Do most people intend to raid as fire?

[MildCore]

What they should do for frost is add into the "Ice Shards" talent where your blizzard has a chance to freeze a target again, and when that individual freeze shatters it'll do a small aoe hit. More mobs, more damage kind of like the old Unholy DK plague explosions.

[Leialyn]

In PvE Frost won't be the same if they reduce the damage against frozen targets, because then Deep Freeze won't crit for 80k anymore...

Frost is a good burst damage spec. We use Frost Mages on Conclave hc to burst down the Storm Shield, which absorbs 450k and does insane AoE dmg as long as it's active. 3 Deep Freeze crits + some Melee dmg bring it down very fast. Frost also has very reliable damage output, where the damage variance of Fire is ~8-10k DPS... that means if you are unlucky you can land ~10k and if you are lucky you can get ~18k on the same fight.

But Fire still has the best DPS while moving and I like Fire > Frost :>

Edit: Oh and please comment in my thread or post it in the US Forums if you can, to get the dev's attentions. EU support sucks regarding feedback http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1498670616

[Gobs]

I'd say Fire for most fights. Most fights involve a lot of moving around and some involve AOE.

Right now I can only think of one heroic fight where frost came in handy more then fire did for slowing a particular mob before hatching eggs (GB last boss). Frost has some nice burst dps though. Just depends on the fight.

[Grimbolt]

Been fire since level 60 and it will stay that way.

I like to burn shit.

[Myrande]

Been fire since level 60 and it will stay that way.

I like to burn shit.

He's a Nazi!

[Deleted]

I personally would keep my PvE Frost and Fire and change them when I feel like it. I don't like arcane anymore

[Deleted]

Call me silly, but i like arcane alot. it's a FUN spec to play, some call it easy, but it's still fun

Are you high?

[Odina]

Been fire since level 60 and it will stay that way.

I like to burn shit.

I find it odd that so many state they were fire since 60... I guess you did not raid MC or BWL then >.<

As for the topic on hand With the changes on the PTR I think it will be hard for thoes of us having fun with frost to atually stay frost witht he slight nerf to the spec and the buffs to fire. The changes will make it so single target fire will be much better for and frost aoe hasnt had a chance since blizz stoped being affected by FOF.

[burntchomsky]

Its hard for me to believe that anyone who says they are "staying arcane" has even begun raiding yet.

Arcane can not be competitive in any raid involving any movement whatsoever, which is most raid fights. It also has nearly 0 aoe capability. This patch might help fix arcane's current OOM problems, but it doesn't address its biggest issues, both of which make it pretty worthless for raiding especially.

[Juardo]

Its hard for me to believe that anyone who says they are "staying arcane" has even begun raiding yet.

Arcane can not be competitive in any raid involving any movement whatsoever, which is most raid fights. It also has nearly 0 aoe capability. This patch might help fix arcane's current OOM problems, but it doesn't address its biggest issues, both of which make it pretty worthless for raiding especially.

Haha, I use Arcane and Frost for raiding, and I'm able to pull 12-12.5k dps with Arcane for single target. Not the greatest, but definitely workable. Check out the world first heroic kill on Cho'Gall, and you'll see one of their two mages was Arcane for the fight. LOL.

At this point, I'm not willing to base my entire fight on whether or not a dice roll allows me to do competitive DPS. Maloriak went down just fine getting the arcane blasted out of his face. If you know how to push arcane to its limits, you can still pull decent enough dps for normal mode encounters. Hardmodes require frost or fire though, I'll definitely give you that.

[Deleted]

I love fire, IRL and in game. Do you know how hard it is for me not to stand in the fire? It's like light to flies :S.

[Gobs]

For single target and not moving around, sure arcane can probably hang in there.

However, actual encounters in CATA don't involve standing in one spot spamming your 2 main nukes. Constant moving around, interrupts, slowing effects and AOE are crucial now. Something arcane lacks from what I've experienced.

Like I said before, it's normally fire or frost for me. Just depends on the encounter. But never arcane. I haven't spec'd arcane since TK

[Juardo]

For single target and not moving around, sure arcane can probably hang in there.

However, actual encounters in CATA don't involve standing in one spot spamming your 2 main nukes. Constant moving around, interrupts, slowing effects and AOE are crucial now. Something arcane lacks from what I've experienced.

Like I said before, it's normally fire or frost for me. Just depends on the encounter. But never arcane. I haven't spec'd arcane since TK

You're definitely correct - I just don't like when people issue maxims such as "Arcane NEVER can raid" or "anybody who raids NEVER specs arcane". Simply not true, proof is in the pudding.

[Falaras]

12k Single target is pretty terrible. The fact is even with perfect execution Arcane can not do anywhere close to the same DPS as Fire or Frost. Nor can it bring the defense that frost brings or the AoE/movement that Fire brings.

[Montesquieu]

Arcane loses out simply because it's unsustainable in long fights. If you stick to the ABx1/2 + AB/AM rotation, your DPS will suffer. True, Fire has a similar mana problem, but scorch weaving is fine. Mana Adept does nothing to help as well.

I prefer Frost, anyways. I'll sacrifice that 5% DPS for more survivability and longevity, thank you.

[Ellesarr]

Fire

it has (in proper gear) the best aoe, single target and survivability. (survivability ??!!??) Yes cauterize alot better then being able to absorb 10k damage every now and then.

[Juardo]

12k Single target is pretty terrible. The fact is even with perfect execution Arcane can not do anywhere close to the same DPS as Fire or Frost. Nor can it bring the defense that frost brings or the AoE/movement that Fire brings.

Haha. We aren't a min-max guild. Do the bosses die? Am I in top 3 dps? Both are a yes.

Troll elsewhere. You deal in logical maxims that aren't always 100% true. Also, 12.5k dps in only a couple epics is still decent. (Also it is enough dps to meet most normal mode enrage timers)

[Draeneiia]

I will continue owning fire mages on the meters as arcane. All you fotm specers need to l2p. Arcane is fine. Especially now after the buff.

---------- Post added 2011-01-19 at 10:18 AM ----------

Mana Adept does nothing to help as well.

Mana adept is increasing my DPS with a flat 40%. All I need to do is keep my mana high.