New to Mage, Help a buddy out

[Fattest]

Aight so this is gonna be long so im sure some people won't read it but
here we go.

Im a returning player to wow. Haven't played since Warlords. I used to be
a pvp guy in Cata, Mists and WoD. I started doing PvE back when
Blackrock Foundry came on. So if anything i write is funny and casual to
you, that's the reason.

I played Warrior, Hunter and resto Druid in my PvE life. So when i
came back few weeks prior I was like ''Hey, i wanna try the arcane mage.''

Leveling was good. I hit 120 and i start reading stuff online about
mage specs. Later I found out arcane is not a go to spec at this
patch and everyone is going crazy about Fire Spec. So I was like why not
give it a go.

The spec itself is more fun than arcane, obiviously. However playing
arcane the whole 120 levels and switching to Fire kinda shook me. I
really studied the spec online and here's where im at atm.

I am item level 460 currently. I have 430 mechagon wrists, a rank 9
cloak and level 86 Neck. I studied the rotation and i practiced enough
and confident in my opening rotations. Now here is the bad stuff.

I do very shit dps. Around 27k-31k. I have a 445 gladiators trinket
HOWEVER i do not have the Azshara's Font of Power because i can't
find myself a group to do it since its the older raid prior to this patch.
Instead I have Manifesto of Madness from Nzoth(heroic).

And another problem to add up to my problems is I changed about 15-20
pieces of Head, Shoulder and Chest gear and guess what. I never (And I mean
NEVER!) got the Blaster Master trait. I read online that its essential
and a big part of your dps in AoE and single-target. So i dont know
if thats the reason im doing really bad dps or not.

Other than that, I try to use Living Bomb instead of Flame Patch because
of the Sanguine Affix atm. But i dont think running flame patch would
kick my dps up enough to make me feel good.

Any tips and advice for your brother here would be great. Looking forward.

[Cerebral076]

Whelp...where to start? lol

Fire Mage is very high maintainence spec, both in rotation and gearing. You are completely dependent upon nailing your 10sec combustion window every 2min. Based on what you told me, if you dont have any Blaster Master traits, then you will never be satisified.

Here is your check list of what you need to play fire mage...

Gear
Azerite with 3 Blaster Master traits. After that you want to build to 3BM, 2 Wildfire, 1 Firemind. Secondary Trait (3rd ring) is Overwhelming Power.

Head- N'Zoth/Ilgynoth
Shoulders- Carapice (Order of Embers Emissary box drops excellent shoulders)
Chest- Skitra or (Self-Stylized Baron from Vendor)

Hands/Legs can be crafted by Tailor.
Hyperthread Wristwraps. Ilvl is not as important as its clickable ability.
Font of Power- yes i know, it sucks that we have to use the trinket from Azshara from the old raid, but it is BiS. period.
Balefire branch, Corruptors Badge, Manifesto are all choice you want to use with the Font. Thats because you will sinc on of thier abilities over the last 10 sec of the Font's buff.
If you dont have the Font, then use Psyche Shredder followed by one of those 3.

Essences
Major- Memory of Lucid Dreams
Minor- Breath of the Dying
Minor- Formless Void
Minor- Conflict and Strife

Talents
3,2,3,1,1,2,3 (never drop a meteor without a RoP down)

Corruptions
#1 Masterful and/or Honed mind (these are BiS for Fire. Period)
#2 Twisted Appendage
#3 Infinite Stars (imho this is a simtrap. Flays has proven to be far more reliable in dungeons ans raids)
#4 Gushing Wound

Fire Mage Rotation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74b0NIOaKHo

Hyperthread Wristwraps Rotation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CH-HKm-nCE

Hope this gets you on your way.
Cheers -C