Best bang for the buck..err..AA

[Pinzarn]

I currently 4 box + 2 merc with a ranger, shaman, rogue, bard, healer, and tank. I am replacing the bard with a mage.

The mage currently has zero AA. Since the mage in the short term will be for DPS only, I am wondering what the first 10 AA should be to help with the mage and pet DPS. I have read the in-game descriptions of the AA, so I can figure out which ones are DPS related.

I need help determining if some are a better early investment?

Edit: Pet Affinity is high on the list for me so the pet will be hit with the shaman's lynx spell (proc spell).

[Glaven]

Heh first 10 AA...that's tough. But for pure dps you're probably best off spending on the first 3 ranks of spell crits

[Pinzarn]

Sorry, I didn't mean the first 10 AA points, but the first 10 actual AA (so maybe the first 100 AA points).

[nako]

Depends on your play style, if you're just going to /pet kill and forget about that client, go with pet affinity, pet crits/flurries.

If actively nuking, I would go with (in no particular order):
-Pet affinity
-Spell Casting Mastery (3/3)
-Spell Casting Fury (3/3)
-Fury of Magic (at least the first 3 or 4 ranks, can't remember when it starts getting crappy).
-Spell Casting Subtlety (first 3 ranks)
-Frenzied Burnout (first 2 ranks)
-Pet crits/flurries (first 5 of each)
-Pet Discipline (1/2 -- this is still important, especially in UF where it seems everything casts tortugones drowse or AE tash)
-GoM line (not sure what level you are, but up to your current level)

Certainly some I forgot, but that should get you started.

-nako/saryrn

[Pinzarn]

Thanks...

My assist, pet attack, and three spells will be tied to one hotkey. It is the best "fire-and-forget" setup that I can come up with and deal with alt-tabbing and messing around with two computurs. I haven't played a caster in a while, and you mentioned a couple AA that I would have skipped, but they make a lot of sense to snag those as well.