I just started playing my level 52 mage again and have had a tough time get back into the swing of things. I play strictly solo PvE and was building a 10/51/0 spec. Even though I been doing quests in Searing Gorge - so the mobs are typically in the 47-49 range - I don't find that I'm mowing 'em down like I used to (or maybe my memory is just fault). I recently switched to 2/48/11 spec thinking that icy veins and imp frost nova would be helpful, but so far I think the build is worse for leveling (and others have indicated the same in another thread).
I can certainly kill one or two mobs at a time without a problem but I seem to be going thru mana like crazy. Two kills and a drink seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if the problem is my sequence of spells or my build, or both. My typical sequence is to open with pyro, followed by two frost bolts then frost nova. Then, depending on the mobs health, I either spam scorch or some more frost bolts. I will use frost blast to finish off a mob but it does seem to use a lot of mana so I tend to avoid it. If I'm fighting two mobs then I typically will sheep one so I can deal with them one at a time.
I'd appreciate any pointers on spell sequences, and even build suggestions. I'm even willing to switch to frost - I don't mind killing more slowly if I can be more efficient at it and be able to deal better with multiple mobs. I've been reading through the various forums and builds (e.g., at wowwiki) but haven't seen enlightening yet :) And, btw, I do have decent equipment, a combination of blues and greens with int, spi, sta and +dmg. Thanks.
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I kid. But my first thought was indeed your gear. It's been a long time since I was killing stuff as a 52 mage, but 2 kills per drink seems pretty low. Be honest--those blues you mentioned, are those actually level 25-30 blues that you just can’t stomach getting rid of for the higher-level green? A level 50 green is usually much better than a level 30 blue. For pre-OL grinding/questing, stacking +dmg is generally not worth the tradeoff in other stats. Stack int first and foremost, then a little stam and dmg when it’s convenient. Spirit is ****. Speaking of the poopiness of spirit, don’t forget evocation. I used to save it for those “uh oh†moments when I needed a quick burst of mana to survive a bad pull. Rather than increasing my overall survivability, it just reduced the number of times I used evocation while leveling to almost zero. What a waste. Use it everytime it’s up and you need a drink.
Also note that fighting two mobs simultaneously, then having to drink, is quite different from fighting two mobs successively, then having to drink. Multiple-mob pulls generally result in a much lower dpm b/c you end up using more instants (excluding leet frost AoE grinding, which I never dipped my wick into…so to speak).
Finally, I’m not sure how I feel about speccing deep fire and then using frostbolts after your pyro opener. If anything, try Pyroïƒ Rank 1 Frostboltïƒ Fireballïƒ Fireball/Scorch…then Nova or w/e makes sense based on the mob’s hp. As you mentioned, avoid fireblast if at all possible.
As for build, I’d try going a bit deeper into Arcane. There are some great mana-boosting talents in there. Note that, IMO, anything that makes you crit a lot is a mana-boosting talent when it comes to leveling, particularly if you spec into fire for Master of Elements.
Quickly, mana-boosting talents in Arc:
Arcane Concentration
Magic Absorption (meh)
Arcane Meditation
Arcane Mind
Arcane Potency
I kid. But my first thought was indeed your gear. It's been a long time since I was killing stuff as a 52 mage, but 2 kills per drink seems pretty low. Be honest--those blues you mentioned, are those actually level 25-30 blues that you just can’t stomach getting rid of for the higher-level green? A level 50 green is usually much better than a level 30 blue. For pre-OL grinding/questing, stacking +dmg is generally not worth the tradeoff in other stats. Stack int first and foremost, then a little stam and dmg when it’s convenient. Spirit is ****. Speaking of the poopiness of spirit, don’t forget evocation. I used to save it for those “uh oh†moments when I needed a quick burst of mana to survive a bad pull. Rather than increasing my overall survivability, it just reduced the number of times I used evocation while leveling to almost zero. What a waste. Use it everytime it’s up and you need a drink.
Also note that fighting two mobs simultaneously, then having to drink, is quite different from fighting two mobs successively, then having to drink. Multiple-mob pulls generally result in a much lower dpm b/c you end up using more instants (excluding leet frost AoE grinding, which I never dipped my wick into…so to speak).
