Levelling as Fire

[Sibylle 5]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Just level as Frost, silly. Except, my mage is an alt and I'm not sure I'll ever do much other than level her - and I *really* like frying things :D 

I'm just wondering if there's anything I'm not seeing, she's level 91 and in Draenor right now, and I haven't played mage for ages so I'm really rusty. I don't have access to some abilities yet so for now I'm using Blazing Barrier to de-squishify myself a little, and spamming Fireball until I get Heating Up, then Fire Blast and Pyro. And my mobs die paaaaainfully slowly. Any larger "kill the boss of this group of ogres" type of quest mobs are a challenge, I even died to one a couple times before getting him down. 

It's no biggie, I'm just wondering if I just suck (which is likely) or whether there's something else I'm not seeing. Or maybe that's simply what you get if you're stupid enough to level as Fire, lol.

I'd be grateful for a few pointers.

[Valks 2,375]

22 hours ago, Sibylle said:

Yeah, yeah, I know. Just level as Frost, silly. Except, my mage is an alt and I'm not sure I'll ever do much other than level her - and I *really* like frying things :D 

I'm just wondering if there's anything I'm not seeing, she's level 91 and in Draenor right now, and I haven't played mage for ages so I'm really rusty. I don't have access to some abilities yet so for now I'm using Blazing Barrier to de-squishify myself a little, and spamming Fireball until I get Heating Up, then Fire Blast and Pyro. And my mobs die paaaaainfully slowly. Any larger "kill the boss of this group of ogres" type of quest mobs are a challenge, I even died to one a couple times before getting him down. 

It's no biggie, I'm just wondering if I just suck (which is likely) or whether there's something else I'm not seeing. Or maybe that's simply what you get if you're stupid enough to level as Fire, lol.

I'd be grateful for a few pointers.

Mages in general are extremely squishy. They thrive in an environment where they can sit back and, as you put it, fry things. 

This is completely normal for leveling as a mage. Your best bet as fire is to take the speed increase while casting Scorch as a talent. Pull multiple mobs (melee ones), dot them with your ignites and just keep kiting them. The problem is that Fire doesn't do massive damage without large amounts of Crit/Mastery, which affect your instant Pyroblasts and Ignite amounts respectively. 

It gets a bit easier with your artifact, since you can then use the Phoenix ability too which is a guaranteed crit like Fire Blast.

[Sibylle 5]

1 hour ago, Blainie said:

... Your best bet as fire is to take the speed increase while casting Scorch as a talent. Pull multiple mobs (melee ones), dot them with your ignites and just keep kiting them.

Genius, thank you so much! Also, good to know what I'm experiencing isn't too far outside of the ordinary :-) 

[Archimage 98]

Be sure to use your survival spells:

Frost Nova will root them long enough for you to get distance and cast another spell (Pyro/Fireball)
Dragon's Breath will disorient them, and get some distance.
Counterspell a spellcaster will let them run to you. 
Polymorph any extra mob if you feel overwhelmed.
Invisibility when things are getting out of control.
 

Make sure to look at your talents:
Use Firestarter if you are able to burst down the target with a Pyroblast pull opener, or Conflagration when dealing with multiple mobs (3+).

Blazing Soul can help keep up Blazing Barrier if you are dealing enough damage standing still, otherwise Shimmer can help with movement.

Incanter's Flow is normally the go to since it passive, Mirror Images can help taking a few hits. Rune of Power combined with Firestarter can give you a better Pyroblast burst in the start.

Alexstraza's Fury can help with Heating Up / Hot Streak and allows Dragon's Breath to deal more damage if you are fighting multiple mobs. Flame On is an alternative.

Frenetic Speed allows you to kite better with Scorch, reduce their movement speed with Flamestrike when you got Hot Streak. Ice Ward if you want to kite using Frost Nova.

Living Bomb combined with Dragon's Breath can deal lots of AoE Burst. Otherwise use Unstable Magic with you want to stand still and burst them down.

At level 100: Kindling combined with Firestarter will recharge Combustion. Dragon's Breath into Living Bomb into Meteor/Cinderstorm is also a nice combo.

 

[Valks 2,375]

6 hours ago, Archimage said:

At level 100: Kindling combined with Firestarter will recharge Combustion. Dragon's Breath into Living Bomb into Meteor/Cinderstorm is also a nice combo.

Meteor is awesome when you get the kiting right - it's that nice amount of AoE burst that Flamestrike doesn't quite provide.

[BigPyroMage 0]

My main is a Mage. Frost gives you the ability to farm. You get slows, snares, chill and a water elemental. My recommendation for leveling as Fire; Trial and Error. How i practice Fire leveling was simply over-pulling 4-5mobs. The first couple of times, your gonna die but then after a while instead of dying with 4mobs still alive, its gonna drop to 3...then 2...then you'll be a master. My recommendation would be to spend a week doing BGs just to learn and get more comfortable with Fire Mage kiting. I know exactly how you feel Mage kiting is an art form.