A comprehensive stat priority list for Fire Mages, with in-depth explanations. Fire Mage shares a similar priority list to most caster specializations, especially with Frost and Arcane Mages, however the specialization does care about one stat in particular more than the others due to its mechanics, Spell Critical Strike Chance.

Stat Priority

1. Hit Chance
2. Spell Critical Strike Chance
3. Raw Spell Power/Fire Damage Spell Power
4. Intellect
5. Spirit
6. MP5
7. Stamina

Hit Chance is the most important stat for Fire Mage, to ensure that your spells don’t miss their target! Hit Chance is a stat that reduces the chance to miss with your spells against higher-level targets, being capped at 16%. You won’t be able to reach the cap at the beginning of WoW Classic but you will easily acquire it later on. Luckily, Fire Mages benefit from the Elemental Precision talent, which automatically grants them a 6% Hit Chance, making it very easy for them to acquire the rest of the 10%.

Spell Critical Strike Chance is definitely the most important stat for Fire Mages after Hit Chance, as it not only allows them to deal 150% damage whenever they land a critical strike with their spells but also due to their special mechanics. Multiple Fire Mage talents interact with Spell Critical Strike Chance such as Ignite, Critical Mass, Incinerate, Master of the Elements, and Combustion. All of them are valuable but the most important one is Ignite, as every time a Fire Mage lands a critical strike on a target, it applies a DoT effect that deals 40% of the damage dealt. Since Fire Mage wants to trigger Ignite as much as possible, you will want to stack as much Spell Critical Strike Chance as possible. Master of the Elements is also fairly important since it ensures that your Mana Pool stays healthy throughout long encounters.

Raw Spell Power is a stat that increases all the damage dealt by your spells, being the next stat in terms of importance after Spell Critical Strike Chance. For Fire Mages, the stat also comes in the form of Fire Damage Spell Power, but generally, it is preferable to acquire Raw Spell Power since it also empowers spells from the Arcane and Frost Schools of Magic. There is no effective cap to how much Spell Power you can acquire, meaning that you should gain as much as possible without losing any Spell Critical Strike Chance. Ideally, you will want items with both Spell Power and Spell Critical Strike Chance.

Intellect is a stat that increases a Mage’s Mana Pool and Spell Critical Strike Chance. Every point of Intellect increases Mana while every 59.5 points of Intellect increases Spell Critical Strike Chance by 1%. The stat acts as the primary stat for the class/specialization, often being stacked as much as possible without dampening Spell Power and Spell Critical Strike Chance.

Spirit is a stat that increases your Health & Mana regeneration while out of combat. While this stat is really useful for Mages in general, it is not as strong for Fire Mages. This is because Fire Mage can optimally only gain 2/3 points in Arcane Meditation and because Master of Elements provides a far better Mana Regeneration mechanic. However, when combined with Mage Armor, Spirit can still provide quite a considerable amount of Mana Regeneration in combat. Spirit follows the MP5 rule, meaning that each tick is recuperated every 2 seconds.

Mp5 is a stat that grants Mana Regeneration every 5 seconds, with each regeneration happening every 2 seconds. The regeneration is called “tick” and works similarly to Spirit when combined with Arcane Meditation and Mage Armor. Sadly, just as in the case of Spirit, the same can be said about MP5 for Fire Mages, with Master of Elements simply already providing them with a great Mana Regeneration tool.

Stamina is a stat that increases your Health Pool! This stat for Arcane Mages can be mostly ignored, however, some Stamina is required to avoid becoming a Glass Cannon.