Post by Madmick
I see a lot of off-topic here, so I'll just skip it, and get to the question at hand.
#1: You don't need points in Frost for survivability. Ice Floes is fine, but it only helps with Frost Nova a bit, and with Ice Block, the latter being a long cooldown spell anyway, so I don't think it's worth it.
Likewise, the only thing you might want from Arcane is A. Subtlety, to protect your DoTs and Living Bomb.
All other points go in Fire. There's no other option. A Fire Mage is
very fragile, upping survivability by a few % is useless and a waste. You want what your spec is about - maximum damage, wrecking havoc.
#2: About the Glyphs, I find Poly a very important aspect in Arena when switching targets (quite obviously), and I also recommend Imp. Scorch for the faster stacking. Scorch
is your main damage spell for PvP, but still, you don't want to cast it quite often, it's asking for a lockout. But you want those stacks up, because a Fire Mage that doesn't crit is a Fire Mage that doesn't do his job.
I'll take Glyph of Fire Blast the day it starts working with DB's disorient effect. Until then, just go for Evocation Glyph, it's still a good tool for fast recovery.
P.S. : You want Imp. Fireball as a talent. Whenever you know you can't be interrupted, say, while your target is disoriented by your DB, you cast Fireball.
This is the spec I used to play Arena with, 2v2 with an Ele Shaman.
BTW, I also appreciate your contribution, here, Zollick. Like I said, Fire PvP was never my main spec and I've never rolled it in Arenas. I was waiting for someone with a preference for the super-deep fire spec to explicate the spec's strategy. I actually have questions for you.
You mentioned Arenas. How much more effective do you rate Arcane Subtlety as a talent for Arenas as compared to BG's?
I don't like dying. I guess that's why I never came to terms with Fire PvP. Do you simply accept that when someone looks at you, you die? The reason I don't like dying is primarily because that if you're dead, you're not doing damage OR killing anyone. For example, I've found with my "glass cannon" specs for BG's, if I don't roll with my healers, I die so much more often that I can't match my damage with my more "survivable" Arcane or Frost specs. You don't do damage when you're dead. That was the lesson I learned.
So how do you get around that? Do you basically stay with teammates as aggressively as a healer would? Or do you actually always have a healer with you while in this spec?
Edit: Also, you never played 5's? I'm curious about all this because I'm considering developing a Fire PvP spec for a 5v5 team now that LB can be applied to everyone. Thought I'd see how it rolled.