I was just wondering which spec is the best for a mage if they want to pump out the damage during a raid? Any help would be appreciated.
0/51/18 +2 is a popular frostfire build (glyphs frost fire, molten armor and imp scorch are glyphs I use)
Living bomb-->scortch--> Frostfire (reapply debuff and DOT as needed LB>scortch >FFB)
57/3/11 seems to be the most common arcane build I have seen
no idea about glyphs or cast rotation just started to play around a little bit with this spec.
Take a look at Dave!/Flambe's specs in the armory. I'm sure he'd be glad to give you some tips and pointers too.
Another mage to look at and copy would be Kyndigology. He's a good friend of the Guild.
Jalor's info seems pretty solid too :) From the things I remember reading when I rolled a mage (that I no longer really play) - plus I think I remember Jalor pumping out the DPS in the few raids we were both on. (Not that my DPS is anything to brag about - it makes the baby Jesus cry)
Well Cap, at least you aren't giving advice about rogues! ;D
-Mark
Quote from: Acree on Fri, 2009-06-12 : 15:15
Well Cap, at least you aren't giving advice about rogues! ;D
-Mark
Indeed, if the question were "best spec for raiding for rogues" my answer would have been short. "not mine!"
Mark you need to give Rod a break. He does pretty well with the gear that he has. Love you Rod.
Quote from: jalor on Fri, 2009-06-12 : 02:07
0/51/18 +2 is a popular frostfire build (glyphs frost fire, molten armor and imp scorch are glyphs I use)
Living bomb-->scortch--> Frostfire (reapply debuff and DOT as needed LB>scortch >FFB)
57/3/11 seems to be the most common arcane build I have seen
no idea about glyphs or cast rotation just started to play around a little bit with this spec.
So are you using the frost fire build right now. So I can copy your build?
Quote from: WowSherri on Mon, 2009-06-15 : 14:39
Mark you need to give Rod a break. He does pretty well with the gear that he has. Love you Rod.
every time rod hits a monster somewhere a kitten goes into siezures
Quote from: tulion on Mon, 2009-06-15 : 14:58
Quote from: WowSherri on Mon, 2009-06-15 : 14:39
Mark you need to give Rod a break. He does pretty well with the gear that he has. Love you Rod.
every time rod hits a monster somewhere a kitten goes into siezures
LOL
I'm currently using 0/53/18 as Frost Fire, but I'm not satisfied wit the DPS. Of course, my gear still needs to be upgraded (working on it) but I am always on the lookout for tips or ways to improve the dps of my spec!
Deep arcane is nice for throwing out tons of DPS but it takes some time to learn to manage your mana. Basically if I have any mana at the en of the fight I didn't push my max DPS but if I go to fast and don't manage gems and evoke then you will be dead in the water. On the plus side I have been pushing 4k+ on some boss fights in 25 mans. You need some decent gear to be able to pull it off though.
Jalor, that is some sweet DPS! I've done some reading on arcane builds and that seems to be the consensus that you have to be really prepared before a fight (be all gemed up etc) and really watch the mana meters. Would you advise this as my dual spec to FFB?
If you are only concerned about raiding then I would say yes. Arc builds are especially useful in Uld and by the time you are raiding uld your gear should be good enough to really push the spec to its potential. You just have to watch different things. FFB I watch threat and arc I watch mana consumption. The only thing I miss when playing arc is that arcane blast isn't fun to watch like FFB but arcane missile makes up for it a little.
Quote from: Frosti on Thu, 2009-06-25 : 16:14
Jalor, that is some sweet DPS! I've done some reading on arcane builds and that seems to be the consensus that you have to be really prepared before a fight (be all gemed up etc) and really watch the mana meters. Would you advise this as my dual spec to FFB?
Depending on what you're raiding, a frost spec might be better for your dual spec. On fights like Vezax in Ulduar, where there's no mana regen except for a special mechanic within the fight, the mana efficiency is an amazing asset.
Hrmm, food for thought! I was frost for a long time before switching to FFB and I really liked it, I just didn't find the dps was there. The again, that was before I started getting better gear.
The DPS that Arcane can do is so tempting!
With respect to the mages in our guild, is there a spec for the raids that we're missing and it would be useful for me to have? For example are the majority of us FFB?
I don't think we have enough raiding mages to say we have a majority of anything. I will switch from boss to boss. I have been favoring arc more to get some experience with it because it seems to be much better in uld 10. Arc will also be getting a decent buff in the next patch from the notes I have seen. All the specs have there advantages and FFB or arc will throw out decent DPS.
So I was reviewing my Naxx 25 stats from the run the other night and I was way lower in DPS than Jalor and Flambe. I'm reaching out to the experts here- help! I've been improving my gear and I'm using the recommended frostfire rotation, however I believe that my talent build could certainly be tweaked. Also, I am sure that there are different approaches to dps'ing the bosses in Naxx and Uld - any tips would be appreciated.
I'm also wondering, my hit is maxed but my haste is really low. What's a good ratio? Should I re gem for some plus haste?
Ok... I've gone back to Fire instead of frostfire... but... I'll give you your rotation.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep living bomb up.
Scorch to 5.
Frostfire every other time.
Keep scorch to 5.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep living bomb up.
With Hot Streak you want to make sure that you have the following macro:
/stopcasting
/cast Pyroblast
This will cancel whatever you are doing and hurl that pyroblast immediately.
I also suggest getting an addon called MageFever.
