Rift Pyromancer Strategy Guide

Pyromancer Soul's Skills, Specs, Macros and Builds in Rift

Pyromancer is arguably the most devastating soul of the Mage calling. Focusing on the fire element and damage boosting abilities, Pyromancer is a veritable DPS factory capable of incinerating monsters and players in a matter of seconds. It's largest drawback is that the most powerful spells are either powered by charge (meaning you typically can't start off a combat with them) or have rather long casting and cooldown times (meaning you have to stand still while casting them). But you'll soon discover that charge builds quickly and that there are a few talents to help offset the disadvantages to a small extent.

Notes on the "Combust" Buff and Utility Talents: Several of the Pyromancer's spells apply a debuff called "Combust." This randomly applied debuff inflicts a rather meager DOT effect, even with several stacks, but it's true power lies in it's synergy with other spells. Several other damaging spells will inflict greatly increased damage with the Combust debuff stacked on an enemy. Maximum of 3 stacks. It conjunction with this, it is worth noting that most spells are not all that great on their own, and will require the purchase of specific talents to make them more useful. Thus, unless you're planning on a 51 point build, spending soul points in the Pyromancer tree requires you to determine which spells are going to be included in your rotation and purchasing the related talents for maximum effectiveness.

Pyromancer Skills and Special Abilities

Fireball - Points Required: 0
Ability Info: (Cast time: 2 seconds, Cooldown: None) This is a Pyromancer's basic damage ability and will likely be the largest source of his Combust debuff.

Flame Bolt - Points Required: 0
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown:8 seconds) An instant cast damage ability that doesn't do quite as much damage as Fireball. It has the distinct benefit of being able to be cast while moving, but has an even more distinct disadvantage of a significant cooldown. Flame Bolt on it's own isn't all that great, but it will have it's uses if you purchase Improved Flame Bolt and Wildfire.

Flame Jet - Points Required: 2
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 6 seconds) An AOE damage spell that inflicts damage to up to 6 enemies that are between melee distance and 7 meters in front of the Mage. Due to it's 6 second cooldown, it's not overly useful but it can offer some small amount of utility with the purchase of Improved Flame Jet.

Fire Armor - Points Required: 4
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) This is a highly useful spell at lower levels, as it increases the Pyormancer's fire damage by 5%. But since you can only use one "Armor" spell at a time, this spell will become less useful as you gain access to higher level Armor spells.

Burning Shield - Points Required: 6
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown:30 seconds) A damage shield that absorbs 50% of the damage taken by the Pyromancer up to a specific amount of damage, depending on rank. While it doesn't seem to be a lot of damage, Mages don't have a lot of HP to begin with so this one could buy you some time to kill enemies before they kill you.

Glyphs of Power - Points Required: 6
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) This handy offensive buff increases the Mage's spell damage by 5% while standing still, and increases their mana regeneration by 100% at the expense of taking 5% extra damage when hit. Does not stack with Ground of Strength. Typically, when a Mage ganes access to a new buff that does not stack with a previous buff, the older buff becomes obsolete. That is not the case here, as Ground of Strength does something completely different and both buffs will have different uses in different situations.

Smoldering Power (Consumes Charge) - Points Required: 8
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: Special) This nice mana management spell converts 10 charge into a buff that will reduce the mana cost of your next spell by 95%. This buff can be stacked up to 8 times. While not in combat, this spell has no cooldown and you can convert most of your charge bar into stacks of Smoldering Power. If used in combat, it has a cooldown time of 1 minute. Stacks last for 3 minutes or until used.

Burning Intellect - Points Required: 10
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) A buff that can be cast on the Mage and allies that will increase their Intelligence by a number dependent on rank.

Track Fire Creatures - Points Required: 10
Ability Info: (Cast time: , Cooldown: None) Shows the location of Fire monsters on your minimap. Not extremely helpful, unless you're hunting Fire creatures for some reason.

Countdown - Points Required: 12
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown:8 seconds) A damaging spell that will inflict Fire damage on the target after 8 seconds. Damage is increased by 5% for each stack of Combust on the target.

Cinder Burst - Points Required: 14
Ability Info: (Cast time: 6 Seconds, Cooldown: 30 seconds) This nasty spell inflicts major fire damage on the enemy, and with the right talents you'll want this one at the very top of your damage macro. It's long cast time makes it a very difficult spell to work with, but it can be reduced by 1.5 seconds with a full purchase of Ignition. Heat Wave also helps with this spell by resetting it's cooldown and reducing it's next cast time by a further 50%. Using Pyromancer's Armor gives a percentage chance to reset it's cooldown and reduce the next cast time within 10 seconds by 100%. Cannot be used within 5 seconds of Fulminate.

Internalize Charge (Consumes Charge) - Points Required: 16
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) While it's active, it increases all damage dealt by the Mage by 20%. This spell consumes charge while active, and charge cannot be gained during this time. While great for major bosses, you're better off with using your charge to power damaging charge consumers or for mana management by way of Smoldering Power.

