Mage PvE FAQ

[Swizzle]

Swizzle here, if you have questions, post them here or hit me up via messages. Since I have been unable to run rawr for a while now, I open the floor for skilled and intelligent players to place their input in here.


FAVORED STATS

Arcane*: hit till cap>haste>spellpower>crit
Fire**: hit till cap>crit=spellpower>haste
Frost: hit till cap>spellpower>haste>crit


GEARING

**DISCLAIMER ABOUT BIS SETS**
Your chosen profession and faction affiliation will affect your own personal BiS set-up. Engineer BiS will typically favor higher crit values and reduced haste values TYPICALLY due to the nature of the profession and so forth. Also, Draenei will always look for 1% less hit on gear which changes item priority. The following lists have been formulated and put together by me, Swizzlelol Burning Blade-US, so if you want to bitch about something, that's where to find me.

ARCANE BIS (v1):

Helm:Sanctified Bloodmage Hood
Neck:Blood Queen's Crimson Choker
Shoulders:Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads
Back:Shroud of Endless Grief
Chest:Sanctified Bloodmage Robe
Bracers:Bracers of Fiery Night
Gloves:Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves
Belt:Crushing Coldwraith Belt
Legs:Plaguebringer's Stained Pants
Feet:Plague Scientist's Boots
Ring 1:Ring of Rapid Ascent
Ring 2:Ashen Band of Endless Destruction
Trinket 1:Heart of Ignacious
Trinket 2:Theralion's Mirror
Weapon:Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony
Off Hand:Shadow Silk Spindle
Wand:Corpse Impaling Spike

FIRE BIS (v1):

Helm:Sanctified Bloodmage Hood
Neck:Blood Queen's Crimson Choker
Shoulders:Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads
Back:Shroud of Endless Grief
Chest:Robe of Waking Nightmare
Bracers:Bracers of Fiery Night
Gloves:Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves
Belt:Crushing Coldwraith Belt
Legs:Sanctified Bloodmage Leggings
Feet:Plague Scientist's Boots
Ring 1:Loop of the Endless Labyrinth
Ring 2:Ashen Band of Endless Destruction
Trinket 1:Heart of Ignacious
Trinket 2:Bell of Enraging Resonance
Weapon:Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony
Off Hand:Shadow Silk Spindle
Wand:Corpse Impaling Spike

FROST BIS (v1):

Helm:Sanctified Bloodmage Hood
Neck:Blood Queen's Crimson Choker
Shoulders:Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads
Back:Shroud of Endless Grief
Chest:Sanctified Bloodmage Robe
Bracers:Bracers of Fiery Night
Gloves:Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves
Belt:Crushing Coldwraith Belt
Legs:Plaguebringer's Stained Pants
Feet:Plague Scientist's Boots
Ring 1:Ring of Rapid Ascent
Ring 2:Ashen Band of Endless Destruction
Trinket 1:Bell of Enraging Resonance
Trinket 2:Theralion's Mirror
Weapon:Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony
Off Hand:Shadow Silk Spindle
Wand:Corpse Impaling Spike

TALENT SPECS & GEMS

Arcane:


Gems
Meta:Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
Red:Brilliant Cardinal Ruby or Reckless Ametrine once haste=1.2 spellpower for you.
Blue:Veiled Dreadstone
Yellow:Reckless Ametrine

Fire:


Gems***
Meta:Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
Red:Brilliant Cardinal Ruby, Reckless Ametrine once haste=1.2 spellpower for you, or Potent Ametrine once 1 crit=1.2 spellpower for you.
Blue:Veiled Dreadstone
Yellow:Reckless Ametrine or Potent Ametrine once 1 crit=1.2 spellpower for you.

***Note: Fire gemming changes depending gear level and stat values. If you are lacking crit and have a heavy amount of haste, then crit is vastly superior. If it is the other way around, the opposite is true.

