Abaci
Mage Souls, Part Une
by , 03-22-2011 at 08:29 PM (13801 Views)
I'm going to be putting together a series of blog posts detailing the different Mage souls and what they do, with suggested pairings. The disclaimer on this is that I'm not going to post anything until I've given the soul a good try, so it will be some time before I get through them all.
Today, Chloromancer and Pyromancer!
Chloromancer
This is a soul every mage should know how to play and have as one of their specs. It can main heal instances and, once you get 21 points in, can do so with endless mana. It can be a powerful 1-2v1-2 fighter in PvP, but my experience is that it doesn't perform very well in 5+v5+ PvP fights unless another healer is around. Because targets change so fast, your contribution will be group healing rather than holding up against focus fire, especially if you're the target.
Chloromancer is all about damage-to-healing conversion. With Lifegiving Veil you'll want to cast nothing but life spells. Since life spells only exist in the Chloro tree, most specs should go deep into the tree and simply use the other two souls to add some utility. Most often you'll be casting Vile Spores, keeping Withering Vine and Radiant Spores up on the mob. Ruin should be cast when the cooldown is ready. Of course Synthesis stays on your main tank for the passive bonus as well as to use Nature's Touch if you need a little boost in healing on the tank. You will end up with an instant single target heal and group heal on a fairly short cooldown, these should be reserved for times when a couple resists slow your healing output or for tossing heals on other group members who aren't being served by your splash heals. Same goes for your OH ISH heal. As for the rest of your spells (as I will say with any spec), use them a little just to avoid boredom.
As I've said, Chloro specs will do best casting mostly Chloro spells. When healing, going into Warlock for Opportunity is a big win. Warlock is also not a bad pairing for smaller-scale PvP since it gives you a few extra life drains to help keep you alive. Elementalist makes a good second soul, particularly because you cannot put Synthesis on yourself.
Other notes:
- This soul solos alright, and can be useful when taking on a much stronger mob that you can't simply burn down. It also has no downtime after the teens. I believe Warlock is the better chain-pulling solo spec, however. I will comment on that in a future post.
- Target-of-target is a must for this spec. You should always use it whether you are heals or dps, but being able to target a mob and what it is hitting, or vice versa, is enormously useful.
Pyromancer
If you want big numbers, this is your soul. This is a strong PvP soul, both 1v1 and in group fights, although you'll want some healing with you if your opponents know how to focus. This soul can DPS in dungeon groups, although the focus on big numbers makes me suspect it is not designed to be as high in sustained DPS as other souls.
Pyromancer is great fun to play, especially in PvP, because it is all about fast casts, instants and reactives (and did I mention big crits?). This keeps you moving and still doing damage which is crucial in an open-field fight. This does contradict your Ground of Power spell, although you will find use for it if you can stay out of harms way or are in PvE. Keep Fireball and Flame Bolt as your primary spells (especially once you get Wildfire) and make sure you keep Countdown running. I don't recommend casting Cinder Burst outright, it is boring and you will certainly be interrupted in PvP before you finish. Be sure, however, to hit it when Pyromancer's Armor procs- you get about 6 seconds before you lose the chance to cast it instantly. Inferno plus Flame Bolt can help you pull out a kill before your opponent or their healer has time to react. Heat Wave is absolutely amazing, pop it and chain Fireballs until one of your instant reactives procs, hit those and then go back to Fireballs. Combine this with Internalize Charge and you're likely to pull out 1-2 fast kills, even against a healer. You get a root, an interesting stun, an AoE stun and snare and a disarm to keep enemies off you as well as a teleport which breaks CC. All are crucial in PvP fights. Keep them at hand.
Pyromancer reactives proc off fire spells and many of the passive and actives specifically boost Fire damage. Elementalist pairs well because of this, giving you a few extra fire spells and Revitalize. You also get a pet to annoy people or tank for you in PvE. Grab it as your second soul and ignore every spell from it that isn't fire or utility.
Other notes:
- I haven't tried Ground of Strength yet, but I suspect it will change the way Pyro is played after getting it, especially in open-field fights. As soon as I hit 44 and try it, I will update.
- Fire Armor is a better choice when AoEing. It may always be a better call for any PvE fights, but given the 10% chance on Pyromancer's Armor, it might take more theorycrafting math than I'm willing to bother with to prove one way or the other. I stick with Pyromancer's Armor because more reactives is more fun!
- If you save your charge for the mana regen from Elementalist and Smoldering Power, mana is not a problem in PvE. Depending on how fast you kill (and it is fast) and if you have Fire Shield, you can pretty much chain pull with the occasional need to regen health.
- Internalize Charge burns through charge extremely fast, don't use it unless you're also using Heat Wave or you're casting 3-4 instants in a row. Chloromancer (and maybe other souls) get a similar spell that has less of an effect but for longer. Unfortunately if you're going 44/21 Pyro/Ele like me, you won't have the points to get it.
- Archon also has some Fire spells and can boost Fire damage. If you aren't going to spec far enough into Elementalist for the improved pet, this is a good alternative. I haven't personally tried this yet, expect more commend on this soon.
Edit: Added note about Archon and Fire spells.
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