Arcane Mage PvE Guide 5.4.8 MoP

[LethalFactorLK]

Arcane Mage Pve Guide - By LethalFactor

Introduction

This Guide is aimed towards people who are new to playing Arcane Mage in Mist of Pandaria. From this Guide you can learn to play arcane mage from Scratch,I will make this guide User Friendy as much as possible . The information in this guide is gathered from my knowledge of arcane mage and sources all over the Internet which i will include at the end of the guide.

Guide Topics:

1. General Information
2. Racial Perks
3. Stat Priority
4. Talents & Glyphs
5. Main Spells & rotations
6. Enchants & Gemming
7. Professions
8. Consumables
9. Addons
10. Videos
11. Sources

1. General Information

Blizzards Description of Mage

Quote:

Students gifted with a keen intellect and unwavering discipline may walk the path of the Mage. The arcane magic available to magi is both great and dangerous, and thus is revealed only to the most devoted practitioners. To avoid interference with their spellcasting, magi wear only cloth armor, but arcane shields and enchantments give them additional protection. To keep enemies at bay, magi can summon bursts of fire to incinerate distant targets and cause entire areas to erupt, setting groups of foes ablaze.

+ The type of armour Mages wear is cloth . The primary stat for mage is Intellect. The only Resource Mage use is Mana, And we are a DPS only Class.
+ All of our Spec's are DPS based namely Frost | Arcane | Fire.
+ Mage's are able to travel around between continents due to their ability to conjure portals and teleport themselves to various parts of the world.
+ Mage's are also a Caster type class aka ranged class.
+ Arcane Mages use Mage Armor :- Increases your Mastery by 3000. The duration of all harmful Magic effects used against you is reduced by 25%.


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2. Racial Perks

Some Racial's are better suited for playing mage. They can the give mage a small dps boost. In the end its totally up to you.

Horde:-

- Troll : Bererking,Beast Slaying,Da Voodoo Shuffle,Regeneration

-Orc :Blood Fury,Axe Specialization,Hardiness

- Goblin : Rocket Barrage,Rocket Jump,Time is Money

- Undead :Cannibalize,Will of the Forsaken,Touch of the Grave

- Blood Elf : Arcane Torrent

- Pandaren : Quacking Palm,Bouncy,Epicurean

Horde Racial Order best Suited for Mage :- Troll > Orc > Goblins > Undead > Blood Elf > Pandaren ( Pandaren is last cause if you die in a fight you Loose Epicurean Buff )


Alliance:-

- Worgen : Viciousness,Darkflight

- Gnome : Shortblade Specialization,Escape Artist

- Night Elf : Shadowmeld,Quickness

- Human : Mace Specialization,Sword Specialization,Every Man for Himself

- Pandaren : Quacking Palm,Bouncy,Epicurean

- Dwarf : Stoneform,Mace Specialization

Alliance Best Suited Racial Perks :- Worgen > Gnome > Night Elf > Human > Pandaren >= Dwarf ( Pandaren is one before last cause if you die in a fight you Loose Epicurean Buff )

Final Racial Perks thought's : In the end it's how well you can play your mage, Racial perks do provide some perks but you need to learn most of your strengths and weaknesses of Mages through Trial & Error.


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3.Stat Priority

Intellect > Hit Rating 15% (5100) > Mastery > Haste > Critical Strike

Intellect :- Is your primary stat. You should look for this stat in all of your upgrades. It provides you with Spell Power, which increases the damage of your spells, and also increases your critical strike chance.

Hit Rating :- Decreases the chance that your spells will miss their target (15% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the 15% hit cap, which will ensure that your attacks never miss.

Mastery :- Increases all spell damage done based on the amount of mana the Mage has unspent. ( Mastery: Mana Adept )

Haste :- Increases the cast speed of your spells and your Water Elemental and increases the number of ticks on you mage bombs.

Critical Strike :- Increases your chance to critically hit.Remember that your chance to critical hit


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4. Talents & Glyphs

4.1 Talents


There isn't a default Talent set for Arcane Mage . Most of the Talents can be changed and used according to a Raid Instance Needs.I will Try to Explain them as much as possible.

Tier 1 Talents :- Are intended to enhance your movement when attacking a target.

