[Death Jesters] Legion Mage Guide

[Firemancer]

Hello all!

So for starters this google doc that I am posting did not originally start out to be a "guide" however I guess you could argue that it turned into one. Initially it was just a place for us to write down our notes about the beta/alpha. Most of the information on there can be found on the AT forums, but we do include a small write up of each boss in EN, as well as suggestions/tips. Dutchmagoz told me to go ahead and post it so I figured why not!


The google doc can be found here

Spoiler:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x9W ... qg4M/edit#

Legion Mage Guide

This guide was created by the mages of <Death Jesters> of US-Stormrage. We will update this guide as new information/changes come into play.

Authors:
@Aeylid
@FiremancerWoW - twitch.tv/firemancer

Table of Contents

Fire

Spoiler:

Stat Priority
Spec Overview
Talents
Level 15
Level 30
Level 45
Level 60
Level 75
Level 90
Level 100
Felo'melorn Traits

Frost

Spoiler:

Stat Priority
Spec Overview
Talents
Level 15
Level 30
Level 45
Level 60
Level 75
Level 90
Level 100
Ebonchill Traits

Arcane

Spoiler:

Stat Priority
Spec Overview
Talents
Level 15
Level 30
Level 45
Level 60
Level 75
Level 90
Level 100
Aluneth

If you are newer at Mage, try the Wowhead guide first to get the basic ideas: http://www.wowhead.com/guides/classes/legion/mage
If you are looking for information regarding Pre-Patch 7.0 fire mage, go to Rinoa's guide: https://www.altered-time.com/forum/view ... f=4&t=2553

Disclaimer:

Spoiler:

"If fire ends up 15% stronger than the other Mage specs, the Blizzard team would reduce it by 10%. This way you still would have made the same choice with your Artifact Power, and overall class balance is fixed." - Quote from recent interview, you can find a lot more information about things like this from MMO Champion.
Basically we don't know which spec will be the best, and we have no way of knowing. Blizzard has done nerfs/buffs the day Mythic raiding goes live, or in the middle of the heroic gearing process. We can speculate based on how the classes are playing in beta, the changes that have been made and how well a class flows.
Looking at the bosses and the fights that will be coming in the first raid and the specs themselves, fire is the go-to spec at the start of the expansion. Arcane's mana regeneration continues to be a real issue. Without very high levels of mastery and possibly a legendary to assist with mana regen, arcane will be very, very difficult to play. Frost won't be unplayable - just its DPS is currently under fire. Taking into account the fact that any time spent leveling one artifact is time/points taken from another, fire is what every mage should be running (barring any massive nerfs/buffs).

***ESTIMATION*** current dps sims T19 840 iLvl 8/22/2016 - Cited from AT 7.0 post (prior to CM nerf)



The first 13 traits in an artifact are very important because trait 14 is a huge jump in required Artifact Power. Trait 13 costs 1,000 AP while trait 14 costs 6,840 AP. As such changes will be made to the trait choices to reflect this huge jump. For more information about Artifact Power, check out this spreadsheet.


Fire
Stat priority:
Crit>>>Vers>Mastery>Haste

Spoiler:

Secondary stat (not counting crit) won't matter that much. Basically think of it was mastery will be better for ignite damage (AoE) and versatility will be better for single target. Crit will be priority by a very large margin. There is likely no feasible point that crit will be outpaced by any stat.

Spec overview:
Fire Blast (FB). Rename of Inferno Blast - Castable while casting and off GCD.

Spoiler:

With the changes made to the major cooldown of fire (Combustion) and the random spreading of Ignite, fire has become more like a normal DPS class with a 2-minute cooldown. Another major change is that if you have Hot Streak up you cannot hold another Heating Up charge like you could in the past. Be careful not to waste a Fire Blast if you already have a Hot Streak.

Combustion - revamped from before, now just a cooldown that increases crit by 100% for 10 seconds. Any excess crit above 100% will be automatically turned into mastery.

Flamestrike has increased in power but has lost its DoT effect. Currently simming as a DPS gain if using Flame Patch on two targets. If not, three targets.

Scorch has been increased from 25% of SP to 50%. Still castable while moving. Great mobility tool.

