Complete Mage Noob, Looking for some answers

[mysticalz]

First of all hello,

I want to start off by saying that I know it's a common practice to delete such threads because there are sticky topics,etc. with questions answers - I know that.

I recently bought WoW,as the new expansion got me hooked, I've played before several years on a pretty good private server (Wotlk) and have a general idea of the game.I've been into gaming since forever and I have pretty high skill level and achievements in all games I play - I'm Global Elite in CS:GO , 5k+ rating in Dota2 as a general idea.So my aim is to be atleast semi-hardcore top player in WoW as it will be my main MMO in the close future.

I started a mage and I've been reading guides for end-game and leveling for the past 3 days and I know it's early and all the info about the end-game rotation and gear is blowing my mind so I need a break (lol).I just have several questions that really bother me and I want someone knowledgeable to sum it up for me in an understandable manner.

1) I've red about how Arcane is more viable for single target dps atm etc, but I really like Frost and I understand that u can't gear for 2specs as that isn't efficient, so my question - is frost still viable (my intention is to get to a semi-hardcore guild once I progress a fair bit) and I see there is no Resillience in the game now - does PvE gear work for PvP or do I have to get separate item sets.

2) What is the easiest way to gear up the mage ( through raiding/garrison) ? - Keep in mind, I am completely CLUELESS about End Game WoW Content atm

I really really hope that my thread doesn't get deleted, and thank you in advance for any answers

I'm currently lvl 55 following an ice-veins guide for lvl up, doing dungeons when possible and questing,remembering the game.

Kind regards

[Chev]

Your thread wont get deleted. You are asking your questions in the correct place.

1) I've red about how Arcane is more viable for single target dps atm etc, but I really like Frost and I understand that u can't gear for 2specs as that isn't efficient, so my question - is frost still viable (my intention is to get to a semi-hardcore guild once I progress a fair bit)

Yes, Frost is very viable. If you get a lucky streak nothing can beat Arcane but if you are really unlucky it is not uncommon to be mid table. Any graph you see comparing specs is usually a stand still single target fight which is Arcane's element. If you add a 2nd target or some movement and Arcane quickly starts losing out to Frost. Part of the reason you see so many Arcane Mages at the moment is because all fights have some kind of priority target that needs to be killed Asap and burst damage is another thing that Arcane does well. If you are in a semi-hardcore guild, chances are as long as you are pulling the numbers (and not obviously metre whoring) you will be allowed to play what ever spec you want. Gearing is not that much of an issue, especially as you are gearing up. In most cases ilvl beats all secondary stats because it means you get more Intellect on your gear (or spell power for weapons). Only when you are looking to replace an item with the same ilvl will you really worry about the secondary stats.

I see there is no Resillience in the game now - does PvE gear work for PvP or do I have to get separate item sets.

Yes it does work but there is PvP gear as well where your iLvl (and so stats) increase when you are in a PvP environment. E.g. It will have a 550 ilvl in a dungeon but in a BG it jumps to 660 or something like that (I don't pvp so not 100% sure on the ilvls). They are doing away with this as well next expansion so all gear will be PvP / PvE.

2) What is the easiest way to gear up the mage ( through raiding/garrison) ? - Keep in mind, I am completely CLUELESS about End Game WoW Content atm

A bit of everything.
If you have gold (or a generous benefactor) You can buy stuff of the Auction House which is Bind on Equip. This can get expensive. The crafted items will be cheaper as there is more competition but you can only have 3 crafted items on at any one time so choose wisely. You can reduce this further by picking up the professions needed to make these items but you will have to farm mats that can take time.

Joining LFR is good. You can only do them once a week and be eligible for loot but you can buy extra coin rolls for the Highmaul and Blackrock Foundry raids which you can use each time you kill a boss.

Another good way is Mythic Dungeons and farming rares / chests in Tannan Jungle. You need to get silver in the proving grounds to be able to join HC dungeons via the Looking For Dungeon tool but as Mythic Dungeons you need a group first this requirement isn't needed (unless you are using the looking for group tool and the group leaders may check that you have that level of experience before inviting you). Running them in HC will help you get used to the tactics any way.

