PvE Fire Mage DPS Talents, Builds, & Glyphs

Fire Mages in Mists of Pandaria use only one standard build that can be altered based on the encounter since some of their talent choices outperform others by a considerable margin. The potential for versatility is reduced, similar to the other Mage specializations.

Talent Build

Fire Mages only have one fully min-maxed build that they can follow, with some of the talents being changed depending on the type of encounter. This is due to how strong talents such as Presence of Mind, Temporal Shield, Greater Invisibility, Nether Tempest, Living Bomb, and Rune of Power are. The remaining talents become situational at best, with only a few talents, such as Ice Barrier, Cauterize, and Cold Snap, being viable enough to allow player choice and preference.

Level 15 – Tier I

• Presence of Mind ✅
  This talent choice is, by default, the biggest DPS increase you can get from this tier, allowing you to cast a free Pyroblast every 90 seconds. Since the talent is off-GCD, it can be activated with other similar abilities and items, such as Alter Time, Berserking, or Potions, to benefit from the effect twice in a row and generate the highest possible damage output.
• Blazing Speed ❌
  By far the weakest option from this tier, Blazing Speed acts as a significant movement speed buff for 1.5 seconds, removing any slow effect. This effect can be considered a weaker version of the Nitro Boosts offered by Engineering and can be suitable for repositioning. Yet, it is not worth picking up, considering the DPS loss from not picking up Presence of Mind and the existence of Blink, which already fulfills the purpose of a fast repositioning tool.
• Ice Floes ❌
  While Ice Floes can be great in theory for fights where a lot of repositioning is required, the sheer DPS increase of Presence of Mind makes them simply underpowered by comparison. In addition, Fire Mage can use Scorch to keep pumping while needing to reposition, meaning there is simply no need for this talent.

Level 30 – Tier II

• Temporal Shield ✅
  This talent choice is considered one of the best defensive cooldowns in your arsenal, making it one of the two viable choices from this tier. Temporal Shield acts as a percentage damage reduction buff that also heals all damage taken while the buff is active, effectively lessening the burden of healers. Technically, this outperforms Ice Barrier by a large margin in raid encounters due to the percentage damage reduction. Yet, it performs poorly in dungeon environments with lower damage values, especially considering Ice Barrier can always be pre-activated and maintained active as a mitigation tool.
• Flameglow ❌
  This talent choice offers passive protection, absorbing up to 30% damage from any attack targeting you. This is the worst option from the third tier, offering the least protection since it can’t be used to tank large chunks of damage or consecutive hits, even if it applies to every effect, including spells.
• Ice Barrier ✅
  This is the second viable choice from this tier and is best suited for dungeon environments or AoE farming. The barrier scales with your Spell Power and can be constantly kept active as a pre-mitigation tool. It can also be used as a quick pre-mitigation tool for some raid encounters. Yet, the self-heal provided by Temporal Shield often proves far more valuable, especially since you will never directly tank in raid encounters.

Level 45 – Tier III

• Ring of Frost ✅
  This is the best choice for the third tier, offering the most Crowd Control in PvE, both in dungeon and raid environments, since it has no gimmick involved. The only two downsides are that this spell has a cast time, unlike the other two choices, and a 10-target limit.
• Ice Ward ❌
  This option might have been viable for this tier since it has no target limit if not for the awkward gimmick involved. Ice Ward requires clear communication between you and the target affected by the spell, which is best suited when used on tanks when grouping mobs. It effectively works as a long-range Frost Nova but requires the target to be directly hit by an attack for its effect to trigger. Since Ring of Frost can be directly placed on a spot, it is far more valuable than Ice Ward.
• Frostjaw ❌
  This option is not viable for two reasons: Your kit already has a powerful on-demand silence & any damage instantly breaks the effect. This talent choice should be entirely avoided altogether and only used if you must silence two mobs in a row and no one else can.

Level 60 – Tier IV

• Greater Invisibility ✅
  This talent works as a Threat Drop tool and a major defensive cooldown, reducing all damage received by 90% while invisible and for 3 seconds after the invisibility fades. The Threat part of the spell is often niche. However, the 90% flat damage reduction is massive, especially since you don’t need to cancel the effect with a macro, as when using Cold Snap + Ice Block. Greater Invisibility is, by default, the best option of the fourth tier.
• Cauterize ✅
  This ability is also great for encounters where you may not have the time to react. Since it triggers upon death, Cauterize is favored by many beginners, acting as a second-life mechanic that can allow Fire Mages to escape from sticky situations. However, the effect can still lead to death if not instantly combined with a heal, as the debuff placed drops the mage to 10% HP, meaning that any other hit might lead to death.
• Cold Snap ✅
  This talent is also viable yet trickier than the other two options. It now provides a 30% max HP instant heal, but it functions differently than its previous version and no longer resets the Ice Barrier. This talent can be taken from fights where deadly debuffs are placed on players to remove two deadly debuffs in a row with Ice Block and provide damage immunity.

Level 75 – Tier V

• Nether Tempest ✅
  This is the best AoE option in your arsenal, especially since it’s not target-capped and has no cooldown. You’ll want to switch to this talent before any large AoE pack in both dungeon and raid environments; working best on tightly packed mobs. It also triggers your Pyromaniac effect.
• Living Bomb ✅
  Living Bomb is your default Single-Target and Cleave option, providing the highest DPS boost in those scenarios. It triggers Pyromaniac, yet it can’t trigger Ignite.
• Frost Bomb ❌
  Frost Bomb is the only non-viable option from this tier due to its cast time and cooldown, effectively messing up the rotation. Since the other options are instant cast and have no cooldown, this talent should be avoided in PvE, even with a large amount of Haste.

Level 90 – Tier VI

• Invocation ❌
  This talent removes the cooldown of Evocation, but it is not viable due to its high cast time, which effectively impedes your rotation as a Fire Mage. While this option might somewhat be viable for Arcane Mage novices, it fails compared to Rune of Power, especially since Fire Mages barely use any mana.
• Rune of Power ✅
  This talent is the best option for this tier, generating the best performance on all possible builds. Since Rune of Power doesn’t have any specific gimmick besides standing in the area and a very low 1.5-second cast time, which Haste can further reduce, it will always be the best option.
• Incanter’s Ward ❌
  This talent is mainly a PvP spell, used primarily as an additional barrier and mana regeneration tool. This option is non-viable since it requires you to take damage to receive the Spell Damage buff that either Invocation or Rune of Power would directly grant.

Glyphs

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Combustion
  A mandatory glyph that should be picked up for any encounter! Increases the direct damage, duration, and cooldown of Combustion by 100%.
• Glyph of Inferno Blast
  It’s a mandatory option for any AoE/Cleave encounter! Allows Inferno Blast to afflict one additional target.
• Glyph of Rapid Displacement
  A viable glyph for fights where a lot of repositioning is required. Lets you Blink twice, effectively turning the ability into a charge-based ability.
• Glyph of Evocation
  An optional glyph that also provides max HP regeneration while standing in Rune of Power.
• Glyph of Frostfire Bolt
  Option glyph that is useful for kiting mobs. It reduces the cast time of Frostfire Bolt, making it the exact same cast time as Fireball.

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Arcane Language
  A fun glyph that allows you to understand other races’ native language.
• Glyph of Conjure Familiar
  This glyph allows you to summon a familiar! Has no gameplay implications other than companionship.
• Glyph of Mirror Image
  A glyph that visually aligns your Mirror Image‘s casts to your current specialization.
• Glyph of Illusion
  It allows you to cast Illusion, mimicking the appearance of another character.