Re-Gearing Post HackFollow

My account got hacked. I haven’t played my 80 Mage since (9 months?) other than as an enchanter and fisher… So – I figure all my other toons are beating the loot piñatas – I might as well set up my mage. (He is essentially naked).

So – When I left there were essentially 2 raiding specs. There was a Crit heavy Frost-Firebolt Spec and a more traditional Pure arcane spec. (There was also a pure fire spec – I think???)

As I recall there was a ilvl of gear that really determined which spec was optimal. Is it still the same? I’m not asking the best spec – just which spec is better at lower (185-213 ilvl) gear.

After the hack I quit for several months - apparently you ARE CORRECT... If you notify Bliz fairly quickly. I just walked away (as it was about 2 weeks from my subscription). I decided after the summer to try and start up again - I contacted Blizzard and they were helpful, but they couldn't fix it...

Apparently their policy is to give hacked level 80 toons 800G. I had some lower level toons - they were also given gold. The problem is that replacing even one or two epics at that price will likely use all your funds.

While gear isn't really a concern for me (I'm a tailor and I can get into groups for Emblems...)

My real concern (as my gear will be a mix of Crafted Blues and Purples - with the occasional Greens) is spec'ing for lower level DPS. When I left there were two main specs - and one was generally considered better for the lower iLvl. I know the Arcane spec is currently the Top DPS for endgame, but what about iLvl for heroics?

If you want the easy road, you can literally play Arcane with one button now. Just keep arcane blasting. If you run out of mana, evocate and continue (the evocate, if I remember right, lasts out the debuff that increases mana cost of AB).
If you want to do the ACTUAL 'rotation' for arcane, you do 4AB 1 Missiles. IT'S THE MOST DIFFICULT SPEC IN THE GAME TO PLAY /sarcasm.

Fire is hurting right now. I can't get more than 3K dps out of the poor ol' spec. It's FUN though, the most fun you can have on a mage.

Frost actually isn't the laughable ******* child of mage specs anymore. I'd put it right up there with (Or a bit above!) fire. Counting my WE damage, I can pull close to 6K on Saurfang, which is right up there with other -ten man- mages, including arcane.