Gealm--Mage App from Suramar

Gealm — Sun, 07/26/2009 - 14:18

Character Info

Name:

Gealm

Server:

Suramar

Race:

Human

Class:

Mage

Role:

DPS

General Questions

Which days are you available for organized guild events? (Raids, RBGs, etc):

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Upload UI:

Which addons do you consider essential and why?:

I use a lot of addons. They make my job much easier. Some of my favorites include:

X-perl
DBM
Omen
Power auras
fubar
ccbreaker
dominos
arkinv
dotimers
omniCC
recount
clique
many more..

PvE

Raid Experience:

In classic WOW I did not raid as much. I basically did MC and ZG. I have subsequently cleared all those instances purely for achievement purposes.

In BC I raided hard core and completed every instance (Kara, Mag, Gruul, SSC, TK, Hyjal, BT, and SW pre nerf (except Kil'jaeden which we killed post nerf)

In Wotlk I have cleared Naxx 10/25, EOE 10/25, OS 10/25, Uld 10/25 both up to YS, also did HM 1/9 in Uld 10.

Personal

What timezone are you in?:

Portland, OR

Tell us a little about yourself.:

I used to be a professional classical musician and am currently in career change mode to the IT field. I enjoy watching sports, hanging out with friends, and of course playing WOW.

Open/Closed:

Closed

Grats Gealm!

bluetouguyss — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 15:35

Grats Gealm!

First officer online when

garreth — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 09:30

First officer online when Gealm's on, let's grab him.

ginvited, closing app.

Shihli — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 12:41

ginvited, closing app.

I don't mean to pile on the

Kwondre — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 06:40

I don't mean to pile on the praise, but he posted his app 7/26...since then (a whopping 4 days):

1) He changed main spec to fire (which has shown a benefit to his raid dps)

2) He unlearned 450 Herbalism and got JC to 397 (almost there)

3) He got Sash of Ancient Power made (basically 4K gold easily)

That's a month for some people I know...

Still over hit cap - but that monster of a trinket http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45866 doesn't make for much flexibility. That'll go over time.

And you are high enough JC to get Runed Dragon's Eyes. Replacing your blue gem slots with those bad boys will be a noticeable dps bump as well.

He is high enough now, the

Dragon — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 10:26

He is high enough now, the gems only require erm 375 I believe to use. Maybe 380 but I know I could use them on my paladin before I was 400. It is the only profession like this.

Also if you need Dragon's Eyes while you pick up the pattern lemme know and I can spot you 3.

JC is odd. The Dragon's Eyes

saedo — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 10:32

JC is odd.

The Dragon's Eyes take 350 to use.

The patterns take 370 to learn.

The daily quest doesn't appear until 375 (and damaged necklace use).

slots

h4mm32 — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 16:01

it also wont be long before those wonderful red gems cant be used in those wretchedly ugly blue slots

Better exploit it while you

saedo — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 16:43

Better exploit it while you can. I'm switching to Nightmare Tear after.

Same here, Saedo.

Derchlon — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 19:17

Same here, Saedo.

Awesome guy,

Aidin — Wed, 07/29/2009 - 06:16

Awesome guy, GREAT mage...we'll have you back to GRD anytime sir!!

Parses: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/8zmCNvSAQ1BeISR9/

It was nice grabbing a DPS who knew all the strats and how to play his class well. You're a breath of fresh air in our recruitments of late...now will you emo out in 2 weeks?? lol Since he's a mage and not a pally or a shammy we MIGHT be safe!!

GL on the app process...I give this fella a big thumbs up.

Definately agree, great

Leighann — Wed, 07/29/2009 - 08:08

Definately agree, great attitude and didn't complain about the boomkin with lousy driving :P Good Luck! Hope to see this guy around more in raid and heroics!

Seemed like a good guy last

Dragon — Wed, 07/29/2009 - 07:14

Seemed like a good guy last night in GRD. Had really nice damage however he didn't seem really to talk much. Then again kaluu was talking which is rare so.

Either way, I like this guy. He provided portals and mage food and then he even managed to do damage. :D

Just Teasing

I've noticed your spec change

Kwondre — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 06:08

So...Gealm...how are you enjoying that new fire spec?

I would like to say I told you so...but you saw that coming already =)

Nice parses dude

It's ok for you to say

Gealm — Thu, 07/30/2009 - 08:58

It's ok for you to say "I told you so". :D

It took me all of that first 25 man raid with this guild to realize you guys were right so I switched the specs and switched around some gems, etc.. to maximize for the new spec. Also after a couple days of JC dailies I'll switch 3 gems to Dragon's Eye. That should give another bump.

Thanks alot for all the advice. It was very helpful.

