Welcome to the Arcane Mage guide for World of Warcraft the Burning Crusade 2.4.3. In this guide, you will learn about playing an Arcane Mage in dungeons and raids. The guide includes Talents, Gems, Enchantments, Gameplay & Skill rotation tips.
Talent tree
Arcane is an interesting choice for Mages. It requires some gear min-maxing and mana management but provides you with great burst damage. The arcane tree also scales good into the late game, while having lower gear requirements than Fire ( 10% hit from Arcane Focus ).
Below we have a build that has all of the necessary talents in the Arcane tree, while also having the flexibility from the Ice tree. Double Ice Block for survivability and Icy Veins for even more damage are available to you with Cold Snap.
Gems
- Meta: Chaotic Skyfire Diamond
- Red: Runed Crimson Spinel
- Yellow (if Hit required): Veiled Pyrestone
- Yellow (if Hit capped): Reckless Pyrestone or Brilliant Lionseye
- Blue: Glowing Shadowsong Amethyst or Sparkling Empyrean Sapphire
Blue Gems are used to activate the Meta Gem. Use them to complete the best socket bonus, preferable +spell damage. The rest of the slots can be filled with Red Gems.
Enchants
- Head – Glyph of Power
- Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Orb or Greater Inscription of Discipline
- Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Subtlety
- Chest – Enchant Chest – Exceptional Stats
- Bracers – Enchant Bracer – Spellpower or Enchant Bracer – Major Intellect
- Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Major Spellpower, Enchant Gloves – Spell Strike
- Legs – Runic Spellthread or Mystic Spellthread
- Boots – Enchant Boots – Boar‘s Speed
- Weapon – Enchant Weapon – Sunfire or Enchant Weapon – Major Spellpower
Enchanters can also benefit from Enchant Ring – Spellpower on both of the Rings.
Professions
As with every DPS class in a raid – Leatherworking gives your group the best bonus. Drums of Battle and Drums of War provide a noticeable DPS increase. This is the option for higher tier raiders.
Tailoring is great for gearing up your new mage. Look into crafting Spellfire and Spellstrike sets as they would be with you until T4-T5 items. This option is great for fresh level 70 mages looking to improve their gear asap.
You can pick up both Tailoring & Leatherworking while farming the required materials with an alt.
As mentioned in the Enchants section, Enchanting grants you a unique ring enchant – Enchant Ring – Spellpower. You can use it on BiS rings and then drop the profession while keeping the bonus. Other than that – the ability to do your armor & weapon enchants.
Alchemy can also be an interesting alternative. Sorcerer’s Alchemist Stone is a strong and accessible trinket that will help you with mana issues ( assuming you’re carrying & using Super Mana Potions ), not to mention the ability to craft consumables which are always needed.
Gameplay & Rotations
Rotation
Arcane Blast is your primary damage spell with the highest efficiency. Mana consumption stacks up leaving a debuff on you, so you won’t be able to use this spell all the time. Frostbolt is used as a filler nuke to wait out on the Arcane Blast debuff. Fire Blast is another filler spell that has an instant cast and is used during movement phases.
Spam Arcane Blast while you are buffed by Arcane Power to see an even higher burst of damage. Use Mage Armor for the increased mana regeneration. Here are a few ways to sustain your mana-consumption:
- Druids can cast Innervate on you
- Mana Tide Totem from a Restoration Shaman if placed in the same group
- Vampiric Touch from a Shadow Priest if placed in the same group
Noticeable set bonuses: 2 pieces of the T5 set – Tirisfal Regalia
Consumables
- Flask: Flask of Supreme Power
- Potion: Super Mana Potion, Destruction Potion
- Healthstones: Mana Emerald, Master Healthstone
- Food: Blackened Basilisk, Crunchy Serpent, Poached Bluefish
- Oil: Brilliant Wizard Oil and Superior Wizard Oil
- Drums (LW): Drums of Battle and Drums of War
Stat Priority
Hit cap – 76 (due to Arcane Focus)
Spell Hit rating (to cap) > Spell Damage > Intellect > Spell Crit rating > Spell Haste rating