Edit: this guide is slightly outdated now, been away for abit:) Switch 10/48/3 for 2/48/11 imo theese days etc, but I think I'll update this again in the very near future:)

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1. First of all, spec fire, 10/48/3
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Rf0VZxgRzfcIoeRt0h

This is simply an informative post to highest dps, if you enjoy other specs/talentpoints, then get them instead! I even took blazing speed myself simply because I hate rogues, and find it fun/usefull sometimes.
It even plays the benny hill music when blazing speed procs, how can I pass up on that?;)
Not to mention sometimes I spec other specs that i enjoy for various other reasons:)

(ps check page 5 on this thread for proof and theorycraft on dps on different specs/spells)
(Also lots of interesting posts all around this thread if you're bored/determined;)

Unless you have weird/crap gear (like +700critrating and +200dmg), but then you won't be doing most raid dps anyway.

"but Swindley, I top damage with spec xx/xx/xx"
Answer: your other dps sucks/are undergeared/watching tv/forgot to buy new ranks/not paying attention/afk/using wrong spells etc.

Check this graph if you doubt it: (the math was very well done and detailed, from US mage forums, check at the bottom for original post, as well as dps comparisons in page 5 in this thread)
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4113/magetriplepointlr0.jpg

2. Become a tailor. Craft spellfire and spellstrike.
Other gear with +dmg and +crit to fill in the gaps. Do heroics for a few good epics, fill in with blues.
Do NOT get blinded by itemcolor, most epics in Kara, and some heoics, suck, use whatever gives you more dps.

3. Use this non fancy rotation: scorch x5 then fireball spam, scorch when debuff is about to wear off.
Once scorch debuffs are up, you can also do fireball fireball fireblast if you have extra mana to burn, like a boss below 20% or if you for some lucky reason have 3 shadowpriests in your group etc.
Notice that /stopcasting doesn't work after a fireblast, since you cannot stop global cooldown, so your results might wary abit. If ping is bad, I'd suggest to allways stick to just fireballing.

4. This is mostly overlooked, but read carefully. Either get an addon that does this for you, or, make a macro for your fireball (and scorch if you're feeling skilled) with /stopcasting then /cast <highest fireballrank>
Hit this macro with between 0,3 to 0,1 sec left of your current spells castingtime. (dependant on your ping, practice to get it right)
(Quartz seems like a popular addon to track your ping and knowing when to /stopcast)

No matter how good ping you think you have, this will help. You can squeeze out 10-20% more dps if you're skilled. (unless pherhaps if you live in Paris and have a cable directly into blizz HQ)

5. Don't bother with scorch debuff on low hp trash, just fireball them. Here you can throw in a scorch/fireblast just before they die for good measure. (ninja execute!:P)

6. Have at least 3 mana gems. Use first first one early. Use cheap pots, chug them down whenever CD is up. I prefer Major mana pots. Might need Super mana pots with no shpriest. (mana injectors = <3) Use theese also early, as soon as you've spent ~3000 mana. Your Milage may vary.

7 . Get a spirit staff (and wand) with spirit enchant on it! Switch to this before evocation! (mods can do this for you)

8. Although using the most expensive flasks/pots every single time is understandably too expensive, theese cheap items you should get: Superior Wizard Oil (lasts through death, oh joy!), Blackened Basilisk (23spelldmg and spir, supercheap \o/ ).
edit: after Alchemy change, for any important encounters, I'd also use Flask of Pretty good Power. Uhm, I ment supreme power;)

9. Use Molten armor. With comsumables you should be ok with mana, though very rare cases might need Mage armor. (sheep breaking will be a non issue after 2.1 \o/) edit: damn ignite still breaking;>

10. Bonus tip! Forgot who tipped me off, feel free to post and remind me;P When you start invis, then immidiately start a pyro. As soon as invis kicks in, click off the debuff, and your pyro will cast, when you're at 0 threat:) Less dps loss while using invis:) Just a slight nice to know, nothing that will make or break the dps charts;)

edit: This tip doesn't work anymore as of patch 2.1, leaving it here for a bit anyway;( Pyro has other similar uses as well though, if you can time it just when a spellreflect times off, and other occasional use, nice to remember. Though now you have to wait for invis to finish before starting a cast=/

