Which is the best raiding spec?

[Sheridanjohn]

I found it interesting that when I clicked on the link, that Fire, not Arcane or Frost was on top for Mythic all Bosses. Fire was actually above Arcane and Frost on quite a few Mythic fights..

If you look at the data you can see the 95th percentile log for fire is the rank 1 log v the rank 200 log for arcane. Look at "Max" to see what i'm talking about, fire will stay still while arcane and frost surpass it.

It should be mentioned that fire isn't that far behind arcane and frost on ST, it's just most people play what is best, regardless of whether they have to or not.

[Wilderness]

It should be mentioned that fire isn't that far behind arcane and frost on ST, it's just most people play what is best, regardless of whether they have to or not.

That's not really true, Fire on pure single-target is rather far behind both Frost and Arcane. But there are very few true ST fights in HFC, which is why you'll see Fire parsing decently to very well on a lot of fights. However on all those fights there is almost always pure ST priorities which is why Arcane/Frost are generally better than Fire for progression even on fights where Fire can pad and put out big numbers.

[Sheridanjohn]

That's not really true, Fire on pure single-target is rather far behind both Frost and Arcane. But there are very few true ST fights in HFC, which is why you'll see Fire parsing decently to very well on a lot of fights. However on all those fights there is almost always pure ST priorities which is why Arcane/Frost are generally better than Fire for progression even on fights where Fire can pad and put out big numbers.

Sorry i should of noted that i was talking towards heroic / normal end, sure if i walked into raid on wednesday for progression and was in fire for fights we still dont have 100% (like M tyrant etc) i would be forced to change, however at the lower end fire is perfectly viable. Individual knowledge of the spec you are playing will dictate more then where each spec sims for non CE guilds

[Deleted]

Arcane is not fun but it's practically a cannon. It's basically a spec that can get the job done because it has a built-in burst that constitutes its main core but you must know the fights pretty well because it does not forgive any big mistakes. Well, frost also does not forgive mistakes if you get all the non-passive talents and the ones that need good management but it can be made more clumsiness-proof in general. Ironically frost is much harder to play optimally, especially with particular talents, however, while arcane is probably the most simplistic spec in the game, it does not forgive screwing up the rotation (which usually happens by not knowing a boss well, not just by not knowing the class).

Frost also has nukes but they are mini nukes, in the hardest/progression fights mini nukes are usually less useful that the bigger nukes of arcane.

Fire is just nerfed, it's not good at the moment. It's not only about Patchwerk but historically Patchwerk is a requirement.

- - - Updated - - -

To recap:

1. Play frost if you are new and need performance, if you want to be effective earlier than knowing the bosses inside and out and if you just want to have fun, or if you think Arcane truly doesn't let you play optimally due to its style.

2. Arcane if you truly know the bosses well and you will not screw up the rotation, if you don't care about performance as you learn the class and you'll just stay Arcane anyway and if you aren't really bothered by its fixed style.

3. Don't play fire. It's just nerfed.


In general, if you find Arcane cumbersome (which it is in various fights), and since their numbers are extremely close, picking up Arcane would be a choice for very high end performance. I'm not talking about top 300, I'm talking about at least top 100 world.

I know various people in casual guilds copy Method unquestionably (they killed arch with some Arcanes) but do they really play better on Arcane than Frost themselves?

I doubt various casuals would pull better numbers on Arcane than Frost. It's simply a spec that does not forgive rotational mistakes while Frost less so.

[Zingera]

I know various people in casual guilds copy Method unquestionably (they killed arch with some Arcanes) but do they really play better on Arcane than Frost themselves?

Method killed Archimonde with arcane because arcane would've pulled more numbers on infernals and water elemtal also have a tendency of dying a lot in 3rd phase. I killed Arch as arcane the first time because we needed more damage on the infernals, but now on farm i'm going all out frost and doing very well.

Personally i don't like arcane due to the insane RNG involved and the actual playstyle, so i choose to go frost without any problems.