Favorite Mage Spec?

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

Mine is Frost.

[Raetary]

i love fire.
fire>frost>arcane for me.

[Deleted]

Voted fire; was a hard decision since i love arcane almost as much as fire; frost is garbage tho.

[mrgreenthump]

Battle Mage?

But seriously, lore/theme wise it has always been Fire. I didn't really like the AoE playstyle of late nor the simplicity of it, but I WANNA BURN EVERYTHING DOWN.

Fav atm is probably Arcane though, purely cause it's not the current Fire and is more fun for me than Frost(hate microing the frost ele).

[Polarthief]

Playstyle of live or just general?

General: Fire
Playstyle of live: Frost
Playstyle of what we've seen for Legion: Arcane

So I guess Undecided? XD

[Relapses]

Always had a soft spot for Fire, but I feel like Frost is the spec I most enjoy playing. I dislike everything about the current state of Arcane but it's fun to pull mongoloid damage with the spec right now.

[Tyze]

Fire > Frost > Arcane

[thatguyyx]

I've been playing mage since BC and honestly, I loved Frost pre-Cata. I hated how it became and that it was really the spec you were almost forced to play. They've mostly fixed it over the years, and PvP-wise, it's the most fun because neither of the other specs have the burst potential (unless you're really geared and good at Fire, but frankly, I just don't like Fire).

My favorite spec in general, though, has always been Arcane. It's what I still PvE with and it just.. fits the idea I've always had of what a mage is supposed to be (although, so does fire...) Lore-wise, the only one I don't care for is Frost. A wizard delving into the study of the Arcane and playing with potentially dangerous temporal magics or a mage with a pyromania so intense they want to see the world burn.

[Bangaa]

Battle Mage?

I so would have voted that if it was an option. I'm a little disappointed that Fire wasn't reworked to be more melee focused with Felo'Melorn but I will get over it.

OT: I voted Arcane but I may switch to Frost depending on how Lonely Winter turns out.

[Celawien]

Frost>Fire>Arcane
I like not having to worry about mana and the stopping force of Frost.

[Raetary]

Frost>Fire>Arcane
I like not having to worry about mana and the stopping force of Frost.

erm... but don't all casters have to worry about their mana in legion? that's what i understood, mana is important again bitches!

[High-Chief Greathoof]

In terms of playstyle: Fire.
In terms of fantasy: Arcane.

[Torgent]

It's always been fire. Theme and gameplay, I always want to play fire. I usually take breaks from my mage whenever fire gets changed in a way I don't enjoy. Frost and Arcane just don't interest me.

[Kuni Zyrekai]

erm... but don't all casters have to worry about their mana in legion? that's what i understood, mana is important again bitches!

Nope. Same as live, it only matters for Spellsteal.

On topic: Take a guess.

[Dizzeeyooo]

frost > fire > arcane before mop

frost > fire >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> arcane during/after mop

fire so far in legion looks like an abortion of everything its been previously, waiting to see how frost turns out but not massively hopeful

[deadman1]

Fire>Frost>fury warrior>MM hunter> literally everything else> afflic lock>Arcane

- - - Updated - - -

erm... but don't all casters have to worry about their mana in legion? that's what i understood, mana is important again bitches!

I haven't heard that, also I doubt it.

[Radaney]

I really like how Frost plays.

[Nihiel]

For immersion, I've always liked arcane. It's THE wizard spec to me. Then fire > frost as well, but generally all three specs are amazing.

For playstyle, I've always liked arcane. Managing mana is what I like about healers (too bad it's only relevant in the first few weeks of an xpac) and it's what I like about arcane as well - it's another mind set you need to adapt compared to other dps classes. Fire is great as well, I've always like the aoe flair it has had, too bad it was always rng dependent. Frost meh not so much.

For legion it looks like I'll go fire or arcane. Fire looks great right now with a decent enough skillcap, while frost (based on talents I've seen) looks to have no depth to it at all, sadly. I hope arcane still has mana management as its skillcap in legion

Overall: Arcane > Fire >>> Frost

[ironik]

For me it's frost>arcane>fire. Mainly because I have little to no experience with fire spec and only started playing arcane this xpac.

