Fire Mage PvP Rotation and Playstyle — 12.0.5

There are several spells you want to use before the gates open and, depending on the enemy team composition, talents you want to change.

• Set a table for your team with Conjure Refreshment Table. This gives your team Conjured Mage Food and is especially important for your healer if they run out of Mana late in a game.
• Arcane Intellect increases the intellect of you and your teammates. This buff can be Purged and Spellstealed, so not only is it important to use before the gates open, but reapplied throughout an arena game.
• The talent you might want to swap to is Remove Curse if you are not playing it. This is incredibly important for dispelling Hex versus Shaman, and Agony/ Curse of Tongues versus Warlocks.
• Finally, it is recommended to use Greater Invisibility so that you are stealthed at the start of the game. This can help guarantee an opener on the enemy team without interruptions.

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 heating up procs.

• 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. The chaining of multiple Heating Up procs into Hot Streak buffs is what makes Fire Mage damage so strong!

Here 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 so it is not wasted. 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.
   • This will guarantee an uninterrupted opener from you.
2. Use Dragon's Breath on the enemy healer and start casting Polymorph on them.
   • 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 will automatically critically strike, giving 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. Use Blood Fury if you are playing an Orc.
3. Use Meteor on the ground of the kill target.
4. Use Combustion.
5. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
6. Use Pyroblast.
7. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
8. Use Pyroblast.
9. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
10. Use Pyroblast.
11. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
12. Use Pyroblast.
13. Use Fire Blast to get a Hot Streak proc.
14. Use Pyroblast.
15. When enemies get below 30% you can use Scorch / Frostfire Bolt to get guaranteed critical strikes.
16. Continue using this rotation until Combustion is over. With your Apex Talent, Fired Up, your Fire Damage is increased and it will be extended when gaining the buff. This buff is gained from consuming Hot Streak buffs.

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 Fireball/ 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 Frostfire, 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 if they are stunned.
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. You can also use Ring of Frost on the enemy healer.
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 Shimmer or Blink charges, and have no other ways to kite or survive, use this spell. This will protect you from all incoming damage.

A Mage's crowd control is effectively a defensive technique for them. If the enemy team is using their offensive cooldowns, you can kite them by using Ice Nova/ Frost Nova or by casting Polymorph and Shimmering/ Blinking away. Moreover, you can use Frost Nova to root the target, which is very effective when playing against melee. Do not forget to use Shimmer/ Blink as well to kite away from enemies and LoS.

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. After the buff is over, 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.

Blazing Barrier deals damage when you are struck by melee attacks. It is best used typically off cooldown to mitigate maximum amounts of incoming damage. It gets even stronger with the Overpowered Barrier PvP talent.

Remove Curse removes all curses from a friendly target. This can remove important debuffs like Shaman Hex or Warlock Agony.

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. Sometimes it is worth holding Ice Block and having the enemy team proc your Cauterize so they do not get all of your major defensives in one setup.

Using Blink versus Shimmer is an important decision to make as a Mage. Blink is primary used if you want to play more defensive and focus on surviving. This will get you out of any stun you are in. Important in matchups against Rogues, Warriors, Retribution Paladins, and Hunters. It is the best choice against any composition with a stun. Shimmer is great if your team is relying on you to crowd control the enemy healer.