Fire Mage DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources
  • 3. Your Mastery
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Basic Abilities
  • 6. DPS Cooldowns
  • 7. ChangeLog
• ×Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target
      • 2.1.2. Intermittent Cleave
      • 2.1.3. Heavy Cleave/AOE (Stacked)
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. Effectively Creating Crit Trains
      • 2.1.1. Spells That Do Not Trigger or Cancel Heating Up
    • 2.2. Phoenix's Flames
    • 2.3. Flamestrike Usage
    • 2.4. Rune of Power
    • 2.5. Blazing Barrier
    • 2.6. Scorch
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. Combustion Usage
    • 3.2. Critical Strike Chains
    • 3.3. Movement Management
      • 3.3.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Opening Sequence
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. With Firestarter and T20 4-piece Bonus
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons
    • 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
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonus
  • 2. Best in Slot List
    • 2.1. Trinket Notes
  • 3. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights
  • 4. Racial Bonuses
  • 5. Legendaries
  • 6. Loot Competition
  • 7. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for Fire Mages in World of Warcraft Legion 7.2.5. We detail what each of the talents do and in which situations they should be taken.

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

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Rinoa, a Fire Mage theorycrafter for Altered Time who is also a raider for Pieces.

1. Talent Choices

Level	Choices
15	✔ Pyromaniac	✔ Conflagration	✔ Firestarter
30	✔ Shimmer	? Blast Wave	✘ Blazing Soul
45	✔ Mirror Image	✔ Rune of Power	? Incanter's Flow
60	✔ Alexstrasza's Fury	✔ Flame On	✘ Controlled Burn
75	✔ Frenetic Speed	✘ Ring of Frost	✘ Ice Ward
90	✔ Living Bomb	✔ Unstable Magic	✔ Flame Patch
100	✔ Kindling	✔ Cinderstorm	✔ Meteor

Talents can be freely changed when out of combat and in a rested XP area (such as an inn or a capital city). Moreover, Tome of the Tranquil Mind and Codex of the Tranquil Mind can be used to temporarily allow players to change talents anywhere, as long as they are out of combat.

2. Talent Cheat Sheets

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the talent builds listed below work great for specific purposes.

2.1. Raid Encounters

2.1.1. Single Target

These talents should be used on Chronomatic Anomaly, Trilliax, Star Augur Etraeus, Krosus, and Grand Magistrix Elisande.

• Level 15: Pyromaniac OR Conflagration
• Level 30: Shimmer
• Level 45: Mirror Image
• Level 60: Flame On
• Level 75: Frenetic Speed
• Level 90: Unstable Magic
• Level 100: Meteor

On Chronomatic Anomaly you should instead use Living Bomb.

2.1.2. Intermittent Cleave

These talents should be used on Spellblade Aluriel, Tichondrius, High Botanist Tel'arn, and Gul'dan.

• Level 15: Conflagration
• Level 30: Shimmer
• Level 45: Rune of Power
• Level 60: Flame On or Alexstrasza's Fury (with Darckli's Dragonfire Diadem)
• Level 75: Frenetic Speed
• Level 90: Living Bomb
• Level 100: Cinderstorm

On Gul'dan you should instead use Meteor.

2.1.3. Heavy Cleave/AOE (Stacked)

These talents should be used on Skorpyron and in Mythic+ dungeons.

• Level 15: Conflagration
• Level 30: Shimmer
• Level 45: Rune of Power
• Level 60: Alexstrasza's Fury
• Level 75: Frenetic Speed
• Level 90: Living Bomb
• Level 100: Cinderstorm

Flame On can also be used if the player does not have Darckli's Dragonfire Diadem. It will improve your single target damage at the expense of a little bit of AoE.

3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents

✔ Pyromaniac

✔ Conflagration

✔ Firestarter

Tier 1 talents offer a minor boost to sustained damage.

• Pyromaniac gives you a small chance to re-activate Hot Streak instantly.
• Conflagration causes targets hit by Fireball to burn for additional damage. Enemies affected by Conflagration or Ignite will also occasionally flare, cleaving nearby enemies for additional damage.
• Firestarter causes Fireball and Pyroblast to always critically strike when your target is above 90% health.

Pyromaniac and Conflagration are practically equal on a single-target, and either can be selected based on player preference. Pyromaniac will have a little higher variance pull to pull but the potential for good RNG streaks, whereas Conflagration will be very consistent at all times. Conflagration pulls noticeably ahead when 2+ targets are stacked.

Firestarter is an excellent option for progressing in Tomb of Sargeras, particularly if you are using either Tier set bonus to bolster your Critical Strike sustainability. Once you are using the Tier 20 4-piece bonus it is recommended you switch to Firestarter for progression length fights. This devalues Critical Strike quite noticeably, making it the lowest priority (though still very close in value to the other stats).

4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents

✔ Shimmer

? Blast Wave

✘ Blazing Soul

Tier 2 talents offer a boost in defensive utility.

• Shimmer replaces your Blink ability. It functions exactly the same as Blink except it is off the Global Cooldown and does not interrupt spellcasting.
• Blast Wave causes an explosion around yourself, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards and reducing their movement speed by 70% for 4 seconds.
• Blazing Soul causes Fire damage dealt to targets within 8 yards to refill your Blazing Barrier for 40% of the damage dealt.

Shimmer should be your go-to talent in most situations, as it gives you more mobility and the ability to Blink without triggering a Global Cooldown. Not only does this result in a noticeable damage gain, but should also allow for better survivability on high movement fights.

Blast Wave can be useful for Mythic+ if you need the additional control for kiting.

