Cataclysm Classic Fire Mage Spell Summary

Any spell not listed here is simply not relevant for Fire Mage, or has only a very niche use.

This segment outlines the various abilities essential for a Fire Mage during single-target engagements.

• Fireball — Your primary spell and the primary source of single-target damage output.
• Living Bomb — This spell inflicts no initial damage but leaves a Damage over Time (DoT) effect on the target, exploding after 12 seconds to deal additional damage to the target and nearby enemies. It can be cast on up to 3 targets and its DoT ticks can be influenced by haste, with each tick capable of being a critical hit. Let the bomb explode before reapplying it.
• Scorch — A mana-free spell that can be cast while moving and provides respectable DPS. Nevertheless, avoid casting Scorch, because Fireball is simply more DPS.
• Pyroblast! — Your most damaging spell, but with a high cast time, it should only be cast when Hot Streak is active. Pyroblast also leaves a DoT on the target, which ticks similarly to Living Bomb and can be affected by haste. Notably, the damage from this DoT is independent of the initial Pyroblast damage. If Hot Streak is active, this is your highest priority single-target damage spell.
• Hot Streak — This proc grants a mana-free Pyroblast! with instant cast upon achieving two successive critical strikes with fire spells (except for crits from Flame Orb and Living Bomb). Hot Streak now also has a chance to activate with every critical hit scored with a fire spell.
• Pyromaniac — Raises spell haste by 10% when three or more targets are affected by fire damage over time effects. So whenever you can, make sure to make use of this talent.
• Combustion — This ability inflicts immediate damage on the target before applying a new DoT that ticks every second for 10 seconds. The damage equals the cumulative damage of all current DoTs on the target. Since Ignite scales with the critical strike damage of your Pyroblast/Fireball, it is wise to use Combustion while all dots are present on the target and after scoring a big critical strike.
• Molten Armor — Increases your critical strike chance by 3% while reducing the probability of being critically struck by 5%.
• Flame Orb — Releases a fire orb from your position, traveling in the direction you're facing. Upon encountering an enemy, it damages them every second for 15 seconds before exploding for AoE damage. This is your second highest priority spell, after the Hot Streak Pyroblast.
• Ignite — A DoT applied to the target upon landing a critical hit with a fire spell, including ticks from Living Bomb and Flame Orb. It further burns the target for 4 seconds, dealing 40% of the critical hit damage. It ticks twice, once after 2 seconds and once after 4 seconds.
• Critical Mass — Applied by Scorch or Pyroblast, this debuff boosts your and your raid members' critical strike chance on the target by 5%. It does not stack with a similar debuff from another Fire Mage or Shadow and Flame from a Warlock. It is likely that you have a Warlock in your raid who refreshes this debuff for you.

Apart from the single-target DPS abilities outlined earlier, Fire Mage wields the following arsenal:

• Fire Blast — This enables the dispersion of your Damage over Time (DoTs) from your current target to nearby enemies when Impact is active (activates from Fire spells). The DoTs spread with their remaining duration. Spreading Living Bomb, for instance, extends its effect to two nearby enemies, in addition to the primary target.
• Flamestrike — Unleashes an area-of-effect (AoE) attack, initially damaging every target within an 8-yard radius and inflicting additional damage over 8 seconds. Unlike typical DoTs, this additional damage doesn't spread with Impact or factor into Combustion but rather causes area damage to all targets within the initial casting area.
• Blast Wave — Inflicts damage on every target within an 8-yard radius and reduces their movement speed by 70% for 3 seconds. Opting for the Improved Flamestrike talent triggers an automatic cast of Flamestrike alongside Blast Wave, effectively executing two spells simultaneously.
• Dragon's Breath — Deals damage to all targets in front of you and disorients them for 5 seconds.

The following abilities are considered useful to Fire Mage:

• Portals / Teleport — Used for (group) travel.
• Evocation — Restores your Mana.
• Conjure Mana Gem — If you find yourself running low on mana and Evocation is still far from being ready, consider utilizing a Mana Gem.
• Mage Armor — Only use as a last resort, if you cannot maintain mana otherwise.
• Time Warp — Equivalent to Heroism and Bloodlust.
• Ring of Frost — Root with a 10-second duration and 10-yard radius.
• Polymorph — Turns your foes into an animal for a 50-second duration (less in PvP).
• Conjure Refreshment / Ritual of Refreshment — Creates food for you / your party.
• Mage Ward — Absorbs Arcane, Fire or Frost damage.
• Slow Fall — Slows your/a friends fall, prevents damage from falling.
• Ice Block — Provides a 10-second immunity.
• Cauterize — Grants a 1-minute cooldown immunity.
• Remove Curse — Decurse your friends and yourself.
• Arcane Brilliance — Increases spell power, critical strike chance and enchances the mana pool.
• Remove Curse — Interrupt spells, has a 24-second cooldown.
• Spellsteal — Steals beneficial effects from enemies.
• Invisibility — Turns you invisible, allowing you to flee from combat and reset your threat on enemies.
• Mirror Image — A minor DPS cooldown that and should only be used if you can make sure they do not die from damage. Can also be used if your tank dies and you have threat, so your enemy will attack the mirror images first, giving you time to use Invisibility, or to resurrect your tank and prevent a wipe.