11. Allmost forgot to add this about combustion! Experienced firemages probably know this, but when you have used 2 of 3 charges of your combustion, then when you do a fireball, immidiately do a fireblast, and get the full critbonus on both spell. Same mechanic as frostbolt +icelance on frozen targets. It's just a minor thing really, but hey, we all like crits and getting 4 crits from allmost every combustion is nice:)

Ps. remember to refresh scorch just before you activate combustion:) You do not want to see scorch running out, and "waste" last combustion charge on having to refresh it;) That is, if you're alone refreshing scorch:)

12. Fireblast while moving. Often you have to quickly change positions, or move short distances while raiding. If you're in range, a quick fireblast while moving will limit your dps loss. In very dynamic fights, this alone can be a reason to not use the fireball fireball fireblast rotation, save the fireblast for movement instead.


Optional:
Sleep with your nearest lock to get him/her to use COE instead of COS.
Beg raidleader to get in a group with a shadowpriest.
Hug your local elemental shaman. (I even managed to talk mine into getting the 3crit/hit totem!)


Will add more here as i feel like/gets tips from people in thread or I get more bored at work:P


Disclaimer: Good geared shadow priests and locks might beat you, live with it:P


edit: I'm not saying 10/48/3 is the only viable spec, there are several good mage specs for each preference or task. (I love 41/18/2 for heroics etc) But for highest dps, this is the one.


edit: found the original thread about best damage spec vs gear!
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=94072978&sid=1

(more points added as i remember/am tipped:)


edit: 10.05.2007

Gear selection:

Favour +dmg, it gets huge multipliers with this spec. But don't neglect your crit, not only for damage, but it's great for mana efficiency with MOE. +hit is also important since it's the best dps increase you can get for its low itemlvl cost. (on bosses, untill max +16% hit with EP)

Switching out for items like Scryers Bloodgem on bosses is a good idea. Another good switch item is the exalted CE ring. The brilliant thing about not running around with allways max cap, and instead switching in things as needed on bosses, it that you sometimes might have a crit/hit shaman totem or the +1% hit dranei aura, so you can tailor your gear for max dps on a single bossfight.

I'd have minimum 6-6.5k unbuffed hp (personal opinion, PVE o/c, NOT pvp:>), but 7k+ is nice, though buffs often makes up for it.
I have a bit of spare stam gear incase encounters need it, like boots of blasphemy and similar, no point in gimping overall stats for a few selected fights, but having more hp on demand IS usefull. (I know a few encounters require at least 8000+ hp buffed etc)

Mana isn't the most important thing, as long as you keep a decent ammount you feel comfortable with.
The effective mana you have in a fight with gems, pots, evo, shpriest etc is closer to 25000+, so having that 1k more total mana is nice/usefull, but not crucial. Int also gives a small ammount of crit though, so having more is never bad:)

Ps. even if you favour certain stats, remember to balance a bit. I'd take 50 int over 20 critrating any day, even if the overall theorycrafted dps/crit increase would be lower, just to give an obvious example.

Also, penetration is useless for pve in 99.5% of encounters, get subtlety on your cloak;) (-2% threat)

Yep, I'm gonna try this spec (10/48/3) when I get home... but theres just 1 little thing I'm wondering over with this spec... why the HELL take Blazing Speed? :S
And about the spirit staff/wand suggestion, I've never thought of that before, will really consider (spelling?) it, and since 70% of the locks in my guild is fire specced (wonderful) they will put CoE instead of CoS ;D
And with my current spec I've done like this in Kara; spam Scorch until I get Clearcasting, Fireball, continue Scorch spam, this wont take much mana at all, but as mentioned I will test this spec later ;)
Really good post, keep up the good work :D

Edit: Explain what colour is the different specs plz :P http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4113/magetriplepointlr0.jpg
You cant possibly mean the blue 1 is 40/21/0? as I do highest DPS ALL the time and I'm that spec atm...

