Mage Builds

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Barfish88

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Sup all

Trying to figure out which is the best raiding/instance/pve build to go for. At the moment I am deep fire. But am having problems downing fire elementals,etc. Last night in gruuls there was a frost mage who was 2nd highest in dps and all he was spamming was frostbolt. Atm I crit for about 3.5k but when 2 or more mobs come I get owned :(
 
What are your stats at the moment?

Spell Crit
Spell Hit
Spell damage?
 
The mage mantra is : fire until 2 piece t5 bonus, then arcane.

Focus primarily on spell hit until capped, from there on +spelldamage. Spell penetration is worthless for pve. Don't bother.

Frost, generally, isn't great for raiding. If that guy was hitting #2 on Gruul with a frost build, he must have been pretty well geared.
 
Whoo hoo, mage thread :D

This is my build:

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ofZxxMzfcIoeRtMA00o

Its for raiding and sucks in PvP (I've tried >.<). Great DPS though.

You need to focus on spell hit (164 with Elemental Precision) which gives you 99% hit and you need a lot of spell crit. Focus on one spell class rather than all 3, then you can use easier to come by gear like Wrath of Spellfire set or Shadowfrost.

With badge rewards you get from heroics you can also get some really nice gear :)

I currently have 164 Spell hit :D 27.6% Spell crit and 1125 spell damage unbuffed :D
 
Don't listen to them blabbing on about fire being the best raid spec (well it is but only much later on when you have 4xt6). Frost is generally better than fire in the early stages for sure, if you lucky to get 2xT5 then the most fun spec arcane blast! (arcane / frost) is a definite, that you 15% jump ahead of the rest is the best! until you get your 4xt6 gear stay that spec

Your biggest problem is Spell Hit Rating: 8 .... if you never had elemental precision that's one big messup :)

Your focus should be to getting you hit rating to at least 120 with 3 points in elemental precision. 120 is fine for kara/gruul. If you progress further the 164 cap will become more important.


Fire Spec - with not so nice gear so you can still kill those fire elementals
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZxgMzfcIoeRtbA0co

Frost Pve Spec - its much better for generally farming and dpsíng untill your gear gets better and you can stand some chance in pvp.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=of0VcZZVAMcofzsiqt
 
Can porbably just confirm what is said above. Spell hit is very important!
All 3 mage schools can be used early on for raiding. I have tried all 3 with my mage in kara and could get all up and over 800dps. Arcane frost build being the spec I prefer for huge crits ;) It becomes really viable when teamed up with a frost mage! For frost or arance/frost dps is easy, only having to spam frostbolt. (open with arcane missiles for low threat early dps then go frostbolt)

Fire mages have to focus a bit more on spell rotations, though it is still fairly simple. 5x Scorch then fireball...
Fire does rely a lot on crit rating for optimal dps though!
 
If I were you I would go for the Spellfire set and Spellstrike set, fill the gaps with PVP gear, or badge gear. Gem it up with a lot +spelldamage gems. Get a deep arcane build with Icy veins. (you don't need to worry about hit rating with arcane build the talents give you hit)

You will have around +1450 spelldamage with 24% crit in arcane and fire. This will be more then enough for SSC and TK and some bosses in MH and BT. You will run into the problem of not having enough HP in MH and BT. Other then that these 2 sets are really tops. The 2 pieces of T5 is very debatable, because if you go for it you are going to loose set bonus from these 2 sets and the spelldamage, just make sure your raid leader groups you up with a spriest.

