World of Warcraft: Forever · class guide
Fire Mage
Ranged damage
Fireball crits build 
Heating Up for a faster 
Pyroblast, and your own 
Improved Scorch stacks lift every Fire spell. Crit-driven, and weak until Heating Up at 25.
Fire casts Fireball (or, from 40, Frostfire Bolt) and fishes for crits. Every non-periodic crit from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast or Scorch adds a Heating Up stack that takes 25% off your next Pyroblast's cast time, up to 75% at three stacks, for 20 seconds. Improved Scorch stacks 3% more Fire damage, five times, but only for your own spells now. Ignite adds 40% of a crit as a burn. From 40, Combustion raises Fire crit until three more crits land. Fire has no hit talent of its own, so it borrows Elemental Precision from Frost.
Strengths and weaknesses
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Crit-driven damage, with Heating Up cutting up to 75% off Pyroblast's cast time | Weak until Heating Up at 25, and Fire only gets Pyroblast as a pre-pull opener before that |
| Ignite adds a burn worth 40% of each crit | A miss loses Ignite and Heating Up procs, so hit matters early |
| Improved Scorch stacks lift all your Fire spells | Pyroblast is never instant, and three stacks still leave a 1.5 s cast |
| Combustion from 40 raises Fire crit until three more crits land | Improved Scorch helps only your own spells |
| Burning Soul cuts Fire threat by 30% and protects casts from pushback | Fire has no hit talent of its own and borrows Elemental Precision from Frost |
Stat priority
- Spell power
- Hit
- Crit
- Intellect
- Haste
- Spirit
Rank spell power > hit > crit > haste > Spirit > MP5. Hit matters early, because a miss loses Ignite and Heating Up procs. Alternatively, put Fire damage and spell power first, then Intellect. Crit feeds Heating Up, Ignite and Master of Elements.
Do this
- Heating Up stacks don't need consecutive crits: a non-crit in between doesn't clear them.
- Wake of Fire is gone: it is back to
Improved Fire Blast (cooldown and range, no kill bonus). Every Fire Blast cast now adds a Heating Up stack, two on a crit. - Burning Soul cuts Fire threat by 30% and protects your casts from pushback.
- Before Heating Up (25), Fire only gets Pyroblast as a pre-pull opener; Frost levels more smoothly.
Watch out for
- Pyroblast is never instant in Forever: three stacks still leave a 1.5 s cast.
- Pyroblast's own crit doesn't add Heating Up; Flamestrike and Blast Wave don't either.
- Improved Scorch is personal: another Mage's stacks don't help you.
- Heating Up (not Hot Streak) lasts 20 s, and Combustion is 3 crits, not 4. Heating Up is no longer used up by a Presence of Mind Pyroblast.
- Gnome Eureka! doesn't boost Ignite, Pyroblast's burn or other damage over time.