Fire Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Fire Mage
  • 3. Fire Mage Strengths
  • 4. Fire Mage Weaknesses
  • 5. Fire Mage Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics for Fire Mage
  • 3. Talent Choice for Fire Mage
  • 4. Stat Choice for Fire Mage
  • 5. Basic Rotation for Fire Mage
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Fire Mage Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resource for Fire Mage
  • 3. Mastery for Fire Mage
  • 4. Important Procs for Fire Mage
  • 5. Basic Abilities for Fire Mage
  • 6. DPS Cooldowns for Fire Mage
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Fire Mage
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Fire Mage
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Fire Mage
  • 10. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 10.1. Fire Mage War Mode Talents
  • 11. ChangeLog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Azerite Traits for Fire Mage
  • 3. Outer Ring Traits for Fire Mage
    • 3.1. Generic Outer Ring Traits
    • 3.2. Fire Mage specific Outer Ring Traits
  • 4. Middle Ring Traits for Fire Mage
  • 5. Inner Ring Traits for Fire Mage
  • 6. Azerite Traits Rotation Changes and Details for Fire Mage
  • 7. Relative strength of Azerite Traits for Fire Mage
    • 7.1. Single Target Azerite Traits comparison for Fire Mage
      • 7.1.1. Outer Ring Trait Comparisons for Fire Mage on Single Target
      • 7.1.2. Middle Ring Trait Comparisons for Fire Mage on Single Target
    • 7.2. AoE/Cleave Azerite Traits comparison for Fire Mage
      • 7.2.1. Outer Ring Trait Comparisons for Fire Mage on AoE/Cleave
      • 7.2.2. Middle Ring Trait Comparisons for Fire Mage on AoE/Cleave
    • 7.3. Inner Ring Trait Comparisons for Fire Mage
  • 8. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 9. ChangeLog
• ×Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List for Fire Mage
  • 2. Important Notes for Fire Mages
    • 2.1. Effectively Creating Crit Trains
      • 2.1.1. Spells That Do Not Trigger or Cancel Heating Up
    • 2.2. Pyroclasm Usage
    • 2.3. Meteor Usage
    • 2.4. Flamestrike Usage
    • 2.5. Rune of Power
    • 2.6. Blazing Barrier
    • 2.7. Scorch
  • 3. Core Concepts for Fire Mage
    • 3.1. Combustion Usage
    • 3.2. Critical Strike Chains
    • 3.3. Movement Management
      • 3.3.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Opening Sequence for Fire Mage
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Fire Mage in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Fire Mage Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Fire Mage Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Fire Mage
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Having High Downtime
  • 2. Using Combustion / Rune of Power at the Wrong Time
  • 3. Not Knowing How To Sim Yourself
  • 4. Analyzing Your Mistakes as a Fire Mage
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Battle for Azeroth Frequently Asked Questions for Fire Mage
    • 1.1. How Much Critical Strike Should I Get?
    • 1.2. Should I Use Flame Patch or Living Bomb in Dungeons?
    • 1.3. Should I Use Rune of Power or Incanter's Flow?
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Fire Mage
  • 2. Fire Mage: Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Fire Mage
  • 2. Enchants for Fire Mage
  • 3. Consumables for Fire Mage
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons for Fire Mage
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. DeathNote
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros
    • 2.1. Generic Macros for Mages
      • 2.1.1. Stopcast Blink
      • 2.1.2. 1-Button Block
      • 2.1.3. Block Cancel
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. Azerite Gear for Fire Mage
  • 2. Evaluating Upgrades
  • 3. Trinket Notes for Fire Mage
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. How to sim your Fire Mage
  • 2. Fire Mage Single Target Azerite Traits Simulation
  • 3. Fire Mage AoE Azerite Traits Simulation
  • 4. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list your Fire Mage core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation) in World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth 8.0.1. We also explain when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that you will need to know if you want to excel at playing a Fire Mage.

The other pages of our Fire Mage guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Dutchmagoz. Dutchmagoz is a Mythic raider in UnknownError, owner of the Mage theorycrafting website Altered Time, and an admin of the Mage Discord server, Halls of the Guardian.

1. Ability Priority List for Fire Mage

• Show AoE lines

1. Use Rune of Power when Combustion is off cooldown.
2. Cast Meteor, if talented. Only cast it together with Rune of Power, if talented.
3. Use Combustion when it is off cooldown.
4. Use Rune of Power if it has 2 charges or will have 2 charges within 2 seconds, or you have a Pyroclasm proc, and Combustion will not be available before a second Rune of Power charge becomes available.
5. Cast Phoenix Flames if it has 3 charges or will have 3 charges soon, if talented.
6. Cast Flamestrike when there are 8 or more targets stacked and you have Hot Streak.
7. Cast Pyroblast when you have a Hot Streak proc.
8. Cast Living Bomb if talented, and there are 3 or more targets stacked, and at least 1 of the targets will live for at least 8 seconds.
9. Cast Dragon's Breath on cooldown if there are 8+ targets present.
10. Cast Fire Blast when you have Heating Up.
11. Cast Scorch if you have Searing Touch talented and the target is below 30% Health, to generate Heating Ups and Hot Streaks.
12. Cast Fireball to generate Heating Up.
13. Cast Scorch if you have to move and have no instant casts to burn.

