TBC Classic Fire Mage Guide (Phase 3)

Fire Mage is a ranged cloth-wearing caster. Its damage is built around Fireball and the debuff from Scorch. In TBC the tree was heavily reworked: Ignite became a personal debuff for each mage, and the new talents Molten Fury, Empowered Fireball, and Dragon's Breath define the playstyle. Molten Fury increases damage against low-health targets, so the spec performs well in long boss fights. That said, Fire burns a lot of mana and requires more raid support than the other trees.

• Scorch — build up and maintain 5 stacks of the Improved Scorch debuff; worth it if the target survives at least 4 Fireball casts
• Fireball — your main single-target damage
• Fire Blast — while moving and for finishing off
• Molten Armor — keep it up for the critical strike chance
• Blink — instead of running when repositioning

Once 5 stacks are up, Scorch is refreshed once every 8–9 Fireball casts. If the Scorch resists and the timer does not refresh, cast it again.

AoE Priority

• Flamestrike — the backbone of damage on stationary targets; alternate ranks 7 and 6, as their periodic effects do not overlap and are not subject to the AoE damage cap
• Arcane Explosion — the safe option if you took the threat-reduction talent
• Blast Wave and Dragon's Breath — more damage but also more threat; use them when targets are low on health
• Blizzard — a last resort: low damage, but it slows and generates almost no threat

Fire has poor threat modifiers, so watch your threat meter. It is better to pause for a couple of seconds than to die from your own threat.

• Icy Veins — +20% spell haste for 20 seconds and immunity to cast pushback, 3-minute cooldown; save it for the execute phase
• Combustion — a damage cooldown, best used in the execute phase
• Cold Snap — resets your Frost cooldowns, letting you use Icy Veins twice in a row
• Ice Block and Invisibility — threat drop and survival
• Remove Curse — dispelling curses from the raid
• Arcane Brilliance — keep it on yourself and your group

Flamestrike is cast alternately at rank 7 and rank 6: the periodic effects of different ranks are independent and stack, and the damage over time is not cut by the target-count cap.

Gnome

• Expansive Mind increases Intellect by 5%.
• Escape Artist instantly removes slowing and immobilizing effects. 1.5-minute cooldown.
• Arcane Resistance increases Arcane resistance by 10.
• Engineering Specialization increases Engineering skill by 15.

Human

• The Human Spirit increases Spirit by 10%.
• Perception sharply increases stealth detection for 20 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
• Diplomacy increases reputation gains by 10%.

Draenei

• Inspiring Presence increases the spell hit of the entire group within 30 yards by 1%.
• Gift of the Naaru heals the target over 15 seconds.
• Shadow Resistance increases Shadow resistance by 10.
• Gemcutting increases Jewelcrafting skill by 5.

Troll

• Berserking increases casting speed by 10–30% depending on how wounded you are, for 10 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
• Beast Slaying increases damage against beasts by 5%.
• Regeneration increases health regeneration by 10% and allows 10% of it to continue even in combat.
• Throwing Specialization increases critical strike chance by 1% while wielding throwing weapons.

Blood Elf

• Arcane Torrent restores mana and silences enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. 2-minute cooldown.
• Arcane Resistance increases all resistances by 5.
• Arcane Affinity increases Enchanting skill by 10.

Undead

• Will of the Forsaken grants 5 seconds of immunity to fear, charm, and sleep. 2-minute cooldown.
• Cannibalize restores 35% of health over 10 seconds by eating a nearby humanoid or undead corpse.
• Shadow Resistance increases Shadow resistance by 10.
• Touch of the Grave triples the time you can spend underwater.

Enchanting

Grants Enchant Ring - Minor Intellect — a very strong enchant that can only be applied to your own rings and stops working if you drop the profession. Plus Disenchant for breaking down surplus gear.

Engineering

Explosives like Dense Dynamite and Super Sapper Charge are not subject to the AoE damage cap and weave into the rotation. It also provides Destruction Holo-Gogs, Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite, Zapthrottle Mote Extractor, and Dimensional Ripper - Area 52.

Tailoring

Early on it provides strong sets — Spellfire (Spellfire Robe, Spellfire Gloves, Spellfire Belt) and Spellstrike (Spellstrike Hood, Spellstrike Pants) — but they are quickly replaced by raid gear. At 375 skill it unlocks the best leg enchants: Runic Spellthread and Golden Spellthread.

Leatherworking

Provides drums with 30-second buffs. Because of the Tinnitus debuff, they cannot be received more than once every 2 minutes, so the profession's value has dropped noticeably.