Decently geared fire mage.

[Deleted]

Hello guys,

A few weeks ago I posted about my fire mage's dps not doing very well.
Now ive got some beter gear and i have seen an improvement in my dps, but not as much as I would have expected..
On some fights I can be doing 20k and on others I'll be doing 8-10k ...
E.g Today on Argaloth I did 12.2k dps and last night on Omnitron I did 9k.
In heroics I go down even more.. It can go down to 8k etc..

My rotation is:
Open with pyroblast or scorch ( depending on if tank has pulled or not ), LB, Orb, fireball + Scorch till something procs. Images i pop in between there and combustion as soon as I get a full one up. First gem is used when at 85%-90% mana, by the time im down to 40% mana i can ussualy use the next one and pop evocation when down again, and last one if needed after that.

My armory link is here:
I cannot post any links because my post count is too low but just type ' Kristofzor ' in wowarmory and you'll find me.

I dont know what to do anymore. Ive nearly got the firelords robes and will get the set bonus wich will give me 5% extra crit but will that really do that much?
I am constantly beeing outdpsed by other classes, less geared mages are doing same amounts in heroics etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am at my wits end of what to do.

Kindest regards,

Chris.

[Deleted]

First off, your spec. Always take 3/3 in Piercing Ice, you can take on point from Arcane Concentration for that. Then, you are missing leg/boot enchants, the epic leg enchant is quite expensive for non tailors but the lesser one will still be quite an upgrade, then put 50 hit rating on boots, which brings us to the next point. Judging by your current armory, you aren't hit capped, you'll need 1742 hit rating for the cap, before that, hit is the best secondary stat. Considering you are only slightly above haste softcap (516 haste, adds another tick to your dots) leave it at that, and first reforge all your mastery to hit, or at least until you reach 17% hit. After that, reforge the rest of your mastery to crit. I see you have done the reforging mostly although you can reforge mastery to crit on one of your rings. If reforging your mastery won't get you hit capped, start reforging crit. From what I see, your head/neck/wrist/gloves/weapon can still be reforged to get more hit rating. Then, you can gain 81 intellect by using your JC only gems, which should be a decent boost.
Finally, regarding rotation, you'll want to spam fireball as much as possible during trinket procs, as it will be a higher damage increase than scorch casting. For more information you can check http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Lists-and-more!, which explains quite a bit about fire spec/gear/whatnot.

[Xarganthos]

i would start with flame orb -> scorch -> lb -> fb spam till pyro procc

timing of combustion is essencial, dont know if youre using combustionhelper but it helps a lot

[Vyr1s]

I don't see that toon name, but regardless.
Ensure you are hit capped, without that you will see a huge DPS drop on raid encounters.
I also wouldn't open with a pyroblast, there isn't much of a gain with that. You are better to open with a scorch to get your debuff on the mob.
Make sure you aren't clipping LB.

If you're not prioritizing your stats correctly you will see flaky results, but you shouldn't be under 8-10k DPS.

As for Raid encounters where you pull 20k DPS.
I wouldn't call that your DPS or true DPS as you have added benefits;
Raid buffs, mob debuffs, flasks, elixirs, BL/TW, boss mechanics, etc.

So you should scale your DPS against the same encounter or similar situations and not across the board;
Heroic trash, raid trash, boss encounters, etc.

If you do Argaloth every week, and are noticing huge gaps week to week, you may be doing something wrong, but if it's consistent, then that just may be your numbers for that encounter.

[Delpan]

Hello Chris

I can see your problem, your DPS should be many thousands higher on a fight like Argaloth with the current itemlevel and gear u have.
First of all change Mining into a pure DPS giving profession, i would recommend Engineering, so u can have 50 intellect on the back item + Synapse Springs "use" on hands - it will provide 480 intellect every minute for 15 seconds which u have 100% control over... make a macro with all your cooldowns "except" mirror image, cause it sometimes can aggro stuff and u dont want that!

i would change your spec, remove the 2 talent points from improved fire blast, and put it into burning soul.

Reforging: Reforge more mastery into Crit if possible...
Gems: Gem after intellect, if the socket bonus is intellect, gem after it, if socket bonus is secondary stuff, always just go +40 intellect in em.
Stack intellect like crazy ;-)

Bars: you make things easy on yourself, by putting living bomb on 1, improved scorch on 2, fireball on 3, and pyroblast on 4, fire blast on 5.
I found these buttons to be the fastest way i can react, upon renewing dots and act.

then use an addon like Bartender4 to put all your cooldowns, in one mousebutton for quick reflexes ;-) -

I personally use DoTimer addon combined with a setup from this guide to track Critical Mass + Living Bomb and also Combustion and Flame Orb: Watch the video on Youtube how to set it up for that: search for DoTimer TgN on youtube, here is a guide!

It glows green when its up and there is a long time to renew, it turns yellow when getting closer and u need to be aware, it turnes purple when it needs to be renewed, and it glows red if u are too later slacking ^^

This will help me ALWAYS having Living Bomb + Critical Mass + Combustion + Flame Orb on a boss without having times where its not up!!!!
I also use Mage Nuggets addon to track Hot Streaks and Impacts, so i can use those ASAP! without delay! and then go back to spamming fireballs!

