Beginner Mage PVP

[Garfunkle]

I was chatting to Ro the other day since I've recently started discovering the joy (pain?) of pvp and she's been pvping on her mage too.

I realise I'm pretty clueless when it comes to what I'm really looking for from a decent pvp spec/gear set so I found this link which has given me some foundation info.

It might all be rubbish, but it's the only guide I've really found.

If anyone knows different then let me know.

[Sarri]

This isnt mage specific, but u might get a load of help here. I follow him on Twitter and hes real helpful if u have questions.

http://cynwise.wordpress.com/

[Fagan]

Check out the forums on http://www.arenajunkies.com/forum

There are generally EJ style class guides in the class forums and a lot of insight in the other forums. Of course you have to wade through a bit of trolling as usual but it's not bad.

[Tsumecho]

Pvp, mage or any class is far more personal than raiding. Its not you versus a "pc" opponent. Therefore, I find that getting a spec that you feel suits you then covering the basic bases and diving in works.

You can read when to frpst nove, blink etc, but the best way to learn in pvp is to do tbh.

So get some gear (or not), get a spec, read up and go nuts (literally)

[Fungi]

PvP as a mage is fun. You're either there to control and peel, or nuke the shit out of stuff. Adjust your spec accordingly

First thing you should do is find out when to use blink. If you 'waste' a blink, you're usually screwed in a 1v1 against a melee. It's good fun though to pvp as mage, enjoy !

A.

Ps. @Tsu: It's not PvE, so it's indeed not you against a scripted encounter, but when you pvp a lot, you tend to develop standard reactions to the actions of the opponent. So, in a fact it's still .. do a) when b) happens, just like at PvE

[Garfunkle]

For the most part I've been winging it with regard to battlegrounds. I've been slowly gearing up and I've hit about 2600 resilience and just got my 4-set bonus for my Season 11 gear.

As for "tactics" well I've been playing Fire. Don't know if I'm playing it the way it's meant to be played but I'm basically running around throwing out living bombs, and scorching whilst on the run. The advantage is I'm basically getting hot streak and impact procs pretty regularly....nothing more satisfying than a chain of free, instant pyroblasts in a warlocks face.

I've been aiming for crit gear to help with the procs, and so far I'm having a LOT of fun.

[Fagan]

Fire? Interesting, 99.9% of PvP mages go frost, to the point where other specs aren't even covered at arena junkies. Can't remember the last time I saw anything other than frost mages running about.

Of course it's still down to what you want to do, if it works for you then good job

[Garfunkle]

Yeah, I know that Frost is considered the hardcore pvp spec, but in all fairness the very first guide I read gave pretty good arguments for all 3 specs.

With fire there are a lot of really good pvp abilities, things such as burning speed which gives you a speed boost when you're hit, cauterise which stops you dying, dragon breath and flame strike are all brilliant in BGs. One of the main joys is the fact that when you have molten armour up you can cast scorch whilst running...so my tactic is don't stop moving.

Nothing more funny than being a teeny gnome literally running circles around a tauren warrior whilst spamming scorch, keeping living bomb up and throwing out the free pyroblast and impact procs.

I'm thinking of using my dual spec to try frost out for comparison. Then also try them both out in arena when I eventually grow a pair and head in there.

[Garfunkle]

I've been toying with Frost and apart from my first attempt where we got absolutely annihilated by the Horde so much that /bg turned into a torrent of abuse, including my failings as a Frost Mage....it's been going not too badly. Coming out top on a few 1v1 situations where I've probably been mostly lucky but before I would have just went splat.

Slowly starting to work out rotation and things. Messed around with some keybindings to make it easier to do some stuff.

Need to work out some macros.

But I must say 50k Ice Lance crits are scary.