I actually use these 2 sets for PVP. BGs only. Why you ask? This set gives me pompyros of over 10k when I'm unbuffed, buffed I have hit around 12k. On a full gladiator geared player around 7k hit. These are easiest sets of gear to get that still allow us mages to 1 -2 shot players ;)
 
agerbon said:
If I were you I would go for the Spellfire set and Spellstrike set, fill the gaps with PVP gear, or badge gear. Gem it up with a lot +spelldamage gems. Get a deep arcane build with Icy veins. (you don't need to worry about hit rating with arcane build the talents give you hit)

You will have around +1450 spelldamage with 24% crit in arcane and fire. This will be more then enough for SSC and TK and some bosses in MH and BT. You will run into the problem of not having enough HP in MH and BT. Other then that these 2 sets are really tops. The 2 pieces of T5 is very debatable, because if you go for it you are going to loose set bonus from these 2 sets and the spelldamage, just make sure your raid leader groups you up with a spriest.

I actually use these 2 sets for PVP. BGs only. Why you ask? This set gives me pompyros of over 10k when I'm unbuffed, buffed I have hit around 12k. On a full gladiator geared player around 7k hit. These are easiest sets of gear to get that still allow us mages to 1 -2 shot players ;)
Click to expand...

Got 2 of the Spellfire set already waiting on my cd for the final piece, a guildy can make the spellstrike set for me just need to get the mats together :)
 
agerbon said:
If I were you I would go for the Spellfire set and Spellstrike set, fill the gaps with PVP gear, or badge gear. Gem it up with a lot +spelldamage gems. Get a deep arcane build with Icy veins. (you don't need to worry about hit rating with arcane build the talents give you hit)

You will have around +1450 spelldamage with 24% crit in arcane and fire. This will be more then enough for SSC and TK and some bosses in MH and BT. You will run into the problem of not having enough HP in MH and BT. Other then that these 2 sets are really tops. The 2 pieces of T5 is very debatable, because if you go for it you are going to loose set bonus from these 2 sets and the spelldamage, just make sure your raid leader groups you up with a spriest.

I actually use these 2 sets for PVP. BGs only. Why you ask? This set gives me pompyros of over 10k when I'm unbuffed, buffed I have hit around 12k. On a full gladiator geared player around 7k hit. These are easiest sets of gear to get that still allow us mages to 1 -2 shot players ;)
Click to expand...


Don't listen to that naab, you arcane talents only increase your arcane spells to hit, this means that you hit rating will be so horrible when using fire that you will do horrible dps.... I have done every boss in TBC up untill sunwell and tried lots of mage talents over the two years I'm playing in the begin you don't quite appreciate hit rating nor understand it but it is definitely more important than any other stats if you have lower than 120 hit rating with the 3 points in elemental precision being a must.
 
I really enjoy fire though, thinking of going 3/41/11 (or whatever) with icy veins. But my little mage owns. 2 shotted a allie while doing my dailies.
 
freeek said:
Don't listen to that naab, you arcane talents only increase your arcane spells to hit, this means that you hit rating will be so horrible when using fire that you will do horrible dps.... I have done every boss in TBC up untill sunwell and tried lots of mage talents over the two years I'm playing in the begin you don't quite appreciate hit rating nor understand it but it is definitely more important than any other stats if you have lower than 120 hit rating with the 3 points in elemental precision being a must.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should learn to read...I didn't say it would increase hit on fire did I:rolleyes:

Arcane spec is the best dps spec until you start seeing T6....Looking at what his got at the moment, arcane build would be the best. If he goes fire he will fail big time, due to crappy gear.

I used to raid with that gear and I got around 1500 dps in boss fights (SSC & TK)...not bad at all for crafted gear.

Fire is only worth it with end game gear...
 
That's, like, the exact opposite of what every mage I've ever spoken to has told me.
Weirdness.
 
clearly you are not thinking, if he goes arcane fire he uses fireball as his primary attacking spell which means he still needs hit rating. You are forgetting he has 8 spell hit rating. The hit rating from the pants and head will not be enough to sustain dps. Arcane fire is not the best raiding spec before t6.

Best advice go to the elite jerks forum and read somethings up there, you will get the best information who give you actually advice using actual theory craft and not personal experience.

If anyone tells you to use arcane missiles in a raid shoot them!
 
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