[Mage] Guide to Arcane PvE! (Updated for 3.3)

[Meltoor]

Summary:
-Talent build
-Macro
-Gear guide
-Rotation & Gylph
-Interesting things to know


-At the current state, arcane is the best spec for PvE with the proper usage.

Introduction to Arcane:
Some fast things (For later use):
Arcane Missiles = AM
Arcane Barrage = Abarr
Arcane Blast = AB
Arcane Power = AP
Focus Magic = FM


Talent:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#of0Vs...xedcZbGc0o:Nzi
This is the baseline how your talent should look like, but you can make minor changes. Student of the Mind can also be interesting, thou it doesn't give too much plus damage for you.

Gear:
Ofcourse, the first thing to get is the hitcap.
You need 17% Hit overall.
-Precision +3% hit.
-Arcane Focus +3% hit.
-If you have an SP/Moonkin, that's another +3% hit.
-If you're playing the shi... I mean, alliance, the Draenei aura +1% hit.
So you need 11% unbuffed hit to be capped against a level 73 mob (without SP), which isn't really hard to obtain! I don't have a hit rating gem, nor a trinket and got 18% +hit even without the talents in ilvl264 gear, so it should be a piece of cake.

The stats you need always depend on your current gear, but the primary stats you need are, clearly, haste and spellpower!

Gems:
The meta socket (if you have one) should be Chatoic Skyflare Diamond.
That needs 2 blue gems, which should be: +spelldmg and +spirit.
The rest should be raw spell power or haste+spellpower for socket bonuses. Should be like HIT(to cap) > Haste > Spellpower > Crit > Spirit


Glyphs:
Since 3.0.9, you need the following ones for best results:
-Glyph of Arcane Missiles
-Glyph of Arcane Blast
-Glyph of Molten Armor
Since MB got buffed and now removes the mana cost of AM, Molten Armor is now a viable option for arcane mages.

Rotation:

It all depends on your support in the raid, the length of the fight and your mana pool.

The standard best damage rotation is:

¤Arcane Blast (x4)
¤Arcane Missiles (Abarr if you're currently moving)

Spamming AB until MB proccs is also an option, depends really on your mana. Also if you have T10 (4) setbonus you should wait for that MB.
Also, there is no "single" best damage rotation, it always depends on something, but you will learn that as you get some routine.

Let's say you're on a longer fight, you cannot afford this mana cost, it's easy to switch into a less mana effiency rotation.

¤Arcane Blast (x2)or(x3)
¤Arcane Missiles (Abarr if you're currently moving.)

Always remember, depending on your mana, if it's too low, you can always switch back to the 2-3stack AB rotation. This is the key concept in arcane. But mostly since the buff, you probably won't have mana issues, this was more likely to be a problem in Naxx25 days.

Macros:

Nuke Macro:

/use 13
/use 14
/cast Arcane Power
/cast Icy Veins
/cast Berserking (If you're a troll)

You can also write /cast Mirror Image in if you have the T10 (4) setbonus, but I wouldn't because it's on global CD and the rest is not. Starting with mirror image and shortly before global CD is over hit the Trinketnuke macro then immediately start casting should be the most efficient way.

You see? PoM shouldn't be in the macro, you should use that ability separately from AP, when these are on cooldown, or after AP expired.

This "nuke" macro is even more effective under Bloodlust, keep that in mind.

Fast Spellsteal macro:

#showtooltip Spellsteal
/stopcasting
/cast spellsteal

:::> Some other useful macros, thanks to iVaporized

Ice block Macro:

#showtooltip Ice Block
/stopcasting
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Ice Block


Invisibility Macro:

#showtooltip Invisibility
/stopcasting
/cancelaura Invisibility
/cast Invisibility


