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PvP Pointers for the
Fire Mage
Fire-Spec Mage 1-on-1 PvP
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. . ..
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