Fire Mage guide for WoW Forever

The Fire Mage in WoW Forever lives on critical strikes. Heating Up turns crits into a fast Pyroblast, Ignite burns the target after every crit, and the reworked Fire Power rewards every Fire effect on your target. The spec scales very well with gear, but it is slow to start while leveling. This guide covers the builds, rotation, mana, survival and gear.

Role	Ranged damage, critical strikes and burns
Build at level 30	19 to 21 points in Fire, Talented adds Critical Mass and hit chance
Key talents	Heating Up, Pyroblast, Ignite, Improved Scorch, Incineration
Strength	High damage that scales with gear, good mana, group utility
Weakness	Needs critical strike chance, weak while leveling
Leveling	Mage leveling guide
Other specs	Frost Mage, Arcane Mage

What changes for Fire

• Heating Up is new. A talent at level 25. Every non-periodic critical strike with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast or Scorch makes your next Pyroblast within 20 seconds 25% faster, up to 3 stacks. Fire Blast gives a stack every time it hits.
• Critical Mass is stronger. 2% critical strike chance for Fire spells per point, 10% at 5/5.
• Fire Power is reworked. It now counts your Fire effects on the target, up to four: 3% more Fire damage per effect at 3/3, so 12% at most.
• Ignite is weaker. It burns for 40% of the critical strike over 4 seconds. Rolling Ignite from one crit to the next is no longer worth it.
• Flamestrike no longer stacks. Only one Flamestrike burn stays on a target.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Pyroblast is now part of the rotation, thanks to Heating Up	Without critical strike chance, Heating Up and Ignite do little
Scales very well with critical strike chance, gear and level	The weakest Mage spec while leveling
Better on mana than Arcane, later with Master of Elements	Less survival than Frost, and no Ice Block
Arcane Intellect, Dampen Magic, Amplify Magic, food, water and portals	Needs hit chance against bosses, which costs talent points

Two builds for level 30

Both builds use the 21 points you have at level 30. Talented from the Legacy system adds 5 points to each.

Dungeon build

For dungeons and bosses above your level. 2/5 Elemental Precision in Frost keeps your spells from missing, and 3/3 Improved Scorch is in even without Talented, because the Fire damage bonus is so strong. There are no points left for Critical Mass or Master of Elements without giving up hit chance. Open the build in the talent calculator.

Talent	Points
Improved Fireball	5/5
Incineration	1/3
Ignite	5/5
Burning Soul	3/3
Pyroblast	1/1
Improved Scorch	3/3
Heating Up	1/1
Elemental Precision	2/5

Open the Talented version with Incineration 2/3, Critical Mass 3/5 and Elemental Precision 3/5.

Solo build

For questing against monsters at or below your level, so without Elemental Precision. All points go into Fire, with Incineration 2/3 and the first point of Critical Mass for more critical strikes. Open the build in the talent calculator.

Talent	Points
Improved Fireball	5/5
Incineration	2/3
Ignite	5/5
Burning Soul	3/3
Pyroblast	1/1
Improved Scorch	3/3
Heating Up	1/1
Critical Mass	1/5

Open the Talented version with Critical Mass 5/5 and Fire Power 1/3. Want more burst? Take Blast Wave instead of Fire Power, for an area attack every 45 seconds. The Mage level build gives a talent for every level from 10 to 35.

What the key talents do

Talent	What it does in Forever
Improved Fireball	Fireball and Frostfire Bolt cast 0.5 seconds faster at 5/5. A must
Incineration	6% more critical strike chance for Fire Blast and Scorch at 3/3, also for Arcane Blast and Ice Lance. Every point means more Heating Up
Ignite	Every Fire critical strike burns the target for 40% of its damage over 4 seconds
Pyroblast	A long cast with heavy damage and a burn. The heart of the spec
Burning Soul	70% chance to keep casting when you take damage, and 30% less threat from Fire spells
Improved Scorch	Every Scorch adds a stack: 3% more Fire damage from you per stack, 15% at 5 stacks
Heating Up	Up to 75% faster Pyroblast after critical strikes. Without it the spec falls apart
Critical Mass	10% more critical strike chance for Fire spells at 5/5
Fire Power	More Fire damage for every Fire effect on the target, see below
Elemental Precision	1% more chance to hit with Fire and Frost spells per point. Needed against bosses

Rotation

One enemy

1. Pre-cast Pyroblast before a boss fight. Pull a normal monster with Fireball.
2. Cast Scorch until Improved Scorch has 5 stacks.
3. Cast Fire Blast on cooldown: it always gives a Heating Up stack.
4. Cast Fireball, and Scorch again when the stacks are about to run out.
5. Cast Pyroblast as soon as Heating Up has 3 stacks.
6. Frost Blast to slow a target from a distance, Frost Nova rank 1 to lock down a dangerous monster, Cone of Cold when it reaches you.
7. Counterspell on a dangerous cast, Polymorph on a dangerous extra enemy.

A pack of enemies

1. Cast Flamestrike, and again when its burn runs out. It no longer stacks.
2. Cast Blast Wave on cooldown after Flamestrike, if you took it.
3. Spam Arcane Explosion.

At higher levels the rotation looks like this: Improved Scorch at 5 stacks, Fire Blast, Fireball, Pyroblast, Fireball, Fire Blast, Pyroblast, and so on.

