap, not required for Alliance.

Enchants-

Helm- Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
Shoulders- Master's Inscription of the Storm, Greater Inscription of the Storm
Back- Lightweave Embroidery, Springy Arachnoweave, Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed
Chest- Formula: Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
Bracers- Fur Lining - Spell Power, Enchant Bracers - Superior Spellpower
Gloves- Hyperspeed Accelerators, Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower
Belt- Etenal Belt Buckle
Legs- Brilliant Spellthread
Boots- Nitro Boosts, Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality
Ring 1- Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower
Ring 2- Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower
1H Weapon- Black Magic
2H Weapon- Enchant Staff - Greater Spellpower

Professions-

The three best professions are Engineering, Jewelcrafting, and Tailoring, in that order.

Engineering assumes that Saronite Bombs are used on cooldown.

Engineering is the strongest due to the usefulness of Hyperspeed Accelerators and Nitro Boots. Saronite Bombs and Springy Arachnoweave fill out the Engineering arsenal.

The best profession combination is Engineering/Jewelcrafting.

If you don't want to bother with Saronite Bombs, Jewelcrafting/Tailoring is a good option as well.

The other professions of Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Leatherworking, Inscriptioning, and Alchemy have small DPS differences than the best professions.

5. Mods and other useful Programs


Spreadsheets-

Rawr-

http://rawr.codeplex.com/

Rawr is a program that can be used to calculate how much of an upgrade an item is for you, the optimal choice for gems, and so on. I strongly recomend using Rawr to decide what to gem with what, and what items to go for.

Simulationcraft-

http://code.google.com/p/simulationcraft/

Another useful tool is simulationcraft. What it does is simulate boss fights and estimates DPS, and what ability usage should look like in a fight. Optimally, actual boss fights should look similar to simulationcraft's numbers, within reason. Don't use this for comparing to fights like Blood Queen Lana'thel, for example.


Mods

Popular Mage mods are-

Magefever
Magealert
Scorchio2
Fortexorcist


These are all popular mods used to keeping track of mage abilities such as Living Bomb or Hot Streak procs.

Power Auras- This mod can be configured to do nearly anything. I use Power Auras for Hot Streak procs, the uptime for Pushing the Limit, when I'm Power Infusioned, when I'm innervated, among other things.

Other very good mods that are useful increasing DPS are-

TimeToDie- This mod tells you the estimated time till the boss's death. This is extremely useful for deciding when and how a mage should use his cooldowns.

Proculas- Very useful for knowing the time left for Internal Cooldowns before they are available to "proc" again. Black Magic, Phylactery of the Nameless Lich, etc., are examples. Do note that Phylactery of the Nameless Lich and Heroic Phylactery of the Nameless Lich are not included, so they will have to be added manually into the code.


The DPS Mods I use are-

Scorchio2- For keeping track of Living Bomb, 5% crit buff, time left until Mirror Image wears off.

Power Aura- For knowing when Hot Streak procs, when I've been innervated, Power Infusioned, if the target doesn't have Living Bomb applied, if I don't have Molten Armor enabled, and the time left on Pushing the Limit.

Proculas- For knowing how long it will be before my Internal Cooldowns are ready again.

TimeToDie- Very useful for knowing how Cooldowns should be used during a boss fight.

OmniCC- Displays the cooldowns left on an ability in seconds and in tenths of a second.

AZCastBar- Displays the cast time of a spell in hundredths of a second.


6. DPSing

The #1 rule for DPSing for mages is to always be casting.

The #2 rule for DPSing for mages is to never stop mid-cast to do a different cast.

On the most basic level for TTW/Fire, DPSing follows the priority order of Living Bomb->Pyroblast->Fireball. However, it is really more complicated than that.

There are three main factors, in no order of importance.
1. Wasting as few Hot Streaks as possible.
2. Keeping up Living Bomb uptime as high as possible.
3. Keeping up 2T10 Bonus as high as possible, in the sense of having it apply to as many spells as possible.

