NeverFF

Fire Mage guide

Ranged DPSMage · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Fire is all about crits. Forever adds Heating Up: crits with Fireball, Fire Blast and Scorch speed up your next Pyroblast, which finally makes Pyroblast a real part of the rotation. Fire Power now rewards having several fire effects on the target, and Critical Mass got stronger. Ignite was toned down.

Strengths

  • Huge damage that scales with gear and crit
  • Good mana thanks to Master of Elements
  • Arcane Intellect, conjured food and water, portals and Polymorph for the group.

Weaknesses

  • Needs lots of crit: weak until gear catches up
  • Weaker leveling: mobs die before Heating Up gets going
  • No Ice Block: fragile

Talent build (level 30) 0/21/0

Fire 21 points

  • Incineration3/3
  • Improved Fireball5/5
  • Ignite5/5
  • Burning Soul1/3
  • Pyroblast1/1
  • Improved Scorch3/3
  • Heating Up1/1
  • Master of Elements1/3
  • Critical Mass1/5

21 points in Fire: Improved Fireball, Incineration and Ignite, Pyroblast with Heating Up, Improved Scorch, a point in Master of Elements and the first point of Critical Mass. Fire Power, Blast Wave and Combustion come after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Heating Up
New in Forever: crits from Fireball, Fire Blast and Scorch speed up your next Pyroblast.
Ignite
Fire crits burn the target for 40% more over 4 sec.
Improved Scorch
Scorch makes the target take more fire damage from you.
Improved Fireball
0.5 sec faster Fireball.
Critical Mass
Up to +10% crit on fire spells.

New in Forever: Fire talents

  • Heating UpNon-periodic critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast, and Scorch reduce the cast time of your next Pyroblast cast within 20 sec by 25%, stacking up to 3 times. Fire Blast grants an additional stack every time it deals damage.

Rotation

  1. Pre-cast Pyroblast on bosses, pull with Fireball otherwise.
  2. Scorch until Improved Scorch is fully stacked, and refresh it before it drops.
  3. Fire Blast on cooldown.
  4. Fireball as your main spell.
  5. Pyroblast when Heating Up has made it fast.
  6. Arcane Missiles on Missile Barrage procs (if you take it later).

Several enemies

  • Flamestrike, then recast when it ends.
  • Arcane Explosion when it's safe to stand close.
  • Blast Wave once you have it.

Cooldowns

Combustion (after launch)
Stacking fire crit for burst.
Frost Nova
Freeze enemies off you, then step away.
Evocation
Mana back in long fights.

Stats

Spell (fire) power and spell crit first, then Intellect. Haste is good but hard to find early.

Best races

Alliance

Human
Ruthless (+1% spell crit) and The Human Spirit (+10% Spirit).
Skyborne (High Order)
Wind Blessed (+2% haste) and Read Leyline for faster mana regeneration.
Gnome
Expansive Mind (+5% mana) and Escape Artist.

Horde

Orc
Blood Fury: +10% Spell Power for 15 sec.
Troll
Berserking (+10% casting speed) and Rapid Regeneration to survive.
Undead
Will of the Forsaken breaks fear: the PvP pick.

Professions

Tailoring and Enchanting, the classic Mage pair (cloth gear and your own wands). Engineering if you want more damage.

Leveling

Fire is the weakest Mage to level: mobs often die before Heating Up gets going. Level as Frost and switch to Fire for dungeons and raids.