This setup will push out a lot of DPS!

[graagh]

I also wouldn't open with a pyroblast, there isn't much of a gain with that.

-----

Nah, it's a pretty notable gain if you time it so it lands just after the tank pulls. No reason not to do it. Tank countdowns for the win.

Bottom line though is it's difficult to comment on a persons DPS being so low if they don't post logs.

I'd head over to worldoflogs, setup an account and start logging some pulls to get better feedback. Make no mistake though, you're drastically underperforming for what gear you have.

[Eggimannd]

Not to be mean but anyone who talents 2/3 piercing ice instead of 3/3 makes me wonder if they're a good mage in the first place.

[badishi]

wait people actually only take 2/3 as fire ... also is your dps bad cuz you just are not getting any critical hits on the target?

[Zenzey]

wait people actually only take 2/3 as fire ...

Not really, LOL.

[Deleted]

graagh:
I have heard of world of logs but have no idea how to use it. I made an account is there anything else I need to do?

badishi,
This does happen to me often that I run dry without crits and that screws me over.

eggimannd,
I came here for help, not for negative feedback wich does not help me, thank you.


For the others, thank you for the help it has helped me. I have switched around some gear and reforged. Also I have changed my spec. Please could you have a look at it too see if it is any better and if something else needs to be done, Thank you.

[Deleted]

http://wowtal.com/#k=Zwl97eN4.aei.mage.RY7nCM try out this build - i use it myself and it gives me quite nice dps.

About rotation: personally, I open with Scorch, Living Bomb and Flame Orb then I spam Fireball until i proc Pyroblast. Refresh Critical Mass and LB when needed and cast Flame Orb when it's avaible - with Fire Power it will give nice dmg and will explode at the end of it's duration. I use Conbustion Helper to know when I should use Combustion - when LB, Pyro and Ignite are on, use it, that's the best dmg. Ofc with Molten Armor on. I usually use Mana Gem when I run out of 50% of my mana when at 30~40% I just switch to Mage Armor. Master Of Elements and Arcane Concentration safes ton of mana. This rotation is for bosses, ofc. When fighting trash, use Mage Armor and cast your instant Flamestrike or Blast Wave if you have at least 2 mobs - Flamestrike will be cast aswell. Evocation should be your emergency when you really need mana or you're dying and healer can't heal you. Also, remember to use Mage Ward or Mana Shield or Ice Block when you pop Cauterize.

I know I wrote basic basics but I hope that at least part of it can be useful for you.

[Zenzey]

http://wowtal.com/#k=Zwl97eN4.aei.mage.RY7nCM try out this build - i use it myself and it gives me quite nice dps.

About rotation: personally, I open with Scorch, Living Bomb and Flame Orb then I spam Fireball until i proc Pyroblast. Refresh Critical Mass and LB when needed and cast Flame Orb when it's avaible - with Fire Power it will give nice dmg and will explode at the end of it's duration. I use Conbustion Helper to know when I should use Combustion - when LB, Pyro and Ignite are on, use it, that's the best dmg. Ofc with Molten Armor on. I usually use Mana Gem when I run out of 50% of my mana when at 30~40% I just switch to Mage Armor. Master Of Elements and Arcane Concentration safes ton of mana. This rotation is for bosses, ofc. When fighting trash, use Mage Armor and cast your instant Flamestrike or Blast Wave if you have at least 2 mobs - Flamestrike will be cast aswell. Evocation should be your emergency when you really need mana or you're dying and healer can't heal you. Also, remember to use Mage Ward or Mana Shield or Ice Block when you pop Cauterize.

I know I wrote basic basics but I hope that at least part of it can be useful for you.

This is incorrect. Use your mana gem as soon as you've used up 12-15k ish mana, so you'll get your Cooldown off as soon as possible, the best is to use 3 mana gems each fight.

Scorch Weave instead of switching to Mage Armor. It's a reason you got the Molten Armor glyph, to maintain the 5% extra crit at all times. In my experience, you don't have to switch to Mage Armor if you're scorch weaving right, which isn't too bad either, not such a DPS loss since you usually get a few Hot Streaks with the Scorches included.

[Illunis]

This is incorrect. Use your mana gem as soon as you've used up 12-15k ish mana, so you'll get your Cooldown off as soon as possible, the best is to use 3 mana gems each fight.

Scorch Weave instead of switching to Mage Armor. It's a reason you got the Molten Armor glyph, to maintain the 5% extra crit at all times. In my experience, you don't have to switch to Mage Armor if you're scorch weaving right, which isn't too bad either, not such a DPS loss since you usually get a few Hot Streaks with the Scorches included.

this would be ineffective for him since he doesn't pick up imp scorch or firestarter in his fire build, which is very very stupid. those 2 talents make fire amazing for high movement fights like atramedes, val n thal, and ascendant council. so unless you made a fire spec for a sit and nuke fight, and one for any other encounter, i find that build to be lacking quite a bit.

