Mage theorycraft
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Mages debate heavily about talent selection, or spec (from the term specialization). Mages can select talents from three schools of magic: Arcane, Fire, and Frost, and when you see three numbers divided by slashes, as in 18/0/43, the numbers indicate talent points spent in each of the three talent trees in that same order. Generally speaking, players choose to specialize in one school or another.
Note Mage specs, or builds, are also discussed in the topic Mage builds.
Each spec benefits a mage differently and feeds different aptitudes. Most mages place the highest importance on one of these categories:
- Damage per second (DPS) is most important
- Battle control is most important
- Survivability is most important
- PvP is most important
- Control of DPS and damage per mana (DPM) is most important
Ultimately, it is a matter of play style: what casting fits the player's style better, allowing the maximal performance.
In a raid in Burning Crusade, the mage's role is generally accepted as primarily to provide DPS, along with crowd control (CC) of humanoid and beasts and removing of curses.
Often the discussion on what talent selections are best depends on the player's belief about issues that are not quantifiable, such as survivability.
- For raid DPS, the 2/48/11 deep Fire build is theoretically the highest single-target dps build.
- With two piece of T5, and The Lightning Capacitor, Deep Arcane build (61/0/0) become as competitive, if not better than the traditional deep fire build.
- While Frost mages used to be unique in having Ice Block as a tool for dropping aggro temporarily and removing debuffs, now all mages have Ice Block and Frost mages were given another talent, Icy Veins. While they have traditionally been viewed to be worse for raid DPS than Fire mages, Icy Veins may prove to change that image. They also have a significant burst DPS ability granted them by the Water elemental. It is without question that a deep Frost mage has the best (solo PvE) AoE ability with the slowing talents for Blizzard and the target-able Frost Nova a Water Elemental gives.
- Arcane/Fire builds are the best for medium-high DPS, nice DPM combined with burst DPS.
- Arcane/Frost builds, specifically 40/21 can produce great DPS in high-end (T6+) raids with an ideal group make-up.
- Frost/Arcane is a pure DPM build, and is good for longevity in raid encounters.
Arcane
Arcane is a DPM/DPS tree. It can achieve extremely high DPS or DPM, depending on various spell rotations. AB(Arcane Blast), AB, AM(Arcane Missle) is typical high DPS rotation. Varying the amount of AB's depending on the mana regen available from raid/group.
As the AB debuff is 8 seconds, it is possible to squeeze in a Scorch (or Fire Blast if close enough) after the AM, and still have the next rotations AB start with the "old" debuff up, but land after it fades. Meaning that the AB will have the short cast time, but still only the low mana cost. (AM takes 5 secs, Scorch 1.5 and AB 1.83 when 2 debuffs are stacked. Which means the AB will land 0.33 secs after the old one faded. It would be exactly when it fades with a 3rd AB)
Arcane is only a viable spec in end game raiding if the user posses 2 pieces of Tier 5. Another must have for arcane is the Serpent-Coiled Braid off of Morogrim Tidewalker in SSC (for the 25% additional mana from using emeralds as well as the bonus to damage when a gem is used). The added 20% damage to Arcane Blast is the only viable option that makes Arcane a possibility to come out with a large amount of DPS. Personally I find the head and shoulders to work the best accompanied by T6 chest and gloves and the pants from Kaz'rogal. Arcane is undoubtedly the hardest spec for a mage to undergo in raids due to the constant need for attention to the Arcane Blast stacking debuff. A fairly simple rotation to follow is ABx3 AMx1 Fireblast. With 5% or more haste you are allowing yourself enough downtime before you start your next ABx3 that it will enable you to prolong yourself for a duration minutes longer than if you had no haste. However, exceeding 200 haste will open up a secondary rotation to arcane mages (ABx3 AMx2) increasing DPS by an astounding 400 or more. This rotation does require that a shadow priest be present in the group or a chain of Drums of Restoration be used because the down time between rotations will be immensely less than with using a ABx3 AMx1 FB rotation. The one big bonus that the arcane build gives you is the ability to exceed upwards of 4000 dps at the end of boss fights by spamming AB with Arcane Power, Trinkets, Drums etc popped. If properly executed an arcane mage can annihilate 2/48/11 or 0/40/21 mages without any problems at all. When speced properly Arcane Mages only need 76 Spell hit meaning that there is a far more capable room for stacking crit damage or haste. As far as buffs go, Mage Armor must be up at all times for the 30% increased mp5 while casting (since you'll either be casting or channeling for 95% of your rotation) as well as always having an Adept's Elixir as well as an Elixir of Draenic Wisdom as these two elixirs provide much more bang for your buck as arcane that any flask. Wizard Oil will work best, but if you are having mana problems feel free to use Mana Oils instead (do be aware that you will blow through mana potions at an incredible rate as compared to fire or frost). It is just a matter of practicing the spec 47/0/14 or 46/0/15 whichever you prefer and as long as you have your 2 set T5 you should be blowing other mages away in no time.
