1. Introduction

This guide will cover everything you need to know about playing Arcane in PvE content. Arcane is a spec that revolves around burst damage and mana management. The spec remains unique in that it’s the only DPS spec left in the game that still cares about mana; however it’s mana functions much closer to slow moving energy than it does to traditional mana like healers.

Mage continues to have a desirable progression spot due to a raid buff & immunity.

2. Spells & Abilities

3. Talents

Talent Import String: C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYMYbW8AmhxsY4BmZGGTzMmBAAAAAgBAABMzstssNzELAAAAAAAglhhZmZmxMMzYMzMmZmxYGD

Talent Import String: C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYMYbW8AmhxsY4BmZGGTzMmBAAAAAgBAABMzstssNzELAAAAAAAglZMMzMzMmhZmZMmxMzMGGD

Talent Import String: C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMjhZbWwMMzs4BgZmxYamxMAAAAAAMAAIgZmtlllZmYBAAAAAgNAWmxwMzMzYGmZmxYGzMzYYMA

4. Rotation

4.1 Rotation Overview

As an Arcane mage you always want to cast Touch Of The Magi and Arcane Surge on cooldown. As Arcane Surge has twice the cooldown, you will cast it every second Touch Of The Magi.

Touch Of The Magi casts with Arcane Surge will be referred to as the Arcane Surge burn or big burn, and casts without Arcane Surge will be referred to as the mini burn.

• 0:00 - Arcane Surge + Touch Of The Magi
• 0:45 - Touch Of The Magi
• 1:30 - Arcane Surge + Touch Of The Magi again and repeat

These timings are not exact as you will end up delaying certain spells for a second or two for one reason or another. It should however give you a good idea of the cycles you’re supposed to go through. Note that Shifting Power will change these timers slightly.

In the rotation I will consistently refer to "refunding" Arcane Barrage. What this means is casting Arcane Barrage when you have a way to immediately regain the charges. This means:

• You have Intuition
• You have 2 stacks of AetherVision
• You have Orb Barrage and Arcane Orb is off cooldown (This is not guaranteed, but due to having a partial refunder in Arcane Orb it is worth the risk).
• You have Glorious Incandescence or Glorious Incandescence (Sunfury only)

Most of the time Arcane Harmony should be treated as a passive increase to Arcane Barrage damage and does not need to be played around.

4.2 Cooldown Phases

4.2.1 Arcane Surge

Enter the burn phase whenever Evocation, Arcane Surge and Touch Of The Magi are off cooldown. When possible you should have x4 Arcane Charge and Nether Precision before entering the burn.

Entering the Burn Phase:

1. Cast Arcane Surge
2. Cast Arcane Barrage
3. Cast Touch Of The Magi (Before Arcane Barrage lands)

Touch Of The Magi is off the global cooldown. By casting Touch Of The Magi immediately after Arcane Barrage, we immediately regenerate our 4 Arcane Charge and the Arcane Barrage cast prior will land during Touch Of The Magi due to the spell's travel time. Note that on pull you will not have 4 Arcane Charge; in this situation you should skip the Arcane Barrage.

Arcane Surge priority:

1. Arcane Barrage with a refunder and Nether Precision
2. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision
3. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
4. Cast Arcane Blast

With AetherVision, we still want to consume Arcane Barrage with a Nether Precision if possible. For example.

1. You cast Arcane Missiles and gain x2 Nether Precision
2. You cast Arcane Blast twice and gain x2 AetherVision
• If you have a Clearcasting, you should spend it before casting Arcane Barrage
• If you do not have Clearcasting, you can just cast Arcane Barrage right away

4.2.2 Mini Burn

The mini burn is similar but we don't cast Arcane Surge prior.

1. Arcane Barrage with a refunder and Nether Precision
2. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision
3. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
4. Cast Arcane Blast

If Presence Of Mind is not being used for movement, it can be used to squeeze some damage into Touch Of The Magi. Arcane Blast being instant does not net more casts, as it's cast time is the same as the Global Cooldown. However Presence Of Mind moves the damage to beginning of the GCD, rather than the end, potentially allowing an additional Arcane Blast to fit inside Touch Of The Magi.

Visual example:

4.3 Opener

The opener involves entering the burn phase immediately. This plays out just like a normal burn phase except we won't have 4 Arcane Charge to Arcane Barrage.

1. Cast Evocation prepull
2. Cast Arcane Missiles
3. Cast Arcane Surge and enter the burn

4.4 Filler Rotation

During the conserve phase when everything is on cooldown our goal is maximise mana spend and the number of 4 charge Arcane Barrage casts.

Filler Priority:

1. Cast Arcane Orb with less than 2 Arcane Charge
2. Cast Arcane Barrage with a refunder.
3. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision
4. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
5. Cast Arcane Blast
6. Cast Arcane Barrage if you run out of mana

If you have Nether Precision but not Aether Attunement, do not full channel Arcane Missiles. Instead cancel and cast Arcane Blast as soon as the global cooldown allows you.

