fire/arcane

[silverwolf6625]

im not sure which spec better not long been 85 and atm im still frost

[Cartman]

I think there's currently not much difference in damage. Even frost should be good for raiding.
Arcane should be easier than fire as you have less to worry about (keeping up living bomb and debuffs).

[Kamchak]

I will respectfully disagree with Cartman.

For leveling to 82 and PvP frost is the better spec.
For running dungeons at early gear levels arcane is better damage than frost, but you are not quite ready for fire spec (highly crit dependent). Arcane Blast stacking to 4 and arcane missles can easily out perform Frostbolt spamming.
For gear levels around where my mage is now (see signature) fire gives out around 2-3k more damage than arcane, and is far superior with the AoE ability than both frost and arcane.
The only times I really switch from fire to arcane now is if I need the slow ability, like in Grim Batol.
Hope that answers your question.

[Cartman]

Until the next patch Kamchak, until the next patch

[Kamchak]

I agree the planned changes are rounding in damage possible, but you have to admit, until the patch hits, no one knows what will end up nerf'd or buff'd. With all the patch changes since 3.2 fire has been top with end-game gear setups.
We shall see though my friend... we shall see.

[cabby]

I disagree with you on one point Kam, any spec can be good for leveling now. As Arcane leveling I've been burning down mobs faster than the Frost leveling mages. Of course I'll see if it's any different once I move into Outlands shortly, but I don't think it will be too much different.

[Kamchak]

I only point out the frost in leveling due to the frost shield and pet you get. Other than that, once the power of arcane is good enough to kill the mobs before or right after they reach you, frost takes a back seat to the other two in a PvE situation.
Once 4.1 hits and we know then how much the mage will be effected Ill have to presume the setup will be similar to how its been since 3.2.

[cabby]

I've been able to kill the mobs with Arcane before or right after they reach me from the very beginning. Working up first aid helps also as after maybe half a dozen mobs I might be down to about 50% health from the one or two shots they might get on me but a quick bandage and I'm ready to keep going. Of course, like I said, I don't know yet how it will work for Outlands once the mobs are hitting a bit harder and have more HP.

[silverwolf6625]

thx for ya input guys i stick with arcane for now

[Kamchak]

I've been able to kill the mobs with Arcane before or right after they reach me from the very beginning. Working up first aid helps also as after maybe half a dozen mobs I might be down to about 50% health from the one or two shots they might get on me but a quick bandage and I'm ready to keep going. Of course, like I said, I don't know yet how it will work for Outlands once the mobs are hitting a bit harder and have more HP.

Im guessing they made arcane more powerful early on then. Very sweet to hear.

[chaos5061]

One of the guys on the shows that I watch about WOW runs with a Arcane mage in RBG's that is decked out in full PvP gear. They showed a screenshot on the show of him Criting another player for a little over 132,000 damage. Now think about what he would do with that 13% increase coming in 4.1.

[cabby]

So far Outlands isn't too bad with Arcane. Had to hit a HP potion once when I just kept getting agro one after another for about half dozen mobs.

The key to using the Arcane spec at the lower levels is to first hit with a frostbolt for the slow, then rely more on Barrage and Missiles and only use the Blast as a filler. Once you get Slow from the talent tree and the 2 points into making it land 100% of the time with a Blast then swap the rotation over to be primarily Blast and Missiles while ignoring the frostbolt. Most mobs will drop with 2 Blasts and a Missile proc, sometimes filling in with a Barrage when they're under 1k HP just to not have to wait for the cast time of Blast.

[Skippyninja]

I will respectfully disagree with Cartman.

For leveling to 82 and PvP frost is the better spec.
For running dungeons at early gear levels arcane is better damage than frost, but you are not quite ready for fire spec (highly crit dependent). Arcane Blast stacking to 4 and arcane missles can easily out perform Frostbolt spamming.
For gear levels around where my mage is now (see signature) fire gives out around 2-3k more damage than arcane, and is far superior with the AoE ability than both frost and arcane.
The only times I really switch from fire to arcane now is if I need the slow ability, like in Grim Batol.
Hope that answers your question.

<--- Leave it to the pro.

Fire is either crit or haste dependent. Yes, either; let me tell you why: It all depends if you spec into Improved Hotstreak, if you don't PB replaces Arcane Missles (randome chance to proc off of any spell) so therefore the more haste you have, the more spells you send downrange the more PBs you can get off. If you spec 2/2 Improved Hot Streak then it's based off of scoring 2 crits in a row from non-periodic spells.

Arcane is probably better to begin raids with (just like in Wrath) until you can get more crit. I have seen this first hand, my mage has a 35% (my char sheet shows 30% but I have the glyph for another 5%) chance to crit with Fireball (40% if counting critical mass debuff). I tend to do around 10-12.5k depending on how much movement is required. With Arcane I can do 15-16k on similar fights. Arcane is very boring to me, all I do is spam Arcane Blast. I gem at 80%, spam, Belf racial at 80%, spam, then evocate when I'm out... rinse repeat and throw in a mana pot if I can manage (gogo lockrocks).

Currently I'm choosing to go Arcane for the 3% damage increase, but once we get a ret pally or BM hunter I'll be going back to Fire.

[Kamchak]

<--- Leave it to the pro.

Pro?!?

meh

[Skippyninja]

Yes pro, I gem and reforge for spirit after all lol.