Illidan and Mages :\

[nocturnai]

We are just about to start really pushing the Illidan encounter itself...and there is some debate on fire vs. frost mages in that encounter going on within the guild right now...I am currently specced as fire but am thinking it might be better to head as full frost for this fight...any mages who have done this fight and have input would be welcome :)

[QuiSiLoR]

Well if u have the gear for the spec you are using I dont really see a problem. We have personally used mages with all specs on our kills.

The Fire Elementals would prove ya only major issue being fire spec but the rest of the fight ya pretty sound.

[cheeff82]

Agree with poster above, what specc you have doesnt really matter. I have played with both speccs (fire&frost) and only difference is that you do some more dps on P2 but the dps you loose on P2 as a firemage wont make a difference between a kill or wipe. Go with the playstyle/specc you feel most comfterbel with and its a win:)

PS. Not sure but there were some ppl saying at some time that frost=wn against parasites and that not entierly true, you can handel them just as good with fire(dragons breath/Blast wave/AE).

[Osirisofdoom]

It will be easier on your raid as a whole while learning the encounter if your frost. Necessary? No. But it will make life easier due to the following elements:


Increased DPS in Phase 2 means less crucial healing time.
Imp Blizzard for when Demons Spawn is fantastic for learning the fight and takes stress off your shamans and hunters.
Greater Survivability through talents.


I would recommend using this build while you learn and get your first kill.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=of0VZZVA0Isfcoiqt

Again, not necessary but its the easiest way to go about things at first. I've done it fire plenty of times myself.

[magerglory]

I do it as fire, we almost always take two mages to that fight. If my buddy is feeling rich he'll spec frost for imp blizzard, but it's not really needed (it does come in handy though if the tank gets parasites). Try it as fire, If you think you're a little slow on the parasites spec frost. its also nice to be frost for the infernals, but again it isnt needed.

[Zoenn]

For learning the fight, I'd say deep frost is best because of several points:

General survival - Frozen core, Ice Barrier, reduced Iceblock cooldown, Cold Snap


High phase 2 DPS


High control over the parasites - Improved Cone Of Cold/Frostnova, Frostbite, Permafrost, Water Elemental (second ranged Frostnova, extra DPS)


This is the spec I used for a good while: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZZVAGIofesiqt

Once you know the fight and have a few kills under your belt, stay your preferred spec :)

Z

[nocturnai]

Thanks guys appreciate the quick and insightful feedback...:)

[Fireangelsym]

I switched from deep arcane to arc/frost for Illidan many, many months ago... Loved it ever since.

Pretty confident that arc/frost mages do better than warlocks on Illidan simply because of threat issues.

Lots of SWP guilds' mages respec arc/frost for BT/MH clearing. :-)
Our last Illidan--
http://wowwebstats.com/chnwxordbrswg?s=0-757

[Baldassar]

IT all depends on the tactic your guild intends to use for various phases.

1: will you power through phase 2 or try to "control" it?
What i mean: will you bring a lot of healers and keep two tanks plus Dark Barrage, or go dps heavy and try to kill the first elemental before the Barrage? In the latter case, you should not be fire specced.

2: on the Demon form, when the shadow demons spawn, do you intend to AoE them on the spot, or run as far away from Illidan as possible, in order to have more time to kill them?
In the first case you should have at least one mage with Imp Blizzard (i used 0/47/14 when IV was implemented), on the "safe distance" tactic, spec does not matter.

Ask your raidleaders, or generally the officers that will make those calls before spending 100g/week ;)

[Alectryon]

I always spec 0/0/61 for illidan, all other fights i'm cookie cutter fire spec

at first i spec'd this so that i could keep complete control of the parasites but with proper management of your cools you can do tons of damage, also fire ward + barrier almost completely soaks illidan's flame barrage move (the one that freezes my screen)

100g a week to respec for raids should be really nominal with all the easy dailies and free gold in the game now

[Beska]

When you're learning the fight, you should be Frost. The hardest phase is the second and the elementals are immune to Fire. You need to actually help the raid rather than use a second-class spell. For your first kill, and possibly a few further kills you should be speccing Frost.

Furthermore, Improved Blizzard on the demons helps a lot when they spawn in combination with a hunter trap.

When you are confident in the fight and are able to pull it off without effort week after week, you can probably go without speccing Frost and just throw Frostbolts at the elementals while Fire spec. While learning, I'd suggest Frost though.

[Xizo]

Like the above posters have said, for learning Frost would be your best bet. Allows you more time, and a few more mistakes can be made without you or your raid dying.

I tend to just spam FB / AM on P2 if im specced fire, and its ok dmg.

[colt45]

I was frost for our first 2 kills. I would respec just for learning the fight. It think it helped in a few things.

Getting out of phase 2 faster - less chance for someone to get themselves killed (melee or tanks from beams) & easier on healers from lots aoe damage.

Blink up and Imp blizzard on the path of the demons does help alot at slowing them down.

you get like 4+ iceblocks.

[nocturnai]

Hey guys thanks for all your input we dropped him last night ;) Thanks again!!!!