Arcane Mage is a great DPS class that deals powerful burst damage to single targets. Heroes of this class are definitely weaker than fire mages, but they are better than frost mages because they have better DPS than the other two specialities. However, an arcane mage is worse off with AoE damage compared to the same specialisation as a fire mage.

General overview of Arcane Mage

Among the Alliance, the best choice of race for an Arcane Mage is the Worgen. Thanks to the Viciousness passive skill, the hero gets an additional 1% chance to deal a critical hit. Drenes have the Heroic Presence passive, which increases the chance of being hit by weapons or magic by 1%. Although it does not work for allies, it is still a good personal buff.

In the Horde, goblins with their Time is Money skill, which increases the time to cast a spell by 1%, and the Rocket Jump ability improves the hero's mobility by allowing him to jump forward.

In Cataclysm, some abilities and mechanics have been changed, including arcane mages. Despite this, the overall build for this class has not undergone significant changes and remains almost the same. Their ability rotation is quite simple. When playing as an arcane mage, it is important to know how much Arcane Blast you can cast before Arcane Missiles or Arcane Barrage, and you should also keep in mind the interaction of abilities and passive skills with each other. For example, it is better not to combine the racial skill Berserking with Time Warp, and Presence of Mind cannot be used while Arcane Power is active.

Basic parameters for Arcane Mage

• Intelligence is our main attribute, which provides us with magic power, crits, and mana.
• Hit is a stat that needs to be brought up to 16-17%.
• Haste to the limit
• Skill.
• Haste beyond the limit
• Crit chance/critical damage

Strengths and weaknesses of Arcane Mage

Strengths

• Excellent burst damage

Short-term fights with enemies usually go well thanks to burst damage, i.e. abilities that can deal maximum damage in a short period of time

• Good support

Time of Warp allows you to reinforce your group's heroes by increasing the haste of attacks with any type of weapon, including magic, by 30% for 40 seconds, which will allow you to replace a conditional shaman or beast hunter. However, this ability has a 10-minute debuff, during which you will not be able to benefit from Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp again. These mages also give the Arcane Tactics buff, which increases the damage of the hero and your group by 3%. Another advantage is Focus Magic, which increases the chance of your group's casters to deal critical damage. And then there's Arcane Brilliance, which increases the total mana and spell power of your raid by 6% for one hour.

• Strong independent play

Outside of raiding and group play, Arcane Mages can handle most PvE content on their own, making them a great class for farming gold, resources, or completing quests. Thanks to the ability to create food, teleports, and an invisibility spell, arcane mages can cover all basic needs without the need to involve other heroes or buy food.

Weaknesses

• Low damage output

Despite its strong burst abilities, the Arcane Mage does not have strong spells that can deal a lot of damage to enemies when the main abilities are on recharge or when there is not enough mana to continue the fight. In long battles, the effectiveness of arcane mages decreases over time.

• Low survivability

Despite having crowd control, invisibility, and other abilities, Arcane Mages still have low survivability, which can often lead to death in combat, especially when enemies have a lot of AoE damage.

The best talents for Arcane Mage

• Arcane Concentration (3/3) — gives you a 10% chance that your next attacking magic will not require mana.
• Netherwind Presence (3/3) — Increases your casting speed by 3%.
• Torment the Weak (3/3) — abilities that deal arcane damage are now boosted by 6% if the target is slowed or immobilised.
• Improved Arcane Missiles (2/2) — increases the number of charges of your Arcane Missiles ability by 2.
• Missile Barrage (2/2) — Arcane Missiles ignite charges every 0.5 seconds.
• Prismatic Cloak (3/3) — Reduces all incoming damage by 6% and the time to go invisible by 3 seconds.
• Presence of Mind (1/1) — if this ability is activated, the next magic spell will be performed immediately if the normal casting time is less than 10 seconds.
• Arcane Flows (2/2) — reduces the recovery of Presence of Mind, Arcane Power, and Invisibility by 25%, and the Evocation time by two minutes.
• Arcane Tactics (1/1) — Increase allies' damage by 3% if they are within 100 yards of you.
• Incanter's Absorption (2/2) — if your Mana Shield and Mage Ward abilities absorb damage, increase the damage of your magic by 20% of the absorbed damage. And if your shields are destroyed, the effect of their damage will knock enemies back.
• Improved Arcane Explosion (2/2) — Reduces the total recovery time of Arcane Explosion by 0.5 seconds.
• Arcane Potency (2/2) — Increases the chance of critical damage of the next two spells by 15% after receiving Clearcasting or Presence of Mind.
• Slow (1/1) — Reduces the target's movement speed and the casting of its attacks and abilities.
• Nether Vortex (2/2) — Gives Arcane Blast a 100% chance to cast Slow on the target.
• Focus Magic (1/1) — increases the chance to deal critical magic damage to the selected target.
• Improved Mana Gem (2/2) — The mana you gain from Mana Gem also increases the power of spells by 2% of your total mana.
• Arcane Power (1/1) — after activation, the hero deals 20% more magic damage and attack spells require 10% less mana.
• Master of Elements (2/2) — critical magic damage will return 30% of the magic consumed for this spell.
• Burning Soul (3/3) — reduces the time it takes to cast spells after taking damage.
• Piercing Ice (3/3) — increases the chance of critical magic damage by 3%.