Blazing Soul is very situational as it requires you to be nearly in melee range, and lacks the additional mobility that Shimmer provides.

5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents

✔ Mirror Image

✔ Rune of Power

? Incanter's Flow

Tier 3 talents are focused on providing the player a consistent damage increase.

• Mirror Image creates 3 copies of yourself which damage enemies and last 40 seconds.
• Rune of Power places a small zone which increases the damage you do by 40% for 10 seconds. This ability has a 45-second cooldown, with 2 charges.
• Incanter's Flow increases your damage between 4% and 20%, cycling every 10 seconds.

Mirror Image the best option for dealing single target damage, currently.

Rune of Power should be your go-to talent for cleave and AoE. It offers great burst potential and can be used flexibly to adapt to the timers present in the encounter. Rune of Power is also a close competitor on single target, meaning you do not sacrifice much damage in order to dramatically improve your cleave damage. For single target and cleave it should always be paired with Meteor for maximum effect.

Incanter's Flow is good for situations where you want a stable and sustained damage increase. It falls quite far behind on a single target, although it can be quite strong on cleave and AoE. It rarely competes with Rune of Power in a raid setting, however, as most AoE is not sustained for the entire fight, and favors the more bursty nature of Rune instead. This can be a good choice for Mythic+ dungeons if you are not fully comfortable using Rune of Power.

6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents

✔ Alexstrasza's Fury

✔ Flame On

✘ Controlled Burn

Tier 4 talents are focused on providing unique damage utility.

• Alexstrasza's Fury causes Dragon's Breath to always critically strike, and contribute to Hot Streak.
• Flame On reduces the cooldown of Fire Blast by 2 seconds, and increases the maximum number of charges by 1.
• Controlled Burn gives you a 20% chance for Heating Up to instantly become Hot Streak.

Flame On should be your go-to choice on raid bosses, as it allows for the most Hot Streaks throughout a fight.

Alexstrasza's Fury is a great choice for heavy cleave encounters and greatly increases your snap AoE damage. It is also a fantastic choice for Mythic+ dungeons. Players using the legendary item Darckli's Dragonfire Diadem should use this talent in all situations where 2+ targets will be present.

Controlled Burn is stronger with the buffs in 7.1.5, but it is still too unpredictable to be a contender.

7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents

✔ Frenetic Speed

✘ Ring of Frost

✘ Ice Ward

Tier 5 talents focus primarily on providing utility.

• Frenetic Speed causes Scorch to increase movement speed by 30% for 3 seconds when cast.
• Ring of Frost places a ring that can freeze up to 10 targets for 10 seconds at the targeted location, broken by damage.
• Ice Ward gives Frost Nova 2 charges.

Frenetic Speed is currently the only talent with a benefit in raids.

8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents

✔ Living Bomb

✔ Unstable Magic

✔ Flame Patch

Tier 6 talents add various cleave and AoE utility to your kit.

• Living Bomb applies a bomb to the target which explodes after a delay and spreads itself to nearby targets.
• Unstable Magic grants Fireball a 25% chance to splash for 50% additional damage to all targets within 8-yards of the target.
• Flame Patch adds a burning ground effect to Flamestrike that lasts for 8 seconds.

Unstable Magic is the best choice for single target.

Living Bomb is the best choice for 10+ targets, and it also results in a single-target damage increase in such situations. It is a DPS loss to use this ability if there is only 1 target present.

Flame Patch does the most damage in situations where there are 2-10 targets presents. It should be noted, however, that Flame Patch takes 8 seconds to deal its full damage and during this time all targets must stay within the damaging area. It also forces the player to use Flamestrike, which is only an effective choice if multiple targets have similar or equal damage priority. Despite these negatives, Flame Patch is still a great choice for dungeons and certain raid bosses, and the choice between this talent and Living Bomb is largely a matter of preference and context.

9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents

✔ Kindling

✔ Cinderstorm

✔ Meteor

Tier 7 talents add new abilities and major playstyle shifts to your kit.

• Kindling reduces the cooldown of Combustion by 1 second every time Fireball, Fire Blast, and Pyroblast critically strike.
• Cinderstorm is a short cooldown conal spray that deals extra damage to targets afflicted by Ignite.
• Meteor summons a meteor to fall from the sky after a short delay, dealing large initial damage and leaving a burning patch on the ground for 8 seconds.

Meteor is the best option for single-target, and also a great option for intermittent cleave when adds are occasionally present (e.g. Chronomatic Anomaly). It has perfect synergy with Rune of Power and contributes to your Ignite.

Cinderstorm is the best option for lower item level players on any sustained cleave, and also for AoE (when combined with Rune of Power).

Kindling is the superior option for cleave for well geared Mages in the Tomb of Sargeras, particulary on encounters where adds or secondary targets are stacked and have high or equal priority to the current target. Recommended for Demonic Inquisition, Harjatan, and Mistress Sassz'ine. It is also an option for the Desolate Host, however, this depends on how you wish to prioritize your damage and what level of difficulty you are progressing on (less powerful on LFR/Normal/Heroic).

10. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 20 Jul. 2017: Updated Firestarter and Kindling, as empirical testing has them performing well in Mythic ToS.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Updated discussions about Firestarter, Flame Patch, and Kindling.
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 20 Feb. 2017: Updated Flame Patch viability.
• 28 Jan. 2017: Updated talent descriptions, added some fight specific talent advice, and updated builds.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Fully updated talents for 7.1.5.
• 29 Nov. 2016: Updated Level 110 talent discussion.
• 01 Sep. 2016: Following Arold's review, Meteor is now a viable Level 100 talent in specific situations.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 19 Jul. 2016: Tweaked Level 100 talent advice.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.