In short
- Fire still rewards critical strikes and timing; its big novelty is Heating Up.
- Three crits in a row bring Pyroblast down to a 1.5 s cast.
- Ignite becomes personal to each Mage and no longer loses damage on crits that land close together.
- The talent in Fire's new 16-point milestone is not confirmed yet.
Identity
Fire keeps rewarding critical strikes and good timing: according to Blizzard, it goes for devastating hits and critical damage. Forever gives it a new way to turn crits into fast Pyroblasts. Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read.
Milestone talents
- 11 pointsPyroblastClassic reference: This is how it works in WoW Classic. Forever has not announced a change; not yet checked in game.
Tier 3 in Classic (6 s cast). Forever announces no change, but Heating Up uses it as a prerequisite.
Source:Warcraft WikiWarcraft Wiki: Pyroblast (opens in a new tab)Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment: World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage & Shaman (opens in a new tab) - 16 pointsUnconfirmedPending: No reliable information yet.
Blizzard has not said which talent fills Fire's new 16-point milestone. Heating Up sits in row 4 but is not described as a milestone talent.
Source:Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment: World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage & Shaman (opens in a new tab) - 21 pointsBlast WaveClassic reference: This is how it works in WoW Classic. Forever has not announced a change; not yet checked in game.
Tier 5 in Classic. Forever only removes its Pyroblast prerequisite.
Source:Warcraft WikiWarcraft Wiki: Blast Wave (opens in a new tab)Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment: World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage & Shaman (opens in a new tab) - 31 pointsCombustionClassic reference: This is how it works in WoW Classic. Forever has not announced a change; not yet checked in game.
Tier 7 in Classic. The beta notes confirm it still has 3 charges, as in Classic.
Source:Warcraft WikiWarcraft Wiki: Combustion (opens in a new tab)Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes (opens in a new tab)
Changed talents
Wake of Fire
Formerly: Improved Fire Blast
Formerly Improved Fire Blast. Moved from row 2 to row 1 and reduces Fire Blast's cooldown further. Each non-trivial kill greatly increases the critical strike chance of your next Fire Blast.
- Its buff lasts 30 s (raised from 20 s in the beta on 24 September). According to the developers it was hard to use while leveling, because Mages need to restore mana between fights.
What it means
- Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Rewards chaining mobs while leveling: the near-guaranteed Fire Blast after a kill finishes or opens the next fight.
Incineration
Formerly: Incinerate
Formerly Incinerate. Moved from row 3 to row 1. Besides Fire Blast and Scorch, it now also increases the critical strike chance of Ice Lance and Arcane Blast.
What it means
- Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.A cheap, early talent that boosts spells from the other two trees: a clear nod to mixed builds.
Improved Fireball
Now also reduces the cast time of Frostfire Bolt.
Ignite
Each Mage now applies their own Ignite instead of sharing one. Damage is no longer lost when critical strikes land close together.
- No longer double dips on percentage damage modifiers (24 September build).
What it means
- Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Several Fire Mages in the same group no longer get in each other's way with Ignite.
Impact
Casting low-rank spells lowers its trigger chance.
Burning Soul
Now costs 3 points for the same effect.
Improved Scorch
Its debuff now only benefits the casting Mage.
- Its Fire Vulnerability no longer makes a second resist roll (1 October build).
What it means
- Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.A single Mage can no longer maintain Fire vulnerability for the whole group.
Heating Up
New row 4 talent that requires Pyroblast. Non-periodic critical strikes from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast and Scorch reduce your next Pyroblast's cast time by 25%, stacking up to 3 times.
- At 3 stacks, Pyroblast casts in 1.5 s.
- The buff lasts 20 s (raised from 15 s in the beta on 24 September).
- It was called Hot Streak in the beta until 1 October; Blizzard renamed it because it no longer depends on a streak of crits.
What it means
- Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Turns Pyroblast from a slow opener into a crit-window payoff: build stacks with your fillers and cast it at 3.
Blast Wave
No longer requires Pyroblast.
How the pieces fit
- Crits → Pyroblast. With Heating Up, each non-periodic crit from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast or Scorch cuts the next Pyroblast’s cast time by 25% (up to 3 times). Pyroblast is a 6 s cast in Classic; at 3 stacks it drops to 1.5 s, just as Blizzard states. The buff lasts 20 s. Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read.
- More crit, more Pyroblast. Anything that raises your crit chance speeds up that loop, so crit should gain value compared with Classic. Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.
- Finish and open. With Wake of Fire, after killing a non-trivial enemy your next Fire Blast has a much higher crit chance for 30 s. Blizzard extended that window because Mages need to restore mana between fights while leveling. Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read. That crit in turn feeds Heating Up. Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.
- Ignite is no longer shared. Each Mage has their own Ignite, which no longer wastes damage on close crits or double dips on damage modifiers. Several Fire Mages in one group stop stepping on each other. Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read.
- Personal effects. Improved Scorch only benefits the Mage who applies it: do not expect another Mage to keep Fire vulnerability up for you. Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read.
Still unknown
Not documented yet
- Why it is missing
- Blizzard has not said which talent fills Fire's new 16-point milestone, nor how much crit Wake of Fire grants.
- What we will do
- We will check the in-game tree as soon as it is accessible and update the milestone map.