Scorch untill clearcast sounds good in theory, but you'll lose alot of dps either waiting to see it procs after each scorch, or aborting scorch middle cast to cast fireballs. For particular mana intensive fights, where dps isnt the most crucial thing for success, then sure, this is a viable option;)
You'll do decent dps, and last forever;)

1) agree
2) agree (yay finally it's useful to be tailor)
3) on low hp trash I'm usually scorch and use fireblast each time it's up. Boss fights differ from either having spriest in grp or not
if you have: scorch up, fireblast, 3x fireball, blast, 3x ball, blast etc etc
if no, scorch up and spam fireball, if it's extremely long fight, I resort to spamming scorch and use AM on clearcast followed with fireball to have max mana regen active.
4) most certainly agree, this is important!
5) mm I prefer scorching and fireblasting lowly trash, I don't feel good fireballing without full fire vulnerability :)
6) agree, and if you got extra pvp marks, those major combat mana pots are cheap to get
7) most certainly worth it if you have the time to farm the spirit enchant. Keep checking AH for a lvl 70 "of spirit" wands! addons like itemrack can equip them automatically when you evocate and then switch back your dps stuff when it ends.
8) true true, basilisk meat from any basilisk in outland, the lake just outside shatt is one good spot to get it. major fire powah is a pita to get :< 3 motes per pot ftl.

Any raid leader worth their raid should put mages with spriest as often as possible, it really is worth it.

macro for evocation spirit switch:

/equip Imba Green Staff of Spirit
/equip Super Green Wand of Spirit
/cast evocation

Replace Imba Green Staff of Spirit and Super Green Wand of Spirit with your respective Staff/wand names (shift-click them while typing macro, and it will write the name for you :D)

Similarly, use something like this to switch back to dps gear:
/equip L33t Spellblade
/equip bitc|-|in' offhand
/equip Uber wand

Or a shorter version

Get 1000 or more +fire damage
Get 40% crit with fire

1) Start the fight with full mana and all gems
2) Press either scorch, fireblast or fireball button, whatever feels more like it at the time
3) Use gems as soon as you can and evocate

um... profit?:)

But really I usually start with 2 arcane blasts so I wouldn't get aggro.

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Q u o t e:
2) Press either scorch, fireblast or fireball button, whatever feels more like it at the time

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:D this is what it sometimes feels like, mostly on "equally interesting yet non epic dropping non boss" nro 48574875 or something.

I'd like to stress the macro /stopcasting thing more though, that is imba source of extra dps for fights where you need to bring something down fast. Yea it takes a bit more focus on your cast bar and such but it's worth it.

Nice tips for those raiding with fire :o)

With more +int/+dmg and lower crit on your gear, not getting much bonus from MOE, you might want to try deep arcane (~44/~17). You'll have a wide choice of spellrotations, using AB-debuffs to adjust dps/dpm. Building only 2 debuffs, using arcane missiles on clearcasts, 2xscorch and a fireblast as "fillers" to get reduced casting time at normal mana-cost before rebuilding the AB-debuffs, I'm at ~600 dps substained with crappy gear and a few misclicks on the last respec. If I go to three debuffs in the rotation, dps goes up, but dpm starts getting closer to deep fire. On the other hand, in monsterlong fights, or after manadrains, you can turn yourself into a Duracell-bunny by a rotation with 1xAB and 3x Scorch.

Compared to deep fire, arcane mages produce 30% less threat and have better mana-management than deep fire. But unless cooldown's up, it takes a bit more time to get dps up on trashmobs (AB-spamming has extreme DPS, but DPM is horrible without a good rotation). An other drawback, is that you're stuck with only 30yard range on your main spells - not always a good thing (the main reason I feel Arcane still need a tiny bit of love - what about increased range as a tier 3 talent?).

But if you're tired of fire (or realise you don't have the crit to back it up), transfer to PTR and test an arcane-spec in raid/heroics. Playstyle takes some time getting used to - and both solo pve and pvp is much easier with 10/48/3 than ie 44/17 - but you will be surprised at how much damage you can do once you master the dpm/dps-control :o))

40/0/21 does not exist just because your "guide" says so.

