Fire mage seems to be you either are a beast or you suck. I have been playing fire this season and I would like to start a discussion here for other mages on some of the things I think are a problem and would like some suggestions on how to better play them. Hopefully benefitting everyone as I’m sure I’m not the only one having these issues. Also would not mind hearing thoughts from everyone you do not have to be one of the beasts.
Most of my questions are around M+, things I can’t figure out:
My overall damage at the end of an M+ seems to be greatly impacted by just how good the group is and what the dungeon is. Some groups everything feels smooth and we are pulling big packs that are kept together well by the tank making it super easy to do the flame strike rotation and I’m never feeling in danger of dying so I’m not freaking out during combustion and using global on defensives or pots.
These groups I usually overall 2-2.3M DPS at the end of the run. Still not great I’m usually in 2nd or third place still. I contribute that to just me not playing perfect and making mistakes. This also only seems to be the case in dungeons like cinderbrew, priory, mech, and rookery.
Other groups (Most common) Things get a little sketchy at times mobs are floating off and separating on pulls making it hard to hit them all with AOE. I’m fearing death during a combustion window even though I’m not standing in anything my hp is just plummeting causing me to throw in a barrier in the middle of combust because my initial one is gone or a pot or even ice cold.
these groups I usually overall 1.7 1.9 M DPS at the end of the run. While other classes are still up in the 2M overall range usually. Mostly in TOP, darkflame, floodgate, and mother.
I’m being told by people on the game with my ILVL i should be around 2.5 always. Is this true? Should you be 2.5M or close to every M+ no matter what? Is it just a matter of knowing the dungeons better or is there a huge flaw pressing of abilities at the correct time?
I also notice that on some pulls I start out doing a ton of DPS 8-9M a second and then as the pull goes on or the tank chains the pull into another pack it greatly falls off and ends up somewhere around 2-3M at the end of the pack. How do you handle the in between where you are fighting to get combust back watching your dps plummet so you end up around 4-5M at the end like other classes? I have been using shifting power right after the first combust and I still am ending up with 10-20 seconds till next combust in most cases. Every now and then I’ll be in my next combust with with out shifting power.
Some pulls are also starting out good with DPS but then the packs HP looks to low where I feel like if I blow another combust I will not have it for the next pack but then killing off the rest of the pack takes a while and it’s just me spamming scorch > FB > pryo watching my DPS fall. If I do end up using my combust everything dies half way through HYPO and I end up with combust on 45-50 second CD while we head into next pack ending up with 700K DPS on the next pull because by the time I get Combust back I’m looking at an almost dead pack again. How do you handle this so your DPS ends up in a good spot on the first pack without using a second combust?
Is this due to rng or me not using the correct stuff in the combust even though DPS is still high at the start? What do I need to change to make sure my next combust is always back up right away with zero or little down time as the norm and not on rare occasions?
Interrupting during combustion. Counter spell feels okay with out much of an issue but it can only be used on one target every 30 seconds. How do you still do damage on large pulls during combustion like the start of mech while helping with group Interrupting like Dragon Breath and blast wave so those detonates don’t go off? You are using global and your damage ends up suffering from that, or is that to be expected and deemed okay on pulls like that?
In between combustion. Should I be using phoenix and fire blast to get a hot streak or should I just be spamming fireball always until a heating up and then into FB > PYRO? When HP is in execute and improved scorch is in play should I be scorch > FB > Pyro or scorch > scorch > Pyro… If I’m doing scorch > FB > Pyro how do I make sure I have enough FB for my combust window when it comes up?
Knowing these forums I expect to be flamed or something. But can’t seem to figure these things out most how to play fire guides just talk about combust rotation and gear/talents. Even if you are mostly solid on that stuff you can still suck as fire and the above are what I think are my main struggles but I could be wrong. Lets help each other out here as I’m sure I’m not the only one having these issues/questions.