Pyroblast has been increased to 420% of SP rather than 242.3% but has lost its DoT ability. The only DoT from fire is coming from Ignite now. With all of this, the best way to spec for fire seems to be to take as much crit as possible and take the 100 talent of Kindling to reduce the CD on Combustion by 1 second for every crit.

Fire's Ignite spreads passively. Ignite will last 9 seconds and will spread every 2 seconds (based on an internal game timer) to an enemy or neutral NPC that is not affected by Ignite.

Spoiler:

By internal game timer, we mean a timer that is unaffected by the ignite itself. Ignite is applied and will tick whenever that timer hits its mark. So it could spread at .5 seconds into the 9 second ignite and then every 2 seconds after or it could spread at 1.75 seconds into the 9 second ignite and then every 2 seconds thereafter.

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Talents
Level 15


Pyromaniac: Casting Pyroblast or Flamestrike while Hot Streak is active and has an 8% change to instantly reactivate Hot Streak. (Passive)

Conflagration: Fireball also applies Conflagration to the target, dealing an additional 20% SP fire damage over 8 seconds. Enemies affected by either Conflagration or Ignite have a 10% chance to flare up and deal (1+40% SP) fire damage to nearby enemies. (Passive)

Firestarter: Your Fireball always deals a critical strike when the target is above 85% health. (Passive)

Pyromaniac is the talent that will most increase potential crit attacks. However if not careful, it can lead to eaten Heating Up procs. Conflagration is the choice for AoE fights, especially those with sustained adds. Firestarter should only be used for very specific fights that will be addressed in the boss overviews at the end of this guide. After multiple tests in both Beta and Pre-patch, if there are more than 2 targets, Conflagration seems to be the regular DPS winner. This is especially true the longer the multiple targets last. Only on a pure single target fight (Ursoc, Iron Reaver, Fel Lord, etc.) should Pyromaniac be taken.

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Level 30

Shimmer: Teleports you 20 yards forward, unless something is in the way. Unaffected by the global cooldown and castable while casting. (Max 2 charges. 15 second rechange. Replaces Blink)

Cauterize: Fatal damage instead brings you to 35% health and then burns you for 28% of your maximum health over 6 seconds. While burning, movement slowing effects are suppressed and your movement speed is increased by 150%. this effect cannot occur more than once every 2 minutes. (Passive)

Cold Snap: Ice Block now has 2 charges and also heals you for 3% of your maximum health every second. (Passive)

Level 30 talent choice will depend on the fight, how healing is in your raid, and what movement is required. Shimmer gives 2 charges of Blink so may be superior on fights with large amounts of movement. Also shimmer works very well with the Cauterizing Blink trait from the artifact. Both charges will proc cauterizing blink, but it will not stack the heal just refresh it.

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Level 45


Mirror Image (MI): Creates 3 copies of you nearby, which cast spells and attack your enemies. Lasts 40 seconds. (2 min cooldown)

Rune of Power: Places a Rune of Power on the ground for 10 seconds which increases your spell damage by 50% while you stand within 8 yards. (Max 2 charges. 40 second recharge.)

Incanter's Flow: Magical energy flows through you while in combat, building up to 20% increased damage and then diminishing down to 4% increased damage

A ghost patch to Mirror Image now gives it 90% of the base stat rather than the 60% like the previous expansion. Mirrors will take 90% of your stats (outside of Mastery) and use that as their damage. It is a constant snapshot of all the stats. So if you combust and gain that extra crit and then use MI , your MI will have the extra crit for as long as you do. When you lose it, they lose it. In early leveling, MI is going to be superior to Incanter's Flow. Rune of Power will still be top if uptime on the rune can be maintained. If a lot of movement is necessary during the fights, MI is worth consideration.

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Level 60


Blast Wave: Causes an explosion around the target enemy or ally, dealing (1+200% SP) fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards and reducing movement speed by 70% for 4 seconds. A primary enemy target will take 100% increased damage. (25 second cooldown)
Flame On: Immediately grants 2 charges of Fire Blast. (45 second cooldown)
Controlled Burn: When you gain Heating Up, you have a 10% chance to instantly activate Hot Streak. (Passive)

This talent should always be Flame On. Stringing more crits together for more instant Pyroblast/Flame Strike is what the spec is all about. With the new CD of Flame On, if used on the opener and wanting it to be up for the next Combustion, it should be used ASAP when it comes off CD to have it be up for the second Combustion if taking Kindling. If not taking Kindling, you have a ~20 second window to use it and it should be used just after using your 2nd Fire Blast to maximize the output.

