Mages: Best Level 75 Talent (Mage Bomb) for Single Target DPS
Which level 75 Mage talent produces the highest single target DPS: Nether Tempest, Living Bomb. or Frost Bomb?
We tested Nether Tempest, Living Bomb, and Frost Bomb using ilvl 496 gear in SimulationCraft 505-5. All simulations were run at 25000 iterations.
Arcane Mage
Rune of Power was used as the level 90 talent for these simulations.
Maximum DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 101070 DPS
Living Bomb: 100818 DPS
Frost Bomb: 101950 DPS
Frost Bomb has a slight DPS advantage over the other talents in a maximum DPS encounter.
Realistic DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 89534 DPS
Living Bomb: 88959 DPS
Frost Bomb: 87722 DPS
Nether Tempest has a slight DPS advantage over the other talents in a maximum DPS encounter. The small loss of maximum theoretical DPS is easily gained by Nether Tempest in a realistic DPS fight.
Fire Mage
Invocation was used as the level 90 talent for these simulations.
Maximum DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 100390 DPS
Living Bomb: 100391 DPS
Frost Bomb: 99570 DPS
Nether Tempest and Living Bomb result in practically identical DPS. Either talent is viable choice for maximum single target DPS.
Realistic DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 85739 DPS
Living Bomb: 85602 DPS
Frost Bomb: 82986 DPS
Nether Tempest pulls slightly ahead of Living Bomb as the superior DPS choice for a more realistic single target encounter. With the two talents performing equally well on theoretical maximum DPS, the overall edge goes to Nether Tempest for its advantage in less than ideal fights.
Frost Mage
Invocation was used as the level 90 talent for these simulations.
Maximum DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 99939 DPS
Living Bomb: 98813 DPS
Frost Bomb: 100873 DPS
Frost Bomb pulls ahead of Nether Tempest in maximum single target DPS.
Realistic DPS Fight
Nether Tempest: 89268 DPS
Living Bomb: 88267 DPS
Frost Bomb: 86556 DPS
Nether Tempest strongly pulls ahead of both Living Bomb and Frost Bomb in the realistic fight model. Given that most fights are not perfect stand still encounters, the potential DPS gain from Nether Tempest makes it a solid choice over Frost Bomb.
