WoW Mage - PvP Pointers for the Fire Mage

**caeon** · 02-01-2009

by Cameron Bolton,

Fire-Spec Mage 1-on-1 PvP

urewin:

This section is going to be a bit narrow in scope, but if you ever PvP as a Mage, this may save your life. My advice is very Fire-Spec specific; someone who goes Ice-spec may have different methods of dealing with threats. I haven't explored Ice yet, and I'm only beginning to explore Arcane. I do agree that the Clearcasting talent is worth every Talent point. :fatty:

As a Mage, you have to be able to adapt to different situations in different fashions. Unlike a Warrior or Paladin (who will always go straight for melee), or a Hunter (who will always send in the pet and snipe from range), a Mage's PvP tactics, by necessity, vary wildly depending on your opponent. Note that all of this is assuming a "fair" fighting situation - no jumping someone while they're doing PvE combat. Any class can take out any other equal-level class and often higher by doing that; it's not sporting. However, if you're on a PvP server (as I am), "sporting" may not always be foremost in your mind. Keep in mind that in many-on-one fights (3 to 1 or worse), you're probably dead no matter what you do, no matter what class you are, even if you have level superiority.

ops:
Part I: Talents

Obviously, everyone is going to have different ideas of what makes for the best PvP talents. However, there are some that I feel are no-brainers.

Impact - Your first five Talent points go here. Being able to Stun with Fire spells 10% of the time is a massive (although somewhat unpredictable) edge in PvP combat, just as much as it is in PvE combat.
Fire Throwing - Two points in this gives you an extra 6 yards on all Fire spells. 6 yards may not seem like much, but it can make a difference in whether you can get off a second Fireball before your opponent gets into melee range - and Fireball is unquestionably your biggest-damage nuke. However, you won't be using it except as an opener.
Burning Soul - 3 points in this will give you a 65% chance of not losing casting time when you're hit while casting Fire spells. I can't express strongly enough how important this is.
Incinerate - Two points here increases the Critical Hit chances of your Fire Blast and Scorch spells by 4%; these are your utility up-close spells, and you'll be casting them more than anything else. Incinerate also stacks with...
Critical Mass - Three points here raises your critical chances with all fire spells by 6%. 'Nuff said. Now, if you have Incinerate and Critical Mass, you're probably going to want...
Ignite - All critical strikes from Fire spells add a DOT that burns for up to 40% (with 5 Talent points) additional damage over the next 4 seconds. I went back and took this after I had Incinerate and Critical Mass filled. Now, most Mages have, by this time, noticed that spell critical hits do only 150% damage, instead of double damage like melee crits. With this skill slotted up, your Fire crits are doing 210% of base damage.
:shutit:
Part II: Melee Opponents (Warriors, Rogues, and Paladins)

Part IIA: When you have the advantage
For a Mage, having the advantage means having range and surprise. Ideally, this means opening up with your biggest Fireball (or Pyro Blast, if you have it) at the longest range possible. If you've trained Flame Throwing, that's 41 yards - maybe the longest range possible in the game, but I'm not certain that it beats out Hunter sniping ranges. If your opponent is caught flat-footed, you might have time for another Fireball (but not Pyro Blast). However, if your opponent is PvP-savvy, he heard the Fireball as it was incoming, and started moving toward you before it even landed. In that case, you'll want to follow up with a Scorch -> Fire Blast combo, and then Frost Nova when they get into melee range and back away.

Most classes will be pretty ragged by this point; you'll want to Scorch as fast as you can, and with luck, your opponent will drop before the Frost Nova's hold effect breaks. Sometimes, you'll drop them sooner than that. If you've picked up Blast Wave, treat it as a Fire Blast - use it as part of a 1-2 combo with Scorch. Fire Wave's movement-slowing effect is nice, but not at all a game-winning effect. If the fight is still going at this point, figure out whether you want to keep fighting, or run away. If you want to keep fighting, move to Part IIB.

Part IIB: When you don't have the advantage

Quite often, you'll stumble across another player coming around a blind corner, or over a ridge, or any other circumstance where you can't set up an ideal flame barrage. Sometimes, you'll even be caught flat-footed, especially by Rogues. Mages are not helpless against Rogues. Quite the contrary - we have numerous ways to deal with the sneaky ones.

Most of the time, if your melee opponent gets the first hit, they're going to use a Stun effect to try to take you out without allowing you to ever get a shot off. What most melee opponents don't understand, though, is that Blink breaks all stun and hold effects. When you get stunned, turn to face your opponent as quickly as possible and Blink. As soon as possible, even before you turn around, start casting Polymorph, then turn. Unlike most Mage combat spells, you do not have to be facing your target to cast Polymorph on them. Many PvP melee opponents will still be standing there, jamming attack keys and wondering where you went, when the Polymorph lands.

