Fire Mage PvP Rotation and Playstyle — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

There are two "roles" a Fire Mage has in arena.

The first role is locking down the healer. You will push in and get crowd control on the healer ( Dragon's Breath into Polymorph). The second role is bursting on the main target. When the enemy healer is in crowd control, and you have burst cooldowns, Fire Mages have a burst rotation that requires almost no casting, thanks to instant Pyroblast from Hot Streak.

Fire, when talented into Ring of Frost, has three different spell schools. Why is this important? If you get interrupted when casting any fire spells (Fire school) you can start casting Polymorph ( Arcane School) or Ring of Frost (Frost School) to crowd-control enemies. Note: When you are playing Ring of Fire, it will replace Ring of Frost.

The entirety of the Fire Specialization heavily revolves around the instant cast damage and Crowd Control the toolkit has to offer. Fire Mages will often see themselves positioning offensively for crowd control on key targets when their teammates have a coordinated stun or other crowd control effect to also pair with the use of Combustion. After the Fire Mage's offensive damage rotation is over, you will often use mobility to run and look to reset or slow down the game with crowd control.

Set a table for your team with Conjure Refreshment. Mage food actually restores health and Mana faster than normal food and water from vendors. Use Greater Invisibility to guarantee your opener without any interruptions.

Make sure to use Arcane Intellect on your teammates. It can be dispelled by abilities like Purge or Spellsteal, so be prepared to apply it often. Use Blazing Barrier when the gates open and refresh it often, typically off cooldown, so you can absorb some of the incoming damage.

It is also important to note that you can use Remove Curse to remove spells like Hex, Agony or Curse of Tongues from yourself or teammates.

Understanding how to generate and spend Heating Up procs is crucial for maximizing your Damage as a Fire Mage. These are generated by getting a critical strike with a fire ability. If you get 2 critical strikes in a row, you get a Hot Streak buff. This makes Pyroblast instant, and it deals double damage. Here are a few ways to generate the first heating up proc:

• If you are playing Frostfire, Frostfire Bolt can critically strike when you get a Frostfire Empowerment proc.
• Fire Blast is a guaranteed critical strike. Because it always crits, it is important to save these charges for when you get a Heating Up proc, so it will turn into a Hot Streak buff.
• Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfire is a casted ability that is not a guaranteed critical strike, but you will use it often to reduce the cooldown of your Combustion. With Firestarter, Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfire will always deal a critical strike when the target is above 90% health.
• Scorch can be used while moving and is a guaranteed critical strike when you use it on an enemy below 30% health. It does a low amount of damage, but can be utilized if no other spells are available.

So now that you have a Heating Up proc, you now need to get a second critical strike to get a Hot Streak buff. This is where Fire Blast is important. This ability is instant and always critically strikes. Use Fire Blast once you get a Heating Up proc and you will get the Hot Streak buff. Once you get Hot Streak, use it on an instant Pyroblast. Note: the Pyroblast can critically strike, so be ready to use another Fire Blast to get another Hot Streak buff.

There are a few things to keep in mind.

• Use Meteor efficiently. This means making sure to use it when your teammates are prepared to burst with you and not waste it when they are not. Typically, make sure the target is stunned or locked down so they are not able to kite away from the Meteor.
• You can combo a Firestarter Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfire with a Fire Blast to get a fast Hot Streak proc.

The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage done as soon as you get out of the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their defensive cooldowns. If the enemy healer uses their trinket in the opener, they are in trouble for your team's next setup. When the diminishing returns on your Polymorph have faded, they will have little to no outs for the incoming crowd control you and your teammates have for them.

