About FOTM spec, viability. and other such concepts

[scuac]

With a new patch on the horizon, of course the forums are bursting with activity, analysis, speculation, etc. on what Mages are going to look like after 5.2. This got me thinking, all these discussions about which will be the FOTM spec, or which specs will be viable or whic will be in the toilet, are all of these from the point of view of heroic progression/ realm first groups? Or does it apply to any difficulty in general?

My question comes from the fact that I raid, I love raiding, but my group is casual, we usually clear normal in a tier and maybe try a few of the first heroic bosses at the end of the cycle. So, should someone who is NOT planning on doing heroic T15 worry at all about the state of Mages? Or for normal raiding are all specs going to be allright? (As a side note, I have been raiding as Frost all of MoP and have been topping meters in everything I do, should I expect that to change after 5.2?).

The sky is not falling,
Cheers

[LocNess]

I am sure Arcane will need to be looked at once the numbers roll in for the latest nerf, however, all specs I believe are viable for normal raiding. The best IMO is looking to be Fire right now overall, but due to its scaling I am sure it will be nerfed in a hotfix.

[Tehstool]

This is just my advice: Even if you are a casual I'd still play the best spec. It could make the difference in killing the boss, you never know.

I don't know what will be the fotm spec though. It'll probably be something unexpected like frost though.

[Deleted]

Even if i'm raiding in a casual guild (2 raid / week atm), i'm still dedicated to do my best.

I'm a dps, I should choose the spec that brings the most dps out of it, and work on it to maximize my dps. Thats how I roll .

If everyone just plays without working on his char, maximizing its effectiveness etc.. Then the boss are only gonna be a bigger hurdle to jump over.

As for topping meters, it doesnt means anything, toping meters in LFR easy as pie, I usually have 4/5% more than the second player, and in my guild, its very rare that I don't, but they don't have the same standards as my and don't work as much.
I've seen fire mage doing normals with their guild and topping meters while they were doing around 75k dps. It doesnt mean they are good, or that fire is a good spec or whatnot.
It just means they are playing with players that are certainly less "skilled", or get their enjoyment from playing the spec they like the most, without any sort of optimization.
Topping meters doesnt mean a thing, what I aim for is being as close to what my char can do (~simcraft), do my best, and helping people to do so too. Thats how I get my fun .

[Polarthief]

I am sure Arcane will need to be looked at once the numbers roll in for the latest nerf, however, all specs I believe are viable for normal raiding. The best IMO is looking to be Fire right now overall, but due to its scaling I am sure it will be nerfed in a hotfix.

Fire won't be that great until later in the tier once we get gear. Atm, it's just as good/bad as your current gear.

Also, if they nerf CM any further, they're just going to have to scrap it because it's already as low as it can go. Making it a 10-15% boost won't do much for us, and cause another backlash like it did 3 days after 5.1.

[LocNess]

Fire won't be that great until later in the tier once we get gear. Atm, it's just as good/bad as your current gear.

Also, if they nerf CM any further, they're just going to have to scrap it because it's already as low as it can go. Making it a 10-15% boost won't do much for us, and cause another backlash like it did 3 days after 5.1.

Fire is fine now and can top charts no problem. We are if anything being buffed with making Scorch baseline. Why would Fire not already be good?