If the Polymorph lands and holds, you have enough time to back out to maximum range and start roasting them over a wave of fire spells. If it doesn't hold that long, you still have your Frost Nova to fall back on.

hsnap:
Part III: Hunters

Hunters are a special case all on their own. If you know what you're doing, most Hunters are nothing more than walking charcoal briquettes before your mystic might. However, playing against them requires very specific strategy, which is the same regardless of who gets the first shot.

The first thing that you need to do is Polymorph their pet. If you sheep the hunter, you still have to kill the pet, and then deal with the hunter afterwards when you've already expended a significant amount of mana and health. While this may sometimes be a better strategy, most of the time you're better off sheeping the pet, since they vanish if the hunter dies*.

Once the pet is harmlessly chewing grass, you want to get to the optimal range: Inside bow and gun range, but outside of melee range. You can use Blink to get close (if you didn't use it to give yourself some breathing room to sheep the pet), and Frost Nova to stick the Hunter in place. Once you're in the Hunter's, "Blind Spot," he's as good as toast.

* If the hunter seems to die and you're still being attacked by the pet, roast the Hunter some more - he's Feigning Death. You can still target and cast on him.
:irock:
Part IV: Spellcasters (Mages, Warlocks, Shamans, Priests)

The key to winning against other spellcasters is controlling the flow of mana. If they can't cast, you win. To that end, Counterspell is your best tactical tool. When you see another spellcaster start casting, Counterspell them. That will shut down all spellcasting from that school of magic for 10 seconds. If you've bought Improved Counterspell from the Arcane Talents tree, that shuts them down completely, allowing you to fricasee them at your leisure.

If you don't have Improved Counterspell, then you still have to contend with whatever other spells they might have. In the case of other Mages, you need to be aware of their ability to Counterspell you back - so after you Counter them, start casting Frostbolt. If they counter it, they've locked out a school of magic that you don't care about, and you're free to resume roasting them. If they don't counter it, you're still landing significant damage on them, and slowing their movement to boot.

Part V: Druids

Druids are the worst thing to go up against. A Druid who knows his class is functionally immune to your Polymorph (he can change shape faster than you can sheep him), immune to Counterspelling (many of his spells are Instant), and he has both magical damage and physical damage at his disposal. Probably my most hated PvP opponent is a Druid spam-casting Moonfire as fast as the recast delay timer will let him. And even if you can get the upper hand on a Druid, they can shift to their Movement form and run away.

Part VI: Closing

Finally, the most important thing to remember with PvP is that unlike PvE combat, you can't count on your best strategy working. A skillful opponent can be prepared for virtually any plan of attack you devise, and your strongest weapon is your ability to adapt and improvise. If you really try to win every fight against a Melee opponent with, "Fireball -> Fireball -> Scorch -> Fireblast," and hope that wins the fight, you're going to be very suprised when you go up against someone with high Fire Resistance. I have a separate hotkey bar set up for different circumstances - one for a Fire-Immune opponent, for example. I'm at a disadvantage then... but I'm not out of the fight.:wave::wave::wave:

**obox** · 02-01-2009

stop copy pasting guides please

**Gunzarles** · 02-01-2009

Use colours.
Write guides yourself.
Dont spam the forum with useless guides.

**xollax** · 02-01-2009

where is the dk love? stop copy past old stuff

**Gunzarles** · 02-01-2009

omg.. Not like the smileys made it better.

**caeon** · 02-01-2009

They do for me so im happy

**BaboonX** · 02-01-2009

It even says and the bottum against people with high fire resistance ... that was back pre bc.. lol

**Gunzarles** · 02-01-2009

http://www.igolg.com/news/new-Mage_-_PvP_Pointers_for_the_Fire_Mage_Old_-1072.html
Hmm.. written by you?

**caeon** · 02-01-2009

nope i dont even kno what that site is

**anier** · 02-02-2009

+Rep good post did like it

**Dankone** · 02-03-2009

To quote what you said:

Copy paste. You didn't even bother to move words around.

Besides, PvPing as fire right now is like trying to shave with a bowling pin. That's what gave it away.

edit: as if that were not enough, this guide references the deadzone:

Once the pet is harmlessly chewing grass, you want to get to the optimal range: Inside bow and gun range, but outside of melee range.

Be reminded, the deadzone was removed early on in TBC.