Fire Mage Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

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: Living Bomb
Popular builds: 3
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Fire in Wrath is built on Hot Streak: two crits in a row make your next Pyroblast instant. Living Bomb ticks and then explodes on nearby enemies, Ignite and Combustion reward crits, Burnout trades mana for crit damage, and Improved Scorch makes the target easier to crit for every caster. Frostfire Bolt can replace Fireball.

Keep Living Bomb on the target, cast Fireball (or Frostfire Bolt), and an instant Pyroblast whenever Hot Streak lights up. Fire is strong all expansion and the best mage at area damage with Living Bomb and Flamestrike.

Watch your threat: Fire crits pull enemies quickly.

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 Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Molten Armor.
2Improved Scorch's debuff up if no one else provides it.
3Living Bomb kept on the target, and on several enemies on packs.
4Fireball or Frostfire Bolt as your main spell.
5Pyroblast when Hot Streak makes it instant.
6Combustion and Mirror Image with trinkets and Heroism.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Strong damage throughout the expansion.
Living Bomb and Flamestrike for packs.
Instant Pyroblasts.

Weaknesses

High threat.
Relies on crits.
Burnout costs mana.

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
Hitto 446 rating
2
Spell power
3
Haste
4
Critical strikeHot Streak and Ignite
5
Intellect
6
Spirit

What to look for

Spell power and hit to the cap, then haste and crit.
Spell power gems.
A staff, or a dagger or sword with an off-hand.

Items worth chasing

Phylactery of the Nameless LichA trinket with a big spell power proc.
Muradin's SpyglassA trinket that stacks spell power.
Dying CurseA trinket with a spell power proc.

Builds

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

Arcane
Fire
Frost

Fire Raider
DamagePvE
1853
18/53/0
Raid damage with 53 points in Fire, down to Living Bomb, and 18 in Arcane.
- Combustion 1/1
- Dragon's Breath 1/1
- Hot Streak 3/3
- Burnout 5/5
- Living Bomb 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Fireball (major), Glyph of Molten Armor (major), Glyph of Living Bomb (major), Glyph of Slow Fall (minor), Glyph of Frost Ward (minor), Glyph of Blast Wave (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Frostfire
DamagePvE
5615
0/56/15
Raid damage with 56 points in Fire, down to Living Bomb, and 15 in Frost.
- Firestarter 1/2
- Dragon's Breath 1/1
- Hot Streak 3/3
- Burnout 5/5
- Living Bomb 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Frostfire (major), Glyph of Molten Armor (major), Glyph of Living Bomb (major), Glyph of Slow Fall (minor), Glyph of Frost Ward (minor), Glyph of Blast Wave (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Fire Gladiator
DamagePvP
1952
19/52/0
Arena and battleground damage with 52 points in Fire, down to Living Bomb, and 19 in Arcane.
- Combustion 1/1
- Dragon's Breath 1/1
- Hot Streak 3/3
- Burnout 5/5
- Living Bomb 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Living Bomb · top talent, up to 1
The target becomes a Living Bomb, taking 612 Fire damage over 12 sec. After 12 sec or when the spell is dispelled, the target explodes dealing 306 Fire damage to all enemies within 10 yards.
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, knocking them back and dazing them for 6 sec.
Fire Power · tier 6, up to 5
Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%.
Pyromaniac · tier 7, up to 3
Increases chance to critically hit by 3% and allows 50% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting.
Combustion · tier 7, up to 1
When activated, this spell increases your critical strike damage bonus with Fire damage spells by 50%, and 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 non-periodic critical strikes with Fire spells.
Molten Fury · tier 7, up to 2
Increases damage of all spells against targets with less than 35% health by 12%.
Empowered Fire · tier 8, up to 3
Increases the damage of your Fireball, Frostfire Bolt and Pyroblast spells by an amount equal to 15% of your spell power. In addition, each time your Ignite talent causes damage, you have a 100% chance to regain 2% of your base mana.
Dragon's Breath · tier 9, up to 1
Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 382 to 442 Fire damage and are Disoriented and Snared for 5 sec. Any direct damaging attack will revive targets. Turns off your attack when used.
Hot Streak · tier 9, up to 3
Any time you score 2 non-periodic spell criticals in a row using Fireball, Fire Blast, Scorch, Living Bomb, or Frostfire Bolt, you have a 100% chance the next Pyroblast spell cast within 10 sec will be instant cast.
Burnout · tier 10, up to 5
Increases your spell critical damage bonus with all spells by 50% but your non-periodic spell criticals cost an additional 5% of the spell's cost.

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.