The best glyphs for Arcane Mage

Prime glyphs:

• Arcane Blast — increases the damage of Arcane Blast by 3%.
• Arcane Missiles — increases the chance of critical hit from Arcane Missiles by 5%.
• Mage Armor — restores 20% more mana.

Basic glyphs:

• Arcane Power — during the duration of this ability, Blink, Mana Shield, and Mirror Image recharge are reduced to zero.
• Evocation — the ability allows you to restore 40% of your health.
• Invisibility — increases movement speed in invisibility by 40%.

Minor glyphs:

• Conjuring — reduces the mana cost of some spells by 50%.
• Arcane Brilliance — Reduces the mana cost of Arcane Brilliance spells by 50%.
• Mirror Image — your mirror image casts Arcane Blast or Fireball instead of Frostbolt, depending on the talent tree.

Arcane Mage ability rotation

Changing the ability cycle while playing Arcane Mage is divided into two phases. In the first bar phase, you use powerful abilities with long cooldowns, and in the second phase, you restore your mana.

Phase 1:

• Cast Arcane Power and use Mana Gem, Volcanic Potion, Synapse Springs, etc.
• Cast Flame Orb as soon as it becomes available.
• Spam Arcane Blast.
• As soon as your mana drops below 30%, you should move on to the next phase.

Phase 2:

• Cast Evocation to partially restore your mana.
• Cast Flame Orb.
• Cast Arcane Blast 2 to 4 times, keeping your mana up above 90%.
• Cast Arcane Missiles.
• Cast Arcane Barrage if the previous ability failed.
• Continue to repeat the current cycle starting from the second point until Evocation recovers, and then start Phase 1 again.

AoE rotation:

• Constantly cast Arcane Blast to increase the effectiveness and damage of the ability.
• Cast Arcane Explosion.

The best equipment for Arcane Mage in Cataclysm

• Helmet — Sanctified Bloodmage Hood
• Neck — Blood Queen's Crimson Choker
• Sanctified Bloodmage Shoulderpads
• Back — Cloak of Burning Dusk
• Chest — Robe of the Waking Nightmare
• Wrists — Bracers of Fiery Night
• Hands — Sanctified Bloodmage Gloves
• Waist — Crushing Coldwraith Belt
• Legs — Sanctified Bloodmage Leggings
• Feet — Plague Scientist's Boots
• Rings — Valanar's Other Signet Ring and Ashen Band of Endless Destruction — drops from Prince Valanar in Icecrown Citadel; reward from Path of Vengeance in Ormus the Penitent.
• Trinkets — Dislodged Foreign Object and Charred Twilight Scale — drops from Rotface in Icecrown Citadel and The Ruby Sanctum.
• One-handed weapon — Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony — drops from King Lich in Icecrown Citadel.
• Secondary weapon — Shadow Silk Spindle — drops from Prince Valanar in Icecrown Citadel.
• Staff — Corpse-Impaling Spike — drops from Rotface in Icecrown Citadel.

Enchantments and gems

Enchants

• Helm — Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
• Shoulders — Greater Inscription of the Storm
• Back — Lightweave Embroidery from Sewing > Springy Arachnoweave from Engineering > Enchant Cloak — Greater Speed
• Chest — Enchant Chest — Powerful Stats
• Bracers — Enchant Bracer — Superior Spellpower
• Gloves — Hyperspeed Accelerators
• Belt — Eternal Belt Buckle
• Pants — Brilliant Spellthread
• Shoes — Enchant Boots — Icewalker
• Rings — Enchant Ring — Greater Spellpower — only enchantment
• Weapon — Enchant Weapon — Mighty Spellpower

Gems

• Meta Gem — Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
• Red Gem — Brilliant Cardinal Ruby or Brilliant Stormjewel
• Blue Gem — Veiled Dreadstone
• Yellow Gem — Reckless Amethrine

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