->Presence of Mind - Grants you an instant-cast for any spell of your choice every 90 seconds.
->Blazing Speed - Suppresses slowing effects and increases your movement speed by 150% for 1.5 seconds . Mostly a PvP talent but it has its used in PvE such as getting out of tricky situations or moving from Point A to B.
->Ice Floes - After activating this spell it Allows you to cast Spells while Moving it has 3 charges.

I Personally use Blazing Speed
It really comes down to personal Choice which of these you want to pick, Try them all and see what suits your play style.

Tier 2 Talents :- These talents help you survive when you about to take Normal to Moderate damage

->Temporal Shield - Offers 15% damage taken reduction for 4 seconds, on a 25-second cooldown.Every time you take damage while this damage reduction is active, it is healed back over the course of 6 seconds.
->FlameGlow - As small passive shield that always absorbs a bit of the damage you receive.
->Ice Barrier - Absorbs a Hefty chunk of damage (the absorption effect scales with Spell Power) and prevents spell casting from being delayed, while active.

In my opinion Ice Barrier is Generally better if you know when you are about to receive a large hit from a Raid boss which cannot be avoided such as Raid Wide Damage.

Tier 3 Talents :- These Talents help to Crowd Control { CC } mobs / Adds

->Ring of Frost - Summons a 10-yard ring that lasts for 10 seconds and that freezes for 10 seconds, enemies entering it (up to a maximum of 10 enemies ).
->Ice Ward - Places a Ice Ward on a friend target and causes all enemies within 10 yards of a friendly target to become frozen for 5 seconds when the friendly target is struck.
->FrostJaw - Silences and freezes the target in place for 8 seconds , Damage caused will break the effect.

These are mainly PvP talents but Ring of Frost is a solid choice for Raiding as it can help you Crowd Control Mobs / Adds during certain Raid mechanics.

Tier 4 Talents :- These Talents also help you Survive when you mess up.

->Greater Invisibility - Improves Invisibility giving it an instant effect and making you take 90% less damage while Greater Invisibility is active ( And for 3 seconds after coming out of Invisibility ).
->Cauterize - It's basically like a second chance to live in case you mess up really bad in a Raid Mechanic.
-> Cold Snap - When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown of your Ice Block, Frost Nova, and Cone of Cold spells, and heals you for 30% of your maximum health.This spell is usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared or asleep, and is not on the global cooldown.

It mainly Comes Down to Greater Invisibility VS Cauterize Alot of people go with Cauterize as it's a life saver when you are in a tight situation.

Tier 5 Talents :- Enables you to choose ONE of these damage over time bombs to include in your rotation and increase your DPS

->Nether Tempest - This can be considered as our Area of Effect (AOE)
Bomb is best used on targets greater than 3 in Close Proximity.
->Living Bomb - This Bomb is best used on 1 and 3 Targets, Is our most
Powerful Bomb.
->Frost Bomb - Places a Frost Bomb on the target. After 4 seconds, the bomb explodes Dealing AOE damge but is on a 10 Second cooldown.

Tier 6 :- These are Mana Management talents

->Invocation - Removes Evocation's Evocation, cooldown and reduces its channel period and duration by 50%.
Completing an Evocation causes you to deal 15% increased spell damage, but passively regenerate 50% less mana, for 1 minute.
Upon Completing an Evocation with the Invocation you gain a buff Invoker's Energy
->Rune of Power - Places a Rune of Power on the ground, which lasts for 1 minute. While standing within 5 yds of your own Rune of Power, your mana regeneration is increased by 75% and your spell damage is increased by 15%. Only 2 Runes of Power can be placed at one time. Replaces Evocation
->Incanter's Ward - Passively increases damage done by 6%.
Places a magical ward on you, absorbing damage for 8 seconds. Absorbed damage will restore up to 18% of your maximum mana. When this effect ends, you gain up to 15% increased spell damage for 25 seconds, based on the absorption used.

Arcane Mages should use only Rune of Power .


4.2 Glyphs


There aren't any Mandotory glyphs for Mages. Some Glyphs modify the way how Some Spells function. I'm mentioning below what i think is viable to use.

Major Glyphs

~ Glyph of Arcane Power :- Increases the duration and cooldown of Arcane Power by 100%.

~Glyph of Slow :- Your Arcane Blast spell applies the Slow spell to any target it damages if no target is currently affected by your Slow.

~Glyph of Evocation :- Your Evocation ability also causes you to regain 60% of your health over its duration. With the Invocation talent, you instead gain 10% of your health upon completing an Evocation. With the Rune of Power talent, you gain 1% of your health per second while standing in your own Rune of Power.

