The Fire spec for Mages has been one that, while the base attributes remain the same, undergoes a lot of constant change due to balancing issues, creating a spec that is not necessarily altogether. I have synthesized a redesign for the entire spec utilizing a new resource, Heat, that may possibly make the spec a fun, reinvented spec for Mages.
Fire Mage Redesign:
- New Resource: Heat
- New Abilities
- New Mastery, Thermophile
- Maintain same baseline spells
Heat:
Heat is a new resource the Fire Mage will use that works similar to Demonic Fury. It is placed on a scale of 0 to 1000, starting at 0. Spells generate and also decrease your Heat. Each point of Heat is worth 0.03% crit, making 100 Heat 3% crit, and 1000 Heat up to 30% crit bonus. Heat also decays, so proper DPS will be gained by maintaining this resource, which is also decaying at a rate of 10 per second, up to 15 per second while moving.
Having Heat give crit will eliminate the general RNG nature of the spec. This will also place stats such as Haste or Mastery at a higher priority, due to the higher levels of crit experienced and the need to cast spells faster to generate Heat. Heat will also be displayed as a visual effect, as your Heat rises, your character will be enveloped in a Fiery Aura. Higher levels of Heat will also empower certain abilities.
Heat Values of Baseline Spells:
Fireball – Generates 50 Heat
Pyroblast – Costs 200 Heat
Scorch – Costs 25 Heat
Mage Bomb – Each balanced to produce 150 Heat by explosion, full duration, or around the cooldown
Inferno Blast – Generates 100 Heat
Rotation Example:
The idea of the rotation is to maintain Heat amounts at high levels for the duration of the fight, however switching in Pyroblast for Fireball can provide burst and ways to spend excess Heat generated. At the beginning of each fight, you start at 0 Heat, so a fight could start out like so:
*Pull*
Cast Magma Flow CD
Living Bomb
Fireball - 100 Heat
Fireball - 200 Heat
Fireball - 300 Heat - Crit - Heating Up
Inferno Blast - 500 Heat - Hot Streak
Pyroblast!
LB Explodes - 800 Heat
Living Bomb
Fireball - 900 Heat - Combustion Ends
Fireball - 950 Heat - Crit - Heating Up
Fireball - 1000 Heat - No Crit - Heating Up Ends
Pyroblast - 800 Heat - Etc Etc Etc
Spell Changes:
Mastery – Now called Thermophile, it increases the damage done by your Fire Spells as your Heat increases by X percentage. This gives Fire ramp up DPS, but very good sustained DPS once up. Ignite is not being removed, it is now just a regular DoT that is applied to the target.
Combustion – 1.5 min CD – Combustion now absorbs all Heat on the target (up to 1000) and applies it as a DoT, dealing X Fire Damage over 20 seconds.
Pyroblast – Only change is the cast time is now the same as Fireball.
New Spells:
Meteor - AoE - Spend all current Heat creating a meteor, crashing into your target and dealing X Fire damage to all enemies within a 10 yard radius. Damage is increased 10% per 100 Heat. Also places ignite on all targets that were hit.
Magma Flows – 3min CD – Abilities now generate twice as much Heat for the next 20 seconds.
Current Reviews and Ideas:
This section will cover all possible newer spells or talent changes that may be incorporated into the build.
Phoenix Rising - Replaces Cauterize - If killed, you come back to life as a phoenix for 20 seconds, able to cast your normal spells and abilities*
*There is a large demand for a Phoenix pet CD, or ability. This is still up to a lot of debate, and will be looked into for the future. Keep suggesting ideas!
Critical Mass – Removing this talent entirely may make for better scaling, not for our DPS, but to keep the specialization in check, and keeping Haste and Mastery prioritized over Crit. Will be addressed later.
Empowering Abilities – With Heat increasing, it could also empower certain abilities, i.e. Flamestrike DoT becoming stronger, Dragon’s Breath becoming larger and more powerful. Will be addressed later.
Balance Issues – If this spec were applied now, Fire Mages would be extremely over powered. There would have to be a lot of balance testing and working around with the Mastery and scales to see how it would balance out. I left things ambiguous for the most part, with X percentages or damage instead of inserting a number. Math is currently not my game for this. The base for the spec and foundation is what is to be worked on.
Bomb Scaling - Bombs might scale off how many targets are in the area, so the more targets, the more Heat you would get as it does damage.
Flame Orb - A lot want this CD back, however in a better use than what it was last expansion. Could be used to generate heat, or use heat to deal damage. Feel free to throw suggestions at it.
Final Notes:
Obviously this could never happen mid expansion, however getting this out there early on could provide possible future look for Blizzard, and maybe get some ideas incorporated. Will this ever be implemented? Highly unlikely. Is it fun to theorize and develop a spec idea? Yes. The more support, the higher chance this could at least mean something small in the grand scheme of things, so if you could spread the word about this idea, and get others to support it, it would be greatly appreciated. Feel free as well to throw your suggestions and ideas into the mix. This is our class and spec, let us build it together.
If you wish to comment in game or anything of the sort, my battletag is Eraedis#1152. Feel free to add me.