Collected questions (Fire)

[Sibylle 5]

It's a few months later (what with delays and distractions and getting old and all that), but I just wanted to start by saying THANK YOU to those who helped me with amazing advice on levelling my fire mage alt. It made all the difference - you guys rock.

I finally dinged 110 the other day and went into a few instances and raid finders with her. As a caster noob - I main a feral - there are a few things I've noticed and am unsure about.

1. The guide here on Icy Veins recommends Dragon's Breath for AoE of 3+ grouped mobs. I may have overlooked something, but I can't for the life of me find anything on the *range* of Dragon's breath. The animation makes me think I need to stand right in front of the mobs to hit them, but that can't be right, I'm supposed to be ranged and standing a good bit away - aren't I? 
2. During levelling, I've gotten used to casting Living Bomb regardless of how many mobs I'm facing. The guide has it exclusively as an AoE ability. Is that true, or is it worth casting on a single target (boss)?
3. Does meteor "work" on huge bosses who are standing behind a ledge/cliff, in the manner of Engine of Souls (Desolate Host) or Garothi Worldbreaker? I try placing it as close to the edge of the "cliff" as possible, does that mean it'll hit the boss?

[Whatabouthim 0]

1.Dragons Breaths range is pretty small by itself, you have to be pretty much in front of them for it to work. However with the legendary helm it increases the range of it by MUCH more.

2.Yes Living Bomb is an aoe ability and casting it only on a single target is a dps loss. Its usable in mythic dungeons or fights with lots of adds.

3. Boss fights like Garothi Worldbreaker and Desolate Host have a hitbox that goes way past the edge and into like 1/4th of the fight area, that way melee can attack without being near the edge. So no you don't have to put it right next to the edge because it will hit even if it's a little bit away.

[Sibylle 5]

Thanks a bunch! I guess I'll look out for that legendary then. I mean, I don't have a problem standing close to mobs, I'm quite comfortable there seeing as I usually play melee - but I've been trying to train myself to keep a distance ("you're a caster... get away from the boss") so it's slightly counterproductive, lol. 

I need to drop a few habits I picked up whilst questing/levelling, such as hitting Living Bomb on single target or casting Blazing Barrier on myself all the time - they're GCD wasters. Maybe I'll organise an alt raid in my guild, just for shits and giggles. I need practice.

Thanks again! 

Edited April 20, 2018 by Sibylle

[Valks 2,375]

On 20/04/2018 at 10:09 AM, Sibylle said:

Thanks a bunch! I guess I'll look out for that legendary then. I mean, I don't have a problem standing close to mobs, I'm quite comfortable there seeing as I usually play melee - but I've been trying to train myself to keep a distance ("you're a caster... get away from the boss") so it's slightly counterproductive, lol. 

Something very important to remember without the legendary helm - range as a Fire Mage is a massive change in terms of your rotation. When you stand at max range, you have far more time to play with your procs and chain things, with a far larger window of time for errors to be corrected. If you move into melee range, either shimmer back to ranged or be ready to react much faster to the procs you get, since your spells will be hitting much faster. This doesn't apply if you are extremely Haste geared and playing a hard-cast Flamestrike build for AoE, but it's unlikely you are judging by your comments.

[Sibylle 5]

On 4/23/2018 at 9:54 AM, Blainie said:

Something very important to remember without the legendary helm - range as a Fire Mage is a massive change in terms of your rotation. When you stand at max range, you have far more time to play with your procs and chain things, with a far larger window of time for errors to be corrected. If you move into melee range, either shimmer back to ranged or be ready to react much faster to the procs you get, since your spells will be hitting much faster. This doesn't apply if you are extremely Haste geared and playing a hard-cast Flamestrike build for AoE, but it's unlikely you are judging by your comments.

This is *gold*. I never even considered this! And since I'm more likely to fumble - cast times combined with procs still puzzle me as a melee player - I'll pay much more attention to staying at range from now on. 

Thanks :-)

[Valks 2,375]

On 24/04/2018 at 9:17 PM, Sibylle said:

This is *gold*. I never even considered this! And since I'm more likely to fumble - cast times combined with procs still puzzle me as a melee player - I'll pay much more attention to staying at range from now on. 

Thanks :-)

Happy to help! Fire is, like Shadow Priest, very dependent on your range from the boss. You need to find the "right" range for your latency, reaction time and so on. Only way to do so is through testing, though.