Pyroblast

Pyroblast is a level 12 Fire mage spell. It deals massive Fire direct damage, but with a longer cast time.

Ranks

 * Rank 2 (Level 54) - Pyroblast deals additional fire damage over 6 seconds.

Specialization

 * Hot Streak
 * Mastery: Ignite

Talents

 * Alexstrasza's Fury
 * Firestarter
 * Kindling
 * Pyroclasm
 * Pyromaniac

Tips and tactics

 * In PvE situations, the best use of this spell is to use Fire Blast after gaining "Heating Up" to upgrade it to "Hot Streak!", immediately followed by your instant-cast Pyroblast.
 * Due to the somewhat long cast time, this can be used to open battles when soloing.
 * Polymorph/Pyroblast: this tactic is mostly seen in PvP. It works exactly as described: Polymorph the target, then cast Pyroblast. You Polymorph first so that the target cannot deal damage or interrupt you while you cast. Keep in mind that in PvP, many people will use various abilities to prevent Polymorph, so be ready to recast it. This is also useful in PvE questing where you pull two mobs: open on one mob with Pyroblast as normal, Polymorph the additional mob, finish off the first mob, and open on the sheeped second mob with Pyroblast.

History
Prior to the  Wrath of the Lich King expansion, Pyroblast was a talent rarely taken by Fire mages due to its long 6-second cast time and poor damage. In order to incorporate Pyroblast into the rotation and make it an appealing talent for Fire mages, patch 3.0.2 introduced Hot Streak. This talent allowed the next Pyroblast to be an instant cast ability any time the mage scored two consecutive direct-damage critical strikes with certain fire spells.

Three Minute Mage
Prior to patch 3.0.9, this spell was part of a technique called the "three-minute mage". It combined three talented abilities, Pyroblast, Presence of Mind, and Arcane Power, into an instant attack that dealt massive damage, that could further be enhanced on critical strikes if the caster had also talented into Ignite. It was famous as a nuking trick, often used in PvP. Patch 3.0.9 forced a shared cooldown between Presence of Mind and Arcane Power, which somewhat diminished this technique. With the first talent system overhaul in patch 4.0.1, the ability to talent into this combination was made impossible.

Trivia

 * A type of candy, the Pyroblast Cinnamon Ball, is named after this spell.
 * Pyroblast is an epic Mage spell in Hearthstone. The flavor text reads: "Take the time for an evil laugh after you draw this card."
 * Pyroblast is one of Kael'thas' Heroic Abilities in Heroes of the Storm. It has a larger-than-usual cast time, and the fireball moves very slowly dealing AoE splash damage on impact.