Going in to Ulduar

[afkalmighty]

So, they're currently patching 3.1 and 3.11 [3.1 was delayed for us last week :'(] and our GL is planning to form a group to try Ulduar and I was wondering which spec I should choose from. TTWfire or arcane.

I've been raiding current content as arcane because I really like the style plus I have horrible luck on crit, which is why I was very eager to switch from FFB to arcane when it was patched.
How horrible is my luck? Let's just say there was never a day I would raid AQ-40 during vanilla without seeing several 10-stack combustions. But still, since I heard TTW is not as crit dependant as FFB I was wondering if I could give it a shot since I also heard that the fights in Ulduar are longer so it would be more punishing to arcane to manage mana.

In gear sense, I'd say I've got a pretty good gear setup for arcane and for TTW I can meet the heavy hit requirment but the setup gets a 'little' akward and has alot of hast to it compared to crit. Plus, since I don't have death curse I have to equip the hit trinket from VH heroic. I would link my armory but it's screwed up right now showing me in my 'pretty' gear :P

As for expected raid composition we're going 10 man and won't have the luck of having a boomkin or shadow so the only hit bonus I have is the drenai racial
So, what do you ppl think I should go with? Thanks for any suggestions or advice in advance

[Hein]

Seriously.. stop talking about luck. It's a game based on math and in the end that's all that matters. Choose your spec from a mathematical pov instead of luck.

[syanid]

Arcane fails. What the previous poster said - there's nothing "luck" based here, it's all based on mathematics. And if you plan to do any dps, don't go arcane. By any I mean above 3K.

[Megatwan]

tell that to prince...

sure, its about about math and CHANCE

luck - 1 : to prosper or succeed especially through chance or good fortune

ie good outcome of chance = luck, ie lucky or unlucky mage procs where there is a chance they do or dont

albeit there its possible to increase your chances mathematically, its still a RNG

[Sidira]

You'll be able to dual spec, spec one arcane the other TtW and swap see how each feels to you. TtW scales better with haste over crit, so having a lot of haste isn't a bad thing. There are still some RNG factors related to crit, but the reason that FFB was so crit dependent is that its normal hits were puny compared to its crits so the object was to make FFB crit as much as possible. With TtW fireball hits decently hard so it's not as mandatory that it crit. Obviously critting is a good thing cause it's more damage and more chances at HS procs, but not nearly as detrimental to the build on a whole as having low crit with FFB.

Personally, I try my best to stay above 500 haste with FB, though that's becoming exceptionally difficult with the shoddy itemization of Ulduar gear. I'd say anywhere in the 450+ range is adequate, possibly as low as 425.

As for the VH trinket, take what you can get I guess. Some people swear by arcane even now, but in comparison to the other mage in my guild who dual specs arcane, it doesn't reliably beat out fireball.

[Alvator]

Arcane fails. What the previous poster said - there's nothing "luck" based here, it's all based on mathematics. And if you plan to do any dps, don't go arcane. By any I mean above 3K.

You must just fail at arcane. I can easily push out 6k dps in an Arcane spec.

I agree on the maths point you make thouugh.

[Separate]

Arcane fails. What the previous poster said - there's nothing "luck" based here, it's all based on mathematics. And if you plan to do any dps, don't go arcane. By any I mean above 3K.

I hope your not talking about the spec "Arcane". Are you playing "World of Warcraft"? Are you high? Or are you just trolling without knowing what you are talking about....Ill take D all of the above.

Next time do some research before trolling, nothing makes you look more like an idiot than not knowing what your complaining about rofl. EY GUISE DAT SPEC WIT DEM PERPZ DUN DO AS GUD AS DEM RED BEAMZ BOLTS.

[afkalmighty]

You'll be able to dual spec, spec one arcane the other TtW and swap see how each feels to you. TtW scales better with haste over crit, so having a lot of haste isn't a bad thing. There are still some RNG factors related to crit, but the reason that FFB was so crit dependent is that its normal hits were puny compared to its crits so the object was to make FFB crit as much as possible. With TtW fireball hits decently hard so it's not as mandatory that it crit. Obviously critting is a good thing cause it's more damage and more chances at HS procs, but not nearly as detrimental to the build on a whole as having low crit with FFB.

Personally, I try my best to stay above 500 haste with FB, though that's becoming exceptionally difficult with the shoddy itemization of Ulduar gear. I'd say anywhere in the 450+ range is adequate, possibly as low as 425.

As for the VH trinket, take what you can get I guess. Some people swear by arcane even now, but in comparison to the other mage in my guild who dual specs arcane, it doesn't reliably beat out fireball.

Thank you, that was exactly what I needed to know. I knew haste was better for TTW than FFB but I didn't know it was to that extent. I guess then it's TTW.
Oh, as for dual spec I'm so fail at farming gold that I'm not sure after flasks foods and mats for enchanting I'll have an extra 1k to spare

And for the one's tackling on the luck stuff... it's not like I said 'QQ I PHAIL AT DPS CAUSE BAD LUCKZ QQ'...