Missions are good, but you only get the raid missions every 2 weeks and in the case of the follower missions, you need to have followers of a certain ilvl before they appear any way and that can take time to get to. The shipyard missions award a lot of the baleful items which is 650 ilvl and has a chance to upgrade to 675 but these are also the items you will be getting from rare / chest farming so they are probably better.

Finally. Do your Tannan dailies. They award a lot of Apxis Crystals which can be used to buy the Baleful items (and the item used to upgrade them to epic level) so you can use this if there is a item for a certain slot that doesn't seem to be dropping.

[Breaktheice]

1) I've red about how Arcane is more viable for single target dps atm etc, but I really like Frost and I understand that u can't gear for 2specs as that isn't efficient, so my question - is frost still viable (my intention is to get to a semi-hardcore guild once I progress a fair bit)

Bear in mind, Arcane's ST prowess over Frost only comes once you're properly geared, know your rotation inside out, and have time to turret onto your target. Suffice it to say, unless you're pushing end game mythic content, your spec won't really matter - Arcane is higher variance at the top end when properly used + RNG Jesus blessings, Frost is more consistent and has a more controlled tier bonus.

Pick your poison and welcome to WoW

[mysticalz]

Hi Again, I bought Wod yesterday and I have been progressing pretty well, level 94 atm and still reading guides about the Garrison because it is kinda confusing ( I have Mining/Herbalism as my 2 prof's ).I wanted to ask are 1hand + offhand better than staff or it is purely situational depending on the loot you get/stat priority ?

1)Also I'm Currently using the WE Glyph instead of the Double Blink, any thoughts on that ?
2) Roughly on what ilvl should I invest in expensive enchants for Multistrike ?
3)What Garrison buildings are good for Mage considering my profs (Minning/Herbalism),also for getting good gear later on and possibly some gold

Thanks in advance.

[Rettep]

1) It is a matter of preference and what you use it for. Double blink can get you further but single blink enables you to remove cc (stuns/snares etc.) . WE glyph is convenient esp for leveling, I would probably go for WE, Double blink and Icy Veins for leveling and switch between double blink and splitting ice when I get to dungeon.

2) There is no rule of thumb for that. Taking into account that you dont probably have much gold and considering how easy it is to get gear, if I were you I would probably start using it on items from normal/heroic Hellfire Cytadel.
The only reason to do it earlier would be in case you are applying to a guild (there is no decent guild that will accept you without proper enchants and gems).

3) For getting gear probably war mill and barracks. For gold Lunarfall Inn and every week recruit followers with trait "Treasure hunter".

[mysticalz]

Hello once again,

I hit 100 2 days ago and I am already ~670ilvl with 2-3 PvP slots + Kazzak trinket.
I joined a guild recently and we will be doing HFC Normal tonight so that got me excited, however I have a few questions.

I red Breaktheice and Kuni's guide about 5 times by now and I'm bothered by few things:

1) One of them says UM is good for aoe/cleave, the other one says it's really good for single target.
2) Is PC dmg output ( if done properly ) worth the 3 min CD ? and is TV mandatory for 2+ targets ( I'm new and I welcome every passive boon until I get good with my rotations)
3)I read about these T17 and T18 bonuses ( do they drop from HFC ?, I know it's a retarded question but I dont find info ). I'm focusing on MS,Haste and Crit for now but all the gear has Mastery too for some reason.
4) If I do HFC LFR will the Normal Raid be locked after that or they are separate entities ?
5) Incanters Flow or RoP , I feel like IF gives u much more freedom for a very minor difference in dps ( I wont be running MI )

Thanks in advance !

