Mage specs, Pro's Con's and What should you pick

[durrtygoodz]

So ... that's Arcane Blast and Arcane Missile. Think you forgot about Barrage and Bombs.

I think he's stuck in Cataclysm

[Deleted]

I think he's stuck in Cataclysm

Cata was hell wasn't it? :P

[Deleted]

Cata was hell wasn't it? :P

Nowai, cata arcane was the best spec ever. Yea, it was a 2 button spec, but it had a lot of depth to it. Mini burns, proper conserve phases, big burns, mini burns with int procs, mobility optimization, handling mana through int procs, getting your burst out at the right times of a fight, etc.

[Fennixx]

Nowai, cata arcane was the best spec ever. Yea, it was a 2 button spec, but it had a lot of depth to it. Mini burns, proper conserve phases, big burns, mini burns with int procs, mobility optimization, handling mana through int procs, getting your burst out at the right times of a fight, etc.

I agree. Cycling between Burn/conserve phase and managing mini burns was quite interesting. A shame we had no other spells to cast but still... was good design IMO. If they kept it for MoP and added bombs (no RoP tho) we'd have similar skill cap we have now.

[Deleted]

I agree. Cycling between Burn/conserve phase and managing mini burns was quite interesting. A shame we had no other spells to cast but still... was good design IMO. If they kept it for MoP and added bombs (no RoP tho) we'd have similar skill cap we have now.

Kind of feels like my frost spec.

Spam frost bolt, keep up my bomb, and wait finger & bomb procs for insta casts.

I shouted it out on vent and got mauled about it.
1,4,1,1,1,1,2,ctrl+1,2,1,1,4,1,1,1,2,2,1,1,ctrl+1

It felt like I was playing arcane at the beginning of the expansion again.

(I do realise this is an oversimplification of the spec)

[Deleted]

I am thinking about switching to Fire from Frost so if anybody could help it would be very much appreciated.
It is not about "when is viable to switch to Fire" but would it actually be beneficial for me to switch considering gear available.
Bellow on picture you can see 2 different setups - possible setup I can reach if I spec Fire and use available gear with 4-set T16 and current Frost setup I am using.
In Frost I go for 14242 Haste break point. I wouldn't go actually higher (full Haste) as I don't feel my PC and my connection (and even maybe reaction times) would work to full potential of such very high Haste levels.

Why am I thinking to switch - I simply have kind of feeling that I am no longer scaling very well. I got some nice upgrades lately but simply have feeling my output is not improving that much as it was before with getting upgrades. As mentioned above going to more Haste Frost build is not something I am in favor of I am thinking maybe it is time to go Fire. I can reach quite decent level of Crit - 17k rating = 47,76% after crit suppression = 50,76% full raid buffed.(visible on picture).

So, question is not if Fire is viable at my level or when to switch to Fire but simply - with gear available to me (see picture) would Fire be able to perform on same or better level than Frost assuming I would be able to play Fire "as good as" Frost?

In Fire setup I would loose 2 ilv (removing HC and WF gear for T16 to have 4 set) and also what I don't like - would loose around 800 SP.

[Deleted]

I am thinking about switching to Fire from Frost so if anybody could help it would be very much appreciated.
It is not about "when is viable to switch to Fire" but would it actually be beneficial for me to switch considering gear available.
Bellow on picture you can see 2 different setups - possible setup I can reach if I spec Fire and use available gear with 4-set T16 and current Frost setup I am using.
In Frost I go for 14242 Haste break point. I wouldn't go actually higher (full Haste) as I don't feel my PC and my connection (and even maybe reaction times) would work to full potential of such very high Haste levels.

Why am I thinking to switch - I simply have kind of feeling that I am no longer scaling very well. I got some nice upgrades lately but simply have feeling my output is not improving that much as it was before with getting upgrades. As mentioned above going to more Haste Frost build is not something I am in favor of I am thinking maybe it is time to go Fire. I can reach quite decent level of Crit - 17k rating = 47,76% after crit suppression = 50,76% full raid buffed.(visible on picture).

