Fire Mage Guide for WoW Forever: Talents, Rotation and Leveling

Fire runs on crits. Every crit with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast or Scorch adds a stack of Heating Up, and at three stacks your next Pyroblast casts 75% faster. Fire Blast adds a stack on every hit, two when it crits. In raids, Fire and Arcane share the top spot among mages.

Talents and builds

The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.

• Leveling: Fire leveling (points 18/31/2). Takes Arcane Subtlety early for less threat on Arcane Explosion, then the critical-strike and passive damage talents as they unlock, then mana talents such as Arcane Concentration and Arcane Meditation. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
• Raid: Deep Fire PvE (raid & dungeons) (points 16/32/3). Deep Fire build that also uses Missile Barrage procs from the Arcane tree.
• PvP: Fire PvP (points 21/28/2). Almost the classic Presence of Mind & Pyroblast build, with more sustained damage: long-range Improved Fire Blast keeps Heating Up rolling for quick Pyroblasts, and Improved Scorch helps in longer fights.

Where it ranks

• PvE DPS (raid): The newest simulation lifts Fire to A, and nearly all lists say A or S. Combustion is still the strongest caster burst, but on a single target Fire sits closer to the middle.
• PvP (battleground/open world): Drops from A to B: Combustion gives burst, Impact stuns, Blast Wave slows, but there is no defensive talent. The new lists say B or C.
• Leveling: Both lists say A: high damage per pull, but less control than Frost and more risk on big pulls.

The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.

Which build?

There are two routes. The linked raid build is deep Fire with Combustion, Critical Mass, Fire Power and Master of Elements, plus 16 points in Arcane for Missile Barrage, Arcane Concentration and Arcane Blast. The alternative is a Fire/Frost hybrid built around Frostfire Bolt that picks up Fingers of Frost and Shatter. If you are new to the spec, play deep Fire: the rotation is simpler and it sims at least as well.

Single-target rotation

1. Pre-cast Pyroblast before the pull.
2. Scorch until five stacks of Improved Scorch are up. Each stack adds 3% Fire damage and lasts 30 seconds, so refresh in time. Skip it on trash that dies quickly.
3. Pyroblast at three Heating Up stacks, even in the middle of your Scorch ramp.
4. Fire Blast on cooldown. In Forever it shares an 8-second cooldown with Ice Lance, and Improved Fire Blast adds 15 yards of range.
5. Arcane Missiles when Missile Barrage procs. They are free and channel twice as fast.
6. Fireball as filler.

To squeeze out the last bit, keep one stack of Arcane Blast up. It turns 12% of your Intellect into spell damage. More stacks are not worth it as Fire.

Fire Power adds 3% Fire damage for every Fire effect of yours on the target, up to 12%. Pyroblast's and Fireball's damage over time count, as do Ignite and Improved Scorch. Frostfire Bolt is a mixed school and doesn't.

Combustion

Combustion gives every Fire hit an extra 10% Fire crit chance until three direct Fire crits have landed. Use it once your Scorch stacks are up and you already have Heating Up stacks, together with trinkets, racials and a potion. The German client calls both Combustion and the row-one crit talent Incineration "Verbrennung", so don't let a German guildmate confuse you.

Multiple targets

Pre-cast Flamestrike and recast it before its 8 seconds run out, with Arcane Explosion in between. If you move a Master of Elements point into Blast Wave for more AoE, use it on cooldown. Never drop the first Flamestrike before the tank has the pack.

Stats

1. Hit rating up to 17% against raid bosses. Precision gives 6% at 3/3, leaving 11% from gear, which is about 110 hit rating at 10 rating per percent.
2. Spell power.
3. Crit rating, close behind spell power. Crit feeds Heating Up, Ignite (40% of the damage over 4 seconds), Combustion and Master of Elements, which refunds 30% of the base cost.
4. Intellect, then Spirit.

Common mistakes

• Fire Blast at three Heating Up stacks instead of Pyroblast. That stack is wasted.
• Letting Improved Scorch fall off.
• AoE spells on one or two mobs.
• Opening with Flamestrike and wearing the whole pack.

Leveling as Fire

Fire works for leveling but comes alive late. With little crit, Heating Up procs rarely, and mobs die before Ignite adds much. Heating Up unlocks at 25, Combustion at 40, and Frostfire Bolt is trained at 40. Pull with Pyroblast, keep Fire Blast on cooldown and use every Missile Barrage proc. The leveling build takes Arcane Subtlety early so Arcane Explosion causes less threat, and only two points in Precision, since 4% hit covers mobs up to one level above you. If you would rather level safely, Frost is more relaxed, and Arcane drinks less.

In raids

Fire is considered the mage with the strongest burst. You no longer bring a group debuff, because Improved Scorch and Ignite only raise your own damage. You still have Remove Lesser Curse, Counterspell and Polymorph for trash.

Further reading

• Mage class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
• The other specs: Arcane Mage, Frost Mage
• Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
• Mage talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link