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BUT, if you're a decent geared mage, you will see that if you pop all your CDs with bloodlust, you will go below global CD, and waste that precious haste, so examine your casttime, and if they pop BL you should only pop CDs which don't bring you under 1.0sec casttime on AB/AM(with MB).
This is the main reason haste doesn't worth as much as spellpower.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting things:
-At Malygos don't use your PoM, keep it until Vortex, where you can do the following for the best results and the least DPS lost due to the inability to cast: Abarr,PoM AB,Abarr,Fire Blast.
-You have the advantage of -40% threat, which makes this spec in most of the cases the best. You'll see other firemages struggling in aggro, loosing DPS with using invisibility, which you will mostly never have to. (Depends on the tanks and MD ofcourse!)
-You have a 2min Evocation CD, it's like that for a purpose, ALWAYS use it in time, it's your best friend.
-The T10 (2) and (4) setbonuses worth everything, if you see a ilvl264 hands or leggings better than the T10, don't switch them, these two setbonuses can give you shitloads of plus damage. (Like +18% with mirror image, combined with AP and other cds, I hit 30k AB-s)
-If you want to use Evocation and have the T10 (2) Setbonus, do it right after an AM, that will spare you time and shorten the time when EVO could be interrupted by incoming damage.
-Use an addon for watching Missile Barrage, I prefered SCT, but it broke so now I use Power Auras.
-Switch targets to another trashmob if your target dies before you finish your spellcasting. Also, don't use AM on a mob which is very near to death, because the missiles don't damage instantly after casting. (Marrowgar Bone Spikes are a great example)

-If your gear is good but your dps is low, the following problems could be happening:
-You pop your CDs at an inappropriate time.
-You take too much time to switch targets on a fight were are multiple mobs.
-You posision yourself on a bad place, eg. you stand on the other casters on Festergut and get the disorient.
-You move too much.
-Mental Handicap.



-Meltoor >:]

[ßetray]

Couple things to fix:

A) I'm not sure where you got the notion that mage get consistantly damaged every fight, but we DO NOT need Arcane Stability. The MAJORITY of our fights we will not be taking enough direct damage where pushback becomes an issue.

B) Arcane Missiles should ALWAYS be your finisher of your rotation UNLESS you are moving. The only use for Arcane Barrage is to cast while moving. it doesn't matter if you've got Missile Barrage proc'd or not, AM is better dmg/mana efficient than ABlast.

C) That said with Arcane Stability: It's better to take those 5 points + 1 point from Magic Attunement and put 3 into Arcane Focus (lowering your hit requirement down to 8% with other raid debuffs on the boss) and 3 into Student of the mind, especially since Molten scales with spirit now. You can change the amount in Arcane Focus depending on your gear and place the extra talents elsewhere (stability if you want or attunement).

D) With the current ICC gear out, a lot of it has socket bonuses worth gemming for: +5SP 1 socket, +7 SP 2 sockets, etc. As such, gemming for socket is a good idea, HOWEVER you need to take note of your level of gear and decide if you just need more SP, or if your SP is fine and you can afford gem for other stats.

E) As you noted, T10 2pc bonus is extremely well worth it (in fact if you can set it up right, you should be able to get 4pc + Leggings of Woven Death (Crafted Pants)[optimal setup until higher end gear]) and as such, any burn on a boss should try to keep the 2pc bonus up as often as possible to maximize haste (unless bloodlust is proc'd at which point you'll surpass haste cap and be wasting haste).

[Don'tTazeMeBro]

Tsk tsk a fail arcane mage.

Seriously, if you're too stupid to spend talent points in a talent that reduces the hit you need by 3 FREAKING PERCENT and on top of that reduces mana cost by 3% as well, then, well, I don't know what to say to you. All you need to play an arcane mage is a cookie cutter build and to press 1 1 1 1 2. Yes. I play an arcane mage.

In regards to Betray's comment, Student of the Mind is utter shit right now and only will give you like .30% crit. 3 points in Arcane Focus and 2 in Incanter's Absorption is what appears to be the best currently.

Okay and also, Haste > Spellpower, though albeit not by much. The way you should be itemizing is Hit Until Cap > Haste > SP > Crit > Int > Spirit.

ALSO, you never want to use arcane barrage. EVER. You want to fish for that Mbar proc. With current item levels this is the most efficient way, you should be at a point where you are obviously using mana gem and evocation 2-3 times a fight and end the fight with nearly no mana. Also, in that macro you are missing Mirror Image, which with 4p t10 is a huge bonus to damage.

Anyways half ass guide by someone who didn't properly do their research. And fyi this isn't a flame, I just know what I'm talking about and see too many ill-informed arcane mages who fail at life because they can't press 2 buttons right.