So in the following scenarios, the order of importance will change depending on those factors.
For example, if back to back Hot Streak procs occurs, a mage would not use Hot Streak consecutively. The mage would do-
Hot Streak- Fireball-Hot Streak, or-
Hot Streak-Fireball-Fireball-Hot Streak, or-
Hot Streak-Fireball-Fireball-Fireball-Hot Streak.

This is to allow for higher uptime for 2T10 bonus, because Hot streak will simply reset the 2T10 bonus to 5 seconds. Choosing any of the three Hot Streak Scenarios depends on the last Fireball or Living Bomb critically striking and how close Living Bomb is to exploding.

In general, it is very much preferred to do Living Bomb before Pyroblast. This is because of two reasons-
1. Increased Living Bomb uptime.
2. To avoid wasting a GCD of time of 2T10, which would occur if Pyroblast-Living Bomb was done.
3. To reduce Ignite Munching.

To avoid this happening, pay attention to how much time left Living Bomb has before exploding. If Living Bomb is going to explode within 1-3 seconds, it would be wise to consider holding off using Hot Streak until Living Bomb explodes, then using Living Bomb then Hot Streak. Do not wait too long however, and pay attention to if the last few spells are critical hitting, because avoiding wasting Hot Streaks is desirable.

Remember that Living Bomb is not worth using if the enemy dies before the explosion, so if the boss will die before Living Bomb explodes, do not use Living Bomb even though this will lower Living Bomb uptime.

Generally, for Living Bomb uptime should be between 80-90%, and usually ends up between 84-88%.

Damage Break down for a Tank and Spank fight will usually be-

~20% Ignite
~20% Pyroblast
~50% Fireball
~9% Living Bomb
~1% Other

For boss fights with adds, Living Bomb will make up a greater proportion of the damage. Pyroblast will also start to do more damage than Ignite due to more Hot Streak procs.

Be aware that since Hot Streak and Living Bomb are instants, you can move a bit everytime you cast them and not lose any DPS time as long you only move during the GCD. This a good and efficient way to move if the need to move away is not immediately pressing, such as moving away from the center after dealing with Pact of the Darkfallen on Blood Queen Lana'thel.


7. Cooldowns

Fire's cooldowns favors fights that are about 3:30 to 4:00 in length, because that offers the highest uptime for Mirror image. Fights that are about 2:40 to 3:15 in length are not so preferred, but it's not really so bad because it also means a higher uptime for Heroism.

If holding off using a CD means being able to use it one less time during a fight, then it's not worth holding it off.

I very strongly recommend a mod that tells you when ICD's are about to go off CD, such as Proculas, so you know when they're about to proc, and the "TimeToDie" mod, which is invaluable in helping to know when and how CD's and ICD's should be used or taken advantage of.


This picture represents a Festergut fight, cooldown usage is typical of a 3:30-4:00 minute fight.




The two "one thin blue line" represent Heroism uptime. You can see all the CD's that are up between those times, including ICD's such as Siphoned Power (Phylactery) and Surge of Power (DFO). Just try to get as much uptime stacking those as possible. However, it's not really possible to control ICD's without losing DPS because they just proc by themselves, but just do the best possible.

The "double thin blue line" is a line that shows what CD's, in the sense of spell power, that combustion gained benefit from. On the line you can see how Combustion gained benefit from Siphoned power and about 500~ SP Surge of Power.

The “red block” is when I should have popped my CD’s at, instead of where I actually did.

On the other side you can see about two "one thin blue line" that represent Quad Core, the Mage 4T10 bonus. The same idea applies here, try to stack as many CD's and ICD's as possible.

I would have done better if I had popped accordingly to the red marks instead of when I actually did.

The "double thin blue line" represents preferred Combustion usage.

This fight represents the Professor Putricide fight, which was about 7:30 long.




In this Professor Putricide fight, you can see much of the same idea. The third Quad Core+ Heroism was not all that optimal because of where Siphoned Power procced, aka not really within Heroism, but that's ok because lining CD's/ICD's with Heroism is still the best choice.