Heating Up and Fire Power

Heating Up is the core of the spec. Each non-periodic critical strike gives a stack, and each stack makes your next Pyroblast 25% faster, up to 75% at 3 stacks. At low levels it hardly procs, because your critical strike chance is low. Incineration, Critical Mass, gear and levels make it more reliable. Fire Blast gives a stack on every hit and two on a critical strike, so you cast it on cooldown.

Fire Power counts the Fire effects on your target, up to four: the burn of Fireball, Improved Scorch, Ignite and the burn of Pyroblast. Effects that mix schools, such as Frostfire Bolt, do not count. The bonus does not show as a buff or a debuff on the target. It moves between 2 and 4 effects: Improved Scorch and Fireball are almost always there, Ignite and Pyroblast depend on your critical strikes.

Mana

Fire spells cost a lot, but Fire needs less mana control than Arcane.

• Master of Elements refunds 30% of the base mana cost of every Fire or Frost critical strike at 3/3. Out of reach at level 30, but later it procs almost all the time.
• Mage Armor from level 34 keeps 50% of your mana regeneration while casting. A dip into Arcane Meditation makes it 100%.
• Evocation restores your mana over a few seconds, with a long cooldown. Save it for long boss fights. A High Order Skyborne can combine it with Read Leyline.
• Mana gems such as Conjure Mana Agate restore mana with one charge per gem. Make a new one before every long fight.
• Mana potions restore a lot, depending on their level.

Survival

Fire has less survival than Frost and no Ice Block. Kill a target before it kills you, and pick your fights. Blink and Frost Nova get you out of most trouble. Mana Shield costs too much mana to use all the time, but Mana Shield with Evocation can save you as a last resort.

Use Frost Blast or rank 1 Frostbolt to slow a target from a distance, Cone of Cold as an instant slow (the first four targets are slowed the most), and Polymorph to take a target out of the fight. Blast Wave also dazes everything around you. Fences, hills and buildings break line of sight, which buys you casts.

Cooldowns and utility

• Frost Nova is for attack and defense. Use it as often as you can.
• Fire Blast goes on cooldown for Heating Up.
• Blast Wave deals heavy damage around you and dazes, good for burst or as a slow when Cone of Cold is on cooldown.
• Remove Lesser Curse removes Curses and Banes. Use it fast on dangerous ones.
• Amplify Magic makes a group member take more damage from spells, but receive more healing. Good against physical damage.
• Dampen Magic lowers spell damage taken, but also the healing received. Use it against casters, not against enemies that burst you down.
• Polymorph a dangerous target in every group pull.

Stats and gear

The exact priority at level 60 follows after the launch. These stats help a Fire Mage:

• Spell damage and Fire spell damage first. Fire spell damage only helps Fire spells, and it works with Fire Power.
• Critical strike chance is the heart of the spec: a critical strike deals 50% more damage, and Heating Up, Incineration, Critical Mass, Ignite and Combustion all build on it.
• Intellect for a bigger mana pool and more critical strike chance.
• Haste means faster casts. At low levels only Troll (Berserking) and High Order Skyborne (Wind Blessed) get it.
• Spirit and mana per 5 seconds help once Mage Armor keeps part of your regeneration going while casting.
• Stamina comes on most gear. You do not need to look for more.

Armor. Cloth with spell damage, Intellect and Stamina. Violet Sorcerer’s Robes at level 27 is a new robe with Intellect and spell damage. Later you find critical strike chance and Haste on gear.

Weapons. Weapons got a lot more spell damage in Forever. Look for Intellect, Stamina and spell damage, such as Death Prophet Spine, but a weapon with only spell damage, such as Buzzer Blade, can be the better pick.

Wands. The new Enchanting wands carry you: Lesser Magic Wand and Greater Magic Wand early, Lesser Eternal Wand and Greater Eternal Wand later. Torch of Light waits at level 60. Look for spell damage and wand damage per second.

Races and professions

Faction	Race	Why
Horde	Orc	Blood Fury: 10% more spell power. Savage: 1% more critical strike chance. Shatter Curse: 5% less magic damage taken
Horde	Troll	Berserking: 10% faster casts. Rapid Regeneration is a survival tool that Fire needs
Horde	Undead	Touch of the Grave is the only racial that helps in PvE. Stronger in PvP
Alliance	Human	Ruthless: 2% more critical strike chance. The Human Spirit: 5% more Spirit, worth more once you have Mage Armor
Alliance	High Order Skyborne	Wind Blessed: 3% Haste. Read Leyline: extra regeneration, also with Evocation. Elemental Insight: 5% more damage to Elementals
Alliance	Gnome	Eureka! is short burst. Expansive Mind: more mana, which matters less later

Orc is the strongest pick in PvE, Troll the second. For the Alliance, Human comes first for the critical strike chance and High Order Skyborne second. Gnome took nerfs on the beta and mainly stays interesting with Engineering. None of it is strong enough to skip a race you like more.

Professions. Tailoring makes cloth sets with spell damage and Intellect, and pairs with Enchanting for your own wands and enchants. Engineering is the best partner for Tailoring if you want the most damage. Herbalism feeds Alchemy, which makes elixirs, potions and flasks.