Inferno - Points Required: 18
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 10 seconds) A conditional damaging spell that inflicts a significant amount of damage on an enemy with less than 30% of their hit points remaining. I like to stick this one at the top of my damage macro so that it goes off as soon as the enemy meets the criteria.

Burn - Points Required: 20
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 50 seconds) A control ability that disarms the enemy for 5 seconds. Extremely handy against monsters and players who are engaged in melee against you or one of your allies.

Flaring Intellect - Points Required: 20
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) A raid buff that increases the Intelligence of all allies within 35 meters of the Mage by a number that depends on rank. This gives less than Burning Intellect, but it lacks the necessity to reapply the buff to allies after they are killed.

Flashfire - Points Required: 26
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 45 seconds) A somewhat handy spell that stuns the target for 5 seconds while stunning the Mage for 2 seconds. It's less handy for the Mage, since you'll only have 3 seconds of stun time to work with, but it works better when used on an enemy that someone else is fighting. This has a spectacular effect in Warfronts and group world PVP.

Withering Flames - Points Required: 32
Ability Info: (Cast time: Channeled, Cooldown: 30 Seconds) This spell is quite possibly the best way to use your charge. It deals significant Fire damage (dependent on rank) over 5 seconds. It also places a stack of Combust on the target each second it is channeled, allowing you to maximize your damage in group combat by inflicting your maximum 3 stacks on fresh target with a single spell.

Lockdown - Points Required: 38
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 45 Seconds) A very handy spell for combat against multiple enemies that snares up to 8 enemies in the selected area of effect. Movement rates are reduced by 90% and Fire damage is increased by 5% on all affected enemies. This is a nice spell to drop prior to Fire Storm.

Ground of Strength - Points Required: 44
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: None) A defensive spell that creates a temporary field that provides a nice buff. While standing in the area, the Mage's magical resistances are increased by 60, their armor value is increased by 70% and they are immune to control effects. However, the damage they inflict is reduced by 10%. Good to use in PVP in situations where you can stand in one place, or against boss monsters that use a lot of control effects. Does not stack with Glyphs of Power.

Fulminate (Consumes Charge) - Points Required: 51
Ability Info: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 45 seconds) The single most devastating spell available to a Pyromancer, Fulminate inflicts devastating damage on the target. To use this spell, it requires a full charge bar, and will drain it completely after a single use. Cannot be used within 5 seconds of Cinder Burst. Despite it's massive damage, charge would be better used to apply Combust to your target with Withering Flames or for mana management by way of Smoldering Power. However, if both of those are on cooldown, have a little fun and let this baby off the chain!

Pyromancer Soul Talents - Where to Spend Your Points

0-Point Soul Talents

Fiery Concentration
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Increases the critical strike chance of your Fireball spell by 5% per point invested. Since Firebolt will always be one of a Pyromancer's main spells, you'll definitely want this if it's your primary soul.

Ignition
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Each point invested in this talent decreases the cast time of all Fire based spells by 4% and all other spells by 1%. An absolute must-have if you have any desire to cast spells with a cast time, especially Cinder Burst.

Improved Fireball
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Increases the critical strike chance of your Fireball spell by 5% per point invested. Since Firebolt will always be one of a Pyromancer's main spells, you'll definitely want this if it's your primary soul.

5-Point Soul Talents

Improved Combustion
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Increases the chances that your Fireball spell will apply a stack of Combust by 10% per point invested. If you want to make the best of this soul's abilities, This is one you absolutely cannot do without.

Improved Flame Jet
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Gives the Pyromancer's Flame Jet spell a 50% chance of knocking back enemies it hits. While this ability might seem very useful, due to Flame Jet's cooldown and relatively close range, it's not that great. Enemies aren't even knocked that far back, and they'll be on you before the cast time of your next Fireball is done.

Burning Fury
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Any time a spell fails to inflict a critical hit, this talent applies a stacking buff to to the target that increases the chance of a critical hit by 3% per point spent in the talent (10% with the maximum 3 points). Any critical hit consumes all stacks of this buff. I don't think it really needs to be said, but this is a highly desirable talent for any build as regular critical hits increase your overall DPS.

Burning Bonds
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown:30 Seconds) Roots a single target for up to 8 seconds. Damage inflicted on the target will remove this effect. Not exceptionally helpful in group PVE (especially with a tank), but in solo PVE and PVP this spell can be marginally helpful if you also purchase Unbreakable Bonds. Otherwise, don't bother with this one.

10-Point Soul Talents

Fiery Resolve
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Reduces the duration of enemy stun and silence effects by 10% per point spent in this talent. This is another talent who's usefulness goes well beyond the Pyromancer soul. You will not regret buying this one.

Flicker
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 20 Seconds) Removes all enemy control and movement impairing effects and teleports the Mage 15 meters forward. This spell is not quite as useful as it sounds and your mileage will vary, depending on the individual circumstances. It works exceptionally well when you're running away from something, but not so well when you're fighting something since it has the tendency to teleport you into the thick of the heated melee battle directly in front of you, so use with extreme caution. You would be better off with getting this effect from somewhere else, like the 0 point Archmage ability (PVP soul).