Did great in the 25-man KB

garreth — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 20:58

Did great in the 25-man KB cleanup. Parses: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-zQRqItbnSd4p6DD5/dashboard/?enc=bosses

You did great for your gear and experience. Seems bright and knows his stuff. I'm sure there's going to be some debate as to whether you're rocking the proper spec for your gear and endgame, but that's what this thread is for.

In my limited time with Gealm, I vote yes. Be on this week at 6-6:30pm as we guild-pug during our normal raid times.

Thanks Garreth. The other

Gealm — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 23:10

Thanks Garreth. The other mages already convinced me to switch to 20/51/0 so that was easy :D. I'll make sure to be on for the Guild-pugs during the week and anything else you may have going on (10 mans and whatnot). I may be a little close to the 6:30 mark tommorrow night but i will be on.

OK, here's the deal: Every

garreth — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 15:56

OK, here's the deal:

Every quick ginvite we've ever done has turned around and fucked us within weeks (well, except Kwondre and Xvii... so far :P ). But I'm confident in telling you that we'd be able to take you in and get you some action. Maybe not Ulduar hard modes yet, but in 10s and definitely our weekend Naxx run. If this is something you can handle, ie NOT diving right into the main raid, then let's rock. I will be highly speculative as we watch you get over the one-month potential emo-out period.

Transfer complete. I

Gealm — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 17:40

Transfer complete.

I transferred my main: Gealm and two alts: Lucifuss and Almiwa.

I totally hear you on the

Karli — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 12:59

I totally hear you on the arcane vs. fire thing about finding it funner (i.e. more challenging). I played as an arcane mage most of BC primarily for that reason.

I think it's awesome that you not only directly answered the questions posed to you, but you were able to cite legitimate things (the EJ forum post, which I myself have gotten a lot of my own info since foraying back in to raiding for LK), and post a link to a recent parse.

You sound like you have a very good basic understanding of the intricacies of your class, but you are also open suggestions, which is a huge plus.

As a small addition, I would add that it might be in your favor to hold off on making the runed orb boots and belt simply because the price will drop dramatically once the patch comes out.

Gealm, why are you leaving

garreth — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 12:05

Gealm, why are you leaving your current guild/server?

Would you be able to server transfer this week? We are taking the week off for "summer vacation", but there's still lots to do.

my humble two cents, but good

Kwondre — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 12:42

my humble two cents, but good attitude, good awareness of his class, willing to stick up for his decisions (even though they are against the grain), and willing to make changes to improve himself.

And his performance based on that parse seems to be above his gear level...which I think is a plus.

The guild imploded and is no

Gealm — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 12:18

The guild imploded and is no more. It was Scourge Busters and a group split off and tried to form a guild called Alpha. The whole thing disintigrated rather quickly and most former members have since transferred off the server. So I had been researching guilds and checking all the different forums. Downfall seemed to be the best fit for me for a numbers of reasons. Good reputation, solid foundation, have been around a long time. And it seems that you have a signifacnt roster and you run a number of raids even outside the 2 25 mans. I enjoy working through all the content and gathering all the achievements and this seemed like a great place to come to.

Also I would be able to transfer immediately. As soon as I got the word I would go ahead and do the process. Would probably be completed within an hour.

so the portland thing is just

Karli — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 13:07

so the portland thing is just a fluke? that's quite the coincidence. a cool coincidence, though.

PST

Vitriola — Wed, 07/29/2009 - 06:24

Yeah. PST is beginning to stand for "Portland Standard Time".

couple suggestions

Kwondre — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 07:19

App and comments seem to be well thought out and reasoned. I've got some comments for you, a couple major and a couple minor:

Major: Arcane, last I checked, is the 3rd best DPS spec behind Frostfire and behind Fire/TTW. Your reasoning is that if offers flexible rotations for various fights: I would argue that the flexibility is really a choice between heavy mana sink and moderate mana sink. You use your offspec for PVP and I don't think anyone expects you to devote your offspec to raiding...but I am a PVE whore and actually have my offspec as PVE Frost just for three fights - Iron Council Medium mode, Vezax, Yogg. Arcane, as your main raiding spec, is actually unviable for Iron Council hardmode and Vezax due to the ridiculous mana constraints. Last time I went arcane on Iron Council, I burned two evo's, 3 gems, and someone's innervate before the last boss was at 75%.

Major: Your gear, as it stands now, seems about entry level for Ulduar. But this is not something that can't be helped. Runed orb prices have come down significantly. Sash of Ancient Power/Spellslinger's Slippers are BIS for you regardless of spec until you down Harde Mode FL 25 man. You should farm your face off until you can afford it. I mean, you did pony up the cash for the Inscribed Dalaran ring - so I assume money isn't THAT much an issue.

Major: Jewelcrafting is a major buff. You should level this high enough to take advantage of Jewelcrafting-only Gems.