Minor Glyphs

~Glyph of Loose Mana :- Your Mana Gem now restores mana over 6 sec, rather than instantly.

~Glyph of Momentum :- Your Blink spell teleports you in the direction you are moving instead of the direction you are facing.

~Glyph of Mirror Image :- Your Mirror Images cast Arcane Blast or Fireball instead of Frostbolt depending on your primary talent tree.


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5. Main Spells & Rotations



5.1 Main Spells

-> Arcane Blast :- Blasts the target with energy dealing Arcane damage. Generates an Arcane Charge

-> Arcane Charge :- An arcane charge, generated by Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Explosion, and consumed by Arcane Barrage and Evocation.

+ Arcane Blast :- Generates a charge. Arcane Blast's damage is increased by 50% per charge, and its mana cost increased by 150% per charge.
+ Arcane Missiles :- Arcane Missiles' damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge. Arcane Missiles has a chance to be activated after each of your damaging spell casts , Limit 2 charges.
+ Arcane Explosion :- Refreshes charges and has a 30% chance to generate a charge if at least one target is hit.
+ Arcane Barrage :- Consumes all charges. Arcane Barrage's damage is increased by 50% per charge, and it hits 1 additional nearby target/targets per charge for 50% damage.

->Living Bomb :- Keep this on the target / targets as the mage bomb's are a crucial part of a mages DPS.

->Nether Tempest - This can be considered as our Area of Effect (AOE) Bomb is best used on targets greater than 3 in Close Proximity.

->Mirror Image :- Creates 3 copies of the caster nearby, which cast spells and attack the Mage's enemies. Lasts 30 seconds. Use on cooldown & try to use when you have Time Warp / Bloodlust is availabe , Potions are activated , Trinkets are activated to maximise DPS output.

->Ice Block :- You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 seconds, but during that time you cannot attack, move or cast spells. Causes Hypothermia, preventing you from recasting Ice Block for 30 seconds.

+Use this if you are going to die or want to avoid some Heavy Damage in a Raid Mechanic.
+Ice Block can be used to remove some DE-BUFF'S on yourself such asCauterize

->Ice Barrier :- Provides you with a Shield that can absorb a Normal toModerate amount of damage, Scales with spell power.

->Alter Time :- Alter the fabric of time, causing the caster to return to their current location, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs, when cast a second time, or after 6 seconds. Effect negated if the caster dies within the 6 seconds before the effect occurs or moves too far away.

+ A very important Cooldown Spell of the mage Learn to use it when your doing highest amount of DPS with much as possible item activations , Trinket are activated Bloodlust or Timewarp is activated .
+ A lot of Mage's mess up using this spell Properly. ( Best way Learn this spell is to Practice using this spell until you're confident to use Alter Time Properly.)

->Blink :- Teleports the caster 20 yards forward, unless something is in the way. Also frees the caster from stuns and bonds.

->Blazing Speed :- Suppresses movement slowing effects and increases your movement speed by 150% for 1 second. This spell may be cast while a cast time spell is in progress and is not on the global cooldown.

->Rune of Power :- Places a Rune of Power on the ground, which lasts for 1 minute. While standing within 5 yds of your own Rune of Power, your mana regeneration is increased by 75% and your spell damage is increased by 15%. Only 2 Runes of Power can be placed at one time , Replaces Evocation.

->Invisibility :- Turns the caster invisible over 3 seconds, reducing threat each second. While invisible, you are untargetable by enemies. Lasts 20 seconds. Invisibility is cancelled if you perform any actions.

Time Warp :- Warp the flow of time, increasing melee, ranged, and spell haste by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 seconds.Allies receiving this effect will become unstuck in time, and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp again for 10 minutes.

+ Before using Time Warp Discuss with your Raid leader DO NOT USE IT UNTIL CALLED FOR.

->Arcane Brilliance :- Infuses the target with brilliance, increasing their spell power by 10% and their critical strike chance by 5% for 1 hour.



