Cataclysm Classic Fire Mage Guide

This page contains all relevant information needed for Fire Mages for the release of Cataclysm Classic. Be sure to check back as we get closer to the release date, as this page will be updated with the latest information as it becomes available. This guide will be updated, if new theorycrafting findings require it.

Oh Yes! Fire Mage is widely considered to be a S-Tier DPS class in Cataclysm and are absolute DPS machines. Later on, in the Firelands raid, with the introduction of Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest, things get really crazy. The weapon does not have an internal cooldown and also procs from DoTs. The proc rate is reportedly around 10%, which means the weapon is a flat 10% DPS increase, in addition to its insane stats.

Alliance: Worgen. Viciousness gives 1% Critical Strike Chance. While Heroic Presence from Draenei can be better, the Darkflight ability is what makes Worgens the best Alliance race.

Horde: Goblin. Time is Money gives 1% Haste. The Rocket Jump ability allows you to jump forward, greatly enhancing your mobility.

Fire Mages are purely a DPS class, with no healing or tanking abilities. Fire Mages are considered the best Mage PVE spec, as they excel at both single target and AoE damage. If possible, their role in an encounter should be limited to doing damage as they do not have many kiting, crowd control, or interrupting abilities.

Like all talent trees, Fire has been greatly compacted. You will get your first talent point at level 10. From level 11 on, you will get one talent every two levels until level 81. From there on you will obtain one talent point every level (81-85). As most talents are pretty self-explanatory, this basic guide will not go into too much detail about each of them. Important details are to be found below in the rotation section.

Cata gives you more Glyphs to use. There are now Prime, Major and Minor Glyphs. The Prime Glyphs are Glyph of Fireball, Glyph of Pyroblast and Glyph of Molten Armor. Major Glyphs for Fire are Glyph of Evocation, Glyph of Dragon's Breath and Glyph of Blast Wave. For Minor Glyphs you would want to choose Glyph of Arcane Brilliance, Glyph of Conjuring and Glyph of Slow Fall.

Before diving deeper into a rotation, make sure you always have Molten Armor up. There are weakauras to help you remind you if any of your self-buffs is missing.

The Fire Mage single-target rotation is more of a priority list:

• Cast Pyroblast! whenever Hot Streak is up.
• Cast Flame Orb whenever it is off cooldown.
• Apply/refresh Living Bomb. Always let it explode before refreshing.
• Apply/refresh Critical Mass with Scorch.
• Cast Fireball. If you have to move, cast Scorch.

Which AoE rotation you use depends on how long your targets live.

• For fights that last only a few seconds, use a Blast Wave > Dragon's Breath > Flamestrike rotation.
• If a fight last long enough for you to cast a few Pyroblast!s, cast a few until you get crit for an Ignite. Continue with Blast Wave, so Flamestrike gets cast automatically (with the talent). If your Impact gets reset, spread the DoTs with Fire Blast. Continue with Dragon's Breath and Flamestrike.
• If the fight lasts long enough for Living Bomb to explode, apply your single target rotation on one of the enemies and use Impact/ Blast Wave whenever they are off cooldown. If your mana allows it, you may also refresh the Flamestrike debuff by casting Flamestrike. If you plan on using Combustion for AoEing, cast Pyroblast! instead of Fireball.

Whenever possible, avoid casting Flamestrike, as it is a very mana intensive spell. Blast Wave should be used instead due to its Mana efficiency, casting Flamestrike automatically for free.

Combustion and Mirror Image are your only DPS cooldowns for Fire. While Mirror Image is minor and should only be used if you can make sure they do not die from damage, Combustion is the elephant in the room. It sums up the damage of Ignite, Living Bomb, and the DoT from Pyroblast! and creates a new DoT without consuming the latter three effects. It is important to use Combustion when you have a big Ignite, as Living Bomb and Pyroblast! DoT have static damage, based on your gear. If possible, spread Combustion to other enemies with Impact (triggered by Fire Blast). Using an addon/Weakaura to keep track of your Ignite ticks is recommended. Combustion is off the global cooldown.