Major: Ditch Mage Armor Glyph. Even for the massive mana sink that is arcane, Molten Armor glyph is the best DPS glyph even if its not the best DPM glyph.

Some minor stuff on gear/chants/gems/etc

1) Change +9SP/+12 Stam gems to +9SP/+8 Spr - DPS and crit and mana regen > DPS and stam

2) Change minor glyphs of AI and Penguin to Fire Ward and Frost Ward - actually can be a slight dps bump on Mimiron, Freya, Hodir, Thorim, Ignis, Razor...

3) I believe you have the hit cap to go fire (maybe minus 50 rating points), and definitely have the cap to go frostfire...but it looks like your gear is more weighted haste over crit - which is fine considering you're specced arcane. My suggestion would be to go frostfire or fire and start orienting your gear towards either of those builds. Maybe in 3.2 arcane will be more viable, but even then - fire is getting such a massive buff that you might never go back

4) If you are comitted to staying arcane, I would suggest taking your 2 points out of Arcane Stability and 1 point out of Magic Attunement and putting it into Student of the Mind - better mana regen, + More crit with Molten Armor.

5) Also, if you're committed to staying arcane...Take out 2 points in Ice shards, and put them in Frost Warding (for the same reasons as the minor glyphs of frost and fire ward + potential mana regen)...

6) Go fire...its really more fun imo, Balls of Fire exploding > blue missiles pew pew'ing.

7) Here's what I would use as a max dps raid spec for arcane: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vsu0IzxGuMxedcZbhf0o . Here is what I would use for frostfire: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#oZfVcoRhfhVubhctbIfcoc . Here is what I would use for Fireball pwnage build: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vck0fZcE00RhIhVubhct . You can play around with Student of the Mind and Arcane Meditation in that build, to suit your liking.

I'm happy to talk through any changes you are thinking of making. Hope this helps

Kwondre (and other mages),

Karli — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 14:10

Kwondre (and other mages), just curious since you touched on it briefly (for your fire spec link), what made you want to put the points in Arcane Meditation instead of Student of the Mind, especially now that spirit is tied to crit? It seems like a no brainer to me, but maybe I'm missing something about why Arc. Med would be preferable?

Also, is there a dps advantage to the mana efficiency of Master of Elements as opposed to other pure dps talents such as World in Flames?

Hey Karli, I missed this

Kwondre — Tue, 07/28/2009 - 09:33

Hey Karli, I missed this earlier but until 3.2 hits and Firespec gets a mini-personal replenshiment buff, mana can still be tight...If you go 2 points in Arcane meditation as fire spec, you get to about 83% mana regen including one of the fire talents i don't remember. It's really a judgment call, but based on my mana pool and my anger at going OOM on some fights (really just IC hard mode and vezax coming to mind), i chose to get a little bit more regen..

Also, if you're a human, you already have human sprit - but you don't have the +Int buff that gnomes have...If i were a gnome, I'd go spirit probably. From a pure DPS perspective though you're right - Spirit is a no brainer.

As for the second part, never thought to compare the two vs each other...I've always just gotten both. But the way I think about master of elements - its purpose is to keep you going and prevent you from having to evocate during a fight - which is six lost global cooldowns to do damage. But the way fire tree is structured...i don't think you really need to make a choice between the two, get both and forgo something like blast wave (PVP) or flame throwing (convenience). Gun to my head, I'd say Master of Elements, since it procs of my #1 spell (Fireball - which accounts for 50% of all my raid damage). World of Flames benefits pyro and living bomb (but that's less than 30% combined of my total raid damage)

Alot of good comments here.

Gealm — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 08:32

Alot of good comments here.

I would differ with you a bit on the spec. Everything I have come across (ie elitist jerks forums, etc....) and some of the theorycrafting I have done suggests that Arcane and FB are pretty much dead even with FFB actually coming in 3rd behind those two in terms of DPS. In my previous guild (and I realize it has little bearing on how it would come out in your guild) I actually would end up in the top 3 or 4 DPS wise using this arcane spec and had 0 mana issues on Vezax and Yogg. I think its mostly a matter of understanding and using the mechanics to your advantage rather than speccing a particular way for a particular fight. That being said if this guild decided to give me a trial and you guys insisted on a certain spec or set of specs I would have no problem doing so at all.

I probably have the cash to buy the runed orbs, etc... for the BIS wist and boots. I assume there is someone (many) in the guild that have the pattern and would be willing to craft it provided the mats? I would be willing to do that, of course, in short order.

I would also be willing to change my secondary prof to Jewelcrafting (is that better than enchanting these days?) and then move herbalism to an alt. I know tailoring is the best profession DPS boost currently with lightweave and i have that.