Finally, I’m not sure how I feel about speccing deep fire and then using frostbolts after your pyro opener. If anything, try Pyroïƒ Rank 1 Frostboltïƒ Fireballïƒ Fireball/Scorch…then Nova or w/e makes sense based on the mob’s hp. As you mentioned, avoid fireblast if at all possible.
As for build, I’d try going a bit deeper into Arcane. There are some great mana-boosting talents in there. Note that, IMO, anything that makes you crit a lot is a mana-boosting talent when it comes to leveling, particularly if you spec into fire for Master of Elements.
Quickly, mana-boosting talents in Arc:
Arcane Concentration
Magic Absorption (meh)
Arcane Meditation
Arcane Mind
Arcane Potency
All my gear is pretty current. Here are the stats if you are interested:
str 29, agi 41, sta 101, int 227, spi 178, armor 1135, dmg 55.
Sorry I made a mistake in my sequences. Replace frost bolt with fire bolt wherever I wrote it (I must have had frost bolt on the brain after fighting some mobs in searing gorge that are immune to fire).
str 29, agi 41, sta 101, int 227, spi 178, armor 1135, dmg 55.
Sorry I made a mistake in my sequences. Replace frost bolt with fire bolt wherever I wrote it (I must have had frost bolt on the brain after fighting some mobs in searing gorge that are immune to fire).
Then the only thing that I can think of is your build. Get you some points in Arcane and then dip into Fire. If you're not opposed to frost, I hear its mana efficiency is better, but I never leveled as frost, so I can't comment from personal experience. I'm frost now, at 70, but I'm 17/0/44 and in pretty decent gear, so it's not really a meaningful comparison.
edit: gramer
Edited, May 20th 2008 4:18pm by AynLoD
edit: gramer
Edited, May 20th 2008 4:18pm by AynLoD
if you say youre heading down the road as a 2//48/11 spec mage I'm unclear as to your choice of spell rotation, specifically the use of frostbolt.
pyro is ok as an opener i guess yet for me I never use it. you should be spamming fireball and this doesnt seem to appear in your rotation. give it a go as its your main spell.
pyro is ok as an opener i guess yet for me I never use it. you should be spamming fireball and this doesnt seem to appear in your rotation. give it a go as its your main spell.
I had that problem when I was questing in searing gorge too.
But think about it for a sec. You are fighting things that live in a burning, fiery, soot filled place.
If you want to own them, go frost. If you don't want to, I suggest Un'goro Crater. Lots of mobs that burn up quickly.
But think about it for a sec. You are fighting things that live in a burning, fiery, soot filled place.
If you want to own them, go frost. If you don't want to, I suggest Un'goro Crater. Lots of mobs that burn up quickly.
Monsieur Ebonspine wrote:
I had that problem when I was questing in searing gorge too.
But think about it for a sec. You are fighting things that live in a burning, fiery, soot filled place.
If you want to own them, go frost. If you don't want to, I suggest Un'goro Crater. Lots of mobs that burn up quickly.
But think about it for a sec. You are fighting things that live in a burning, fiery, soot filled place.
If you want to own them, go frost. If you don't want to, I suggest Un'goro Crater. Lots of mobs that burn up quickly.
I loved Searing Gorge when I was leveling my druid but hate it with my mage. I'm done with it anyway as I just hit level 53. My next stops are going to be Un'goro, as you suggest, and Felwood.
I think the problem is that STA. I mean, it's not that STA is affecting you negatively, it's just that you could sacrifice that for more sp.dmg or INT.
I'm on similar level, and as fire spec, I often kill mobs before or soon after they reach me, thus I only miss the STA when some damned ally ambushes me while I'm in a tougher fight.
I actually had way more mana problems when I was Ice spec, since I often had to toss 1-2 extra spells for the kill. It's just safer, I guess.
I'm on similar level, and as fire spec, I often kill mobs before or soon after they reach me, thus I only miss the STA when some damned ally ambushes me while I'm in a tougher fight.
I actually had way more mana problems when I was Ice spec, since I often had to toss 1-2 extra spells for the kill. It's just safer, I guess.
sbrubles wrote:
I think the problem is that STA. I mean, it's not that STA is affecting you negatively, it's just that you could sacrifice that for more sp.dmg or INT.