Assumptions
Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast are the major nukes used in a deep Arcane build
Results
Notes
It is possible to mainly spam AB, use AM for clearcasts because of the higher crit chance and only sometimes let the AB debuff wear off to rest your mana for a while. This is prpbably the highest dps rotation for a mage, but also the most mana draining. Play around with it, it is a really fun rotation!
Fire
Deep Fire is the spec of choice for maximum DPS, without regard to DPM, burst damage, or snaring/kiting a mob.
Assumptions
- The classic Deep Fire build is a 10/48/3 build similar to this one.
- As of 2.3, with the introduction of Icy Veins and the much improved Mana Emerald and Evocation, 2/48/11 has become a more popular build.
- The rotation the mage will be using is as follows: 5 Scorches, 7 Fireballs, 1 Scorch (to renew the debuff), 7 Fireballs, etc.
- A Fireblast may be interspersed every 2 fireballs for higher DPS and lower DPM.
Calculations
PvE direct damage component formula taken from Spell DPS
To make the math feasible, we will make the following (admittedly unrealistic) assumptions:
The target is a level 73 raid boss with 0 spell resistance and 0 resilience No special trinkets/gems/set bonus/weapon/item procs (these will be handled seperately, at a later date) An infinitely long battle Infinite mana You never die You are never interrupted
2/48/11 spec
For this spec, the +critical damage % is .90.
Fireball
Damage = Hit*(815 + 1.15*P*3.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*S + .17)*(1 + .9 * Crit Chance) ** this ignores the DoT component of the fireball which is relatively insignificant (and makes these formulas even less pretty)
Fireblast
Damage = Hit*(725 + P*1.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*S + .17)*(1 + .9*(Crit Chance+.04))
Scorch
Damage = Hit*(333 + P*1.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*S + .17)*(1 + .9 * Crit Chance)
Where the .17 comes from the Playing with Fire(3%), Firepower(10%) and Molten Fury (20%*20%=4%) talents.
Since the battle is infinitely long, using the "ideal" rotation of 2 fireballs and 1 fireblast, while keeping scorch up (lets assume 1 cast every 3 rotations just to be "safe"), you get a long rotation of 6 fireballs, 3 fireblasts and 1 scorch for a total damage per long cycle of:
6*Hit Chance*(815 + 1.15*Plus Damage*3.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*5 + .17)*(1 + .9*Crit Chance) + 3*Hit Chance*(725 + Plus Damage*1.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*5 + .17)*(1 + .9*(Crit Chance+.04)) + 1*Hit Chance*(333 + Plus Damage*1.5/3.5)*(1 + .03*5 + .17)*(1 + .9*Crit Chance) = Hit Chance*1.32 * ( (4890 + 1.9*Plus Damage)*(1+.9*Crit Chance) + (2175 + Plus Damage*9/7)*(1.036+.9Crit Chance) + (333 + Plus Damage*3/7)*(1+.9*Crit Chance) )
Over a total time of:
(6*3+(3+1)*1.5)/(1+Haste%) = 24/(1+Haste%) seconds.
Example:
Malula is a 2/48/11 specced fire mage with 1000 +damage, 100 hit rating, 25% crit rating (including talents) and 50 spell haste.