The mage armor/molten armor thing is always a debate for this spec. Strictly speaking if mana is always available Molten is better. But if you are oom is doesn't do yo a lot of good. I did the mage armor glyph when my gear was much lower level so I probably should make the switch to molten and see how that goes. I will do that as well.

I addressed the issue of the gem/leg choice below. I choose to have 402 more hp than 7 more DPS, but I can change that as well with no problem.

I should alter my spec slightly to the cookie cutter ulduar oriented arcane build which varies slighty from the single target centric build. I will make those build changes as well.

I would prefer to stay arcane for two reason: 1) From what Ive read its basically tied as the best dps spec 2) I've geared specifically for that spec and would need to make significant gear changes to switch main specs. Again I would do both if its the guilds preference but hopefully Ive convinced you its not necessary. :D

Thanks for all the comments. Let me know if you have any additional thoughts or if youd like to chat about anything. Let me what you think of the changes Ive outlined. thanks.

I don't mean to be

Kwondre — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 09:18

I don't mean to be challenging or anything here, but please link me the theorycraft that has arcane and FB as identical in DPS. I'm personally of the view of "who cares what spec you are as long as you can do X, Y, and Z". If you could output high quality DPS as Frost, I'd say go Frost.

I just don't believe that Arcane and Fire are identical in DPS. Everything I've read, everything I've modeled in Rawr, and everything I've experienced from raiding for a month in ULD 10/25 with equivalent gear as Arcane and as Fire tells me that Fire is better and gets better with gear. Additionally, Tier 7.5 gear is GREAT for Arcane...Tier 8.5 gear screams Fireball - as the 4 PC bonus actually is pretty bad for Arcane. Believe me, I Desperately wanted to be arcane just so I could stray from the crowd...Tried it...didn't happen, so I switched and I'm happier for it.

If you told me that in an unlimited mana situation, that Arcane DPS = Fire DPS, then I would believe you. Vezax fight is just not that kind of situation. Do you have any parses of Vezax or Yogg fights with you as Arcane?

All crated patterns are now available within guild...so no crafting fees there.

JC (in 3.1 at least) is a slight boost in DPS over Ench...I think if you went either it would be fine...I prefer JC in 3.1 for the prismatic JC only gems. I also think leveling JC is easier, and cheaper, than enchanting - if you're gonna start from scratch. Wouldn't have told you to go JC if you were already Ench. Won't comment on 3.2, since no changes are confirmed really.

Molten Armor vs Mage Armor is an example of why Arcane right now is flawed. Molten Armor is clearly a higher DPS buff, but your rationale for choosing Mage Armor is your concern over mana. Based on your unbuffed gear...mage armor costs you roughly 252 critical strike rating. Add Priest spirit buff and Kings and Gotw and you are losing about 330 critical strike rating...that's alot..

Again, Im not saying you should go fire because I'm fire and that's why I think its the best. Show us some more hard evidence (parses, theorycraft links, etc) that arcane (or at least your ability to play arcane) is better than regular Fire/TTW. Additionally, all the lovely PVE buffs that mages are getting in 3.2 are mostly occuring within the Fire tree (minus the AB mana cost redux).

I disagree with your thought that you've geared for your spec as you have a ton more hit than you need for raid-ready arcane. You are barely under fireball hit cap. So being arcane makes you waste more of your stats, unless you are like me and never DE/vendor gear just so you can customize forever (My frost set has 700 unbuffed haste).

My personal thought is...if you like Arcane and you are deadly confident you can hold your own with it here, then keep it. I hope you're successful with it because that would be a win-win for everyone. Just be prepared to change if you find yourself unable to keep up with others in here.

EDIT: Oh yea and Arcane requires pinpoint perfect control of your 3 gems, 2 evocates, arcane power, and icy veins...a lot of room for error in crazy fights...Fireball--->press #1,#2, and occasionally #3...and you're done. Maybe that's why you play arcane =(

3.2 changes to professions

saedo — Mon, 07/27/2009 - 09:43

3.2 changes to professions have pretty much been confirmed.

JC - No more prismatic quality, so it's just a straight SP bonus (vs the socket/meta bonus now). 3x39 - 3x23 = 48SP bonus

Enchanting: 2x23 = 46SP bonus

So JC should be *slightly* better still even in next patch.

Active forum topics

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Poll

What do you think about no flying for an entire expansion?

YES) It makes me feel more immersed in the game lore.

15%

YES) It encourages more PvP! (Please explain how in comments)

YES) I miss riding my ground mounts.

MAYBE) If you make all of my flying mounts able to be ground too.

MAYBE) if ground mounts are sped up to 200% speed (or higher)

26%

NO) I don't have enough time when I'm on to be riding everywhere

NO) I have spent too much time getting various levels of flying to be wasting it.

11%

NO) It encourages more PVP! (please explain in the comments)

NO) I love flying.

19%

Total votes: 74