I'm on similar level, and as fire spec, I often kill mobs before or soon after they reach me, thus I only miss the STA when some damned ally ambushes me while I'm in a tougher fight.
I actually had way more mana problems when I was Ice spec, since I often had to toss 1-2 extra spells for the kill. It's just safer, I guess.
I'm on similar level, and as fire spec, I often kill mobs before or soon after they reach me, thus I only miss the STA when some damned ally ambushes me while I'm in a tougher fight.
I actually had way more mana problems when I was Ice spec, since I often had to toss 1-2 extra spells for the kill. It's just safer, I guess.
I've been looking for gear at the AH with more int but, at least on my server, there's not a lot of gear between levels 50 and 58. Once I get to level 58 I should be ok. I've been leveling a druid in the Outland (now level 65) and have been sending my mage all the cloth drops.
Well... yeah, I checked it and you're right, there isn't much available. I noticed that my gear is pretty low level, in fact ><
Idk, I think what I did is kinda risky, but I liked it. I kept low level gear, if they seem better for nuking then the higher ones. As a result, if the mob actually reaches me and FN fails, or if I get 1+ add, I'm as good as dead. So i don't know what's worst, actually. Sitting more often to recover mana, or spending many extra turns just positioning for a perfect nuking cycle, maximizing distance while avoiding an add near you or in your target's path to you.
Idk, I think what I did is kinda risky, but I liked it. I kept low level gear, if they seem better for nuking then the higher ones. As a result, if the mob actually reaches me and FN fails, or if I get 1+ add, I'm as good as dead. So i don't know what's worst, actually. Sitting more often to recover mana, or spending many extra turns just positioning for a perfect nuking cycle, maximizing distance while avoiding an add near you or in your target's path to you.
You could do what I did at that level, though it was goofy at the time(I didn't know any better), it might actually be worth looking into now. You see, I erroneously thought that stamina was worthless to a mage, so all I got was gear "of the Owl" or "of Frozen Wrath"(yes, I know how much of a newb I was back then).
Stack some spirit, always use mage armor. Between that and a frost spec, I rarely had to drink after fewer than 10 kills. Usually more.
Stack some spirit, always use mage armor. Between that and a frost spec, I rarely had to drink after fewer than 10 kills. Usually more.
veena wrote:
I just started playing my level 52 mage again and have had a tough time get back into the swing of things. I play strictly solo PvE and was building a 10/51/0 spec. Even though I been doing quests in Searing Gorge - so the mobs are typically in the 47-49 range - I don't find that I'm mowing 'em down like I used to (or maybe my memory is just fault). I recently switched to 2/48/11 spec thinking that icy veins and imp frost nova would be helpful, but so far I think the build is worse for leveling (and others have indicated the same in another thread).
I can certainly kill one or two mobs at a time without a problem but I seem to be going thru mana like crazy. Two kills and a drink seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if the problem is my sequence of spells or my build, or both. My typical sequence is to open with pyro, followed by two frost bolts then frost nova. Then, depending on the mobs health, I either spam scorch or some more frost bolts. I will use frost blast to finish off a mob but it does seem to use a lot of mana so I tend to avoid it. If I'm fighting two mobs then I typically will sheep one so I can deal with them one at a time.
I'd appreciate any pointers on spell sequences, and even build suggestions. I'm even willing to switch to frost - I don't mind killing more slowly if I can be more efficient at it and be able to deal better with multiple mobs. I've been reading through the various forums and builds (e.g., at wowwiki) but haven't seen enlightening yet :) And, btw, I do have decent equipment, a combination of blues and greens with int, spi, sta and +dmg. Thanks.
I can certainly kill one or two mobs at a time without a problem but I seem to be going thru mana like crazy. Two kills and a drink seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if the problem is my sequence of spells or my build, or both. My typical sequence is to open with pyro, followed by two frost bolts then frost nova. Then, depending on the mobs health, I either spam scorch or some more frost bolts. I will use frost blast to finish off a mob but it does seem to use a lot of mana so I tend to avoid it. If I'm fighting two mobs then I typically will sheep one so I can deal with them one at a time.