With AetherVision, we still want to consume Arcane Barrage with a Nether Precision if possible. For example.

1. You cast Arcane Missiles and gain x2 Nether Precision
2. You cast Arcane Blast twice and gain x2 AetherVision
• If you have a Clearcasting, you should spend it before casting Arcane Barrage
• If you do not have Clearcasting, you can just cast Arcane Barrage right away

5. AOE Rotation

5.1 AOE Rotation Overview

The crux of AOE is casting Arcane Barrage when we can regenerate charges with Nether Precision where possible. With 1 stack of Nether Precision if is preferable to cast Arcane Blast before Arcane Barrage so that both spells gain the damage buff from a single stack.

While unintuitive, Arcane Blast is preferred over Arcane Explosion in AOE due to AetherVision and enhanced Clearcasting proc rate.

5.2 AOE Cooldown Phases

5.2.1 AOE Arcane Surge

The AOE burn is the same as single target. Enter the burn phase whenever Evocation, Arcane Surge and Touch Of The Magi are off cooldown. When possible you should have x4 Arcane Charge and Nether Precision before entering the burn.

Entering the Burn Phase:

1. Cast Arcane Surge
2. Cast Arcane Barrage
3. Cast Touch Of The Magi (Before Arcane Barrage lands)

Arcane Surge priority:

1. Cast Arcane Orb with less than 2 Arcane Charge
2. Cast Arcane Missiles with x3 Clearcasting
3. Cast Arcane Barrage with a refunder and Nether Precision
4. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision
5. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
6. Cast Arcane Blast

5.2.2 AOE Mini Burn

The AOE burn is the same as single target.

1. Arcane Barrage with a refunder and Nether Precision
2. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision
3. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
4. Cast Arcane Blast

5.3 AOE Filler

1. Cast Arcane Missiles with x3 Clearcasting
2. Cast Arcane Barrage with a refunder and Nether Precision.
3. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting
4. Cast Arcane Blast
5. Cast Arcane Barrage if you run out of mana

5.4 AOE Opener

The opener involves entering the burn phase immediately.

1. Cast Evocation prepull
2. Cast Arcane Orb
3. Cast Arcane Missiles
4. Cast Arcane Surge and enter the burn phase

6. Stats & Gearing

6.1 Stats

Due to the large Intellect stat budget on items, item level will usually be an upgrade. Stat weights vary depending on your current gear and talents. To produce an accurate stat priority or to accurately compare items you must sim yourself. Remember that haste value increases on AOE due to the AOE rotation spending less mana.

• Critical Strike increases the critical strike rate of our abilities.
• Haste reduces the cast time of our spells, our global cooldown, and therefore increases the rate at which we spend mana.
• Versatility provides a flat damage increase and damage taken reduction.
• Mastery - Increases our mana and mana regeneration. Increases the damage bonus provided by Arcane Charge, and provides a flat damage increase to all Arcane damage done.

Generally prioritise stats like so:

1. Intellect
2. Haste
3. Critical Strike
4. Versatility
5. Mastery

6.2 Trinkets

Because active trinkets share a cooldown, we generally want to pick up one active trinket and one passive trinket. For up to date trinket data please refer to the sims page of the site.

• Arakara Sacbrood
• Belor'relos

6.3 Crafting & Embellishments

Recommended Embellishments:

• Duskthread Lining is currently the most powerful embellishment if you can maintain uptime, however this is not always possible. The best slots to craft this in are Bracers, Belt, and Feet.
• I recommend crafting a weapon first.

7. Consumables

• Phial: Flask of Alchemical Chaos
• Potion: Tempered Potion
• Rune: Crystallized Augment Rune


• Chest: Crystalline Radiance
• Weapon: Sophic Devotion
• Legs: Daybreak Spellthread
• Ring: Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste


• Bracers: Devotion of Avoidance
• Cloak: Chant of Burrowing Rapidity
• Feet: Defender's March


• Gems: Masterful Emerald

8. Racials

8.1 Horde

• Troll/Orc - Berserking/Blood Fury makes Troll and Orc the best race for Arcane.
• Goblin - Rocket Jump is one of the few useful utility racials while Time is Money keeps the race somewhat competitive for DPS.

8.2 Alliance

• Mechagnome - Completely broken race. Combat Analysis is the best DPS racial and Emergency Failsafe is a legitimately useful utility racial.
• Void Elf - Spatial Rift is one of the few useful utility racials while Entropic Embrace keeps the race somewhat competitive for DPS.

9. Macros

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=10 Arcane Barrage, Touch of the Magi
    

#showtooltip
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast [nochanneling:Shifting Power] Arcane Blast
/targetenemy [noexists][dead]

#showtooltip
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Blink

#showtooltip Counterspell
/cast [@mouseover,harm][@focus,harm][harm] Counterspell

#showtooltip Spellsteal
/cast [@mouseover,harm][@focus,harm][harm] Spellsteal

#showtooltip Remove Curse
/cast [@mouseover]Remove Curse

10. Advanced

/cancelaura Alter Time