Some mage questions

[zvejerel]

I have some questions about all specs. Some are kinda technical.

What's a good opener for Arcane without rune of power or arcane orb/charged up?
WIth how many targets do I switch from using arcane blast to explosion?
Do I use PoM and mark of aluneth on CD or do I save them to line up with arc power?
If I have 3 charges of arcane missiles and I'm casting arcane blast, can I follow up the blast immediately with missiles to prevent wasting a possible missiles proc, or will it be wasted anyway?

What's a good opener for fire spec assuming no rune of power?
What's a good opener for fire assuming no rune of power and no ability to precast. As in, how do I open if I just gotta start doing damage immediately?
What are the kinds of builds people are running for fire right now, both for single target boss fights and stuff like mythic+. I have the tier 21 4 set and all spec legendaries, so I can use anything.
With Marquee Bindings of the Sun King, if I get a proc during combustion, do I use it during combustion or wait until after?

As frost, if I get both a brain freeze and a fingers of frost proc while I'm casting frostbolt, which one do I use first?
If I pick the arctic gale talent, should I be using blizzard single target?
As frost with a large amount of haste, if I use icy veins and timewarp at the same time I get almost 130% haste and the spec becomes almost unmanageable and very spammy. It's alright if it's just veins or time warp, but with both the GCD drops way too low for it to play comfortably. Is this normal?

[Jezrien]

About frost:
1. If you get BF and FoF at the same time while casting FB then you should do FB>Flurry>Lance, if after this combo you again get BF and FoF (or still have FoF) then dump all FoF procs and then start casting FB>Flurry>Lance combo again.
2. Generally speaking - no.
3. Yes. Syncing BL with IV and other burst CDs is a frost mage thing.

[DeusInvictus7]

Answering the Fire questions:

1. I'm going to answer the first two questions at the same time. Before I do, I have to ask, why would you not be able to precast? Does your raid pull randomly without a timer? It seems ridiculous to me that in a raid setting you would not be able to get a precast. Now for the actual answer, a good opener depends on the T15 talent you choose. if you run Firestarter, then you want to precast pyro and then phoenix's flames right at the end so you get your first Hot Streak proc basically as soon as the boss is pulled, then you use that pyro along with some Fire Blasts to have a 'mini combustion' before the boss hits 90%. The goal is to start the cds for Phoenix's Flames and Fire Blast as quickly as possible to not waste them, as well as have enough stacks of each so that when you do use Combustion at 90%, you have as effective of a burst as possible. Firestarter pairs well with the legendary bracers as well, as you can sometimes get some bracer procs during that first 10% and hopefully to cast right when you want to use Combustion.

2. As for builds, you need to find what you are comfortable with and then build from that. If you look at logs, you can see what people are using on what bosses, but keep in mind that if you aren't used to a certain build, you won't do as well as someone who has gotten used to it (rune of power, pyromaniac come to mind). For m+ it also depends on the affixes, but you can do really well with any talent setup to be honest, just make enough gear sets for the different situations you will come across (aoe trinkets, helm, loads of mastery for trash, high crit and ring for bosses to take advantage of lust on every boss).

3. With bracer procs you want to use them in Combustion AS LONG as you can finish the cast before Combustion is over, otherwise save it for after Combustion.

[Cvijan]

With bracer proc, when we pop Combustion, BEFORE start hard cast pyro or DURING cast?

[DeusInvictus7]

With bracer proc, when we pop Combustion, BEFORE start hard cast pyro or DURING cast?

You want to pop Combustion as close to the end of the pyro cast as possible. I usually do it with .1 second or whatever remaining in the cast. You have to kinda play with it, depending on your lag and settings and what not, but since Combustion is castable while casting something else, you want to do it close to the end of your hard cast so that you take advantage of Combustion for as long as you can.

[roldy]

Q: What's a good opener for Arcane without rune of power or arcane orb/charged up?
A: 4x Arcane Blast -> Mark of Aluneth -> Arcane Power + PoM -> Spam Arcane Blast + Arcane Missiles. Check the guide if you want a more in depth explanation.
Q: WIth how many targets do I switch from using arcane blast to explosion?
A: 2
Q: Do I use PoM and mark of aluneth on CD or do I save them to line up with arc power?
A: On CD during mini burns. Check the guide.
Q: If I have 3 charges of arcane missiles and I'm casting arcane blast, can I follow up the blast immediately with missiles to prevent wasting a possible missiles proc, or will it be wasted anyway?
A: The AM animation on your screen flashes if you get a proc even at 3 charges so you're going to know if you've wasted a proc. But you usually don't want to Arcane Blast at 3 charges of Arcane Missiles anyway - Use one proc first.

Q: What's a good opener for fire spec assuming no rune of power?
A: Assuming no firestarter: Precast fireball or pyroblast shortly before the cast finishes pop combustion and use phoenix flames then go into your combustion rotation. Again check the guide the infos are there.
Q: What's a good opener for fire assuming no rune of power and no ability to precast. As in, how do I open if I just gotta start doing damage immediately?
A: Either the above if you want to conserve fireblast/phoenix flames charges or you pop combustion use phoenix flames + fire blast and burn.
Q: What are the kinds of builds people are running for fire right now, both for single target boss fights and stuff like mythic+. I have the tier 21 4 set and all spec legendaries, so I can use anything.
A: Probably best to check logs the guides (there is a general guide, an antorus guide and a m+ guide) to get the setups for different kinds of content.
raids: ST progression: 3132121; ST parsing 3122121 or 1122121 depending on your crit values (just sim it)
dungeons: X122111 or X122131 15 and 90 talent up to personal preference/gear/affixes.
Q: With Marquee Bindings of the Sun King, if I get a proc during combustion, do I use it during combustion or wait until after?
A: Assuming ST then during if you can fit it otherwise outside. Don't hardcast a pyro if the cast is not going to finish before combustion falls off.

Q: As frost, if I get both a brain freeze and a fingers of frost proc while I'm casting frostbolt, which one do I use first?
A: BF
Q: If I pick the arctic gale talent, should I be using blizzard single target?
A: Only if you need to reduce the cooldown for specific add spawns or burn phases. If not then don't use it not even during frozen orb.
Q: As frost with a large amount of haste, if I use icy veins and timewarp at the same time I get almost 130% haste and the spec becomes almost unmanageable and very spammy. It's alright if it's just veins or time warp, but with both the GCD drops way too low for it to play comfortably. Is this normal?
A: 130% means you're sitting at 60% percent haste unbuffed or using strange haste proc trinkets. If so take them off. Usually you should be somewhere between 100-110% and at that the spec should be perfectly fine to play. Making long frostbolt streaks feel less punishing and allowing for some shenanigans like double ice lancing which is nice.