Hit Chance = (.83+100/12.615) = .9393 Plus Damage = 1000 Crit Chance = .25 Haste% = 50/1570 = .0428
Malula's DPS = .9393 * 1.32 * ( (4890 + 1000*1.9)*(1+.9*.25) + (2175 + 1000*9/7)*(1.036+.9*.25) + (333 + 1000*3/7)*(1+.9*.25) ) / (24/(1.0428)) = 733.46
Results
To be found.
Arcane/Fire
This is also referred to as PoM Pyromancy. The art behind this build is solely for PVE use and is a critical element in 10-man and 25-man raids. I myself have a Mage using a well covered PVE talent spec that is not that unheard of but also not too familiar either. My spec in numbers is 37/24/0. Here is a link to my talent tree that I and my wife use personally in game: [1]
Now the general idea in conjunction with Mages is that this class is a Utility, which I am proud to say is absolutely correct. I guarantee that most of you who roll a Mage will be happy with this build. My wife rolled 20/00/41 before end game appearance and once she started raiding she was persuaded to up her bonus damage. To do so I showed her this talent and she has now withdrawn her previous statement about Frost. Frost Mages are solely for the PVP aspect of the game since damage can be severely undercut when it comes to crits and high burst damage.
Now this is my opinion but I do strongly suggest any Mage who wants to improve his/her personal performance and his/her guilds raiding performance should in the very least try this spec.
-Kiljaedyn-Runetotem A-
This spec is also great for PvP burst damage. Unleashing a PoM Pyroblast is something the enemy won't see coming. Think of it as an amplified fire blast with a longer cooldown. -Dranie-Runetotem-
Fire Crit
Fire Crit is for those who are willing to sacrifice a bit of damage to gain that higher burst damage.
Assumptions
- Not just any Fire Mage can be considered a Crit Mage, but Fire does give the easiest chance of being one.
- Fire Crit is heavily dependant on another mage in the raid stacking Scorch, as Pyroblast and Fireball become the rotated spells.
- Crit mages MUST have over 28% crit.
Calculations Most of the same calculations as the Fire Mage can be used here, only take into account your crit is much higher than the average.
Results
Can typically make top 3-5 in 25 mans IF you have a 1000+ dmg base to back up the crit. Less than that, you may fall a bit short if crits are very sparse.
Rumours on Crit There is a rumour that keeps cropping up that 30% Crit is the maximum in PvE. That anything higher is not considered against bosses. This is and isn't true. 30% Crit is the optimal amount for nearly any mage who wants the maximum damage overall, taking in consideration that they have over a thousand spell damage. But more than that will not harm you, it just may not make a difference.
Frost
A deep Frost mage has high survivability and high DPM, as well as phenomenal snaring and area of effect (AoE) ability.
Assumptions
- Build: deep Frost
- Note: There is no need to max Winter's Chill; 4 points is just as good when it matters.
- Most raid mobs are immune to Frostbite.
- Frostbolt spam with optimal Cold Snap Water Elementals is the optimal DPS.
- Lhivera assumes the Elemental will be active 29% of the time, which is a little less than is theoretically possible if Cold Snap is used on optimal cooldowns.
- The cooldown of Winter's Chill will be over
- Spec will have these points (with 10 points left to go wherever):
- Frostbolt, Frostbolt, Frostbolt, Fireblast repeat.
Results
Arc/Fire
Arcane/Fire builds come in two categories: the 40/21/0 build and the 33/28/0 build. Both provide good DPS and an excellent burst control, making them a quality PvE/PvP build.
40/21 Assumptions
Link to a 40/21 build - with Arcane Impact and Improved Counterspell. It is also common to sacrifice these two talents for Magic Absorption.
40/21 Results
- Use in high-end raiding as described by FireAngel
- Quite a common PVE build seen heading into 60 and Outlands.
- Allows for the Three-Minute Mage spec of Presence of Mind > Arcane Power > Pyroblast and some survivability with Blast Wave.
- Especially effective if specced for and applying Improved Scorch before the Three-Minute Mage cast.
- Not completely ideal for PVP without the Improved Counterspell and placement of talent points but workable with decent gear and trinkets.