That's OK, not many people understand the class and what talent exist for what reason and you're, understandably, not one of those people.

Read this when the link works:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html;jsessionid=0E6718B108C4D119FFE40BD888C80257?topicId=91699750&sid=1

Well, I do everything from this guide, but two points. I do not have spellfire set, but I'm working on it atm (raising tailoring, damn boring), neither did I ever thought about the lag on firing scorches and fireballs.

Might improve, yes.

Just asking:

Why not blend in Arcane Blast in the Fireballspam? i mean, you can get it a way where you have the advantage of getting it for lower casttime, but dont have the extra manacost.. ( 2xFB, 1xAB, repeat )

+ i hear loads of ppl saying this

( all this expecting another mage in the raid is keeping up the scorch debuff )

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Q u o t e:
Just asking:

Why not blend in Arcane Blast in the Fireballspam? i mean, you can get it a way where you have the advantage of getting it for lower casttime, but dont have the extra manacost.. ( 2xFB, 1xAB, repeat )

+ i hear loads of ppl saying this

( all this expecting another mage in the raid is keeping up the scorch debuff )

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adding in an ab with a fire spec instead of a fireball will majorly lower ur dps. dont even go there

to use the graph in the op trace out ur +dmg and crit and which ever section ur in that talent build should give u ur best dps.

10/48/3 is imo the best way to go i beaten equel geared locks in every kara raid so far (+709dmg 26.09% crit with mage armour)

Pretty much what I've already established.

That said, it seems to be true. I've yet to see any mage come close doing anything else.

Nice post.

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Q u o t e:

Edit: Explain what colour is the different specs plz :P http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4113/magetriplepointlr0.jpg
You cant possibly mean the blue 1 is 40/21/0? as I do highest DPS ALL the time and I'm that spec atm...

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The lines are borderlines. The white areas mean "in this area this spec does the highest dmg". So check which area your +dmg and critrating puts you to and voilà.

Back at work again, time to reply;)
I'm not saying there arent other specs or spellrotations to use etc.
But if you want to to MAX dps, this is the way to go.
Doing AB rotations etc WILL gimp your dps as stated before. (but if you're running out of mana, feel free)

For most bosses, if you have good tanks, what you want in a fight is to do the max possible damage you can to help your raid. (and last the entire fight off course)

For important encounters, i will use whatever consumables I can. I will chug those major mana pots as soon as cooldown is up (they cost 60s each on my server, I have like 100) and same with all gems etc.
Usually I have a shadowpriest in my group as well, so I'm able to fully spam fireball entire fight.
(if not, scorching a bit more might be needed;(

Also, Jantteri and Myristyl , you understood the graph right:)

Not to mention you got +20% dmg when it really counts, at the end of bossfights.
(and if I remember correctly, the graph ignored Molten Fury)


Ysabella: Arcane/fire isnt a bad build, heck I'm even specced that now, it's amazing for heroics.
But it's simply not max dps, so as I start raiding more, and do less heroics (only so many things you can use badges for:P) I'll prolly end up respeccing 10/48/3 as well, to dominate dps charts even more:)
41/18/2 is a much better build for heroics imo, slow is great there.

Btw 600 dps on a bossfight is quite low. I'll close to double that going full out with fireballs.


I actually logged out last night to preserve my flask, so you can see my stats with raidbuffs on:P
Usually I'll have a Superior Wizard Oil as well on that.
I do realize I need a bit more spellhit for bosses, but hoping for wand from Aran and a few other things:)

Occasionally I'll even have a oomkin or elemental shaman in my group, which is sexy, but that's like more rare than the chances of me getting DI'ed in raids:P (it DOES happens, palas do it to save repairbills if no other healers alive:P Besides, I have cables heh)

Hello Swindley, Sup fellow Frostwhisper d00d? ;o

http://www.thottbot.com/i31289
Here's the best spirit staff atm. It's also fairly cheap to get, think I bought mine for 40g:)
Get a +20 spirit enchant on it, and you're set.
Of wands, a random green wand "of spirit" would world well.


Wous: Hey:D How's horde side on FW doing theese days?:)