Mages are one of four pure DPS classes in Cataclysm Classic, with three different talent trees offering different approaches to dealing damage. The Fire specialization continues to be one of the strongest damage dealers in the game, a position it held through most of Wrath of the Lich King. The build offers both powerful single-target and AoE damage as well as great utility. It’s also a strong candidate for the Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest legendary weapon that will be obtainable in the Firelands raid.
Fire Mage DPS in Cataclysm
Like most builds, the Fire Mage received some new spells as well as some changes to its existing spells for Cataclysm. Your rotation still revolves around Hot Streak procs, which should now happen more frequently thanks to Improved Hot Streak. Improved Flamestrike powers up your AoE by making your Flamestrike instant and spammable.
Combustion has been reworked and now doubles all of your DoTs on the target when cast, making DoT management a crucial part of playing Fire well. Most Fire Mages will want to use WeakAuras or other addons to track their DoTs and maximize their use of this ability.
Fire Mage Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- High Single-Target & AoE Damage
The Fire Mage will consistently be among the top DPS throughout the expansion, and on some fights they may absolutely dominate the meters. They can perform well in any type of fight and there will be a high demand for them in any group.
- Good Mobility
With lots of instant spells and Blink, Fire Mages are well-equipped for any encounter that requires a lot of movement. That means their uptime on bosses will be high, which further improves their already high damage output.
- Solid Utility
Mages now bring Time Warp, which will be a major boon for smaller group content where you may not have a Shaman or Beast Mastery Hunter. They also have options for slows, an AoE root, a hard CC, an interrupt, a purge, decurse, and their Arcane Brilliance buff. Mages can also conjure food for the group and provide portals.
- Strong Solo Play
Outside of raids, Mages are known for being a great class for farming and solo questing. All of the things you have to do outside of raids to improve your character will be easier on a Mage, who can teleport around, conjure their own food and water, and use their many crowd control abilities or Invisibility to avoid fighting when they don’t want to.
Weaknesses
- Gear Dependent
Very early in the expansion, when gear levels are low, Arcane can outpace Fire due to Fire’s dependency on Critical Strike for Hot Streak procs. Once you are able to stack more Crit, Fire takes off, but a fresh Fire Mage may find that the RNG gods are not as kind to them.
- Low Survivability
In solo content, Mages are able to survive through the intelligent use of their crowd control abilities, but that’s not enough in a raid environment when you’re getting hit by AoE and other unavoidable damage. Their best defensive ability, Iceblock, has a long cooldown. Cauterize can let them cheat death once every minute, but they will still need immediate healing, and they don’t have any healing abilities themselves.
Best Races for Fire Mage in Cataclysm
Horde
Troll
The Berserking racial is really strong for most casters, and the Fire Mage is no exception. That alone makes this race the best choice for Fire Mages, but Trolls also have some other useful racial abilities for the build.
- Berserking gives you a 10 second Haste buff every 3 minutes, giving you an extra cooldown to use when you want to blast.
- Regeneration gives you a little extra survivability, which you’re lacking.
- Beast Slaying is free bonus damage any time you’re fighting a Beast type enemy. That includes two bosses in the Blackwing Descent raid.
- Da Voodoo Shuffle is nice to have, although you have Blink.
Goblin
The new Horde race is also a very good option for a Fire Mage. Where the Troll’s Berserking cooldown will usually prove better for damage, Goblins get a steady 1% increase to casting speed that is nothing to scoff at. They also get another option for their already strong mobility. Their non-combat racials are very useful as well.
- Time is Money gives you a constant 1% increase to your casting speed for a nice steady DPS increase.
- Rocket Jump is essentially an extra Blink. You can opt to use Rocket Barrage instead for a little extra damage (they share a cooldown).
- Best Deals Anywhere and Pack Hobgoblin don’t help with your performance, but Mages are known for their gold making capabilities and these racials both help with that.
- Better Living Through Chemistry is nice if you want to level Alchemy.
Alliance
Worgen
Viciousness edges out the Draenei racial due to the fact that it multiplies your Crit stat rather than just offering a flat increase. The more Crit you stack, the more you will get from this racial.
- Viciousness increases your Crit by 1%, making every point you get from gear or consumables worth a little more.
- Darkflight gives you an extra option for moving fast when Blink is on cooldown.
- Aberration increases both your Nature and Shadow Resistance by 64 at level 85, which is a nice little boost to your survivabilty.
- Flayer is nice if you want Skinning. Unlike most other profession racials, this one remains useful even once you’ve reached the skill cap.
Draenei
Heroic Presence only affects the Draenei now and not their group, but it’s still a great racial for a Fire Mage. You also get a heal, which is something you don’t normally have as a Mage.
- Heroic Presence gives you a flat 1% Hit toward the 17% cap you need to reach. This will let you Reforge some of your gear for other stats which will increase your DPS.
- Gift of the Naaru lets you heal yourself (or another target) every few minutes, something you can’t really do otherwise.
- Shadow Resistance will five you 85 points of Shadow Resistance at level 85. This will help you take a bit less damage as a squishy mage.
- Gemcutting can help if you plan to level Jewelcrafting.
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