So, question is not if Fire is viable at my level or when to switch to Fire but simply - with gear available to me (see picture) would Fire be able to perform on same or better level than Frost assuming I would be able to play Fire "as good as" Frost?

In Fire setup I would loose 2 ilv (removing HC and WF gear for T16 to have 4 set) and also what I don't like - would loose around 800 SP.

Both spec would perform just as well. Frost would win on Fire in certain fights whereas Fire would be better in others. I do not know in what fight you are currently progressing but if you are on Malk HC I'd go Frost, Spoils Frost, Thok Fire, Klaaxi Fire and Garrosh depending on what you are doing. Generally the rule is that on high gear levels what you know best performs best.

SP mean close to nothing, don't use them to support your decisions.

Hope this helped

[Hyber]

I am thinking about switching to Fire from Frost so if anybody could help it would be very much appreciated.
It is not about "when is viable to switch to Fire" but would it actually be beneficial for me to switch considering gear available.
Bellow on picture you can see 2 different setups - possible setup I can reach if I spec Fire and use available gear with 4-set T16 and current Frost setup I am using.
In Frost I go for 14242 Haste break point. I wouldn't go actually higher (full Haste) as I don't feel my PC and my connection (and even maybe reaction times) would work to full potential of such very high Haste levels.

Why am I thinking to switch - I simply have kind of feeling that I am no longer scaling very well. I got some nice upgrades lately but simply have feeling my output is not improving that much as it was before with getting upgrades. As mentioned above going to more Haste Frost build is not something I am in favor of I am thinking maybe it is time to go Fire. I can reach quite decent level of Crit - 17k rating = 47,76% after crit suppression = 50,76% full raid buffed.(visible on picture).

So, question is not if Fire is viable at my level or when to switch to Fire but simply - with gear available to me (see picture) would Fire be able to perform on same or better level than Frost assuming I would be able to play Fire "as good as" Frost?

Hey Mauro,

Grats on considering other specs during your progress. With your ilvl, I would suspect your progress is limited to first ~6-8 bosses of Heroic SoO? (my apologies if I'm wrong here!)
In which case, I would actually suggest going Arcane with your itemized gear. You may opt for another spec depending on if you're further.
I am/was in a similar scenario/gear composition as you recently. I reach around the same levels of crit etc, and swapped from Fire to Arcane(~5-10 ilvls ago, without H trinkets and H wep) to see an increase in damage. That being said, I've since collected H WF Wep, H Trinkets - and am actually considering going back to Fire. I'd only lose on 1 heroic Arcane itemized piece to make the swap. Big part of my consideration is the fact that my guild is working on Thok and raid only 7 hrs / week and using double lockout. This means we're going to be working on Siegecrafter next...Both fights that Fire would yield higher than Arcane/Frost.
I've sought the advice of Vykina from Method about making this swap to Fire for these bosses, and consider Fire still competitive with Arcane at these ilvls (Arcane higher in AoE intensive fights) so anything to help my guild while playing the spec I prefer, may be better. Plus, good to pick now while i continue to gear up. Which is good because I can get more Fire pieces from 10 bosses than Arcane pieces (OH, Helm, ring, 2 tiers unavailable as Arcane vs 2 tiers as Fire)

If you really like Frost, play Frost during those encounters. Your gear should be fine for Fire atm, but if you're clearing less than 8 bosses, you'll probably find Arcane yield more dps overall - even if just slightly. And this applies to Frost vs Arcane; which btw, is easily swappable.

Findings:
Arcane - Immers, Protectors (depending on how guild does it, if they put them spread out -- arcane is better), Galakras, Spoils, Paragons & probably Garrosh.
Fire - Protectors (if guild puts them closer together to cleave), Shamans, Thok, Siege.
Rest of bosses are split between the two. Hopefully this shows where you should aim depending on your progress. Also, not that you CAN make arcane/fire work for opposing fights, like Thok - there are tricks to make arcane viable. Just speaking overall and generally.