If you are talented into Alexstrasza's Fury, you should be using Dragon's Breath on cooldown regardless of the number of targets present.

The core component of this specialization is chaining as many Critical Strikes together as possible to maintain large Ignites. Fire is an extremely reactive specialization, meaning that most of your optimizations will occur moment to moment, rather than planning a large damage dump minutes in advance.

It is highly recommended you read the "Combustion Usage" section as it is of crucial importance to the Fire specialization.

For more information on your opening sequence, please refer to our dedicated section.

2. Important Notes for Fire Mages

2.1. Effectively Creating Crit Trains

Understanding how to generate Critical Strikes as efficiently as possible is key to utilizing Fire effectively. This is a specialization that is designed to crit more often than not, so it is easy to understand why learning to execute the right combos to create a chain of crits is of paramount importance.

Whenever you get a Heating Up proc, you should convert it to a Hot Streak using Fire Blast. Generally, you will then want to cast a Fireball, and immediately spend your Hot Streak on a Pyroblast as your Fireball cast finishes. Both of these spells will strike at the same time, chance at an immediate follow up Hot Streak if both of them critically strike. If only one of the spells critically strikes, Heating Up will proc and you can immediately Fire Blast and repeat this process.

There is a 0.2-second grace period where Heating Up will not be canceled if two spells impact simultaneously and only one of them critically strikes.

This is known as "Pyroblast Fishing" and is the best way to create a large chain of crits. The exception to this rule is during Combustion, where all spells will crit, allowing you to chain together a variety of combos that will be covered in more detail later in the guide.

2.1.1. Spells That Do Not Trigger or Cancel Heating Up

• Dragon's Breath
• Blast Wave
• Living Bomb
• Meteor
• Frost Nova
• Flamestrike
• Any non-damage spell, such as Blink or Ice Block

2.2. Pyroclasm Usage

The Pyroclasm talent gives you a chance to proc the Pyroclasm buff, which makes your next non-instant Pyroblast hit extremely hard. It is not worth casting during Combustion due to the long cast time. Normally, you will want to just cast these non-instant Pyroblasts as you get the procs, however, since the proc can stack up to 2 times, there are scenarios in which you should hold onto it as long as you only have 1 charge:

• If you have a stack of Rune of Power ready, and Combustion will not be ready before you get the second charge of Rune of Power. In this scenario, you should first cast Rune of Power, and then use the proc.
• If Rune of Power will run out before you would be able to finish the non-instant Pyroblast, you should wait until Rune of Power ends and then cast the non-instant Pyroblast.

That said, the most important thing is actually using the Pyroclasm procs. If they ever time out before being used, it is a huge DPS loss. Because of this, it is advisable to always keep 1 stack of Shimmer available for the situation where you get a certain raid mechanic on you while casting the non-instant Pyroblast, so you can simply Shimmer away instead of interrupting this long cast and risk losing the proc.

2.3. Meteor Usage

Meteor should always be used together with Rune of Power, since they have the same cooldown. If you do not have Rune of Power talented, it should be used on cooldown, but make sure it is available when Combustion becomes available.

2.4. Flamestrike Usage

Flamestrike has a long cast time, and you should never hard cast it during an encounter, regardless of the number of enemies present. Rather, when a certain number of targets are present (5 or more, 3 or more with Flame Patch talented), you will switch from spending your Hot Streak procs on Pyroblast to Flamestrike. Ignite is also applied by Flamestrike. You should treat Flamestrike the same way you would treat Pyroblast rotationally, and follow the same spell priority you would on a single target. The main difference between Pyroblast and Flamestrike is that Flamestrike cannot generate Heating Up or Hot Streak, making crit chains less likely. Flamestrike is a targeted ability, so it can be helpful to already have the reticle placed during your Fireball cast, allowing you to instantly Flamestrike.

It is important to note that casting Flamestrike when 5+ targets are present may not be the best choice if the targets do not have equal kill priority. Though it will result in higher DPS, it can often be a wiser choice to Pyroblast the most important targets first (on raid encounters) to give your group the greatest chance of success.

2.5. Rune of Power

Rune of Power is a medium length cooldown that is best used to apply significant pressure during its duration. You should always overlap Rune of Power and Combustion, as they both last 10 seconds. Start by casting Rune of Power, and immediately activating Combustion at the end of the cast, so they will both end at the same time. Rune of Power does have 2 charges, allowing you to save the second for a usage of your choice. Good times to use your second rune charge:

• to push a damage check;
• when several advantageous procs overlap;
• during a period of zero movement;
• on AoE.

Remember that Kindling can dramatically change the timing of your Combustion, and you will have to plan your Combustion usage accordingly to ensure you always have a charge available.

2.6. Blazing Barrier

This can be cast any time you have to slightly reposition. It lasts for 60 seconds, but only has a 25-second cooldown. You can and should cast it before the start of every engagement.

