Mage Guide - MoP 5.1

[Midd]

Hi all,

I've been asked by a few different mages in the guild recently for tips and tricks etc for playing a mage in MoP.  I thought I'd put all my thoughts down in a post here for everyone's reference.  I'll try to keep this updated for each patch/hot fix as it comes out.

Before I start going through everything, allow me to dispel a common myth.... Arcane is not the highest DPS spec for a mage.  At present, many websites, in cluding Noxxic, list Arcane as the highest DPS, with Frost second and Fire third.  This is based on BiS gear, a Patchwerk style SimCraft, and optimum conditions.  All of which we know don't occur in reality.  Arcane is only good if you use Rune of Powerand can keep your mana between 90 - 99% for the entirity of the fight.

Right now that's out of the way, I'll get on with the guide!

Race Selection

Draenei
Gift of the Naaru - Use this in conjuction with Ice Block to heal as you hide!
Heroic Presence - 1% hit, very handy at lower gear levels to help get that 15%
Shadow Resistance - 1% shadow damage reduction, a bit meh really.
 
Gnomes
Arcane Resistance - Arcane damage reduction (1%)
Escape Artist - Removes movement impairing effects
Expansive Mind - 5% increased mana pool
Shortblade Specialisation - 1% spell hit when using a sword or dagger
 
Humans
Every Man for Himself - Removes movement impairing or loss of control effects
Sword Specialisation - +1% spell hit when using a sword.
 
Worgen
Aberration - Reduces shadow and nature damage taken by 1%,
Viciousness - +1% crit
Darkflight - Good for those "Don't stand in the fire" moments.

Spec

To maximise DPS I would recommend Frost at less than 27% crit, once you have the magic 27%, switch to Fire.  This guide focusses on Fire.

Stats

Intellect > Hit/Expertise > Critical Strike > Haste > Mastery

For haste breakpoints please see this handy table from Totem Spot.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1735[/ATTACH]

Talents

Tier 1
Scorch

Tier 2
Temporal Shield â€" for fights with burst damage (e.g. Garalon’s Crush or Feng’s Epicenter)
Ice Barrier â€" for fights with knock back or AoE damage

Tier 3
Any of these depending on what type of control you need at the time

Tier 4
Cauterize

Tier 5
Living Bomb

Tier 6
Invocation

Glyphs

Major Glyphs
Combustion
Evocation
Fire Blast

Minor Glyphs
Mirror Image
Any other two.

Rotation

More of a priority queue, but here we go….

Molten Armor on
Arcane Brilliance on
Evocate6 seconds before pull
Pre-pot 1 second before pull
Open with Living Bomb (and keep it refreshed always when =< 2 seconds on the debuff)
When Heating Up procs hit Inferno Blast
When Pyro! procs cast Pyroblast
When you have a Pyro!DoT and a large (15k â€" 20k) Ignite DoT on the target hit Combustion
On occasion where you get Pyro! and Heating Up proc’d at the same time cast Fireball then Pyroblast
Filler â€" If Pyro! DoT is on target use Fireball, if no Pyro! DoT use Scorch

Alter Time â€" Use this when you have Invocation up/Mirror Images/Time Warp with about 6 seconds remaining on the shortest buff.  This will extend the buff duration by 6 seconds.  Remember during boss fights you will be moved back to where you were, so mind those Cobalt mines!

Enchants

Shoulder â€" Greater Crane Wing Inscription (Secret Crane Wing Inscription if scribe)
Back â€" Superior Intellect (Lightweave Embroidery if tailor)
Chest â€" Glorious Stats
Bracers â€" Super Intellect (Fur Lining â€" Intellect if leather worker)
Hands â€" Greater Haste (can take Superior Expertise if hit is still a problem)
Belt â€" Living Steel Belt Buckle
Legs â€" Greater Cerulean Spellthread (Master’s Spellthread if tailor)
Feet â€" Greater Haste or Pandaren’s Step if you prefer movement speed
Rings â€" Enchant if you can
Weapon â€" Jade Spirit
Off-hand â€" Major Intellect

Gems

Meta â€" Burning Primal Diamond
Red â€" Potent Vermillion Onyx (Int/Crit)
Yellow â€" Smooth Sun’s Radiance (Crit)
Blue â€" Piercing Wild Jade (Hit/Crit)

Reforging

Once you’re gemmed with the above, you just want to reforge to hit/exp until cap, then everything else possible into Crit.

Consumables

Potion of the Jade Serpent
Flask of the Warm Sun
Mogu Fish Stew
Banquet of the Pot

All feedback appreciated!

[Switchback]

Haven't played a Mage at top lvl so I can't really add or comment too much....

Will say though thanks alot for composing this as I'm sure it will be a great help for the mages in guild


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[TeaLeaf]

Thank you, picked up a few tips for my mage here which I had not picked up elsewhere :thumbsup:

[Sneakytiger]

thanx for a few tips midd i'll put them into practise.

[Devlan]

I didn't want to start a new thread for this, so I'll just post a link to some good news from the MMO-Champion Mage community, from the PTR for 5.2 regarding Frost:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1269207-Frost-5-2-10-Minute-Parse-T15-4PC-Problems?p=20389687&viewfull=1#post20389687