[Fire] Flamestrike Graphic Change?

[Pyromelter]

So, I randomly casted flamestrike in front of the Horde AH, and I was like... wait a minute, that looks different.

I messed with my video settings, then looked at some more recent video from MoP... and flamestrike IS different. It now looks like the burning ground similar to the Crimsonscale Firestorm serpents on the Timeless Isle (the spell is called Fire Blossom), as opposed to the scorched/burnt ground that it was previously.

Did anyone catch this change? Was it in 5.4? Did I just miss it because flamestrike is so crappy I haven't casted it in months?

Anyway... it's nice we got some kind of upgrade. Was just wondering if I had missed it before, or if anyone had noticed it.

[Deleted]

You are right, it seems they changed it!
Still not going to use it....

[Nightfall]

Yeah, it was upgraded from mere Holy Fire + scorched ground to a more Diablo-like ground shattering effect. I like how it looks at max spell effects settings, but it's a shame the spell itself is so weak. It's more rewarding to cast it on the streets of Stormwind to watch the spell animation while waiting for a queue than in actual combat.

[voltaa]

I casted it the other day randomly in shrine and noticed this change, I freaked out then went on to cast it for the next 10 minutes or so.

[Deleted]

Not sure sure WHEN exactly they've changed it - I haven't read anything about it but I've noticed it about some time around the 5.4-patch so it's quite new.

[Henzington]

Is it sad I don't even have it on my bars even as fire?

[Skyefire]

The graphic was like that during the PTR too

[Grondath]

How did you not notice it? Should always pre flamestrike on pull...

[Narina]

How did you not notice it? Should always pre flamestrike on pull...

And now I know what I have been doing wrong in my pre pull rotation all this time!!

Thanks now I know. Will be adding that asap.


(kidding for those who didn't get the humor)

[Kendeura]

TBH it's worth pre-casting on Norushen. You can't do anything anyways.

[Polarthief]

TBH it's worth pre-casting on Norushen. You can't do anything anyways.

Assuming the boss moved to a certain spot (Garrosh), adds come out (Galakras), or any other situation where a boss will not get aggro'd right away, you could pre-cast Flamestrike on just about any boss, though it might be a small DPS loss due to using a second or two of your Invocation pre-pull. If it actually lasts long enough to cast BEFORE your Invocation, then it'd be a DPS increase, but not really one that's worth timing/bothering to do.

- - - Updated - - -

Is it sad I don't even have it on my bars even as fire?

No, it just means you're a good Mage.

[Deleted]

Still useless...

[Winkleslob]

Flamestrike is not always useless, it's a great burst aoe spell that u can precast before adds spawn in a certain areas... Followed up with a cone of cold (glyphed) it's not bad.

[Deleted]

I use flamestrike on adds like Galakras -fight. There tanked together anyway so even as frost I'm using it once for every group and that's why I've noticed it - because I use is on situations like that.

[Winkleslob]

I use flamestrike on adds like Galakras -fight. There tanked together anyway so even as frost I'm using it once for every group and that's why I've noticed it - because I use is on situations like that.

Flamestrike doesn't have the concecration ground damage effect anymore though. It's just the burst, followed by a dot on each target that you hit... So, it doesn't matter if they stand in the ground effect afterwards.

Flamestrike is still one of the highest single aoe spells for the Mages, the only reason why it usually's kinda bad is because of the cast time. In Arcane you can get really sweet Flamestrike's, as it scales with the Mastery.

[Deleted]

How did you not notice it? Should always pre flamestrike on pull...

Surely you should be pre-casting a pyroblast most fights before the pull? It will do more damage than one flamestrike on a single target boss. The only time i think it would be a dps increase to pre-cast flamestrike on the pull would be where you can't pre-cast a pyroblast such as on Norushen or maybe Garrosh depending on your positioning for pulling the boss.

[LocNess]

Surely you should be pre-casting a pyroblast most fights before the pull? It will do more damage than one flamestrike on a single target boss. The only time i think it would be a dps increase to pre-cast flamestrike on the pull would be where you can't pre-cast a pyroblast such as on Norushen or maybe Garrosh depending on your positioning for pulling the boss.

I think he was joking...

[Abhorsen]

Flamestrike doesn't have the concecration ground damage effect anymore though. It's just the burst, followed by a dot on each target that you hit... So, it doesn't matter if they stand in the ground effect afterwards.

Flamestrike is still one of the highest single aoe spells for the Mages, the only reason why it usually's kinda bad is because of the cast time. In Arcane you can get really sweet Flamestrike's, as it scales with the Mastery.

It scales with mastery yeah, but so does Blizzard which means Blizzard is still a lot better.

[Pyromelter]

It scales with mastery yeah, but so does Blizzard which means Blizzard is still a lot better.

both of them are insanely inferior to both arcane explosion and glyphed cone of cold. neither are worth casting if adds are up and you can be anywhere near the adds. Which, to be honest, sucks, and whoever made it like that needs to get fired, because I liked the flamestrike-Blizzard combo for aoe.

[maizensh]

both of them are insanely inferior to both arcane explosion and glyphed cone of cold. neither are worth casting if adds are up and you can be anywhere near the adds. Which, to be honest, sucks, and whoever made it like that needs to get fired, because I liked the flamestrike-Blizzard combo for aoe.

Flamestrike's DPET is just a little lower than non-buffed glyphed cone of cold, but requires no special positioning. And blizzard does wonders for frost mages when you drop it on 5+ adds, and also doesn't require positioning when compared to arcane explosion. So it's not all that bad, but still they're situational and spamming them is plain wrong.
While we're at it, cone of cold has another big advantage for frost mages, because you can combo it with freeze and frozen thoughts to pull absurd amounts of damage on adds (nova combos are less successful because it creates a gcd gap, and many roots break by then). Same combo works with flamestrike as well, but requires some finesse to execute correctly and doesn't benefit from frozen thoughts, though still worthwhile because it doesn't require positioning.