Mage PvE guide

[Book]

***WORK IN PROGRESS*** - Currently only features Arcane spec***
(If any other mages out there want to help out with frostfire and fire that would be nice. In any case, I will continue to update this with the other specs and patch changes when that happens)


This guide is primarily for mages just getting into raiding although experienced players might find something here too. The guide will eventually cover the following subjects with the rotations and stats sections under each spec.

• Talent Specs
• Rotations
• Stats
• Gear requirement for raids

Talent Specs

There are currently 3 viable raiding specs and while you will always have readers of theorycrafting thinking (and unfortunatly saying) 1 build is "best", this is not the case. So, if you find yourself asking the question "what build is best", you are doing it wrong. Ask yourself, "What spec gets the most out of my current gear".

This comes from the simple fact that the different builds favor different stats. While this is more an issue when you start gearing up - that is also the crowd which this guide is aimed at.

So, the three specs are;

• Arcane
• Fire
• Frostfire

Then there are various different sub specs to these.

Arcane

The arcane section includes;

• Introduction/base spec
• Playing as Arcane
• Basic rotation
• Managing mana and cooldowns
• Stats preferences

Introduction and base spec

Personally, the most mage-ish spec in my honest opinion. The biggest advantage of the arcane spec is that you can get +6 % hit through talents if you spend your other talents in frost. No other mage spec offers this advantage and this leaves more room for other stats such as spellpower or haste. If it wasnt for the fact that Arcane is the hardest spec to play right that alone would have me recommending this to every player starting to gear up.

A base spec could look something like this: (where the 1 point in student of the mind is filler to get further down the tree) Arcane/frost.

Now, the 3 points left can be spent where you like it really. Lately I've been running with 3/3 in student of the mind for that extra mana regen and 1 point in prismatic cloak for quicker invisibiltiy. But arcane stability, magic attunement and even magic absorbtion for some fights (ex: Sapphiron) are viable. But other then those 3 talents the rest in arcane is pretty mandetory to max out dps. Nothing hurts more then seeing other mages skip Torment of the weak.

Playing as Arcane

As I said, the rotation for arcane is fairly easy to understand, but can be hard to master. It will also be different depending on the size of your mana pool and combat regen adding more complexity to the build. But - imo - that is exactly what makes Arcane fun.

Your main abilities you will be using is Arcane blast (AB), Arcane Barrage (ABarr), Arcane Missiles (AM), Icy Veins, Mana Gems, Evocation, Arcane Power - and since you have it you might as well use a Presence of Mind now and then. In addition to this comes whatever use trinkets you may have in addition to other abilities you may find usefull in certain fights.

Basic Rotation

The basic rotation revolves around stacking AB and consuming the buff with sanother arcane pell and then starting over. It starts with AB which stacks up to 3 times. But stacking 3 times isnt always max dps. If you run out of mana going ABx3 then clearly, you will do more damage running an ABx2 cycle - or even ABx1 at certain times. This will depend on gear and skill. This is my personal cycle:

ABx3, Abarr, AM whenever Missile Barrage procs. Alas, this is only the base rotation. On top of this is managing your mana and cooldowns.

Managing mana, popping trinkets and blowing cooldowns

Timing your mana gems and your evocation is key to the arcane build as you will, by design, run out of mana if you dont. Bringing a mana pot just in case you mess up, an evocation is interupted, or simply overestimate yourself is wise. I personally try to time it so my evocation is used around 35 % mana - bringing me to 100 % after its done. With the first set bonus of T7 your mana gems also becomes much more important. Pop them as soon as possible, but wait untill you get exactly back to 100 % mana for your first one (well, close anyway). For long fights such as KT you may even have to conjure up a new set of 3 mid fight. This is not such a bad idea as 1 gem give you back way more mana then it cost to conjure them. Again, it depends on the situation.

There is also the third layer to the build which is your Arcane power and Icy veins abilities (and other use trinkets you may have). Arcane power is almost half the CD of Icy veins so if you are willing to wait a little for that second Arcane power, as I usually do, try to pop it together with Icy veins to get the most out of it. This will of cource burn alot of mana and goes back to the heart of the build - managing your mana. If you want you can pop PoM whenever its up. I prefer to use this if my missile barrage procs on 2 AB stacks. I then use my PoM to instantly (well, global cooldown applies) get 3 stacks before i unleash my arcane missiles.

Mana burn phase - While other classes and specs simply pop their trinkets and take advantage of talents improving damage to targets under 35 % health, arcane mages enter their mana burn phase. Rule of thumb: If you had more mana at the end of the fight, you could have done more dps. Depending on how much mana you have you start this phase at different times. I usually start full burn around 20 % but this is far from universal. For mana burn i go ABxinfinite untill missile barage procs and then use Arcane missiles on 3 stacks only. This is a non-sustainable rotation and if timed correctly should eventually leave you at almost 0 mana when the boss falls dead. You will mess up the timing of this phase. Thats how you learn.

Stats preferences for Arcane Mages

When it comes to stats for an arcane mage they are a bit different then what a frostfire or a fire mage would seek.

