Ok, maybe not so basic but sometimes returning to the beginning is just what we all need. In my previous post I talked about how much crit I have for different specs. For me it’s a simple systems I use:

When I’m not fire spec’d I try to get close to 20% spell crit as possible. This gives me room for any added crit affect from other classes in my grp or raid. It also mean I don’t have to watch my threat nearly as much and I have more room to go all out.

When I am spec’d for fire I try to get no more then 30% spell crit. Almost for the same reason, “Boomkin” can really ruin your day when you crit to much and drop the OT below you. Especially on some of those nice mobs that like to stun or immobilize the MT or OT and then go bananas on the rest of the raid (ie. Skeletal Ushers in Kara).

Yes, spell crit is important for every mage. I don’t discount that. The only issue is how much is too much. Some people say, I’m not one of them, that spell damage is more important then spell crit. Yes the more bonus damage you have the more your overall DPS will improve.

Let’s look at it this way:

You get 500 bonus damage and the frostbolt you cast does 450-500 damage on it’s own. So that means on cast barring any resists you should hit the mob for 950-1000 damage, simple right? Ok not let’s say the mob has 10K health. So it should take you between 10 and 11 spell casts. Well let’s look at the mene cost of the spell while we are at it. Frostbolt (Rank 13) costs 345 mana. Without spell cost reduction talents it takes 3.45K – 3.9K mana to kill the mob. Now let’s add in a spell crit of 20%, it’s not alot but enough to show ho much it helps. So now you cast the same spell with the same mana cost against the same mob. Well 2 of your Frostbolts crit, meaning they do double damage. Well this means it will now take 6 or 7 Frostbolts. More effective wouldn’t you say from a DPS standpoint? Adding in the spell crit you burned between 2K and 2.5K mana.

So does it take more forthought on your part to manage your aggro in a group setting? Yes, but the overall bonus to your DPS and mana effeciency is well worth it.