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Level 75

Ice Floes: Makes your next Mage spell with a cast time shorter than 10 seconds. Unaffected by the global cooldown and castable while casting and moving. (Max 3 charges. 20 second recharge)

Ring of Frost: Summons a ring of frost for 10 seconds at the target location. Enemies entering the ring are icapacitated for 10 seconds. Limit 10 targets. (30 yard range. 45 second cooldown)

Ice Ward: Frost Nova now has 2 charges. (Passive)

Level 75 talent is Ice Floes. There isn't any reason to not take Ice Floes.

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Level 90


Living Bomb: The target becomes a Living Bomb, taking (4+100% or SP) Fire damage over 4 seconds, then exploding to deal an additional (1+80% of SP) fire damage to the target and all other enemies with 10 yards. Other enemies hit by this explosion also become Living Bombs, but this effect cannot spread furter. (12 second cooldown. 40 yard range)

Unstable Magic: Fireball has a 25% chance to explode on impact, dealing 50% additional damage to the target and all other enemies within 8 yards. (Passive)

Flame Patch: Flamestrike leaves behind a patch of flames which burns enemies within it for (8+480% SP) fire damage over 8 seconds. (Passive)

Level 90 talent is interesting now. Living Bomb is powerful with adds but a DPS loss in a single target rotation. Living Bomb should be taken should be taken when there are many adds but the adds die quickly especially around the boss or a larger target like the scorpions on Skorpyron or the spiders on Elerethe Renferal. If there are adds that are sustained adds, Flame Patch with Flamestrike will win because Flamestrike is a DPS gain when there are 2 or more targets. Aftershock does not drop multiple Flame Patches. If a fight is pure single target, Unstable Magic wins.

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Level 100


Kindling: Your Fireball, Pyroblast, and Fire Blast critical strikes reduce the remaining cooldown of Combustion by 1 second. (Passive)

Cinderstorm: Throws a spread of 6 cinders that travel in an arc, each dealing (65% SP) fire damage to enemies it hits. Damage increased by 30% if the target is affected by your Ignite. (1.5 second cast. 40 yard range. 9 second cooldown)

Meteor: Calls down a meteor which lands at the target location after 3 seconds, dealing (1+562.5% SP) fire damage, split evenly between all targets within 8 yards, and burns the ground dealing (150% SP) fire damage over 8 seconds to all enemies in the area. (40 yard range. 45 second cooldown)

Level 100 will be Kindling to help reduce the CD of Combustion. Take special note that Phoenix Flames and Scorch crits are not counted towards Kindling. Only if the fight does not allow for a second Combustion should another talent be taken (i.e. fight length less than 1:20). With the 8/23 hotfix, Cinderstorm received a buff with the flatline 5% crit buff and the nerf to Critical Mass.

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Felo'Melorn

With the artifact, the first 2 choices are mandatory. At that point it branches off into 4 possibilities. Making our way to Pyretic Incantation (PI) is our first goal. Going through Cauterizing Blink is the most beneficial route to take. Once PI is obtained, being working down to the 2nd golden trait [http://www.wowhead.com/spell=215773]Phoenix Reborn[/url] (PR).

Once you get PR, we come to an interesting point in the artifact. The next golden trait gives you a free extra Flamestrike. However, looking at the bosses and when Flamestrike would be used, you shouldn't go straight for that. Reignition Overdrive and Burning Gaze both increases your damage with all this point. I would lean towards the increase in Fire Blasts, but no data to back that up. Then Blast Furnaceis an increase to your Ignite. Then go for Aftershocks [/url and [url=http://www.wowhead.com/spell=210182]Blue Flame Special.