Philosophy of Flame
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Increases your maximum charge by 5 per point spent in the talent. While it's nice to have, it's nowhere close to being a necessity. In fact, the only reason you actually need this talent is for the 51 point Fulminate spell, and if you have that spell you'll have this talent. Skip this one if you're looking to shave soul points to use in another soul.

15-Point Soul Talents

Improved Flame Bolt
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Gives Flame Bolt a 33% chance per point spent in the talent (100% with 3 points) to increase all spell damage by 10% for 10 seconds. This talent makes putting Flame Bolt in your casting rotation, however it works best with Wildfire.

Burning Bright
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Each point spent in this talent increases your Fire based spell damage by 0.4% (1.2% with the maximum 3 points) for each point invested in the Pyromancer soul. If you've invested this high in the Pyromancer soul, you may as well invest the extra 3 points here to maximize your DPS.

Firestorm
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: Channeled , Cooldown: None) Inflicts moderate Fire based damage to up to 8 enemies in the selected area of effect over a period of 8 seconds. Great for pummeling groups of monsters and players as it can be cast again immediately after the channeling is done. Due to it's spamable nature, a starting Pyromancer might be tempted to use this spell as his or her main attack against single targets. This is an extremely bad idea, as this spell uses a massive 269 mana with each cast. Pyromancers are seriously lacking in mana regenerating abilities, and you could find yourself in big trouble rather quickly. However, if you do have a reliable mana regenerating ability from another soul, this spell is a great way to max out your charge quickly as it generates 6 charge per second (48 charge for the full duration, which is nearly half your maximum charge).

20-Point Soul Talents

Wildfire
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Requires: Improved Flame Bolt. This talent gives cast Fireball spells (regardless of success) a 10% chance per point invested in this talent to reset the cooldown of your Fire Bolt spell and reduce the next 3 cooldowns for that spell to 0. (that's 4 total casts before the cooldown starts again). Each point invested also gives Flame Bolt a 33% chance to apply a stack of the Combust debuff on the target (100% with the maximum 3 points). This truly makes Flame Bolt worth including in your damage macro, just below Cinder Bolt and Inferno.

Pyromancer's Armor
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: Instant , Cooldown: None) This buff gives all Fire based spells a 10% chance to reset the cooldown on Cinder Burst and reduce it's next cast time within 10 seconds by 100%. Each point spent in the Pyromancer skill tree beyond 40 increases this chance by 1%. This effect can only happen once every 10 seconds. Only one Armor buff may be in effect at one time. Lasts 1 hour. If you're including a lot of Fire based spells in your rotation, this is a must have. It's even well worth foregoing the 5% Fire spell damage increase granted by Fire Armor for the opportunity of an instant and immediate cast of Cinder Burst.

Spark
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Reduces your global cooldown by 0.1 second per point invested in this talent. This is very helpful overall to any role, even if Pyromancer isn't your primary soul. However it's not really worth investing any talents at all unless you invest the full 5 points.

Unbreakable Bonds
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Requires: Burning Bonds. With this 1 point talent, damage inflicted on the target will no longer remove the root effect of Burning Bonds. If you're looking for a single target root spell, this is the most efficient way to get it as it requires fewer points than any other soul to prevent the root effect from being removed when the target takes damage.

25-Point Soul Talents

Fire Shield
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) After the Mage is hit, they have a 30% chance of gaining a shield that absorbs damage equal to 15% of their maximum hit points for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds. If you're designing a build that it likely to take damage (i.e. solo PVE or a PVP build), this is nice to have but not vital to your survival. For a raiding or dungeon build where tanks will be taking most of the damage, you'll barely get any use out of this ability.

Improved Glyphs of Power
Soul Talent Description:: (Passive) Each point invested in this talent reduces the amount of extra damage you take while the Glyphs of Power buff is active by 1% and increases the damage bonus granted by 1%. Definitely worth the 5 point investment to get the full effect if you use this buff as it adds extra damage to your attacks while completely eliminating the extra damage you take.

Backdraft
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: 0.5 Seconds, Cooldown: 30 Seconds) Inflicts a small amount of Fire damage to 8 enemies within the selected area, and stuns them for 2 seconds. Works well to give a healer a couple of valuable seconds to heal party members in melee, but other than that it's not all that useful.

30-Point Soul Talents

Heat Wave
Soul Talent Description:: (Cast time: Instant, Cooldown: 2 Minutes) Resets the cooldown of all the Mage's Fire based spells and reduces their cast time by 50% for the next 15 seconds. Best used after blowing all of your long cooldown damaging spells and allows you to significantly increase your DPS (by decreasing the time it takes to cast Fire Spells) while the effect lasts. If you're using a lot of the Pyromancer abilities, this ability is definitely a worthwhile investment.