Mists of Pandaria Classic Fire Mage Rotation and Cooldowns

Before delving 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.

1. Maintain Invoker's Energy or Rune of Power by refreshing them as needed.
2. Use Combustion when a strong Ignite DoT is active.
3. Cast Pyroblast when both Pyroblast! and Heating Up are active (details below *).
4. Apply or refresh your Mage Bomb (Tier 5 talent) just before it expires.
5. Use Inferno Blast when Heating Up procs and the spell is off cooldown. Since Inferno Blast always crits, it turns Heating Up into Pyroblast!.
6. Use Fireball as your primary filler spell.
7. When moving, cast Scorch.

When you convert Heating Up into Pyroblast! using Inferno Blast, avoid using the instant-cast Pyroblast right away. Instead, continue casting Fireball until you gain another Heating Up proc. Once you do, immediately cast Fireball followed by the instant Pyroblast. Both spells will hit the target at nearly the same time. If either one crits, it will trigger Heating Up again, granting you another instant Pyroblast!.

As a pre-pull strategy, to utilize Invoker's Energy from Invocation, it is recommended to use the following pre-pull strategy (the numbers in brackets is the time left on the pull timer).

1. (6 seconds prepull) Cast Evocation.
2. (4 seconds prepull) Cast Mirror Image.
   • Under certain conditions, this can pull the boss, so you can also skip this step.
3. (3 seconds prepull) Use Potion of the Jade Serpent and on-use trinkets and begin casting Pyroblast.
4. Apply the Mage Bomb from your Tier 5 talent.

Which AoE rotation you use depends on how many targets you are facing and if they have high or low health. The Mage Bomb usage is explained in more detail in the Fire Mage Talents section.

1. If there are 2-4 targets: Keep Mage Bomb up on all targets. Do the same for the Pyroblast DoT, by shooting it on every target whenever you get free instant cast Pyroblasts. Should the targets be stacked, spread all your DoTs with Inferno Blast.
2. If there are 5+ targets: Use Cone of Cold (with Glyph of Cone of Cold) on cooldown. If your targets live through the full duration of your Mage Bomb, apply it to as many of them as possible. Cast Arcane Explosion as a filler spell.

Whenever mobs are about to be stacked or spawning in a specific location, you can also pre-cast Flamestrike at the location in question. Otherwise, avoid this spell.

Combustion is your primary DPS cooldown. When activated, it applies a new DoT (damage over time) to your current target, dealing damage equal to 20% of the existing Ignite DoT on that target. It no longer factors in the Living Bomb or Pyroblast DoTs. To maximize its effectiveness, use Combustion immediately after landing a large critical hit (or a chain of them) with Pyroblast.

Alter Time resets your location, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs to their state when the spell was first cast, either after 6 seconds or when recast. Use Alter Time alongside strong trinket procs or on-use effects to extend their benefit by 6 seconds, or when Pyroblast! is active, so you can benefit from it again when you return. If you've chosen Presence of Mind as your Tier 1 talent, Alter Time also synergizes with it. Additionally, it can help you avoid mechanics—such as incoming heavy damage or dangerous debuffs—by resetting your state to a safer moment.

Using Combustion and Alter Time effectively is key to maximizing your DPS as a Fire Mage, especially when combined with Presence of Mind. When cast, Combustion applies a new DoT to your target that ticks every second for 20% of the current value of your Ignite DoT.

Your objective is to always use Combustion when you have a strong Ignite. While this isn't always possible, you can often generate a very strong Ignite by carefully combining Alter Time and Presence of Mind. Mastering this interaction is essential to playing a Fire Mage at peak performance.

Unless a specific encounter requires otherwise, you should use Glyph of Combustion, which doubles Combustion's cooldown to 90 seconds, but also doubles its duration to 20 seconds. This setup ensures that every other Combustion cast can take advantage of the extremely high Ignite values made possible by Alter Time.

Keep in mind that when you cast Pyroblast, there is a delay before Ignite updates—since the spell needs to travel to the target. As a result, you might find that your Ignite reaches a peak just as you are casting a Fireball. To avoid missing the ideal moment, it is recommended to use a /stopcasting macro with Combustion, allowing you to cancel your current cast and activate Combustion immediately when Ignite is high enough.

Mirror Image is a minor DPS cooldown. Use it when the summoned images can fully attack the boss for their entire 30-second duration.