5.2 Rotations

Single Target Rotation

1. Put down Rune of Power ( Remember To REFRESH Rune of Power When under 10 Seconds of duration )
2. Prepot Potion of the Jade Serpent
3. Apply Living Bomb and maintain it on the target ( Recast Living Bomb on target when its under 3 Seconds to make the current active Living Bomb Explode and Apply new Living Bomb
4. Cast Mirror Image
5. Cast Arcane Blast :- This is your Main Filler spell that you will be casting Throughout the fight.
6. Cast Arcane Missiles When there are 4 Stacks of Arcane Charge
7. Cast Arcane Barrage :- Use to Dump Arcane Charge

Important :- Cast Alter Time When you are having Trinket Proc's ,Timewarp/Bloodlst & Potions are Active. (Learning to use this come from self Practice, Teaching to use this spell from a Guide is impossible, Practising from Trial & Error is the only way of learning to use this spell).

Multi Target Rotation

For 2 and 3 targets that are spread out use Living Bomb.

Between 2 and 4 enemies that are stacked together Cast Nether Tempest and use Arcane Explosion

The Spell Blizzard is also an AOE spell which should be cast as a filler during AOE situations only.

Important :- At least have a stack of Tome of the Clear Mind To change out the talents According to a Raid's Mechanics .


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6. Enchants & Gemming

6.1 Enchants

Head : ( Head Enchants are Removed from the Game )

Shoulder : Greater Crane Wing Inscription or Secret Crane Wing Inscription ( If you got Inscription )

Back: Enchant Cloak - Superior Intellect or Lightweave Embroidery ( If you got Tailoring )

Chest : Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats

Wrist : Enchant Bracer - Super Intellect

Hands : Enchant Gloves - Superior Mastery

Waist : Living Steel Belt Buckle

Legs : Greater Cerulean Spellthread

Boots : Enchant Boots - Greater Haste or Enchant Boots - Pandaren's Step

Weapons : Enchant Weapon - Jade Spirit

Rings : Enchant Ring - Greater Intellect ( If you got Enchanting )


6.2 Gemming


Meta :- Burning Primal Diamond

Red :- Brilliant Primordial Ruby or Brilliant Serpent's Eye

Yellow :- Artful Vermilion Onyx or Fractured Sun's Radiance


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7. Professions



Tailoring :- Lightweave Embroidery

Engineering :- Synapse Springs You can Use with major cooldowns.

Enchanting :- Enchant Ring - Greater Intellect ( Remember to apply on both Rings )

Herbalism :- Lifeblood

Leatherworking :- Fur Lining - Intellect

Inscription :- Secret Crane Wing Inscription

Jewelcrafting :- Brilliant Serpent's Eye

Blacksmithing :- Socket Bracer AND Socket Gloves In which you fit 2 Brilliant Primordial Ruby


Important :- As a Mage you can use Tailoring & Enchanting OR Tailoring & Engineering.


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8. Consumables



Flask :- Flask of the Warm Sun

Potion :- Potion of the Jade Serpent

Food :- Mogu Fish Stew OR Braised Turtle


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9. Addons


-> Deadly Boss Mods aka DBM : An Add-on For raiding , provides encounter based information | Version 5.4.19

http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/deadly-boss-mods

-> Recount : Monitoring Your DPS | Version 5.4.8c

http://www.wowace.com/addons/recount/files/1674-v5-4-8c-release

-> ReforgeLite : An Addon for Making Reforging much more Accurate | Version 1.38

http://www.wowace.com/addons/reforgelite/files/62-v1-38

-> TellMeWhen : An Addon for Monitoring Spell cool-down's / Monitoring Item Proc's and Many more ( This Add-on can be Complicated to use ) | Version 7.0.2

http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/tellmewhen


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10. Mage Gameplay Guides


Preach Gaming

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wPlg9Bqb4yY:




Evreliagaming

https://youtube.com/watch?v=d2fFx1N6coo:




BigNashGaming

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Oq5CyNGbHcc:




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11. Sources


Freakz Database

Mop Veins tk

Preach Gaming

MMO - Champion

[Ventress90]

Great guide! Is Arcane a viable spec now with the 5.2 content?


| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |

[Woozy]

Nice guide mate!

[LethalFactorLK]

Ventress90 wrote:

Great guide! Is Arcane a viable spec now with the 5.2 content?

Arcane can pull decent dps as long as the fight is not movement heavy , just have to know to use Ice Floes properly and efficiently .
If there is too much movement its bye bye dps

[Ashcool]

Good job, Lethal!

Ashcool - TEMPORARY UNAVAILABLE - Please contact Denim.

[LethalFactorLK]

Thank you for the feedback

[Gogumen]

Good