Likewise, if an enemy DPS uses their trinket, you can crowd-control the healer and stun the DPS without a trinket. This means they can be burst down in a stun and possibly killed. Here is what your opener should look like:

1. Use Greater Invisibility in the starting room.
2. Use Dragon's Breath on the enemy healer and start casting Polymorph for crowd control.
   • If an enemy interrupts your Polymorph, Frost Nova everyone in place and use Ring of Frost.
3. Use Spellsteal to steal any HoTs on your main target.
4. Start casting Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfire to get a Heating Up proc.
   • With Firestarter, these Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfires will critical strike, granting you a Heating Up proc.
5. Use your burst rotation.
6. After your burst, perform your do sustained damage rotation until your burst cooldowns are available.
7. Cast Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you have time to cast.
   • This will slow enemies.
   • Frostfire Bolt is instant with Frostfire Empowerment.
   • There is also a chance is critically strikes.
8. Use Frostfire Bolt when you get a Frostfire Empowerment proc.

1. Start with a Hot Streak proc.
2. Cast Frostfire Bolt if you have time to cast.
3. Use Blood Fury if you are playing an Orc.
4. Use Meteor on the ground of the kill target.
5. Use Combustion.
6. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
7. Use Pyroblast.
8. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
9. Use Pyroblast.
10. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
11. Use Pyroblast.
12. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
13. Use Pyroblast.
14. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
15. Use Pyroblast.
16. When enemies get below 30% you can use Scorch/ Frostfire Bolt to get guaranteed critical strikes.

Sustained Damage is damage you deal when your burst cooldowns are not available. After using Combustion, you should focus on slowing down the game with Polymorph and Frost Nova. Kite away from enemies that are focusing you and use Counterspell to prevent crowd control on your healer. Continue getting Hot Streak procs with Fire Blast and Frostfire Bolt to always have pressure on the enemy team.

1. Cast Frostfire Bolt if you have time to cast.
   • This will slow enemies and has a chance to critically strike.
   • Frostfire Bolt is instant with Frostfire Empowerment.
2. Cast Fireball/ Frostfire Bolt if you are Frostfires on enemies above 90% health to guarantee a critical strike from Firestarter.
3. When you get a Heating Up proc, use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak buff.
4. Use Pyroblast when you have a Hot Streak buff.
5. Use Polymorph on any DPS that are being disruptive to you or your teammates.
6. Use Meteor on the ground of the kill target.
7. Use Frostfire Bolt when you get a Frostfire Empowerment proc.
8. Use Flamestrike if the enemies are running behind a pillar.
9. If you get kicked on a Fire or Arcane spell, you can use Frost Nova to slow and root the enemies.
10. When enemies get below 30% you can use Scorch/ Frostfire Bolt to get guaranteed critical strikes.

The overall goal is to get as many Hot Streak procs as possible. When you get a Heating Up proc, you want to use follow it up with a Fire Blast or Scorch/ Frostfire Bolt if your target is below 30% health. This will result in getting a Hot Streak proc. There is a chance for Pyroblast to deal critical Damage, which means you can again use Fire Blast to generate another Hot Streak proc. This is the power of Fire Mage — instant rapid-fire damage that cannot be stopped. If you do have time to cast, it is recommended to cast Frostfire Bolt to slow enemies and get a potential critical strike with it.

Ice Block is your main defensive ability. If you have run out of Shimmers and have no other ways to kite or survive, use this spell. This will protect you from all damage.

Cauterize is a passive ability that gives Fire Mages a "second life", preventing you from dying on a 5-minute cooldown and instead burning your health for 6 seconds. It also increases your movement speed. This is very useful when you are about to die, and it helps you get away from enemies.

Blazing Barrier is a slightly weaker form of Ice Barrier. However, it deals damage when you are struck by melee attacks. It is best used typically off cooldown to mitigate maximum amounts of incoming damage.

Alter Time may seem like a confusing ability at first, but it is really straightforward. The first time you press this ability, it remembers how much health you have and your location. The second time you press it, it will return to the same location with the exact health you had when you first pressed it. This should be used when you feel like you are about to take damage or about to be stunned. This ability can be Purged, so be mindful.

It is advised to use Macros to use abilities on enemies or allies without having to target them. For this reason, we have a page dedicated to them.