Remove Rune of Power and buff base damage by x %.
Rune of power is indeed an unnatural talent given these mechanics, but this should be granted for all specs, not only fire. I am unsure if fire needs any more buffs or any buffs for fire would be well received in the entire community.
To have any chance of normality Fire needs a Combustion rework.
At the moment they can’t buff the base damage of any spell without also buffing that spell’s damage during Combustion, which kind of screws up the whole idea of balancing. This one cooldown is so defining to the spec as it is now, that it prevents any real change.
Unlike in BFA most of Combustion’s power comes from its arbitrary 100% crit chance rather than the resultant mastery (Ignite) increase, it’s not something that can be nerfed without completely changing the way Combustion functions.
I feel that we’d do better having Fire be based around our Ignite mastery rather than up-front direct hits, like it is now.
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Fire is meta because of it’s burst dmg profile. It does good dmg in dungeons because it can get all its dmg out on packs then regen between packs or when the tank is kiting. The burst makes it strong in pvp and very useful in raid.
Just because you don’t like the burst profile doesn’t make it broken.
As for rune I’d prefer to have it as it was before, casting rune ready to burst felt great. You have to move out of it sometimes, don’t worry about it. Also the radius of it is much bigger than the animation, is the same size as ring of frost I think.
Exactly this, but I wish we could get some form of official definition of this being the idea behind fire.
It seems to me the specs could play different roles. Frost is a control steady consistent damage, while fire is utility and burst - and then what is arcane?
A radical idea would be for arcane to convert to a tanking or healing spec. It would be fun, I suppose, with a cloth tank and I could see how arcane could weave magic in self-defense 
Anyway, arcane is in a funny place - but fire does not need to be fixed in any way.
“Remove this mechanic which limits my mobility because I’m not skilled enough to play around it” 
Why not just remove all abilities except for Fireball and then buff Fireball. Maybe keep combust as a CD that simply makes Fireball do burst damage. And then also remove cast time from Fireball of course.
I would like you to define “unnatural” in this context. Thanks
no I want to use my abilities, because it’s feels good to press them, not becuse they are OP. and it’s not the case with the rune. it feels terrible to use it.
It really doesn’t… see what I did there!
Fine you feel it’s terrible it’s just not useful information.
Why does it feel terrible to use? Elaborate please
Because it’s on the same talent row as Incanter’s Flow, a constant passive damage increase. Whenever Rune is not up, you just feel like your consistent damage is hindered and whenever you pop Rune and you’re forced to move out of it, it feels wasted and as if you’re losing on both Rune and IF.
And besides, mage was initially designed as the most mobile and squishy caster, that’s all about avoiding taking damage and kiting. Rune contradicts both of these intentions by rooting us in place.
Just play Incanter’s Flow then…
That said:
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Fire Mage doesn’t have any consistent damage. It all about Combustion. Rune of Power is an important part of the Combustion window.
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Proper use of Rune of Power is a factor that allows good fire mages to distinguish themselves from mediocre fire mages. Not everything should be easy and straight forward. If you cant handle it then play Incanter’s Flow. Rune of Power feels great for good mages who knows how to use it correctly and get rewarded for it. But it feels bad for mediocre mages who cannot handle it well. If you use it right before a mechanic that might force you to move then it’s just bad play.
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Fire mage is definitely not a squishy caster. It’s one of the most tanky dps specs in the game. Ice Block, Mirror Images, Cauterize, Barrier and Alter Time… it’s definitely not squishy.
I would’ve agreed if it was the old iteration of RoP, where you had 2 charges.
But now, it just drops automatically on Combustion, and the other charges is pressed on cooldown 95% of the time.
I’d even argue that playing around IF perfectly is harder than rune currently, if you bother maximizing it’s stack usage that is ofc.
It feels good because it makes you do the most damage, not because it’s satisfying mechanically. If other talents were competitive with rune, most people won’t bother playing it.
Holds rune for 3 extra seconds to dodge a mechanic “AHA! Get rekt, you totally not scripted mechanic that I can precisely track with DBM, you didn’t make me move out of my rune of power this time!!” - Said no one ever.
In PvE, maybe not. Since burst damage is your main threat of dying, which is exactly what mage is good at preventing, with Alter, Ice Block and Cauterize.
But in PvP, it’s a way different story. It’s all about kiting and negating enemy burst windows with Alter/Ice Block/CC, while having your Barrier as the filler inbetween mobility/defensives/CC to keep you alive vs DoT, pets and smaller hits.
That’s why Triune Ward shouldn’t be in the game. It strengthens the exact weak point of where mages should be most susceptible to taking damage.
And if they aren’t squishy, then why is mage the main kill target in almost every single AWC game since Triune Ward got nerfed?
Most casters can’t move when they pop their cds anyway. And timing rop’s around mechanics is the gameplay, have to do it with shifting power too. But going back too:
I bet a crit heavy pyroclasm build could be very competetive rn, it got buffed like kindling for 9.0. You should be able to play IF with it too in theory, but rop is overtuned. When frost is playing rop you know something is wrong.
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Removing Rune of power is clearly not a way to fix fire mage, it’s a way to fix OP’s game style without feeling guilty about having the rune. Lol.
A little harsh but really just play incanters flow.
The current rune feels better to use than the BfA one with its autocast mechanic, but I still very much dislike it as a mechanic. With scorch execute and all the instants, fire mage’s design is clearly to be the mobile caster. Rune of power goes entirely against that idea.
Maybe thats why we have rop, to limit mobility instead of just being able to run laps.
Isn’t it a better idea to just scrap Ring of Frost from Fire? Feels quite “too much” since they have DB - which is already quite powerful combined with either this or Sheep.
I dont think it’s too much, CC should be a strength of mage as it used to be.
Sadly it’s only apparent for Fire right now, and with other classes getting back more CC/utility with the unpruning, the lack of CC for Frost and Arcane is more apparent than ever before.
The thing that is “too much” is Triune Ward legendary, that should’ve never being a thing. What mage lacks is CC and mobility right now, that’s why the tankiness of Triune is basically mandatory for PvP.
We need these instead of Triune:
- Cone of Cold baseline for all specs. (instead of Frostbolt)
- Blink(blink-stun) removed off GCD baseline.
- Shimmer reverted to 20sec CD recharge.
- Deep Freeze and Icy Floes baseline for Frost.
- Improved CS, Shatter and Slipstream baseline for Arcane.
- Blazing Speed or Blast Wave, and Shatter baseline for Fire.
- TRIUNE WARD DELETED FROM THE GAME!
Fire Mage does not need fixing, but thanks for your suggestions.