33/28 Assumptions
33/28 Results
- The arcane T1 allows Arcane damage for lower aggro and reduces your chances to be resisted
- Clearcasting with higher chance of a spell critical strike (crit) due to Arcane Potency as well as Arcane Instability, Critical Mass, Ignite, Spellpower and Arcane Mind lead to higher and more crits and a moderate mana pool that is being refilled by these crits due to Master of Elements (as long as you use Fireball or the like of course) and allows mana reg during combat (Arcane Meditation).
- On balance this spec is useful in both PvP and PvE, as you will neither miss constant, mana conserving damage nor burst damage like Blast Wave or the Presence of Mind (PoM) Pyro backed up by AP. With such a spec and decent equip (Spellfire Set and some epics) you can easily have a buffed mana pool of 12-13.5k, approximately 850 fire spell damage and about a 36% chance of crit, which altogether allows you to not go OOM even when fighting someone like Nightbane.
Arc/Frost
This type of build can dish out significant damage and DPS control, while retaining a good portion the survivability possessed by deep frost mages. This build's maximum raid potential only comes into full power with a deep Frost mage providing Winter's Chill for +10% crit on the target.
Assumptions
- Basically a 40/0/21 build with Ice Block, Cold Snap, Arcane Power, POM, and all the dps and crit rating:
- Rotation: Frostbolts with Fire Blasts thrown in here and there (Example: 3 Frostbolt -> Fireblast, repeat. AP -> AM on clearcast).
When I macro'ed my Presence of Mind, Arcane Power, and Frostbolt together like so:
/cast Arcane Power /stopcasting /cast Presence of Mind /stopcasting /cast Frostbolt(Rank 13)
(You can also use '"/use 13"' or '"/use 14"' to use your top or bottom trinket slots respectively.)
It yields 15 seconds of significant power. When tested wearing only 2 pieces of Tier 4 to prevent interruption with the macro vs. 2 pieces of Tier 4 without the macro killing a set of 10 mobs level 70. Each fight was around 15 seconds long, and I saw a increase of roughly 160 DPS; note that this improvement scales with use of better gear.
When a serious burst is needed nothing beats PoM + (spell damage trinket) + AP leading into a Fireball (instant cast thanks to PoM) 2 Arcane Missile volleys and a Fire Blast and if close enough, might be able to squeeze in a CoC or AE within the 15 second timers.
A bonus for burst DPS is that AP stacks with usable trinkets and proccing ones simultaneously. For example, the Bloodgem and AP can be set in a macro to trigger when the Shiffar's procs.
Results
- High 15 second burst DPS
- Better than average DPS in some circumstances
Frost/Arc
Frost/Arc builds sacrifice Frost's high survivability and Shatter mechanics for longevity provided by low-end Arcane talents, particularly Arcane Concentration and optionally Arcane Meditation.
Assumptions
Trinkets are timed to be used with the Water Elemental whenever possible. High crit rate provides moderate synergy with the Lightning Capacitor. High DPM, will last through most raid bosses unassisted. Will not benefit as much as Arcane and Fire builds from a Shadow priest.
10/0/51
Improved Blizzard is used as the main AoE spell.
18/0/43
Arcane Explosion is used as the main AoE spell. Improved Cone of Cold is used as a filler talent, it can be replaced by Permafrost.
Results
Elementalist (a.k.a. Frostfire)
Assumptions
The FrostFire Build that I have designed (a steady 0/31/30 talent build), is not designed for effective personal DPS output. Rather, the functionality of this build lies in its ability to increase DPM (Damage per mana point) for other mages/shamans/warlocks and personal mana functionality. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/mage/talents.html
The purpose of this build is not meant for 5, or even 10 man raid instances. Rather, it is used to augment elemental damage done in 25 or 40 man raid groups. Effective fire damage can be increased by 15%, while frost damage crits 10% more often. This is regardless of class. It takes the pressure off of other mages, by stacking scorch and winter's chill while they focus on higher DPS skills such as initial pyroblast burns.
The other benefit of such a build is that a mage does not have to have high +damage to still be useful. With the stacks they throw out in a raid, the raid overall damage output will climb.
The increased mana refund will ensure that your supportive spell casting does not rely on heavy mana usage, relieving the pressure on your mana pool. Further, with increased crit chances, you can still do decent stackable damage for longer raid encounters.
Furthermore, this build still allows for relative ease in solo grinding, and also can be marginally effective in instances (though it is best to pick a tree and stick with it for instances).
