Hi, this is a Guide I made for 4.0.6a Cataclysm Fire Mages.
If you have further question, feel free to make a reply, PM me, or message me ingame (Manarama - Sargaras)
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Table of Contents
1. Races
2. Spec
3. Glyphs
4. Enchanting
5. Gemming
6. Professions
7. Gear
8. Single Target Rotation
1. Races
Horde
Troll - hands down, best horde racial. 20% Haste for 10secods. 3 minute cooldown.
Alliance
Gnome - 5% Increased mana pool and extra base Intellect
Worgen - 1% Crit
Draenei - 1% Hit
2. Spec
This is the spec I use Molten -
http://i.imgur.com/hzLOZ.png
Please note, I did NOT take any points into "Pyromaniac" because it is bugged.
You have 4 points to play around with 3 talents to choose from.
0/3 Clearcasting
0/2 Improved fireblast(Very situational)
0/2 Improved Scorch
Improved fireblast for any fights you will need to AOE for. I find fireblast DOT spread to be very buggy though on molten, it's just a gamble. I also choose Clearcasting over Scorch in Molten(not on retail though) because of the latency. Why latency? Because ussually when I need to move, it is in small couple millisecond jumps every so often(Getting out of fire, etc..) by the time I would start moving and cast scorch, with the terrible server delay, I am already stationary again. But again, mostly just a preference and is preferable on very long fights where you may need to scorch weave if your gear is not so good.
3. Glyphs
Glyphs I use on Molten -
http://i.imgur.com/mqoxA.png
Prime glyphs are very cookie cutter -
Fireball, Pyroblast, Molten Armor
Minor glyphs -
Dragon's breath, blastwave, evocation
Would exchange Dragon's breath out for invis on some fights if it wasn't bugged.
Minor -
Arcane Brilliance
Your other 2 choices are preference, Mirror Image would be a must but it is a bugged, don't use it. I would use conjuring and slowfall. Armor length is useless.
4. Enchanting
Note - First on each list is most optimal
Head:
Arcanum of Hyjal
Arcanum of Burning Mysteries If you're still working torwards revered with the Guardians of Hyjal, you can get this Wrath head enchant instead.
Shoulders:
Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone
Lesser Inscription of Charged Lodestone
Chest:
Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Enchant Chest - Mighty Stats
Belt:
Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
Legs:
Powerful Enchanted Spellthread
Enchanted Spellthread
Feet:
*Situational, I prefer Precision
Enchant Boots - Precision
Enchant Boots - Lavawalker
Bracers:
Enchant Bracer - Mighty Intellect
Enchant Bracer - Precision
Enchant Bracer - Greater Critical Strike
Enchant Bracer - Critical Strike
Gloves:
Enchant Gloves - Haste
Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery
Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower
Cape
Enchant Cloak - Greater Intellect
Enchant Cloak - Intellect
Weapon:
Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent
Enchant Weapon - Hurricane : Not as good, but much cheaper
Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower
Offhand:
Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect
5. Gemming
Meta - Burning Shadowspirit Diamond
Red - Brilliant Inferno Ruby
Yellow - Potent Ember Topaz / Reckless Ember Topaz
Blue - Veiled Demonseye
Socket rules
One Socket
- Int Bonus, only socket if it is Red or Blue
- For any other bonus, socket straight red
Two Socket
- Int Bonus, socket Red+Anything
- Int Bonus, socket Blue + Anything
- Hit Bonus, socket Red+Anything (IF IT DOES NOT PUT YOU OVER HIT CAP)
- For any other bonus, socket straight red
6. Professions
My prefered two professions for start of Xpac
Alchemy: +80 Int (Mixology with Flask of Draconic Mind)
Also gives a 359 Trincket
Engineering: +80 Int (the average Int received from Synapse Springs)
Also gives a 359 Helm
Others -
Blacksmith: +80 Int (two extra gem sockets with Brilliant Infernos)
Enchanting: +80 Int (two Intellect ring enchants)
Jewelcrafting: +81 Int (3 Brilliant Chimera's Eye vs. Brilliant Infernos)
Leatherworking: +80 Int (Replace Int enchant with Embossment)
Inscription: +80 Int (Felfire Inscription vs. Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone)
Tailoring: +80Int Average (Replacing Greater Int with Lightweave average)
7. Gear
Gearing a mage is a little tricky, the general idea is
Int > 812 haste(for t11 gear) > Crit > Mastery
Your stat values are constantly changing as a fire mage, the only way to truly figure out if it is worth going for next Haste cap, or just going straight crit, is to run the numbers in simcraft.
Below are mage haste caps(Spreadsheet from Elitestjerks)
http://i.imgur.com/pdjX5.png
Stat Weights -
Mage_Fire_T11_359 ( 10 000 iterations, margin of error : +/- 0.05 )
Int=3.6299
Hit=2.7328 (this is below cap of course)
SP=2.4052
Crit=2.0084
Mastery=1.1919
Haste=1.1463
The haste value is between caps, so if you are not going to reach a substantial haste cap, Mastery > Haste
8. Single Target Rotation
Combustion(Good Ignite)
Flame Orb (< Only if it is working)
Pyroblast(Hot Streak)
Living Bomb
Scorch(Critical Mass)
Mirror Image
Fireball
NOTE - Do not let combustion sit long enough off cooldown while waiting for a good ignite such that you will lose a combustion during a fight.. Yes, this does mean you need to do some math in your head during a fight.
NOTE - Do not refresh Living Bomb before it explodes, it is a large DPS loss.
Before a fight start, you want to start with something like this ..
3seconds till pull.
Pre-Pot > Pyroblast hardcast > Living Bomb > IF Pyro Crit, use fireball(to keep your ignite going if your fireball happens to crit as well) > IF No Pyro Crit, use mirror image > Normal Rotation
Combustion Explanation
Combustion adds all your DOTs DPS on the boss, and creates a new DOT, Combustion. The big factor in this, is your ignite damage on the boss before a Combustion. My rule of thumb is I use Combustion after a Hot Streak. Very simple rule that will yield you above average combustion damage. Of coarse, some fights you can use Combustion with different boss mechanics, Magmaw head phase, ODS when you are in mana pool.. so your combustion does more damage. Combustion management is really the only part of the fire rotation that requires any thinking and where the RNG of fire comes into play.
Thanks for reading my guide, I will be adding more in the future.
