Whats the current dps spec for mages?

[remeyz]

Now im getting back into wow and im at a 370 ilvl with my mage now is arcane the spec to be now or is it fire?

[dumyguy]

fire > arcane

unless ur raid needs the 3% damage buff from arcane / you cant play fire well and do more as arcane
most of the fights in dragon soul really cripple arcane tho

[Aquamonkey]

Generally, fire is better than arcane. It depends on the fight and the needs of your raid. Arcane is good for fights were you need strong burst dps to kill something quickly (H Zon eyes/tentacles, H Blackhorn drakes, H Spine tendons, H Madness parasites). Although most of these burst dps demands are greatly relaxed with the 25% debuff.

[mrgreenthump]

For a short fight like morchok with 25% nerf its better to be arcane if your raid dps is over 300k, but ye arcane is much more forgiving on target switching and does damage on queue

fire.. well its steady damage all the time but wont do anything awesome aside from random streaks of luck during hero/bloodlust.

[Azimo]

Also, as a matter of personal taste, I didn't find Fire to have enough oomph and crit for my taste at 370. It was after I got a few upgrades and sat around 376-380 that I felt Fire worked better. Also, judging from your current gear level, it sounds like you left in early Cata. The big difference in 4.3 is that although Fire tends to have bigger numbers, the specs are much more equal than previous tiers. So if your goal is to raid, Arcane is just fine and not subpar. And as the above poster said, if raiding is not your goal, do whatever you like most.

[Gamdwelf]

Its frost, it really is.

[Aktec]

I think both arcane and fire are very even atm, the only reason I play fire is due to it being so much better on Yor'shaj and I'm not that bothered to go back and reforge mid raid. I find playing arcane in fire reforges isn't too bad compared to playing fire in arcane reforges which just annoys me because you dont get as many crits and can rarely get off a good combust on adds on Yor'shaj.

But with 370 ilev, it might be better to go arcane. And then go fire when you get more stats/crit on your gear.

[Gamdwelf]

Also mages have 3 specs, and all of them are dps specs.

[Gamdwelf]

unless ur raid needs the 3% damage buff from arcane / you cant play fire well and do more as arcane
most of the fights in dragon soul really cripple arcane tho

Thats why you should be frost.

[Aquamonkey]

If you go frost, you are almost 100% guaranteed to rank on WoL.

[Video Games]

If you go frost, you are almost 100% guaranteed to rank on WoL.

Yeah, I remember playing frost on heroic v&t and getting world second. Good times.

[charleslolz]

Fire, although Arcane may work on certain bosses, especially now wit the zone buff which makes the fights shorter. Fire have the ability do an insane amount of damage, while the best arcane player, and the best fire may come on the same dps, with some luck fire can push alot longer

[DStrukt]

Fire man, always fire.
Even when arcane was "the best", and every sheep in the wow universe was specced Arcane, I was still fire and always will be fire because FIRE IS ALWAYS THE BEST WAY TO PLAY 3rd party addons such as recount make no difference whatsoever to what the best spec is

[vian]

Fire or Arcane depending on the fight.

[Coldpro]

Its frost, it really is.

A good frostie can pump out 30K or so, perfect for normal DS! However, for hardmodes, I'd go Fire, its amazing right now. Arcane has hardly any AoE at all compared to Fire as well, and you WILL need AoE on H Yor.

[Gamdwelf]

A good frostie can pump out 30K or so, perfect for normal DS! However, for hardmodes, I'd go Fire, its amazing right now. Arcane has hardly any AoE at all compared to Fire as well, and you WILL need AoE on H Yor.

only 30k? a good frosty can do way more than that.

[Detronic]

Thread: Whats the current dps spec for mages?

Umm, all current mage specs do dps. Unless you roll holy or resto.

[Twotonsteak]

Now im getting back into wow and im at a 370 ilvl with my mage now is arcane the spec to be now or is it fire?

Arcane or Fire, depending on your preference/play-style/raid needs.

Personally I was Arcane until my (casual-raiding) guild started hard-modes in DS. As we already had two other Arcane Mage, and I had more experience playing Fire, I was asked to go Fire.

My experience is that Fire will surpass Arcane on most boss fights in DS IF you are comfortable and experienced with it. Just be mindful of things like Impact during the Spine fight. It's easy to misjudge the distance and accidentally spread a Combustion to tenticles you don't want to kill.

[Gamdwelf]

Thread: Whats the current dps spec for mages?

Umm, all current mage specs do dps. Unless you roll holy or resto.

This is what I have been trying to say, and even holy can dps alright, resto is ok too, if you make use of Tree form to get extra dps out.

[Mormolyce]

Yeah, I remember playing frost on heroic v&t and getting world second. Good times.

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven huh? :P