I'd appreciate any pointers on spell sequences, and even build suggestions. I'm even willing to switch to frost - I don't mind killing more slowly if I can be more efficient at it and be able to deal better with multiple mobs. I've been reading through the various forums and builds (e.g., at wowwiki) but haven't seen enlightening yet :) And, btw, I do have decent equipment, a combination of blues and greens with int, spi, sta and +dmg. Thanks.
First, lvl 52 using 10/51 or 2/48/11? I understand that's where you want to end up, but at lvl 52 and respeccing one way or the other doesnt sound right. Also, your obviously fire, but other than pyro you casting frostbolts? That's most likely the crux of your problems right there. If you spec fire, use fire spells, otherwise just spec frost, which while leveling and going solo is probably gonna give you more damage and be better on mana.
uzemaki wrote:
veena wrote:
I just started playing my level 52 mage again and have had a tough time get back into the swing of things. I play strictly solo PvE and was building a 10/51/0 spec. Even though I been doing quests in Searing Gorge - so the mobs are typically in the 47-49 range - I don't find that I'm mowing 'em down like I used to (or maybe my memory is just fault). I recently switched to 2/48/11 spec thinking that icy veins and imp frost nova would be helpful, but so far I think the build is worse for leveling (and others have indicated the same in another thread).
I can certainly kill one or two mobs at a time without a problem but I seem to be going thru mana like crazy. Two kills and a drink seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if the problem is my sequence of spells or my build, or both. My typical sequence is to open with pyro, followed by two frost bolts then frost nova. Then, depending on the mobs health, I either spam scorch or some more frost bolts. I will use frost blast to finish off a mob but it does seem to use a lot of mana so I tend to avoid it. If I'm fighting two mobs then I typically will sheep one so I can deal with them one at a time.
I'd appreciate any pointers on spell sequences, and even build suggestions. I'm even willing to switch to frost - I don't mind killing more slowly if I can be more efficient at it and be able to deal better with multiple mobs. I've been reading through the various forums and builds (e.g., at wowwiki) but haven't seen enlightening yet :) And, btw, I do have decent equipment, a combination of blues and greens with int, spi, sta and +dmg. Thanks.
I can certainly kill one or two mobs at a time without a problem but I seem to be going thru mana like crazy. Two kills and a drink seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if the problem is my sequence of spells or my build, or both. My typical sequence is to open with pyro, followed by two frost bolts then frost nova. Then, depending on the mobs health, I either spam scorch or some more frost bolts. I will use frost blast to finish off a mob but it does seem to use a lot of mana so I tend to avoid it. If I'm fighting two mobs then I typically will sheep one so I can deal with them one at a time.
I'd appreciate any pointers on spell sequences, and even build suggestions. I'm even willing to switch to frost - I don't mind killing more slowly if I can be more efficient at it and be able to deal better with multiple mobs. I've been reading through the various forums and builds (e.g., at wowwiki) but haven't seen enlightening yet :) And, btw, I do have decent equipment, a combination of blues and greens with int, spi, sta and +dmg. Thanks.
First, lvl 52 using 10/51 or 2/48/11? I understand that's where you want to end up, but at lvl 52 and respeccing one way or the other doesnt sound right. Also, your obviously fire, but other than pyro you casting frostbolts? That's most likely the crux of your problems right there. If you spec fire, use fire spells, otherwise just spec frost, which while leveling and going solo is probably gonna give you more damage and be better on mana.
Unfortunately, as I pointed out later on, I typed frostbolt instead of firebolt. So my sequence is pyro, firebolt, firebolt, frost nova, firebolt or scorch...
I've left Searing Gorge and am now in Un'goro. As Ebonspine pointed out, these mobs die much faster. I'll stick with my 2/48/11 spec until I get to the Outland then I'll decide if I want to tweak it.
the problem is that you are still short 17 points to spend, so where are they because you can't have a 2/48/11 right now.
Anobix the Wise wrote:
the problem is that you are still short 17 points to spend, so where are they because you can't have a 2/48/11 right now.
I'm "building towards" a 2/48/11 spec. My talents:
[link=http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Dragonblight&n=Cheeser[/link]
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