First of all, hit rating>all. There is no stat that improves your dps more then more hit rating untill you are capped. As mentioned earlier, you get +6 % from talents so you would need +11 % from gear/other players to be capped. This is because against against a mob 3 levels higher then you, you have a 17 % chance to miss with spells. Missing a spell is a huge dps dump.

Spellpower is your second most important stat, still the same as the other builds. The difference is your 3rd priority - haste. While both fire mages and frostfire mages prefers +crit to haste, arcane doesnt. This comes from the fact that Arcane mages have the lowest crit modifier of any casters in the game with only 175 % critical damage (compared to fire who gets +245 % and frostfire with their mighty 315%). Thus haste is of much greater importance then stacking crit.

Your 4th priority is debatable. Personally i would try to get my intellect up as it is arcane mages' primary regen stat because of the way evocation works. And as arcane you will need loads of mana. I'd say it depends on what you need in your current situation. If you struggle keeping even an ABx2 rotation going you need more int and your dps would significatly improve chosing int over crit.

Lastly, contrary to popular belief, you do not want to stack spirit. Avoid at all cost - at least in the current patch. It takes up slots in your item budget which could have been used on other stats. Just because that cloth item is purple doesnt make it better then your current blue. Again, Int is your primary regen stat - not spirit.

***Hope you like the guide so far, I will continue with the other specs later (probably tomorrow). Hopefully some of you fellow mages with deep knowledge of the standard fire build can contribute to that one :P ***

PS: Dont mind the english, its not my first language

[Convertabull]

wow dude nice job...cant wait to see your take on frostfire, my spec for blowing stuff up

armory Kathriel on Frostmane for a decent build

[Kekka]

just a question about that spec, what is the point of putting 3 points into torment of the week and then not getting slow. I mean isn't that the whole point of torment of the week to do more damage on slowed targets?

heres what i came up with as a spec http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ocxVcz0IzxGuMtedcZbhcbo < thoughts?

[Fuegogrande]

TotW doesn't work off of just [Slow], but rather any snare and [Slow]. [Thunderclap], [Icy Touch], etc. cause it to work as well. I have slow in my build but because my guilds DK's use Icy Touch I have no need to cast slow on bosses, I have it for CC on Gluth and soloing.

[Torment of the Weak] - Your Frostbolt, Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Barrage abilities deal X% more damage to Snared targets.

Quick patch note to prove it:

Patch 3.0.8 (1/20/09): Now works with Arcane Blast and does bonus damage against targets afflicted with any type of slow (such as the combat slow from Thunder Clap).

List of snares:
Druid: Feral Charge (Cat form)
Hunter: Wing Clip
Hunter: Frost Trap
Hunter: Concussive Shot
Mage: Frostbolt
Mage: Cone of Cold
Mage: Blast Wave
Mage: Slow
Paladin: Judgement of Justice (Rank 2) (though not technically classified as a snare in game mechanics)
Priest: Mind Flay (Unless Glyphed)
Rogue: Crippling Poison
Rogue: Deadly Throw
Shaman: Frost Shock
Shaman: Earthbind Totem
Warlock: Curse of Exhaustion
Warrior: Hamstring
Warrior: Piercing Howl
Death Knight: Frost Fever (placed by Icy Touch)

[Book]

And, if you want you can get slow (great for soloing or as Fuego pointed out, Gluth). The 3 points left over can be put anywhere really without much change to dps.

I had a part on frostfire spec but that is now gone in Internet hell after some refresh issues (write it in word first is a good idea, yeah). An update is coming though :P

[Naqaj]

It's so sad deep frost doesn't seem to have a place in this anymore

[Kekka]

fair enough.

Originally Posted by Naqaj

It's so sad deep frost doesn't seem to have a place in this anymore

apprently in 3.1 deep frost is going to be better for raiding and giving us a replenishment spell, but we'll see how good it is come 3.1 i guess.

[ntvinh986]

Originally Posted by Book

And, if you want you can get slow (great for soloing or as Fuego pointed out, Gluth). The 3 points left over can be put anywhere really without much change to dps.

I had a part on frostfire spec but that is now gone in Internet hell after some refresh issues (write it in word first is a good idea, yeah). An update is coming though :P

Thank you, this is good news for new visitors.

[Xiphias]

Now that arcane blast can stack to 4, and the proc rate on missile barrage has been raised, aswell as the mana cost completely removed for a MB proc, I find that if you have the gear and mana replenishment (Mostly refers to a 25 man raid, specifically ToC 25 Reg/Heroic) using this rotation works wonderfully. ABx3 if you receive a MB proc within the first 3 AB cast another (4 stacks) then use Arcane missiles, if you do not receive a MB proc within the first 3 AB casts finish with arcane barrage.

However while very effective in built 25 man raids, this might not be an option for 10 man groups lower geared players. But its an effective rotation to shoot for.

[Barugaara]

Even if you get missile barrage, continue to use arcane blast until you get four stacks, this deals much more damage. Only exception is if you are trying to save mana.