ENCHANTS

Helm:Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
Neck: none, neck enchants don't exist my friend
Shoulders:Greater Inscription of the Storm, Master's Inscription of the Storm
Back:Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed, Lightweave Embroidery, Springy Arachnoweave
Chest:Formula: Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
Bracers:Enchant Bracers - Superior Spellpower, Fur Lining - Spell Power
Gloves:Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower, Hyperspeed Accelerators
Belt:Frag Belt
Legs:Brilliant Spellthread
Boots:Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality, Nitro Boosts
Ring 1:Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower
Ring 2:Enchant Ring - Greater Spellpower
Weapon: Sword/Dagger=Black Magic, Staff=Enchant Staff - Greater Spellpower


ROTATIONS

COMMONLY USED ACRONYMS (know these):

Arcane:
ab= Arcane Blast
abarr= Arcane Barrage
am= Arcane Missiles
PoM= Presence of Mind
AP= Arcane Power
evo= Evocation
invis= Invisibility

Fire:
fb= Fireball
lb= Living Bomb
pyro= Pyroblast
HS= Hot Streak
DB= Dragon's Breath
BW= Blast Wave
FFB= Frostfire Bolt

Frost:
FrB= Frostbolt
IV= Icy Veins
CS= Cold Snap
shatter= 50% crit bonus on frozen targets
FoF= Fingers of Frost
BrF= Brain Freeze
WE= Water Elemental
IB= Ice Block
ibarr= Ice Barrier
DF= Deep Freeze


Rotations

Arcane:

If high on mana: you may extend the arcane blast spam to fish for a mbarr proc
If low on mana: reduce arcane blast spam to 3 followed by mbarr (if procced), otherwise use an unhasted arcane missiles
NEVER cast arcane barrage unless moving
Stagger haste cooldowns to keep from going under the 1 second GCD cap with your arcane blasts and mbarr.

Fire:

Without demo/affli lock
scorch-->lb-->FFBx3-->fb spam-->HS on proc
Refresh lb when it falls off
With 2 piece t10, refresh lb before using HS if lb has 1-3 seconds remaining

With demo/affli lock
lb-->FFBx3-->fb spam-->HS on proc
Refresh lb when it falls off
With 2 piece t10, refresh lb before using HS if lb has 1-3 seconds remaining

Frost (i hate you if you play this spec in a raid setting):
FrB spam-->DF (when off CD and during FoF ghost charges)


HIT RATING REQUIREMENTS FOR RAIDS

TOTAL HIT REQUIRED

Arcane: 17%
TtW/fire: 17%
Frost: 17%

Hit Racials
1% Draenei from Heroic Presence


SPELLPOWER COEFFICIENTS

Note: DD designates the direct damage portion of a spell, aka the big number you see when your spell hits the target. DoT represents the damage over time portion. For living bomb, DD represents the explosion part of the spell whereas DoT represents the damage it does for the duration of the spell prior to the explosion.

Arcane Abilites

Arcane Blast: 71.43% (80.43% with Arcane Empowerment)

Arcane Explosion: 21.28%

Arcane Missiles: 142.86% total, 28.57% per pulse (187.86%/37.57% with Arcane Empowerment)

Mana Shield: 80.53%

Arcane Barrage: 71.43%

Fire Abilities

Blast Wave: 19.36%

Dragon's Breath: 19.36%

Fire Blast: 42.86%

Fireball: 100.0% (115.0% with Empowered Fire)

FireballDoT: 0.0%

Flamestrike: 23.57%

FlamestrikeDoT: 48.8% (12.2% per tick)

Pyroblast: 115.0%

PyroblastDoT: 20.0% (5% per tick)

Scorch: 42.86%

Frostfire BoltDD: 85.71% (100.71% with Empowered Fire)

Frostfire BoltDoT: 0.0%

Living BombDoT: 80.0% (20.0% per tick)

Living BombDD: 40.0%

Frost Abilities

Blizzard: 115% (14.37% per tick)

Cone of Cold: 21.4%

Frost Nova: 19.3%

Frostbolt: 81.43% (91.43% with Empowered Frostbolt)

Ice Barrier: 80.53%

Ice Lance: 14.29%

Summons and pet abilities

Mirror Image: 33% of the mage's spell power

Frost Bolt (Mirror Image): 30% of the image's spell power (10% of the mage's spell power)

Fire Blast (Mirror Image): 15% of the image's spell power (5% of the mage's spell power)

Summon Water Elemental: 33% of the mage's spell power

Water Bolt (Water Elemental): 83.33% of the elemental's spell power (27.78% of the mage's spell power)


CALCULATING DAMAGE

Once you know the coefficient of your spell, you can make a rough estimate of how much it will hit for.

To illustrate, I will be using Fireball: 100.0% (115.0% with Empowered Fire) as an example.

Let us assume you have 1,000 spellpower exactly. To calculate how much of this your fireball would get, you first divide the percentage by 100 to attain a decimal amount.

115/100= 1.15

Now that you have the decimal amount, you multiply it with your spellpower total.

