Welcome to Wrath of the Lich King’s most RNG-based class. This guide will cover the best races for Horde and Alliance, rotation for those incredible immediate Pyroblasts, the best overall Professions so nothing is wasted, as well as Talents, Gems, Enchants, Consumables, and Glyphs to get you started on your journey to rng town. For all of the indications I use in the guide (, >, //), something is better bet comes from raid trash or similar, (only pre-raid portion), > signifies first option then second option, and / denotes two things are almost identical with maybe one difference.

Fire Mage’s in Wrath of the Lich King

While we may be one of the most ridiculous RNG specs in the game, our function remains consistent throughout the expansion: damage, damage, and more damage. Fire Mages, blast out monsters, and then ask questions. Aside from that, our major emphasis will be Polymorphs/Sheeping mobs, AoE damage, decurses, and blowing creatures apart.

In TBC, fire mages were absolutely underwhelming in that their damage wasn’t comparable to others and the utility of the class in general was at the bottom of the barrel compared to other more desired classes, but in Wrath of the Lich King, a lot of that changes in our favor. Because to our high crit chance and one of our abilities (explained later in the guide), we become one of the greatest ranged dps classes.

Although we won’t achieve this degree of overpoweredness until later in the expansion, we are still one of the game’s best ranged dps’ers.

Strengths

High output of single target damage
Several Threat Reduction Capabilities
Effective Crowd Control

Weaknessess

Cannon Made of Glass
Area of Affect damage from the bottom to the center of the pack

Fire Mage Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

High-level single-target damage
Once Fire Mages begin scaling, they have unquestionably some of the greatest single target damage available. To make matters worse, unlike those crazy melee DPS types, we can do it all from a safe distance, giving us a significant advantage in some of these more melee-unfriendly situations.

Extremely enjoyable gameplay
People that played Fire Mage in the original World of Warcraft would tell you that it was some of the best fun they’ve ever had. You’ll be blasting out Pyroblasts like a meteor-lobbing machine when you eventually get enough crit for your Hot Streak to trigger dependably. Large explosions and, even better, big numbers!

Effective crowd control
Other classes despise Mages in PvP because of our superior crowd control, which includes spells like Polymorph and Counterspell. It turns out that they are a fantastic tool to have on your squad, assisting your raid in controlling scary creatures!

Effective threat management
Whereas other classes may struggle with danger on occasion, Fire Mages are unconcerned. We have a constant 20% threat reduction owing to the Burning Soul skill, as well as many means to lower danger, such as Invisibility, if necessary.

Weaknesses

AoE damage that is low to middle of the pack
While there is no doubting that our raw single target damage is excellent, our AoE and cleave damage regretfully fall short of the “big guys.” You’ll normally do average to below average in fights with more than one target.

Gear is extremely important, and loot rivalry is fierce.
Fire Mages truly break through to the upper tiers in Phase 3, when our gear has a lot of crit on it. Until then, we’re doing around average damage, with many Mages choosing for Arcane. Furthermore, many guilds will stack Fire Mages like there’s no tomorrow, and most will have a number of Warlocks as well, making it difficult to compete for gear.

Cannon made of glass
We need all of the threat management tools we have because we are constructed of extra-fragile glass. Because we lack survival weapons like Frost’s Ice Barrier, Fire Mages are the epitome of a glass cannon, dying to any stray ability that happens to hit us.

There is very little usefulness.
Fire Mages have strong crowd control, letting them to contribute in ways other than DPS, but our utility is sorely lacking.

Fire Mage Utility

Fire Mages contribute the following raid benefits and debuffs to a raid, in addition to their damage:

Focus Magic
Mages of all specialties have access to this odd reciprocal benefit, which allows us to increase another player’s spell crit chance by 3%. If the target of this ability crits with any attack, our spell crit probability increases by 3% for 10 seconds. Not a large increase, especially since it only applies to one person at a time, but a nice small boost nonetheless. Exchange this boost for another Fire Mage! Crit is significantly more beneficial to them than it is to Warlocks.

5% higher spell crit debuff (does not stack) – This must-have debuff may be delivered by improved Scorch Fire Mages! However, Warlocks of all specs can apply this debuff, and they do it effortlessly, whilst we have to spend DPS by casting Scorch to put it up. As a consequence, you won’t have to be the one to apply this debuff.

Arcane Intellect is an Intellect bonus that does not stack.
Buffing another player’s Intellect stat has been a Mage’s domain since time immemorial, and this does not alter in WotLK, since all Mages may still deliver this useful boon. Warlocks may also provide this benefit with their Felhunter pet, but their version is substantially weaker than ours, therefore we won’t be replaced!

Ritual of Refreshment
There’s no knowing how much gold you can save your teammates by cooking them dinner. Though this spell does not significantly increase your raid’s DPS, your guildmates will appreciate it.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you determine whether Fire Mage is the class or spec for you. Check out our other areas for more information on how to increase your performance as a Fire Mage in WotLK, such as skills, gear, and gems!