Of course, it's not always possible to get CD's lined up the way you want them to, due to the nature of the fight, when Heroism is procced, RNG on ICD's proccing, (I'm looking at you, DFO. *shakes fist*) or if the optimal time CD/ICD wise is a bad time in the actual fight, such as having to move somewhere or CC something.

Remember that the execute for TTW/Fire is when the boss is below 35% HP, so it would be wise slightly delay CD's in order to pop them for the execute phase. The execute phase should always be carefully considered when planning CD usage.


8. Icecrown Citadel and Halion Boss Fights

Lord Marrowgar- Since bonespikes are done with a timer, you can predict when they are about to occur. Most strategies for Lord Marrowgar has the raid stacking close to Marrowgar to trivialize the Coldflame, so you can delay Living Bomb slightly so that it will explode when the spikes have just come up, and it will hit the spikes since the raid is stacked up on the boss.

Lady Deathwhisper- Put the focus on Lady Deathwhisper and keep up Living Bomb on her. If using the strat that gathers up all the adds and tanks them on Lady Deathwhisper, you can Living Bomb the adds and AoE them down for big e-peen damage.

Gunship- Living Bomb everything.

Saurfang- Again, it’s possible to slightly delay Living Bomb so that it goes off just as the bloodbeasts spawn. However, do to the significantly reduced AoE damage that bloodbeasts take, it’s not really worth the bother.

Festergut- Tank and spank. Iceblock the first Pungent Blight, get spores for the second Pungent Blight if needed.

Rotface- Tank and Spank. Pay attention to the pipes behind you, if they're shooting ooze, blink away.

Professor Putricide- The adds will most likely survive a Living Bomb, so as a slime spawns, put Living Bomb on it first. Keep focus on Professor Putricide and keep up Living Bomb on him even as you’re DPSing the add. Usually adds don’t live long enough for a second Living Bomb to be worth it.

You can use Invisibility when Professor Putricide is in middle of casting Tear Gas in Normal mode, so you don't get effected by the 20 second stun. Invisibility can also be used for the slimes so that they stop targeting you, much like a hunter using Feign Death. It’s also possible to Ice Block before the green slime reaches you to explode, causing it to stay in place for the duration of the Ice Block. Don't forget to keep Living Bomb up on Professor Putricide heroic during the phase changes.

Blood Princes- If you want to cheat on the DPS meters, you can keep up Living Bomb the fire-user prince and the kinetic-using prince. Don’t living bomb the shadow prince because the Living Bomb explosion can hit the black orbs on the tank.

Blood Queen Lana’thel- You can delay Living Bomb slightly if you’re about to get bitten within 6 seconds of Living Bomb going off. If you get the shadowflame debuff, run away with the debuff, then blink back to your spot. If you get Pact of the Darkfallen, finish your cast then blink to the middle, because you’ll get there before the others by using blink anyway. Go back to your spot by moving a bit every time it’s time to use Hot Streak/Living Bomb instants.

Dreamwalker- Living Bomb is really only worth using on the abominations and sometimes the Blistering Zombies. Flamestrike then Blizzard work well here for rot worms and if the tanks like to gather up adds and tank them in the same spot.

Sindragosa- Living Bomb every Ice Tomb as soon as players get hit by them. It’s sometimes worth recasting Living Bomb on your first Ice Tomb target. If worried about the stacks, you can change spell casting order a bit by attaching instants at the end of every fireball, like this.

Fireball-Living Bomb-Fireball-Pyroblast instead of Fireball-Living Bomb-Pyroblast-Fireball.

Remember that Mystic Buffet applies every 6 seconds, meaning that the stack is renewed every time the debuff gets to 2 seconds. So if the debuff is at 4 seconds, you can pop out, cast an instant, then back behind the ice tomb.

You can use Frost Ward to significantly lower the damage of Ice Tomb if you're targeted.