1,000x1.15= 1,150

In this case, your fireball is gaining 1,150 additional damage. But what does that mean? Well, take a look at the spell tooltip Fireball. Do you see the high and low end estimates for damage? Good, because that is what you will use to figure out how much your fireball will hit for.

Take the low end for your max rank Fireball:

888

to that, add the bonus damage from spellpower:

888+1,150=2,038

So with 1,000 spellpower, your Fireballs will do a minimum of 2,038 damage (before partial resists are factored in, but those are kind of random).

Take the high end for your max rank Fireball:

1,132

to that, add the bonus damage from spellpower:

1,132+1,150=2,282

So with 1,000 spellpower, your Fireballs will do a maximum of 2,282 damage (before partial resists and damage buffs are factored in).

As you can see, your spellpower took Fireball from doing 888-1,132 damage to 2,038-2,282 damage. You can use this method to figure out, on your own, a rough estimate of how much damage you SHOULD be doing.


Today, we move on to one of my favorite topics and one that gets readily mistaken/butchered on these forums: spell haste.


SPELL HASTE DEFINED

Contrary to popular belief, haste does not reduce your cast time directly, rather it speeds up the rate at which you cast. Think of it more like crack or speed rather than a weight loss pill.


HASTE FORMULA

Yes, much like everything else in this game, haste is calculated using a mathematical formula. In case for some reason you were not aware of this, everything in WoW is decided by formulas and math. Having a basic grasp of this makes the game much easier.

THE FORMULA:

New Cast Time = (Base Casting Time)/(1 + (% Spell Haste/100) )

The reason I added in the "/100" aspect to the formula is because many people would simply plug in the percentage haste they saw on their character pane and added 1 to it (i.e. 32%+1=33%).
This is wrong.

Let's work out an example.

Let us assume you have 30% haste from gear and NO haste increasing talents and a base cast time of 2 seconds. "x" will represent the final cast time.

x= (2)/(1+(30/100)
x= (2)/(1+.3)
x= 2/1.3
x= 1.54

So with this we see that 30% haste would reduce the cast time to 1.54 seconds. This is the proper calculation due to the fact that we are INCREASING cast speed and NOT reducing cast time.

If haste simply reduced your cast time, the formula would look like this: New Cast Time = (Base Casting Time) - (Base Cast Time x (% Spell Haste/100))

Let's work out an improper example using the same 2 second cast time and 30% haste. "x" still represents the final cast time.

x= (2)-(2 x (30/100))
x= 2-(2 x 0.3)
x= 2-0.6
x= 1.4

Using the wrong formula and incorrect understanding of haste gives a new cast time of 1.4 seconds. This can cause confusion in game and incorrect gearing/planning in game.

AVOID THIS MISTAKE AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!


HASTE RATINGS

Level 80: 1% is equal to 32.79 rating
Level 81: 1% is equal to 37.357 rating
Level 82: 1% is equal to 53.199 rating
Level 83: 1% is equal to 75.76 rating
Level 84: 1% is equal to 107.89 rating
Level 85: 1% is equal to 153.645 rating

POSSIBLE RAID/GROUP HASTE BUFFS

5% from Wrath of Air Totem
3% from Improved Moonkin Form or Swift Retribution
20% for 15 seconds from Power Infusion
20% for 20 seconds from Icy Veins(self only)
30% for 40 seconds from Bloodlust/Heroism
20% for 10 seconds from Berserking(trolls only)

HASTE AND YOUR DOTS



HARD & SOFT CAPS EXPLAINED

When talking about haste caps, one has to understand the differences between 3 types (2 if you fold GCD cap into one of the others): hard cap, soft cap, and GCD cap.

GCD CAP

This cap refers to the point at which your global cooldown, base 1.5 seconds, is reduced to its minimum of 1 second.

Percent haste needed for cap: 50%

HARD CAP

This is the point at which your main nuke is reduced to the length of the minimal global cooldown WITHOUT any sort of haste buffs, aka from gear alone.

Percent haste needed for cap:

1.5 second nuke- 50% haste
2 second nuke- 100% haste
2.5 second nuke- 150% haste
3 second nuke- 200% haste

Keep in mind, you would need these values from gear alone to reach the hard cap. As you can see, the numbers are pretty much unobtainable, but it's not bad to know.

SOFT CAP

This is the simplest cap to reach yet hardest to explain. This is the amount of haste you would need to bring your main nuke down to the minimal GCD of 1 second using cooldowns and buffs. The problem with this is that for us mages, this cap is entirely within our control. Our haste buffs are all activated so if we hit this cap during a combination of cooldowns (lust and icy veins for example), we can simply stagger them to avoid the problem.