2.7. Scorch

Scorch should be used in place of Fireball while Combustion is active. The reasoning is fairly straightforward:

• Faster cast time
• Guaranteed Critical Strike
• No travel time

In contrast, Scorch is very weak outside of Combustion for the same reasons. Because it has no travel time, you cannot efficiently fish for Pyroblasts.

Scorch can be cast while moving, and will also grant you a speed buff when talented into Frenetic Speed. Wherever possible, try to instead rely on Shimmer before relying on Scorch. This spell, when combined with Frenetic Speed, can be very useful for extended movement if your charges of Shimmer are unavailable. Try not to lean too heavily on this spell as a movement crutch, however, as it will deflate your damage due to its lack of potency.

3. Core Concepts for Fire Mage

Fire Mage is an elementary enough specialization to perform on a target dummy, but there are a few key factors that will separate the good from the great. Learning to focus on what is important and master the core concepts of a specialization is what leads to strong overall performance on the damage charts. There are 3 major concepts that form the central trinity of optimizing for success:

1. proper use of Combustion;
2. critical Strike chains;
3. movement management.

Managing movement is a fundamental skill shared by all the caster classes in World of Warcraft. The highly mobile nature of the Mage class allows flexible and creative ways to move during combat, making it of supreme importance that you give this the proper respect.

3.1. Combustion Usage

Combustion should be used on cooldown whenever possible. You should always overlap Combustion with other damage boosts that allow for a large overall Ignite, such as Rune of Power and Meteor.

Before activating Combustion you should generate a Hot Streak. You should also try and save at least one charge of Fire Blast, though preferably all charges will be available. Then follow this list of actions.

1. Place your Rune of Power (if talented) and immediately activate Combustion as this cast finishes.
2. Consume your Hot Streak with a Pyroblast cast.
3. Immediately cast Fire Blast and Pyroblast again.
4. Repeat this chain of Pyroblast + Fire Blast until you run out of Fire Blasts.
5. Cast Pyroblast.
6. Cast Scorch.
7. Cast Pyroblast.
8. Cast Scorch.
9. Keep repeating until Combustion runs out.

3.2. Critical Strike Chains

We talked about "Pyro Fishing" earlier in the guide, so there is no need to go over it in detail again here. It should not be understated, however, how important properly chaining together your abilities is, and the overall impact it has on your DPS. This is especially true on cleave, as building a smooth and powerful Ignite will determine how much cleave and AoE you are able to output. Get used to properly chaining your spells by practicing on target dummies or in LFR.

3.3. Movement Management

While it is difficult to describe the best ways to position and move during a dungeon or raid encounter, it is essential to your success as a Fire Mage.

Try and use Shimmer for "urgent" movement — when you need to travel from one place to another as quickly as possible. Blazing Barrier is a good choice when you only need to take a few steps, as it only costs a single global cooldown.

The combination of Scorch and Frenetic Speed can also be useful for extended movement if Shimmer is unavailable.

Always try to position yourself in a location central to fight movement. For example, if the boss is being moved in a circle, try to stay on the inside of the kite path to ensure minimal movement.

3.3.1. Quiet Movement

Many players will unconsciously move during fights, despite it being unnecessary. For example, sometimes the boss or adds will be moved by the tank a couple yards, and though you are still in range to cast, you subconsciously mirror that movement, costing you global cooldowns. Consciously work to "quiet" your movement, and reduce unnecessary movement to a minimum. The best way to see this in action is to take a video of your raid, then watch yourself play. Most players will be surprised by the amount of wasted movement they commit. When you are forced to move, make use of the tips above, and make your path as direct and decisive as possible.

4. Opening Sequence for Fire Mage

1. Use Battle Potion of Intellect.
2. Pre-cast Fireball at 2.0 seconds on the countdown.
3. When running Firestarter, keep chaining Fireballs and Pyroblasts until the boss reaches 90% Health.
4. Place Rune of Power.
5. Activate any on-use trinkets or racials you have.
6. Activate Combustion.
7. Cast Fire Blast if Heating Up activates. If Heating Up did not activate from your pre-cast, instead cast Fire Blast and Scorch. If you got a Hot Streak due to running Firestarter, you can skip this step.
8. Cast Pyroblast.
9. Cast Fire Blast.
10. Cast Pyroblast.
11. Cast Fire Blast.
12. Cast Pyroblast.
13. Cast Scorch.
14. Cast Pyroblast.
15. Cast Fire Blast.
16. Cast Pyroblast.
17. Cast Scorch.
18. Cast Pyroblast.

If you get any procs from Pyromaniac, simply use them immediately. The opener is of paramount importance. It is recommended you practice in LFR or on a target dummy to build enough muscle memory to consistently execute it without flaws. If you are playing with Firestarter, you should chain Fireballs and Pyroblasts until the target reaches 90% Health, and then go into Rune of Power and Combustion with a Hot Streak ready.

5. ChangeLog

• 12 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
• 07 Aug. 2018: Added Flame Patch condition to Flamestrike usage.
• 18 Jul. 2018: Changed Pyroclasm usage because of nerfs.

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