Though you are correct about when to gem, once you're down about 2-3k mana from the mana your gem will replenish (to avoid wasted gem replenishes), pop it, pop your gems early, then use them on cooldown, this will usually keep you from having to evocate until the final strech of the fight, which you can more then likely line up the last second of time warp

http://wowtal.com/#k=Wwl9jUHo.aei.mage.RXXsxu this is my fire spec, the points in arcane concentration can be switched in to any other talent, but i find it more useful than cauterize since cauterize is very situational, and the clearcasting procs keep my mana going a bit longer, giving me more fireballs over scorches without having to evocate as early. it also picks up full points in impact and pyromaniac for those aoe heavy fights like maloriak and cho'gall.

also, figuring out your crit will help a lot, if you dont have 25%+ self buffed (I.E. with molten armor on), then you should not be fire, you don't have the gear to support the spec fully. you need to pick up the soft cap for haste to add another tick to your living bomb, which is 519 (once you have 519 you will not gain the extra tick without the 5% increase from boomkin/SP/wrath of air totem)

also a huge part of your dps will be when and how you use your combustion, people say combustion tracker is all that PLUS the bag of chips, where in truth it is not, it just tells you to combust when you have all of your dots up, meaning ignite, pyro, and LB. truthfully, you want to watch for any other procs, spell power trinket procs, mastery trinket procs, engi gloves, power torrent, etc. before you pop combust, you still want the same lineup, but pulling up a HUGE ignite from a double trinket proc + power torrent crit fireball/pyro THEN combusting, is going to net you more dps than busting it early once you get your pyroblast dot on

if you have any other concerns check my mages armory in my signature, all the gear that i have is obtainable pre-raid, even though i've cleared bastion and am almost finished with BWD (too many clothies in mah raids, jackin all mah lewts :< )

hope this helps you some!

[LaplaceNoMa]

Your spec is totally wrong. Absolutely totally wrong. It's not even a fire mage at all. The core talents are wrong, not even the 'optional' talents which bring a lot of arguing among theorycrafters (like cauterize, for example)

[nooke]

I see you regemed a bit. I guess now you will enchant boots for hit which will make you almost hit caped, good as well. You have much mastery but not much crit although it is all reforged so nothing can be done now. So apart from build and glyphs you almost completed itemization. Although I would find more crit/hit items. And your sp at this itemlevel is a bit low. Your gear without reforge is good for arcane though I guess

[Zenzey]

@Illunis - Of course he needs a proper spec for it, but just saying, switching to Mage Armor etc isn't really good, so he SHOULD change his spec, which I hinted to. Thanks anyway!

[Deleted]

So yeah...
What now then?

[Eggimannd]

So yeah...
What now then?

It's good that you're regemming but it's slightly wrong. Your head piece bonus gives +30 mastery so you should socket to get the bonus. You should always socket to get a +10 int bonus so your socketting on gloves and belt are wrong.

There's also a +50 spellpower to cloak if I remember correctly which can replace your +30. Your belt is also complete garbage since it's a healing belt. You would be better off either saving up for dreamless belt, or even doing heroics for beautys silcon ribbon or even just get the justice points one.

[kaskadereno]

How and when you use Combustion greatly affects your dps, Aydhayeth. Downloading Combustion Helper is only half the equation; you need a better understanding of how to stack the spell's damage calculations in your favor.

What you specifically need to know is this - always try to use Combustion during a trinket proc, ideally right after (a second or two after) a big Pyroblast crit. The biggest damage component used to calculate Combustion's damage is Ignite (which is 40% of your last critical strike over 4 seconds). As long as you already have Living Bomb on your target, the Pyro crit will give you a large Ignite dot as well as applying the basic Pyroblast dot needed for maximum Combustion damage. If this isn't possible, having Pyro dot up with a large Fireball crit will do just fine.

I try to Combustion right near the beginning of a boss fight (with some good RNG) while my Lightweave, Darkmoon Card: Volcano and Bell of Enraging Resonance are procced together. If you get Hot Streak early enough, hopefully the Volcanic potion you just swallowed 1 second before pull will also be up. Pre-potting is essential btw, hope you are already doing that.

If you need to download addons to help you monitor CDs I recommend either Fortexorcist, Tellmewhen or even the amazing Powerauras. You have to know when abilities and items are coming off CD to help you either to remember to use them on CD (Flame Orb) or time them with trinket procs (Combustion, Volcanic Potion, Synapse Springs etc).

TLDR version - Stacking damage cooldowns/trinket procs with Combustions after a big Ignite is one step in the right direction. Practice this and you will see a dps increase on any fight.

[Deleted]

Well I thought that replacing my current belt with the dreamless one was a waste of money because its the same amount of intellect and stamina, same amount of mastery and just a different amount of hit.. So yeah..?

As for the gems I went under the assumption that on my gloves 40 int gem > 10 int bonus?
and 80 int > 10 int on belt?