The most readily noticed soft cap would be Bloodlust or Heroism up-time. If you are attaining a main nuke of 1 second using bloodlust/heroism alone, you are at the accepted mage soft cap for haste.


SWIZZLE APPROVED HASTE TOOL

There is one tool out there, created by a MMO poster no less, that I recommend heavily when dealing with issues of haste.
Milamber's "Haste Cap Calculator"

If you are having problems figuring out your caps on your own, then this calc is a great tool to see where you stand and what you can change around to avoid/reach said caps.

[Sukaduk]

Very good stuff man!

[Toriankel]

I don't know if you forgot, but on boots you can also put icewlaker if you are low on hit, or +18 spirit. And in my eyes, blink > rohart's vitality

[Xiangu]

Since you've also listed the profession-specific enchants it's only fair to add the leatherworking wrist enchant :P

[TruffleMuffin]

I don't know if you forgot, but on boots you can also put icewlaker if you are low on hit, or +18 spirit. And in my eyes, blink > rohart's vitality

This is intended as constructive criticism.

I have to concur, you have provided a list of items, enchants, gems, and Hit cap information based solely on the premise of a well balanced raid for high geared Mages, people who know all this stuff already. Not to point out the obvious but this is supposed to be a Mage FAQ not a I am going to tell you stuff you already know thread.

Suggest you include BiS for a just dinged Mage with reasonable enchants/gems etc as well.

[Deleted]

Great FAQ, just had a query on this part:

if low on mana: reduce arcane blast spam to 3 followed by mbarr (if procced), otherwise use an unhasted arcane missiles
NEVER cast arcane barrage unless moving

Why is unhasted arcane missiles better that arcane barrage? By the time I've finished an unhasted missile barrage, I'd have expected to have unleased an arcane barrage and an arcane blast in the same time frame. Is it a case of unhasted arcane missiles doing better damage, or is this choice made for mana conservation?

[Deleted]

Living Bomb can't be refreshed until it explodes.

[Milamber]

Why is unhasted arcane missiles better that arcane barrage?

Because some nerds did some math on that

[Xiangu]

Great FAQ, just had a query on this part:


Why is unhasted arcane missiles better that arcane barrage? By the time I've finished an unhasted missile barrage, I'd have expected to have unleased an arcane barrage and an arcane blast in the same time frame. Is it a case of unhasted arcane missiles doing better damage, or is this choice made for mana conservation?

It does have to do with dpm yes but also - your haste should be high enough that your arcane missiles are never taking _too_ long. I mean arcane barrage will always take _at least_ 1 second (while costing insane amounts of mana) due to the gcd-cap while arcane missiles hasted will only take _as_ long and in its unhastened form only unsignificantly longer while doing good damage and costing almost no mana. Arcane Barrage is very good if you have to move with a stacked arcane blast..

[Deleted]

Ninja'ing this thread for just a quick question really ; Armory link - http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sh...land&n=lyselle

Last night I got http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47182 to replace http://www.wowhead.com/?item=48724 now I know reign is ranked as better but it's a huge mana loss etc... so I'm wondering if it will have a negative effect on my DPS over long fights , any idea's !? I fail at RAWR so please don't ask me to go see what that says.. :P

[Xiangu]

You won't lose DPS over longer fights, take the Reign of the Unliving.

[Swizzle]

there are certain...complications on my end in making a BiS list for newly dinged mages, mostly because a newly dinged mage can get 4 piece t9 in 2-3 days worth of heroics (conservative estimate, i farmed 4 piece for my priest alt in a single day. red bull helps), and upgrades come at a steady pace that a BiS list for that would be near obsolete. also, it would be a much different list for every player depending on what gear they ding 80 with. i hit 80 with a mix of t5-6 and s4 gear. oddly enough, there weren't that many upgrades from heroics outside hit pieces.

as per the whole gemming issue, just take the blue or green quality version of the epic gems listed, they have the same prefix.

i based my lists and suggestions off of high-end raiding because that's what i know personally and it's something every player should be shooting for. if you plan on being middle of the road, then you probably don't need to be reading a FAQ. also, while many high-end mages already know this information, those who WANT to get there may not, and this is something they can use to close the gap or seem super elitist in pugs.

yes, living bomb can't be refreshed before it explodes, but with the current 2 piece t10 bonus (and prior, but even more so now) refreshing living bomb is a priority over using hot streak. if you use hot streak first and then refresh a living bomb, you are losing out on the proc and wasting 1-1.5 additional seconds (the initial loss being from the GCD generated by the use of hot streak in the first place).

i'll go back and add in the leather working enchant, it totally just escaped my mind when making the list. other than that, i don't plan on adding +18 spirit to the enchant list since the loss of 2 piece t9 completely kills the enchant, and it wasn't worth much to begin with, and i tend to recommend avoiding icewalker with a passion.

