How to: Arcane Mage PVP (3.0.2)

[Christina]

arcane is retard proof 1500 mages getting 2k its a joke

What's your point?

[shifty5]

pretty good guide, props on making it. i thought id join this little discussion and point out some of my concerns.

#Showtooltip Presence of Mind
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Arcane Power
/cast Presence of Mind
/cast Fireball(Rank 14)

first off id like to point out that with this macro will pop both of your trinkets. not entirely sure why you thought this was necessary. unless your human your almost always going to have the medallion in one of your trinket slots, and using this macro will unintentionally use it. and even if you are human, you cant double stack the use function on damage trinkets, so its useless to have the /use on both trinkets.

my macro, which works fine, is this:

#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Power
/stopcasting
/use Hex Shrunken Head
/stopcasting
/cast Presence of Mind
/stopcasting
/cast Fireball

the only thing you would need to change is the name of the trinket, depending on which one you have.

Spec:
In this spec your basically boosting all your instants, it's pretty much the cookie-cutter spec for Arcane PVP. Although I'm sure there's people who have tweaked it slightly, for example I've seen people pull 3/3 Arcane Fortitude and go with 3/3 Ice Flows.

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

i have to agree with several other people in the thread stating that the arcane missles talents are definitely worth it. you are one of the only people i have seen who have opted out of taking it. im sure different play styles/team comps can make use of either spec, but id say the majority favor the addition of arcane missles

and im not entirely convinced the fire talents are worth it. for an arcane pvp rotation Incineration really only affects fire blast. its very similar to the arcane talent Spell Impact, which only affects fire blast and fireball (which is only really used during POM/AP nukes).

wasting 8 talent points to beef up fire blast and 6% more damage on AP/fireball just doesnt seem worth it. especially with the ridiculous damage output of arcane barrage.

my last concern on the spec is that Arcane Focus probably isnt worth the points either. instead of blowing talent points on +hit i believe it is better to make up the difference in enchants (possible glove enchant) or some sort of PVE offhand (even the kara one can suffice).

my spec: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
i havnt really had too much time to mess with arcane, so my only concern in my spec is with Incanters Absorption ... have you had any chance to see how good it is?

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Imo this is probably the best spec for arcane.. includes everything in the arcane tree you need but arcane mind.. you also get ignite in the fire tree for the extra damage for when your fireball crits.

im sorry dude, ignite? just no. definitely a waste of points and a killer to your dps.


anywho, great guide for those who want to start using arcane, but could use some fine tuning. (and yes i realize a lot of it is just difference of opinion :P just tossing my viewpoint into the mix)

cheers

EDIT: tl;dr spell impact and fire talents bad, arcane missles good, macro fuxed

[Christina]

Hello shifty5,

Yes, your right, I'm human and I screwed up that macro for none humans I'll fix it now! Thanks for pointing it out!

With this spec Fire Blast should be used 33% of the time, it's pretty much one of your main nukes, that's why those talents went the way they did. I seem to destroy all other arcane mages that spec for missiles, I'm not convinced it's worth it at 70. (This guides for 3.0.2 AKA Pre-WotLK) Of course opinions on AM will vary, I suggest trying it and seeing how you like it.

As for the spec you made, Incanter's Absorption is definitely not worth it vs a static more damage and crit you can gain from 5/5 Arcane Mind. Everything else looks pretty solid, just my spec is more of a instant nuke spec.

Spell hit offhand is a foolish idea also considering you will need to switch on a Brutal Gladiator's Grimoire very often in the higher ratings (not too high, just around 1700+) and you need a static +hit.

Thank you for your taking the time to look at every detail.

[shifty5]

Spell hit offhand is a foolish idea also considering you will need to switch on a Brutal Gladiator's Grimoire very often in the higher ratings (not too high, just around 1700+) and you need a static +hit.

good point, i completely overlooked this as my mage started late s3 so i havnt really had the opportunity to max out my gear.

also taking your suggestions on incanters absorption and reworking more points to arcane mind.

thanks for the tips. +rep

[Christina]

Wotlk soon!

[Chenquie]

I totally agree that this specc is better than a regular arcane missiles spam specc.

I rep'd you too.

Would you mind PMing me your armory? I wont give it out, just want to check gear, sockets, enchants etc.

[Christina]

I totally agree that this specc is better than a regular arcane missiles spam specc.

I rep'd you too.

Would you mind PMing me your armory? I wont give it out, just want to check gear, sockets, enchants etc.

I would, but I'm paranoid as hell. I'll list my hole gear setup for you, item for item.

Head - Brutal Gladiator's Silk Cowl
Ench: Glyph of Arcane Power
Gem: Chaotic Skyfire Diamond (meta) + Runed Crimson Spinel

Neck - Guardian's Pendant of Conquest
Ench: N/A
Neck: Guardian's Pendant of Conquest

Shoulder - Brutal Gladiator's Silk Amice
Ench: Greater Inscription of the Orb
Gem: Runed Crimson Spinel x2

Cloak - Cloak of Subjugated Power
Ench: Enchant Cloak - Spell Penetration
Gem: N/A

Chest - Brutal Gladiator's Silk Raiment
Ench: Enchant Chest - Major Resilience
Gem: Solid Empyrean Sapphire x3 (Don't have the cash or I'd change this)

Bracer - Guardian's Silk Cuffs
Ench: Enchant Bracer - Spellpower
Gem: Runed Crimson Spinel

Glove - Brutal Gladiator's Silk Handguards
Ench: Enchant Gloves - Major Spellpower
Gem: N/A

Waist - Guardian's Silk Belt
Ench: N/A
Gem: N/A

Pants - Brutal Gladiator's Silk Trousers
Ench: Runic Spellthread
Gem: N/A

Boots - Guardian's Silk Footguards
Ench: Boar's Speed
Gem: N/A

Ring 1 - Guardian's Band of Dominance
Ench: Enchant Ring - Spellpower
Gem: N/A

Ring 2 - Vindicator's Band of Dominance
Ench: Enchant Ring - Spellpower
Gem: N/A

Trinket 1 - Serpent-Coil Braid
Ench: N/A
Gem: N/A

Trinket 2 - Icon of the Silver Crescent
Ench: N/A
Gem: N/A

Main Hand - Tempest of Chaos
Ench: Sunfire
Gem: N/A

Off Hand - Brutal Gladiator's Endgame
Replaced with Brutal Gladiator's Grimoire when spell pen is needed.

Wand - Brutal Gladiator's Touch of Defeat
Replaced with Brutal Gladiator's Piercing Touch when spell pen is needed.

[Mervent]

What about Netherwind Presence? It gives you a 1.41 global cooldown then 1.5. I think may be usefull when you using not just instances with 1.5 timing, but also missile barage or arcane blast. Also it MAY be usefull even for instant casting

[Remahlól]

Great guide, +6 rep from me.

[Christina]

Great guide, +6 rep from me.

wowza... I was wondering why my rep spiked, thanks so much!