[TheWorkingTitle]

It's changed with the times, OP.

Classic was 3-minute-mage, just for the entertainment value of battleground berserking/arcane power/power infusion/ZHC/ToEP/PoM/Pyro literal 1-shotting people regardless of gear. When you were full AQ40/Naxx geared, they could have been a fresh 60 or a high-end raiding tank flag-runner, it made no difference. Very few things matched (to this day) watching someone run away from your massive Pyroblast that's screaming towards them, only to see them go from mount to dirt-nap, instantly. - https://vid.me/3W6M Deep Fire rolling ignites deserves an honorable mention. It wasn't as fun compared to the WOW factor of 1-shotting people, but in PvE its only real competition was with Rogues due to the massive Rolling Ignite ticks you could build so obviously it felt good to play (as long as you weren't pulling the Boss).

TBC was Elementalist, basically half Fire and half Frost. You got the best of both worlds, gaining Ice Block and Ice Barrier from Frost, and Blastwave/Pyroblast from Fire. Once you got down the combos, the control and sustained burst was incredibly formidable. This guy inspired me, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF7JlWp6UnA. Outside of that, Deep Fire PvE spec was fun in random battlegrounds for the long-range turret aspect, and I led a 5 mage 5v5 team with 2 Deep Fire and 3 PoM/Pyro spec and we just global'd our way to 2k+ every season for fun, picking on Shamans and Priests which turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun.

WoTLK was definitely Deep Fire. I'd join randoms with my raid team and absolutely wreak terror in full 277 ICC gear. Between the mass Living Bomb dotting and Pyroblast chains, there was no hope for the other side. The enemies in PvP felt like the Valkyrs from 25m HLK, blowing up left and right en masse. That was also one of the last few times where PvE gear completely overpowered full PvP gear in PvP and so we took full advantage of the brokenness. Deep Arcane was pretty great too during WoTLK's launch and first raid tier. I was lucky enough to be the one Arcane Mage in the raid who got fed 2-4 Innervates per fight. It was straight burn phases off the bat and I had macro's to spam my druids with "Innervate please!!!" when I'd reach low mana. Thaddius/Twin Valks/Anub'arak were where it really shined and was the most fun. There was something like the "9k Club" for Thaddius where only the Arcane Mages of the server could reach that DPS during Thaddius, that sticks out to me about the spec.

Cata was definitely PvP Frost, with the Shatter Mastery, and Mastery stacking. You'd hit I think soft cap at 21% Critical Strike and at that point you could either go to the hard cap at like 24% or go straight Mastery after the soft crit shatter cap for Shatter combo crits. Everyone went crit while I went Mastery. It turned out to be an unparalleled random BG / dueling spec. You had an inordinate amount of control with the improved Cone of Cold, Ring of Frost, Frost Nova, Shattered Barrier, Frostfire Orb, Pet freeze, Impact from Fire tree if you wanted it etc, and then the burst on top of it. No one outside Orgrimmar wanted to duel after a while because if you played it right, no one had a chance. Kiting Warriors and Rogues was embarrassing. You had an answer for literally every single ability they possessed. I remember 10k+ sustained burst in large groups if they let you cast. The Shatter combos made you feel like an Arcane Mage sitting there nuking, not moving an inch.

MoP was Fire, with the Snap-shotting and Pyroblast chains through Altered Time. The chains became incredibly convoluted and involved when you added in PoM and Frostjaw in PvP situations. The distance was crucial, making sure your Pyroblasts landed at the right time to keep the chain going, slowly creeping towards the target as you machine-gunned them down. It was in-depth, required lots of on-the-fly improvisation, and was incredibly satisfying to pull off. That spec during the beginning of Timeless Isle with the Legendary Cloak (during that small time-frame where it worked in PvP) was unreal. With a pocket healer at your side, you could battle entire groups of people and win.

WoD was a down-year for me as far as fun/favoritism in a spec goes. Fire has grown on me a bit, with the Meteor/Dragon's Breath combos, but it stills feel sorta clunky comparatively to previous years. I still enjoy the Scorch weaving during mobile fights and the aggressive CC role you can fill in PvP, but it pales in comparison to previous years. I'm hoping Legion changes this feeling.