Your most effective damage.
Frostbolt + Scorch should be alternated. This will set up the most effective dps table for raid. It will also ensure that ice/fire skills can do more effective dps faster.
Afterwards, you will get the most effective personal dps from cycling, as follows:
Fireball, Fireball, Scorch, Fireball, Fireball, Frostbolt, (repeating)
You can throw in Icelance whenever Frostbite procs to increase your DPM.
You can throw in Fireblast after every second fireball to increase your DPS (provided you are quick).
Results
Trinkets
General
When evaluating Trinkets, it's often beneficial to compare the average gains of the Trinket as a whole. For On-Use Trinkets, such as Icon of the Silver Crescent, it is, generally, sufficient to determine the effective +damage of the Trinket as follows:
D = n + (b * (d / c))
Where...
D = Expected bonus n = Constant bonus b = Temporary Buff bonus d = Duration c = Cooldown
So, for example, the following data exists for Icon of the Silver Crescent:
n = 43 b = 155 d = 20 c = 120
Allowing the following value to be calculated:
D = n + (b * (d / c)) D = 43 + (155 * (20 / 120)) D = 43 + (155 * 1 / 6) D = 43 + (155 / 6) D = 43 + 25.833 D = 68.8333
An important thing to note, however, is that this is merely an averaged expected +damage, and a much more accurate model of effective +damage can only be obtained by taking into account other variables such as Cooldown Stacking.
The same formula also applies for On-Use Trinkets which grant other attributes as well, such as Hex Shrunken Head
For On-Proc Trinkets, the working is different, and the effective gain from the On-Proc effect can be obtained as follows:
D = n + (b * (d / (t / z + c)))
Where...
D = Expected bonus n = Constant bonus b = Temporary Buff bonus d = Duration t = Spell Cast Time z = Proc Chance c = Internal Cooldown
For example, we have the following information on Quagmirran's Eye:
n = 0 (As it has +0 Haste, yet +37 Damage) b = 320 d = 6 z = 10% c = 45
For the sake of example, we will consider the case of a talented 3.0s cast Fireball, with
t = 3.0
Using this information we can obtain:
D = n + (b * (d / (t / z + c))) D = 0 + (320 * (6 / ((3.0 / 0.1) + 45)))) D = (320 * (6 / (30 + 45))) D = (320 * (6 / 75))
Similar formulas can also be used in evaluating trinkets such as Eye of Magtheridon, however the constant z, that is, the proc chance, is simply substituted for the relevant variable, in the case of Eye of Magtheridon, this is your chance to not hit.
Shiffar's Nexus Horn
Model written out by Murphrid.
Assumptions
- Common assumption is that Shiffar's procs 20% of the time on a crit.
-
Tooltip has been observed to be incorrect, it lasts 15 seconds instead of 10.The duration has been fixed to last the correct 10 seconds. - Assume a hidden cooldown of 45 seconds. (From the WoWhead page)
Results
- For a casting time of t and a crit chance of c, it will, on average, take t/(.2*c) seconds to proc the trinket (for 1.5 second Scorches and a crit rate of 30%, that's 25 seconds).
- From the hidden CD, 70 second cycles.
- You get 225 spell damage 10/70 of the time, or 21% of the time, equivalent to 225*10/70 = 32.1 +damage all the time.
- This analysis neglects the 30 crit rating.
- The full formula for calculating the average +damage given by Shiffar's Nexus Horn is -
E = 225 * 10 / (45 + (t / (0.2 * c)))
Where...
E = effective +damage t = cast Time c = critical strike chance
For a simpler understanding of this; The higher your crit is, the more this becomes usable. But, if you have less crit, it's definitely not worth your time. It is also important to note the usefulness of this trinket decreases with longer cast times - for example, if you consider this spell used with Fireball(3s) as opposed to Scorch(1.5s) it adds 23.7 +damage at 30% crit, as opposed to 32.1 +damage; a quite substantial loss of 12.7 +damage total. A good amount of crit to aim for to make this trinket viable in raids is 30% unbuffed.
N.B. - with the duration now being fixed to 10s instead of 15s, the value of this trinket is somewhat diminished.