[Rettep]

1) As you don't have class trinket and no 4set, you should probably stick with Ice Nova (easy to use) or Frost Bomb (bit more dmg, but harder to use properly)
2) Yes, PC is worth, but only in single target situation. TV will probably give you better results if you are not familiar with rotation and how to use PC.
3) T17 drops from Blackrock Foundry and T18 from Hellfire Citadel (the bonuses people discuss are not obtainable on items from LFR). to give you an example chest tier piece drops from Mannoroth.
4) Every difficulty is a separate lockout, so you can do lfr, normal, heroic and mythic if you want to.
5) Until you are comfortable with playing mage to a really good lvl stay with IF.

[mysticalz]

Hello once again,

I did few runs Normal HFC and now joined a guild that is Heroic 8/13.

I have few questions about the rotation and ilvl, I'm 694 ilvl now and yesterday on Fel Lord Zakuun HC my DPS after pull is averaging ~35-40k. I used IN/IF/TV ( really can't be bothered to play with PC I dislike it).

I have WA for WJ and I'm using it on CD and constatly getting 2 FoF stack's from it ( I dont have 2pc or 4pc) or any of the good trinkets.
I'm also casting IL with FoF charges and BF respectively, so I was wondering is this DPS decent with my current gear on Single Target.

My Opener Is - pre-pot WJ into 2 FoF's then IV and after that Frozen Orb and the normal rotation.

[Laodi]

If u want a deeper look post logs please.
The rest sounds good. Without 2/4pc, class trinket or HFC-Trinkets and ring your DPS will not be the best. This trinket, ring and sets are just insane.
35-40k seems fine for 694.
On Zakuun the normal talentchoice would be IN/RoP/PC which would also increase your dps but if u dont like it its fine.
Just try to get your fingers on trinkets/ring/set asap and you will see a rise in DPS.
And as said if u like a deeper look just post a log.

[mysticalz]

Yea, I'm not familiar how to do that else I've would've done it sorry, do you take it from Skada or ?
Thanks for the feedback

Edit: I found ot from where, gonna try and do one the next raid.

[Rettep]

Use warcraftlogs.

[Laodi]

Look here -> https://www.warcraftlogs.com/help/start/" target="_blank

[mysticalz]

I have a new question, which is kinda stupid but I figured I still want to ask it.

I got 710 shoulders but dropped the normal tier ones (695) and I already have 2pc, so I was wondering if I get a chance to make the 4p should I replace my current shoulder to get the set bonus even if I lose significant amout of stacks or I should wait for the HC version ?

Thanks

[Chev]

I have a new question, which is kinda stupid but I figured I still want to ask it.

I got 710 shoulders but dropped the normal tier ones (695) and I already have 2pc, so I was wondering if I get a chance to make the 4p should I replace my current shoulder to get the set bonus even if I lose significant amout of stacks or I should wait for the HC version ?

Thanks

Yes. Get the 4 set ASAP even if you have to use normal pieces.

[mysticalz]

Thanks for the reply, I have a question regarding Arcane.

As of now, I've followed all the tips here for stat priority and BiS etc. for Frost and I was wondering at what point I can start thinking of gearing up Arcane ? I know it's king of Single target and some people say its harder than frost, some say its easy, but I guess its just preference.Will Frost when I get 4pc + bis trinkets be able to hold its own on Single target or Arcane is the go-to. My stats atm are Int>Mult>Crit>Haste>Mastery>Vers (based on item values).

[Chev]

Don't worry too much about gear for an OS. In most cases Intelect and Spellpower are the most import stats and you will have those from your main spec gear. If you have a chance to pick up some dedicated OS gear with a higher slant to Mastery or that you can gem / enchant differently then that is great, but not the end of the world if you don't have it.

Yes, Frost does hold its own against Arcane. Most published graphs comparing DPS have Arcane at the top because the fight style is stand still and nuke. If anything suits Arcane it is that fight style. Throw in some movement and Arcane loses ground. Throw in some bad RNG and all of a sudden Arcane is mid table. Throw in some great RNG and nothing can touch it.

All specs are easy to play, but to play well is the difficult part so like you said, it is more preference as to how you like to play. Give it a try and see. I personally prefer Arcane because it is not a race to hit the button that just lit up and if two lit up, knowing which one to press first, but a constant decision making process to decide if you can afford to use the next ability or not.