[YouTellMe]

thatsss pretty good

[qdeqde]

jeez.... first off:
the spec is wrong Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft is the way to go.

and

You need to understand, that there is no "single" rotation.
Your goal is to burn ALL your mana to the end of the fight.

is wrong mkay. the rotation w/o t10 is as you said abx4,mbarr

PoM can be used to fire an extra AB after the abx4. so pretty much: abx4,PoM,ab,mbarr

haste is pretty much just as good if not better then sp

Edit: uhh also use evo when you'll cast it fast, like when you have IV, pushing the limit (t10 2p), black magic.

[Sazxo]

Would rather go one point in Arcane Subtlety and one in Arcane Stability. The rest the same as qdeqde. Just a minor minor change tho ^^

[Meltoor]

Sorry, this guide was originally for 3.0.9, and forgot to clean up some parts, altho to reply to the first 2 comments:

@Betray:
-A You DO get damage on many fights, and I will tell the reason in:
-B Forgot to rewrite that part properly, thanks for noticing.
-C Student of mind is like... nothing, as said, 0,5% crit? Also, I HAVE around 16-17% hit WITHOUT that talent, and most of the mages do in T10 gear, because almost everything gives hit, but as I wrote, if you're not on hitcap, take that talent.
-D 5SP bonus, 23spellpower or 12(+5)SP +10spirit? Thats a 6SP against 10spirit, and spirit is very very low on priority for mages. (Gives like what? You dont need mana regen, and gives very low crit...)

But I appreciate your notices

@Don'tTazeMeBro

- Read what I wrote to Betray, some things I forgot to delete from the original guide.

- FYI, I wrote that in haste gets you below the global cd cap combined with CD-s, but okay, not significant that you gem for SP or haste.

-Didn't clean up that part.

- I do the mirror image separately, because the other CDs dont have global CD, but it does. Also, not everyone has T10. Oh, and I think AP+T10(4) stacks better with SP than Haste too.

- Anyways, a half ass comment by an arrogant condom escapee who didn't properly learn how to talk. No offense (or yes?), but you aren't half as smart as you want yourself to be.


Also, fixed the wrong parts in the guide.

[Cryde]

qdeqde you miss incanter's absorption, until 3.3.5 it is still a must have.

- 1000 Spellpower if you get a Priest/Pally to shield you? how easy is that plx...

[qdeqde]

well the 2 points that i have put in magic absorption is pretty much what you prefer your self. And if you put them in incanters absorption you would need as cryde says priest/pally to shield you, that doesnt go for every fight tho, for a fight like festergut/twin valkyrs its good since you absorb damage. but can be pretty useless in other fights where you dont take damage...
dont ever use your own mana shield to get the buff tho!

[Elementhianaa]

A good begginer's guide to arcane - but for the real begginers only. There's a few major points here.

In terms of spec 0/3 in arcane focus and yet you've encouraged people to aim for hit cap as though they had spent points in this talent. Alot of newbie arcane mages 3% under hit cap methinks.

Also, the 4xAB AM is where the conception that arcane is a 2 button spam faceroll rotation comes from. The reality is nowhere near as simple as that and there is no rince and repeat involved. I tend to find we have no rotation at all and the entire fight is an intense battle between proc fishing and mana consumption. Spamming AB would be the highest rotation if you could afford it! I have enough mana now that I can quite confidently spam AB and only use AM if AB is at AT LEAST 4 stacks and AM has procced. I think clipping with Barrage is being discouraged now if there is no proc and unhastened AM is being used alot more if mana is becoming an issue but it is not something i often do, I will anticipate ahead and will already have switched to ABx3 or ABx2 + proc = AM.

<3 Arcane.

Nice guide though and good to introduce the importance of macro's - many many mages dont use these when they start out

And nice one on the malygos tip, not something that has ever crossed my mind.

[ßetray]

-A You DO get damage on many fights, and I will tell the reason in:

Pushbacks

Trial of the Crusader:
Northrend Beasts: Fire Dot
Jaraxxus: Inferno Fire aura (shouldn't be in it anyway)
Faction Champs: Bladestorm (shouldn't be near it), + any other damage that hits you, but on a whole, it's not going to be more than 2-4% of the time that you'll be taking direct damage.
Twins: The aura doesn't cause pushback that I'm aware of.
Anub: Only pushback here is from getting hit by scarabs (shouldn't happen).