Your best-in-slot gear for the pre-patch will be mostly Wrath Classic Phase 5 gear with the exception that you need 3% more Hit, as Faerie Fire no longer provides the bonus 3% Hit Rating. To reach the new Hit cap (before it was 14% hit, now it is 17% hit), Amulet of the Silent Eulogy and Loop of the Endless Labyrinth are solid options. Veiled Dreadstone and Reforging are also suitable options to get more Hit Rating. Reforging allows you to swap 40% of a stat on a piece of gear for another stat that is not already on this piece of gear. Fire Mages want to reforge the stat Mastery, as they benefit the least from it.

Apart from these details, we need to mention some changes in stats:

• Intellect becomes our new best stat by far. It provides Spell Power, Crit and a Mana pool increase.
• Hit is our second best stat until you reach the cap of 17% hit (16% for Draenei Mages).
• Crit is number 3 on the stats list. In Original Cata it was considered to be worse, but that was due to the demise of Ignite Munching, crit is now considered to the better stat.
• Haste can be better than Crit, if a specific amount of haste allows you to reach the 12.5% or 37.5% haste caps for extra Living Bomb and Pyroblast! DoT ticks.
• Mastery is the weakest stat and becomes the first candidate to reforge off into Hit Rating.

This BiS List uses Loop of the Endless Labyrinth, because Veiled Dreadstone in your blue gem slots give a lot of hit. With some clever Reforging and Ring of Rapid Ascent, you may get slightly better DPS. Draenei Mages need less 1% hit due to Heroic Presence.

Slot	Item	Reforging	Source
Helm	Sanctified Bloodmage Hood	–	1100 Justice Points (251) + normal (264) and heroic (277) Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Neck	Blood Queen's Crimson Choker	–	Blood-Queen Lana'thel — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Shoulders	Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads	–	695 Justice Points (251) + normal (264) and heroic (277) Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Back	Cloak of Burning Dusk	–	Halion — The Ruby Sanctum 25-Man HM
Chest	Robe of the Waking Nightmare	–	Valithria Dreamwalker — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Wrists	Bracers of Fiery Night	–	Halion— The Ruby Sanctum 25-Man HM
Hands	Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves	–	695 Justice Points (251) + normal (264) and heroic (277) Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Waist	Crushing Coldwraith Belt	–	Lord Marrowgar — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Legs	Sanctified Bloodmage Leggings	–	1100 Justice Points (251) + normal (264) and heroic (277) Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Feet	Plague Scientist's Boots	–	Festergut — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Rings	Loop of the Endless Labyrinth Ashen Band of Endless Destruction	–	Lord Marrowgar — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM Reward from Path of Vengeance at Ormus the Penitent — The Ashen Verdict Exalted
Trinkets	Phylactery of the Nameless Lich Charred Twilight Scale	–	Sindragosa — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM The Ruby Sanctum 25-Man HM
One-Hand	Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony	–	The Lich King — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Off-hand	Shadow Silk Spindle	–	Prince Valanar — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM
Wand	Corpse-Impaling Spike	–	Rotface — Icecrown Citadel 25-Man HM

Enchants and Gems are fairly equal to what they were in WotLK:

• Enchants
  • Helm — Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
  • Shoulders — Greater Inscription of the Storm
  • Back — Lightweave Embroidery from Tailoring > Springy Arachnoweave from Engineering > Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed
  • Chest — Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
  • Bracers — Enchant Bracer - Superior Spellpower
  • Gloves — Hyperspeed Accelerators
  • Belt — Eternal Belt Buckle
  • Pants — Brilliant Spellthread
  • Boots — Enchant Boots - Icewalker
  • Rings — Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower — Enchanting only
  • Weapon — Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower

• Gems
  • Meta Gem — Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
  • Red Gem — Brilliant Stormjewel or Brilliant Cardinal Ruby
  • Blue Gem — Veiled Dreadstone
  • Yellow Gem — Potent Ametrine