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Fire Mage Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Fire damage and crits: Ignite, Combustion and stronger fire spells.

A cloth-wearing caster who deals Arcane, Fire and Frost damage from range, controls enemies with Polymorph and frost spells, and conjures food, water and portals. More about the mage

Class
Mage
Roles
Damage
Used for
Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent
Combustion
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Classic

How to play

Fire is the critical-strike tree. Ignite adds 40% of every fire crit as a burn, Critical Mass and Incinerate raise crit chance, Improved Scorch makes the target take more fire damage, and Combustion stacks crit chance for a burst.

The raid rotation is Fireball, with Scorch to keep five stacks of Fire Vulnerability on the boss (usually one mage's job). Fire Blast is an instant for when you have to move. Fire mages grow stronger with more crit and with more Fire mages in the raid.

Molten Core is the weak spot: many of its enemies are immune to fire, so Fire mages cast Frostbolt or play Frost there. Later raids reward Fire's crits. In player-versus-player fights, Blast Wave and Presence of Mind into Pyroblast give burst.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Scorch until the target has five Fire Vulnerability stacks, then refresh them before they drop.
  2. 2Fireball as your main spell.
  3. 3Combustion with trinkets for burst.
  4. 4Fire Blast while moving.
  5. 5Blast Wave and Flamestrike on packs.
  6. 6Watch your threat: fire crits and Ignite add up fast.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • The highest mage damage in later Classic raids.
  • Strong area damage with Blast Wave and Flamestrike.
  • Presence of Mind and Pyroblast burst against players.

Weaknesses

  • Many Molten Core enemies are immune to fire.
  • High threat from crits.
  • Less control and safety than Frost.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

  1. 1

    Spell damagefire damage counts

  2. 2

    Hitto 16% against bosses

  3. 3

    Critical strikefeeds Ignite

  4. 4

    Intellect

  5. 5

    Stamina

  6. 6

    Spirit

What to look for

  • Spell damage and crit; fire damage gear counts.
  • Spell hit to 16% against bosses.
  • Keep resistance pieces for the raid bosses that need them.

Items worth chasing

  • Talisman of Ephemeral PowerA burst of spell damage on use.
  • Mana Igniting CordA cloth belt with spell damage and crit.
  • Neltharion's TearA trinket of spell damage and spell hit.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

  • Arcane
  • Fire
  • Frost

  • Combustion Pyromancer

    DamagePvE
    17/31/3

    Raid Fire: crits leave burning damage behind, Improved Scorch stacks fire vulnerability, and Combustion opens each fight with a run of crits.

    • Arcane Resilience 1/1
    • Critical Mass 3/3
    • Blast Wave 1/1
    • Fire Power 5/5
    • Combustion 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycraftingTalent order by level

  • PoM Pyroblast

    DamagePvPPvE
    21/30/0

    Presence of Mind into an instant Pyroblast for a huge opening hit, backed by Blast Wave and Arcane Concentration for free casts.

    • Arcane Resilience 1/1
    • Presence of Mind 1/1
    • Critical Mass 3/3
    • Blast Wave 1/1
    • Fire Power 5/5

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycraftingTalent order by level

Key talents

  • Combustion · top talent, up to 1

    When activated, this spell causes each of your Fire damage spell hits to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells.

  • Ignite · tier 2, up to 5

    Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 40% of your spell's damage over 4 sec.

  • Flame Throwing · tier 2, up to 2

    Increases the range of your Fire spells by 6 yards.

  • Pyroblast · tier 3, up to 1

    Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 148 to 194 Fire damage and an additional 56 Fire damage over 12 sec.

  • Burning Soul · tier 3, up to 2

    Gives your Fire spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces the threat caused by your Fire spells by 30%.

  • Improved Scorch · tier 4, up to 3

    Your Scorch spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases the Fire damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

  • Master of Elements · tier 4, up to 3

    Your Fire and Frost spell criticals will refund 30% of their base mana cost.

  • Critical Mass · tier 5, up to 3

    Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire spells by 6%.

  • Blast Wave · tier 5, up to 1

    A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 160 to 192 Fire damage, and dazing them for 6 sec.

  • Fire Power · tier 6, up to 5

    Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%.

Fire abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.

Related

Other mage specs: Arcane, Frost