It puts up a big HOT STREAK thingy on your screen that lets you know when it's available.
Glyphs:
Frostfire
Molten Armor
Living Bomb
For AE: Keep in mind that you should not AE any mob group below 3 mobs. It's not mana efficient.
For groups of 3 or more: Living bomb a mob that is NOT the skull or x (since you want living bomb to actually EXPLODE) then blizzard the shit out of em. Keep your ice block on an imporant and easily hit button for the 'OH SHIT AGGRO' moments that WILL occur because Pat is the Worst Tank Ever. ;)
Haste is good. Haste is DAMN good... but your bread and butter is crit.
I hope this helps.
Dave!
Quote from: flambe on Sat, 2009-07-04 : 13:17
I also suggest getting an addon called MageFever.
It puts up a big HOT STREAK thingy on your screen that lets you know when it's available.
Check out a mod called EventAlert (http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9592-EventAlert.html). It's a global mod that alerts you when things proc, but it has code in it for all classes, so you can use it on a buncha different toons. It puts the icon of the spell that procs in a customizable place on your screen, complete with a customizable sound effect and a cooldown count so you know how long you have to use it.
Quote from: wildcard on Sat, 2009-07-04 : 18:30
Quote from: flambe on Sat, 2009-07-04 : 13:17
I also suggest getting an addon called MageFever.
It puts up a big HOT STREAK thingy on your screen that lets you know when it's available.
Check out a mod called EventAlert (http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9592-EventAlert.html). It's a global mod that alerts you when things proc, but it has code in it for all classes, so you can use it on a buncha different toons. It puts the icon of the spell that procs in a customizable place on your screen, complete with a customizable sound effect and a cooldown count so you know how long you have to use it.
Proculas does the same thing for proc's on top of tracking them. You can customize how each proc is displayed and it has integration with parrot and other combat text mods.
Just tossing an alternative out there in case EventAlert requires too much config (I don't know how much it requires because I never used it for more than 5 minutes)
Also I have a quick video before that shows some of my mods in action. I have a few mods that show cooldowns/timers of various things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYW2mBwNvw
(First video I've put on youtube in a long while)
Quote from: jalor on Wed, 2009-06-24 : 21:09
Deep arcane is nice for throwing out tons of DPS but it takes some time to learn to manage your mana. Basically if I have any mana at the en of the fight I didn't push my max DPS but if I go to fast and don't manage gems and evoke then you will be dead in the water. On the plus side I have been pushing 4k+ on some boss fights in 25 mans. You need some decent gear to be able to pull it off though.
If going this way should you gem for mana regen so that you have a little more for the longer fights? Also what is the best rotation for an Arcane mage? Dave you also said that you went back to straight fire....why? do you think you will get a little better dps than the frostfire build?
Thanks for all the information that has been shared here in this section. It has been really helpful.
Oh one more thing. What is the hit cap for mages?
Personally I gem for haste and spellpower for arcane.
Spell rotation when running mana shy:
Arcane Blast x2
Arcane Barrage
repeat
Wait for Arcane Missile proc
Stack Arcane blast to 3 then unload with arc missiles at the 3 stack.
If shorter non-mana starved fight:
Arcane Blast UNTIL proc then arc missiles.
Repeat forever.
It's a very delicate fight to make sure your mana doesn't choke out.
Pure fire spec is awesome if you're NOT geared the right way. A la haste. Non frostfire spec allows you to still go into arcane enough for focus magic. Frostfire spec will not allow for focus magic.
AS for hit for mages... check out the info at: http://www.wowwiki.com/Spell_hit
Hit rating for mages depends HIGHLY on your spec.
Hope this helps!
Dave!
Dave,
The website that you left in your last post was really great. Thanks for posting it, can you tell me a little about focus magic. I was asked about that a few days ago when I was in TOC and I didn't have an answer. It must be a talent in a different tree than the frost fire one that I am using. Thanks again for all the good information.
Focus Magic is an arcane talent I believe.
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=54648
Yep, arcane talent in the third tier. Basically it's a buff you'd ideally like to put on a caster that gets a lot of critical strikes, such as an elemental shaman or another mage.
I use focus magic. Its a great boost. Especially if there is another mage in the run that also has focus magic (like Flambe) so that we can cast it on each other.
Quote from: Frosti on Tue, 2009-09-08 : 19:44
I use focus magic. Its a great boost. Especially if there is another mage in the run that also has focus magic (like Flambe) so that we can cast it on each other.
AKA "Mage 69".
Quote from: Skippy on Tue, 2009-09-08 : 15:38
Focus Magic is an arcane talent I believe.
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=54648
Yep, arcane talent in the third tier. Basically it's a buff you'd ideally like to put on a caster that gets a lot of critical strikes, such as an elemental shaman or another mage.
Or a destro warlock :judge:
Focus magic is vastly overlooked... until you find it.
I also focus magic holy pallies occasionally.
So I dual spec'd Frosti a long time ago but never really utilized my second spec. I think I might try out this arcane business. I do enjoy the fire spec but I am interested to see if I can get a dps increase with the same gear (although my haste is still low) in arcane. I'm still on the continuous quest to increase my dps- I should be hitting the 4-5k range consistently,however -that ain't happening!
Start upping your haste. Arcane spec relies heavily on haste.
Haste, haste, and more haste. Most of my gear has crit on it so every gem slot is socketed with Haste (with the exception of 2 purple gems to activate my meta and a runed dragon's eye for the lulz).