[Marcshall]

I've been thinking that there could be a chance that with the current BiS gear, Glyph of Molten Armor may be a decrease in dps compared to Glyph of Arcane Power.

Since spirit is completely missing from the gear, the only spirit we have is from outside buffs and the minimum amount for each race. As these numbers are actually very hard to find without opening the game, I can't really do any math, but the question is pretty straight forward; how much extra crit are we getting for the basic amount of spirit versus the dps gain in 3 seconds extra arcane power...

[rocius]

nice stuff Sticky pls

[Swizzle]

I've been thinking that there could be a chance that with the current BiS gear, Glyph of Molten Armor may be a decrease in dps compared to Glyph of Arcane Power.

Since spirit is completely missing from the gear, the only spirit we have is from outside buffs and the minimum amount for each race. As these numbers are actually very hard to find without opening the game, I can't really do any math, but the question is pretty straight forward; how much extra crit are we getting for the basic amount of spirit versus the dps gain in 3 seconds extra arcane power...

http://www.wowwiki.com/Race

good guide to the base stats of each race and how the class choice affects it. other than that, i can say that as of now, there is no spirit on any BiS item for us so we'll be sitting at base spirit with only kings, divine spirit, and gift of the wild serving as ways to increase it.

[Pelana]

so here's a question for ya swizzle - equip or on use trinkets - forget about BIS for a sec and whats best - on use to blow shit up for 15-20 secs during a BL or equp trinkets to always be semi blowing shit up and then a blow a little more shit during a BL?

[Skarrd]

so here's a question for ya swizzle - equip or on use trinkets - forget about BIS for a sec and whats best - on use to blow shit up for 15-20 secs during a BL or equp trinkets to always be semi blowing shit up and then a blow a little more shit during a BL?

Depends entirely upon the trinkets and not whether they are "on use" or procs.

Also icewalker is bad. I'd sit 12 hit under cap before I'd drop tuskarrs.

[Swizzle]

so here's a question for ya swizzle - equip or on use trinkets - forget about BIS for a sec and whats best - on use to blow shit up for 15-20 secs during a BL or equp trinkets to always be semi blowing shit up and then a blow a little more shit during a BL?

what skarrd said, but i would highly recommend proc trinkets. why? the ICD is usually a full 75 seconds shorter than an on-use CD is (45 seconds vs 2 minutes) and proc trinkets don't trigger the "burst cooldown", which, if you're an engineer, is an occurrence that kills your face.

proc trinkets also have better (usually, there are a few rare exceptions) passive stats on them and higher proc numbers than an on-use has.

the only thing that favors the on-use is the control you have over it, but your guild could lust 105 seconds after you popped your trinket, which means you have another 15 seconds to go before you can use it again, whereas the proc trinket could proc whenever (and usually procs within lust anyway).

[Marcshall]

http://www.wowwiki.com/Race

good guide to the base stats of each race and how the class choice affects it. other than that, i can say that as of now, there is no spirit on any BiS item for us so we'll be sitting at base spirit with only kings, divine spirit, and gift of the wild serving as ways to increase it.

I already checked all of wiki and you can't see what basestats a mage of any race has at level 80. Anyway, doing some napkin math of a human mage yesterday showed me that fully raid buffed, the Glyph of MA is worth less than 2 crit percentages. I'd be surprised if increasing Arcane Power by the 3 seconds isn't worth more in terms of dps for an arcane mage.

[TruffleMuffin]

I already checked all of wiki and you can't see what basestats a mage of any race has at level 80. Anyway, doing some napkin math of a human mage yesterday showed me that fully raid buffed, the Glyph of MA is worth less than 2 crit percentages. I'd be surprised if increasing Arcane Power by the 3 seconds isn't worth more in terms of dps for an arcane mage.

Then I would be moving back to Mage Armor for Mana regen. 3 seconds is not much for Arcane Power. But the mana regen from Mage armor will facilitate much longer burns with AB alone.