Recommended artifact traits order:
1. Phoenix Flames
2. Wings of Flame
3. Cauterizing Blink
4. Pyroclasmic Paranoia
5. Fire at Will
6. Pyretic Incantation - Will only stack up to 25%/5 crits in a row)
7. Great Balls of Fire - At 2/3 will be your jump from 1,000 AP to 6,800 AP
8. Big Mouth
9. Everburning Consumption
10. Phoenix Reborn
11. Burning Gaze
12. Reignition Overdrive
13. Blast Furnace
14. Aftershocks
15. Blue Flame Special
16. Molten Skin
17. Scorched Earth



To max out any of the artifacts, you currently need 65,256,330 Artifact Power.

-Will be adding the rest later

[Xinder]

Thanks for taking the time for this Firemancer! I've caught your stream a few times and enjoyed it. Good luck to Death Jesters in the progression push!

[Lavok]

As far as relics go, iLvl pretty much trumps all. The higher the iLvl of the artifact, the higher the iLvl of the weapon and the more stats you get from it.

This is deviates somewhat from what Architec posted in Frosted's thread concerning how much higher ilvl the crap relics need to be to trump a lower ilvl good one.

[Curnivore]

Also some relics are only 3 levels apart from other relics.

[Lotsaherbs]

A rerolled mage here so this question might be obvious to more veteran mages. I was looking at the google docs link (awesome information btw big thanks) and in the opener section everything makes sense to me except 2 things. the first is in this part">>RoP>scorch then Combustion", why the scorch then combustion and not combustion at the end of RoP?
The second is "I would sit on at least 2 charges of PB" how would one sit on 2 charges on PB?

[DeathDefier]

Combustion can be used while casting spells, so you want to use it ideally at the very end of the cast before it goes off.

[Firemancer]

This is deviates somewhat from what Architec posted in Frosted's thread concerning how much higher ilvl the crap relics need to be to trump a lower ilvl good one.

Yeah this was my original thought, in my defense like I stated this originally started out as just a google doc to jot down my notes. But yeah after looking at Architecs sims/post it seems this may not be the case. Especially with crit scaling over int for us. Thanks for pointing it out! At the end of the day you're going have to sim what is best for you individual toon to get the best results.

[Firemancer]

A rerolled mage here so this question might be obvious to more veteran mages. I was looking at the google docs link (awesome information btw big thanks) and in the opener section everything makes sense to me except 2 things. the first is in this part">>RoP>scorch then Combustion", why the scorch then combustion and not combustion at the end of RoP?
The second is "I would sit on at least 2 charges of PB" how would one sit on 2 charges on PB?

So the reason why you scorch<pop combustion at the end of its cast, before it hits> is to guarantee the hot streak. Youre banking that your first pyro(the one you precast with) is going to crit. So the opener would be:

Pre-pot>Pre cast Pyro>(get a crit or "heating up" if not scorch till you do)scorch<combustion at end of cast> then you insta pyro>fireblast>pyro> roll out the chain on crits.

The second question: I stated sitting on two charges of PF if I knew adds were going to be spawning early in the fight. As we learn spawn times for adds on bosses we will know how many PFs we can use on the opener. However I would always use at-least one so it will recharge.

Hope that helps!

[Festen]

Thank you, very useful for me.

[Mannifresh]

Thank you again for this guide, it's one of the best pre-launch guides I've seen in a long time. Good luck to Death Jesters and I see you DeathDefier!

Fire mages ftw

Edit: pre-launch!

[nathyiel]

Good guide. I want to add a few things as Frost mage for leveling :
1- don't take Lonely Winter. It's suicide because of the lack of contrôle and burst.
2- take Cold Snap. It's your only heal while in combat.
3- take Mirror Image. You want them to tank for you.
4- use Ice Barrier as much as possible.
5- always be ready to use Invisibility or Sheep.
6- Counterspell & Spell Steal are mandatory now.

To resume :
Frost survival capacity is ridiculous. Boosted shield are good but there's no way to heal alone in fight.
Controle by freezing things is ok but too much cleave to be reliable.
Your biggest fear are pack of mob. It's ok if you have frozen orb. Without it, Blizzard is pretty meh. It's counter intuive with haste. Shorter cast time, shorter cooldown but shorter duration too. Haste don't incease Blizzard damage, it reduce the duration it take to do them so you can cast more blizzard. But with the cast time, you do less things for its duration too.
It need a longer or a fixed duration.

Finally, the xp/rep buff is cool. Just return to pnj when it disapper.