PvE: Fire vs Arcane (gear?)

[Froozt]

Hey Forum!

As we watch at the resent patch notes we can se that both Arcane and Frost is getting buffed. As i have seen the most geared Mages use Arcane instead of fire. And i guess that is becouse Arcane is better with better gear.With the increase of dmg and reduces of cooldowns I wonder if there is any specific item level where you should con cider change spec?

[cachemaster]

I would say an average ilvl of ~364ish is when arcane takes over fire in single target dps. Keep in mind most top mages still use fire on many fights as well, as the mobility, and aoe dps of arcane is awful.

[isadorr]

Watching Vodka's live stream all mages were fire. A lot more mobility and a ton more dmg done with the movement of heroic bosses.

[Robula]

I did a Helter Skelter sim of 4.1 PTR and compared it to the normal patchwerk style using all the same rules, iterations, variation and combat time etc.

Patchwerk:
Arcane: 29727
Frost: 28606
Fire: 25925

Helter Skelter:
Frost:: 22798
Arcane: 21350
Fire: 20953

It's looking like Frost is going to become just as viable as Fire is now, maybe even more so?

[Deleted]

Arcane will always win over fire in a non moving direct dmg no adds fight like patchwerk, its a stupid enviroment to compare those 2 specs

I like arcane but im not playing it atm cause most bosses dont allow it.
Fire ms arcane os, sure why not, sadly arcane and fire share 2 diff stats, so your just gimping yourself anyway :<

If you rly wanna be arcane and gear for it, go ahead, you could always make fire you os with a aoe build for when its needed, mastery and LB glyph anyone?