You can use Ice Block to get rid of the Unchained Magic debuff. If you do this, be sure to use Ice Block as as soon as you get the debuff. Be warned that using Ice Block for Heroic Sindragosa will clear the Unchained Magic debuff, as well as setting off all Unstable Magic debuffs, which will deal damage to the raid around you.

With the 25% ICC buff, you can get to 8-10 stacks of Unchained Magic in P1 with little worry of death.

Lich King- You can cheat on the meters by Living Bombing the Shambling Horrors and Drudge Ghouls. Depending on your raid group, it may worth Living Bombing all of the Val’kyrs that spawn. If they die before the explosion occurs, then it’s not worth it. If a mage gets 2/2 Flamethrowing, then the mage can continue to DPS Arthas during Phases 1.5 and 2.5. Only apply as many Living Bombs that will explode for the Vile Spirits.

Halion- The physical realm is much more favorable for mages. If you're assigned to Physical Realm for P3, then pop all of your CD's at the start of P1, and save Quad Core and Potion of Haste for P3. This is assuming that the kill will be less than 6 minutes. Don't forget you have the ability to decurse Consumption.

Heroic Halion- Set focus on Halion. If assigned to DPS the big add, use a target macro to select it, it's fairly annoying trying to click the big add. Use only one Living Bomb for the big add, chances are a second Living Bomb won't explode. Keep up Living Bomb up on Halion while DPSing the big add by using a focus macro for Living Bomb. If assigned to DPS the small adds, use only as many Living Bombs that will explode. For the Shadow Realm, the best place to be is between the center of the room and the wall, this makes it fairly trivial to not die to Twilight Cutters and makes it easy to drop off Twilight Consumption.

Feedback is always welcome, in order to improve this guide.

[leethaxor]

TTW remark: Its not the boss will be slowed or snared. Its that the boss will be immune to such affects and because of the immunity that the are subject to TTW.

Push back remark: Push back in general is good, not just on fights like Mar. Any fight with large amount of raid damage push back prevention is good. You could also mention that 70% plus pally imp. conc. aura means total resistance to push back.

Gunship remark: Keep up LB on the riflemen for e-peen dps. (Better then who cares (?) )

[Sky]

Guide was changed slightly to be more easily understood.

Bosses aren't immune to all slows and snares, just the actual application of snares and certain slowing effects. However, as long the debuff is on the boss, even if not actually effecting the boss, Torment of the Weak is activated.

[takolin]

Comment on spec:

Student of the mind is not worth it. You're better of with 1 point magic absorption to increase chance on survival. Your healers will thank you on fights with considerable magic damage.


About TTW:

Bosses are immune to normal snares, but tanks should all apply a combat slow that decreases the attack speed of a boss which triggers ttw.

Another haste cap you might want to add:

When raidbuffed you're GCD will be capped under ptl when you got 781 haste.

The reason why crit starts overtaking haste at a certain amount of gear is twofold:

*GCD will be capped making haste for all instants less valuable.
*Crit rating increases PTL uptime which equals to more haste, so crit is 2 stats in one assume you're using the 2set.

Note about BiS list:

BiS sets are depending on race and profession. So you might get better results with a different setup.

Note about professions:

The difference between JC and BS/LW/alchemy/inscription/enchanting all lies withing a 1-2 SP difference and shouldn't be noticeable.

Note about priorities:

Ever since pyro started hitting harder than FB (3.3.5 when pyro got buffed), it should always be prioritized before FB despite the lower PTL uptime. By delaying HS, you also increase the chance of wasting HS procs.

[Sky]

I'll add about the GCD being capped with 781 haste with PtL.

Also will slightly change the wording on Torment of the Weak to clarify that those slow abilities listed abilities cause the boss to attack slower and thus activate TTW.

Added that other professions are only a bit weaker.

Noted why crit strike rating becomes better at higher gear levels.

You can avoid wasting Hot Streak procs by paying attention to the last Fireball/Living Bomb critting. There is little reason to immediately use Hot Streak if the end result is the same amount of Hot Streaks but higher PtL uptime.

