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Arcane AOE - flamestrike and/or blizzard
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Post by
phatlewtz
As an arcane mage running (mostly) heroic 5mans, I have been using Blizzard spam to clear trash. I've had several players give me different advice though:
1) use Flamestrike followed by Blizzard spam until they die
2) use Flamestrike rank 9 then rank 8 then Blizzard spam (but expect to pull aggro)
Groan. OK so what's the best advice here? The stickies mainly cover single-target rotations. I'm not a Recount junky - I don't care if I have max DPS, I just want everyone to have a nice fun dungeon run. I'd rather NOT pull aggro, as then I'm just wasting time and mana doing aggro dumps. So it seems like I should go with option #1.
Questions:
1) Looking above, is option #1 what I want for safe, easy, efficient runs?
2) does Flamestrike add good damage over just using Blizzard alone, considering cast/channel times and mana costs in addition to the damage output?
3) I didn't think downranking Flamestrike would work. Can both rank 8 and 9 be used together? I Googled, and saw that people used to do it, but that it MIGHT have been hotfixed/patched so that it no longer works. Is that true?
Thanks for any advice.
PS why why WHY doesn't arcane have a decent ranged AOE spell in its own school of magic? The roleplayer in me would rather use Arcane Explosion, but no freaking way am I going to go to melee range to use it! Maybe in Cat...
Post by
365547
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Post by
151788
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Post by
phatlewtz
Ah ok, so the two ranks of Flamestrike do still stack! So this was not patched/hotfixed. Good to know.
Yes, good point about waiting to unload AOE. When the tank is overgeared (maybe running for frost badges) it probably won't be an issue. If the tank looks undergeared, I'll wait a bit as you suggested, or maybe just stick to something safer. But good to know that these stack and can be powerful when needed.
Thanks!
Post by
466571
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Post by
phatlewtz
Do the few points in Ice Shards in the Frost tree change this at all? If my Frost spells will crit more, does that make Blizz spam more powerful? Or is Flamestrike still good because I can just cast it first and then forget about it as the DOT ticks away, allowing me to then channel Blizz?
How many mobs are needed for AOE to be efficient? 3 or more? For example, with the 2 tougher mobs at the start of Forge of Souls, am I better off using my single-target Arcane rotation, one mob at a time?
And really dumb question... if FS ranks 8 and 9 can be used together, why not rank 7 too? Or is it just too weak per mana cost, which is why Blizz is used instead? I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this downranking thing (since I thought Blizz neutered the effectiveness of downranked spells)!
Thanks again.
Post by
Trick83
I usually go with it on 3 or more. The ones in FoS I single burn.
Using 7,8, and 9, you start to lose the first one by the time you begin blizzard, and most groups have the mobs close to down. Blizzard loses it's efficiency (sp?) if you're only getting 2 ticks off.
lol capcha is expx4 I'd love to have that for my alts :P
Post by
292516
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466571
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Post by
greywolfsage
Since Flamestrike has a cast-time, any aoe-tank worth their salt should have sufficient aggro on trash that you should be fine.
For warriors and new tanks in general you may want to twiddle your thumbs a bit before beginning the cast.
2 Flamestrikes followed by Blizzard spamming is the best way to go, but especially the way that people are geared now and are just farming for the emblems, 1 Blizzard ends up being sufficient to kill anything.
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