Icecrown:
Marrowgar: Obvious storm
Deathwhisperer: AoE frostbolts in P2 (hardly worth mentioning)
Gunship: I've never had pushback on this but I guess the gunners can hit you.
Saurfang: All damage is physical, however it's isn't a pushback that I'm aware of (and you shouldn't be getting hit by Blood Beasts).
Festergut: Aura in the room isn't a pushback (his explosion thing is but not an issue.
Rotface: Pushback if you're the first one to get slimed but it's maybe for 10-15 seconds max.
Putricide: None
Bloodprince Council: Only one I can think of is the Fireball that shoots fire 'flares' but range shouldn't be absorbing those anyway.
Queen: As far as I'm aware of, her aura does not cause pushback.
Dreamwalker: Another frostbolt Volley as well as Lay Waste (both a very small portion of th fight).
Sindragosa: yea yea frost aura
Lich King: I don't know, but I hear there is some damage you'll be taking.

So out of all of those fights, not even 1/4 of them have note-worthy pushback. Concentration aura is usually more than enough.

-C Student of mind is like... nothing, as said, 0,5% crit? Also, I HAVE around 16-17% hit WITHOUT that talent, and most of the mages do in T10 gear, because almost everything gives hit, but as I wrote, if you're not on hitcap, take that talent.

Most mages in T10 have around 8-13% hit. NO Mage in T10 will ever have close to 16-17% unless they don't know what they're doing. That much hit is a pure waste of gear.

[Don'tTazeMeBro]

Betray and I are right, you sir are wrong. Go post this pathetic excuse of a arcane PVE guide on EJ or MMO - Champ see how many comments like mine you get. You remind me of this little brat who was once in my guild, we called him out on failing on BQ and he resorted to ninja logging, leaving the guild, and flaming us because we called him out on something he did wrong. Yeah that pretty much accurately describes you.

[wowcool]

Me thinks that donttazermebro has a diploma in flamage. So much pent up anger from some type of distraught childhood?

Either way thanks for contributing with this guide, whether needed by anyone or not. Take all criticism with a grain of salt.

[Don'tTazeMeBro]

Me thinks that donttazermebro has a diploma in flamage. So much pent up anger from some type of distraught childhood?

Either way thanks for contributing with this guide, whether needed by anyone or not. Take all criticism with a grain of salt.

I'm not flaming I just know my shit. And this isn't it. Ignorance is bliss I suppose.

[michael93]

Decent written post.. but you got most of your facts wrong..
Here's whats wrong.

1. Spec. Missing out on incanters absorbtion, are you serious? Thats an extra ~1000 spellpower each 30sec depending on the fight and how many points you spend. Also, why not 3% increased hit? 5/5 in arc stabillity is just plain stupid..

2. You forgot to add the extra 1% from draenei racial, which brings you down to 9% hit needed if you got draenei + SP or boomkin.

3. Haste > Spellpower.. Its a prooven fact. Say 1spellpower = 1 dmg, then 1 haste = 1.5 dmg. Ofc you shouldent gem pure haste, but whenever there is a chance for gemming haste + spellpower, go for it (unless you're at cap)

4.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BUT, if you're a decent geared mage, you will see that if you pop all your CDs with bloodlust, you will go below global CD, and waste that precious haste, so examine your casttime, and if they pop BL you should only pop CDs which don't bring you under 1.0sec casttime on AB/AM(with MB).
This is the main reason haste doesn't worth as much as spellpower.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As an arcane mage, you will only begin to go under the GCD once you reach close to 1.1k haste +popping CD's on heroism, which is more then a ''Decent'' geared mage would have.


Things to notice:

a) You should only go for the socket tbonus of a set piece if the socket bonus is 7 or more spellpower. If its not, pure SP or SP+haste.

b) If you got the 2set T10 bonus and need to evocate, try proc MBr first and then evocate, as it gives you an extra 12% haste which allows you to get back into the battle alot quicker.

c) If you feel like you're running low on mana on fights in ICC alot, you can take the 2 points from ''Ice shards'' in the frost spec and put them into ''Frost warding'' instead. Keep up frost ward / fire ward and you should be gaining like.. 5k+ mana from time to time. (ofc depending on the spell you negate)