[Krenian]

Very well written guide and definitely something to keep an eye on. If you do have the time, would you be able to touch upon the Frost and Arcane trees and give out a guide the same manner? I especially like the graph, as you illustrate what the information you give out.

Keep up the good work.

(In no way can I say if the guide is accurate; I don't play a mage at all lol But the style and writing is very nicely written.)

[Mystik]

Bookmarked

Awesome job!

[Ariedan]

I don't know fire as well as I do arcane, but everything looks pretty legit at a glimpse. I've also played with this guy, and he's one of the most analytical mages I've ever encountered. Thumbs up from me.

[Ryoushi]

Registered so I could say thanks for the brilliant and detailed guide. So, thanks.

I have a question though.
Isn't Robe of the Waking Nightmare & Ring of Rapid Ascent & Crushing Coldwraith Belt superior to your current chest/ring/belt combo? (At least as Alliance?)

I didn't check the intellect or sockets/bonuses, but I compared the stats of both 3-item sets:
#My Set
261 crit
150 haste
98 hit
436 SP

#Your Set
271 crit
122 haste
111 hit
412 SP


Ryo.

[Sky]

Hmmm, you appear to be right. Updating.

[Ariedan]

Registered so I could say thanks for the brilliant and detailed guide. So, thanks.

I have a question though.
Isn't Robe of the Waking Nightmare & Ring of Rapid Ascent & Crushing Coldwraith Belt superior to your current chest/ring/belt combo? (At least as Alliance?)

I didn't check the intellect or sockets/bonuses, but I compared the stats of both 3-item sets:
#My Set
261 crit
150 haste
98 hit
436 SP

#Your Set
271 crit
122 haste
111 hit
412 SP


Ryo.

I can answer that for him. The chest has never dropped, and the belt and ring have dropped maybe once, and they went to someone else.

[Sky]

Very well written guide and definitely something to keep an eye on. If you do have the time, would you be able to touch upon the Frost and Arcane trees and give out a guide the same manner? I especially like the graph, as you illustrate what the information you give out.

Well, TTW/Fire becomes the dominant spec at higher levels of gear, Arcane and Frost are inferior. I don't see the reason to make a guide for Arcane and Frost. Well, some people still like to do Arcane, so maybe I'll do an Arcane one.

[Krenian]

Well, TTW/Fire becomes the dominant spec at higher levels of gear, Arcane and Frost are inferior. I don't see the reason to make a guide for Arcane and Frost. Well, some people still like to do Arcane, so maybe I'll do an Arcane one.

Understandable I suppose. I have been fiddling with my mage and she's just doing abysmal damage and I've given up on her. It's the first DPS class I simply cannot fathom on how to play properly.

[Sky]

Well, give me your armory for your mage and tell me what you've been doing, and I'll do my best to help out!

[Darksend]

Well, give me your armory for your mage and tell me what you've been doing, and I'll do my best to help out!

Word of advice, you do not want your guide cluttered with people linking armories, it gets the guide very off topic. If anything, advise people to make a thread in the HALP forum and have them put a link with the addendum "please keep all comments in the HALP thread"

[Sky]

Ok!

Krenian, if you don't want to post in the HALP forums, just pm me your wowarmory!

[Ryoushi]

Thanks for updating.

If you're in the Cata beta, a short guide for the superior levelling spec(s) would be great. I want to be sure I'm 100% prepared

[Sky]

1. Get as geared as you can.
2. Use a spec that has high initial burst or good AoE
3. ???
4. Profit

[Ryoushi]

1. Get as geared as you can.
2. Use a spec that has high initial burst or good AoE
3. ???
4. Profit

Well, a lot of the stats and the specs are being changed, so it isn't that clear which is going to be better for the dungeons.
Guess my fire levelling spec would work for most situations though, but I'd still like to hear from a Beta tester o:

[Sky]

Unfortunately I'm not in the beta : (