Ok, well I did a test on a spec I use and often see played. I do my tests against Dr. Boom in Netherstorm. He isn’t an actual boss (level 73 elite), he does however have the same ranged resistances and what not for ranged DPS to test themselves with.

I personally like this spec for a few reasons, it allows for sustained DPS while giving you a good chance at mana return from spellcasts. Which anyone that has ever played a fire spec mage knows, if you don’t have good mana regen/return you will be drinking alot.

Spec: 14/44/3 

If you have never used WoW Web Stats (WWS), here is a excellent write-up from BRK. I’m not going to duplicate what he has done, I’m just going to link it.

Here are the stats and some an important gear note about my test. I am using neutral damage gear, this mean it is the same bonus damage across the board. I am in mostly Epics ecept for the occasional blue that is still better then something else. This, [Robe of the Elder Scribes], makes the results hard to reproduce. All raid buffed I sit at 796 dmg, 11.09% spell hit (w/ talent) and 30.19% spell crit (w/ Molten Armor). I was using [Superior Wizard Oil], [Adept's Elixir] and [Crunchy Serpent]. Any spell damage food would work but that is what I had eaten last and I still had a few minutes left on it.

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This fight was 5 minutes, I know this cause I set a timer. Sometimes I need a little help like that. This says I was DPSing for the full 5 minutes. I did use 2 [Super Mana Potion], 1 [Mana Emerald] and 1 Evocation (you will see this below). I don’t know why it didn’t account for that time but I digress.

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Ok, according to BRK’s write up on WWS, I cast 58 fireballs. Of those 18 were crits, 39 were normal hits and I had 1 miss. During the duration of the fight I maintained Scorch on the target, that means I had to stack it 5 times and then reapply it every 25 seconds. I use a simple 2 Scorch, 1 Fireball, 2 Scorch, 1 Fireball spell rotation (first 20 seconds of boss fights) at the beginning. Once that application of Scorch is about to wear off, I throw my final Scorch to complete the 5 stack.

This shows all the procs from gear and talents that happened during the fight. I keep hearing how my [Robe of the Elder Scribes] procs all the time. It actually proc’d from 3% of my spell casts. Not a bad average it could be alot worse but I won’t go head over heals for the proc effect. I used my trinkets whenever they are up just like I would for a real boss fight. Heck, I even used pots, gems and my Evoc. If I’m testing out a spec or how some gear will interact with other items, I go all out.

I think next week I will try another spec, heck if you want to know how your spec will preform you can do the test yourself or send me your spec and I’ll test it out.