Fire Blast

Fire Blast is mage spell that deals direct fire damage. It is an instant cast spell, and a key to a mage's burst dps.

Table
Fire Blast is available at level 5 for.

Improvements
The Improved Fire Blast talent will reduce the cooldown to 6.5 seconds at max rank. The talent Flame Throwing extends the range of Fire Blast to 26 yards at max rank. Incineration increases the critical strike chance of this spell by 6% at max rank.

Fire Blast deals fire damage, and thus gains the benefit of the talents Impact, Ignite, Burning Soul, Master of Elements, Critical Mass, Fire Power, Pyromaniac, and Precision.

As with all mage spells capable of critical hits Arcane Instability, Spell Power, Molten Fury, Playing with Fire and Shatter can increase the effective damage output of this spell.

The Glyph of Fire Blast increases its critical strike chance by 50% if the target is stunned or incapacitated.

Tips and tactics
This spell sees a lot of use in PvP. Instant spells are impossible to interrupt, and spells and abilities that slow casting time have no effect. The only way to stop an instant is to silence the caster.

Instants can be cast on the move, as in kiting, or to chase or escape another player. Fire Blast must be cast while facing the target, but it is possible to jump, turn back to cast, then turn forward again before landing. The target only needs to be within the 180 degree arc in front of the caster.

A common technique to achieve burst damage is to cast Fire Blast right at the tail end of a long cast spell, such as Fireball or Frostbolt. After the long cast spell is finished, the global cooldown is also finished, and both spells will land almost simultaneously. Use the global cooldown time from the instant Fire Blast to move and gain range before casting again.