Mage Arcane FAQ
Go back to https://turtle-wow.fandom.com/wiki/Mage_FAQ
Is Arcane good on this server?
Yes arcane is quite good since 1.17.2 patch on Nov 8th 2024. Can read about the changes here https://forum.turtle-wow.org/viewtopic.php?p=102974#p102968
What's a good spec for leveling?
This is just an example there is no single right answer. It's probably not even worth putting a point in Arcane power until you get more geared / get 6PC Tier3.
Top priority is improved arcane missiles. Get everything in the arcane tree first unless you want the ability to aoe kite with cone of cold and arcane explosion. Can dip into fire tree if you prefer.
Priorities:
- Improved arcane missiles
- Arcane focus
- Arcane concentration
- Temporal convergence
- Arcane meditation
- Arcane potency
- Accelerated arcana
- Resonance cascade
- Go into frost / fire tree
What's a good spec for raiding?
Just make sure you get all of the good arcane talents as shown above. All of the extra talent points matter a lot less and can instead be used on flame throwing/elemental precision/more arcane talents.
You can also put 1 point into ignite just to extend the ignites of fire mages in the raid and fire blast for trash.
What rotation to use for arcane?
In general:
Surge -> Rupture -> Missiles
During arcane power or MQG:
Rupture -> Missiles (surge has 1.5s gcd that doesn't benefit from haste at all)
Full rotation at the start of a fight where you have all cooldowns:
Presence of mind -> Rupture -> MQG -> Arcane power -> Missiles -> Rupture once rupture buff falls off -> Missiles
If you have less than around 20% haste, Surge is always worth it even to the point of canceling missiles early so long as you aren't clipping missile casts and you have extra mana. If your rupture buff is active you should still try to maximize using it by waiting as long as possible to interrupt for surge.
Rupture is only worth canceling missiles for if you don't already have rupture buff.
When moving, you can use fire blast to fish for resists to then be able to fire off an arcane surge.
What gear to wear on bosses?
There are 2 main options you can go with on bosses, one with the best damage output and one using T3 6PC for more mana efficiency on longer bosses.
Option 1: Best damage output
Option 2: Using T3 6PC
Mind Quickening Gem can be used as a replacement for Mark of the Champion.
What gear to wear on trash?
If you are not expecting to often take damage on trash, wearing 5 pieces of T3.5 should be the best choice, otherwise use better stated helmet.
Option 1: Using T3.5 3PC
Option 2: Using T3.5 5PC
How can I cast Arcane missiles again only after the current channel has finished?
Check out https://github.com/pepopo978/nampower I made it so that you can queue spells including channeling ones along with a lot of other improvements. There's even an option to press a spell twice during a channel to have it cast right after the next tick.
Arcane Stat Weights on Bosses from sim
generated with https://github.com/pepopo978/turtlewowsim Take with a grain of salt, no promises this perfectly matches turtle or there aren't bugs.
Weights are dependent on many factors like your gear and raid composition but to give a general idea with endgame gear:
50k runs, 120 sec, 0.07s server lag per cast
control_sp = 1000 control_crit = 40 control_hit = 15 control_haste = 0
no cooldowns
surge when available -> rupture when available -> missiles doesn't interrupt missiles early
20sp DPS Mean : 1169 in 106 casts 1 haste DPS Mean : 1164 in 107 casts 1 hit DPS Mean : 1164 in 106 casts 1 crit DPS Mean : 1162 in 106 casts control DPS Mean : 1155 in 106 casts
------ Per Spell Data ------ 20sp: Arcane Rupture : 7.9 casts, 22010 dmg (15.7%), 2779 avg dmg, 2.32 , 1198 dps Arcane Missile : 88.3 casts, 96015 dmg (68.5%), 1087 avg dmg, 0.95 , 1145 dps Arcane Surge : 10.0 casts, 22231 dmg (15.9%), 2229 avg dmg, 1.57 , 1420 dps 1 haste: Arcane Rupture : 8.0 casts, 21919 dmg (15.7%), 2748 avg dmg, 2.31 , 1191 dps Arcane Missile : 89.0 casts, 95539 dmg (68.4%), 1073 avg dmg, 0.94 , 1142 dps Arcane Surge : 10.1 casts, 22221 dmg (15.9%), 2206 avg dmg, 1.57 , 1405 dps 1 hit: Arcane Rupture : 7.9 casts, 21990 dmg (15.7%), 2775 avg dmg, 2.32 , 1196 dps Arcane Missile : 88.3 casts, 95706 dmg (68.5%), 1084 avg dmg, 0.95 , 1141 dps Arcane Surge : 10.0 casts, 22003 dmg (15.8%), 2205 avg dmg, 1.57 , 1404 dps 1 crit: Arcane Rupture : 7.9 casts, 21932 dmg (15.7%), 2768 avg dmg, 2.32 , 1194 dps Arcane Missile : 88.3 casts, 95453 dmg (68.5%), 1081 avg dmg, 0.95 , 1138 dps Arcane Surge : 10.0 casts, 22099 dmg (15.8%), 2216 avg dmg, 1.57 , 1412 dps control: Arcane Rupture : 7.9 casts, 21796 dmg (15.7%), 2751 avg dmg, 2.32 , 1186 dps Arcane Missile : 88.3 casts, 94742 dmg (68.4%), 1073 avg dmg, 0.95 , 1130 dps Arcane Surge : 10.0 casts, 22005 dmg (15.9%), 2204 avg dmg, 1.57 , 1404 dps
So for this example 20 sp resulted in 14 more dps so we can compare that to the other stats to get a SP weight for each.
A 1 dps change in the average obviously will affect this a lot so assume at least +- 1 for these.
1 haste ~= 13 sp 1 hit ~= 13 sp 1 crit ~= 10 sp
for fresh 60s with
control_sp = 300 control_crit = 18 control_hit = 13
sp becomes more valuable compared to the other stats
1 haste ~= 8 sp 1 hit ~= 8 sp 1 crit ~= 8 sp
Arcane Stat Weights on trash AOE from sim
base_sp = 1000 base_crit = 40 base_hit = 16 50k, 30 sec fight, 3 mobs, level 60 spam arcane explosion, 0.07s server lag per cast
20sp DPS Mean : 1353 in 18.9 casts 1 crit DPS Mean : 1353 in 18.9 casts 1 hit DPS Mean : 1344 in 18.9 casts 1 haste DPS Mean : 1344 in 18.9 casts control DPS Mean : 1344 in 18.9 casts
1 haste ~= 0 sp 1 hit ~= 0 sp 1 crit ~= 20 sp
for fresh 60s with
control_sp = 300 control_crit = 18 control_hit = 13
crit less valuable
1 haste ~= 0 sp 1 hit ~= 0 sp 1 crit ~= 16 sp
Boss Trinket Comparison
generated with https://github.com/pepopo978/turtlewowsim
10k runs 2 min fight base_sp = 1000 base_crit = 40 base_hit = 14 use arcane power + active trinket 5 seconds into fight
mqg DPS Mean : 1329 in 121 casts mark of champ DPS Mean : 1311 in 114 casts tear DPS Mean : 1304 in 114 casts reos DPS Mean : 1298 in 114 casts gulch DPS Mean : 1293 in 117 casts shard of nightmare DPS Mean : 1287 in 114 casts charm_of_magic DPS Mean : 1282 in 114 casts eye of dim DPS Mean : 1276 in 114 casts toep DPS Mean : 1270 in 114 casts zandalarian hero charm DPS Mean : 1258 in 114 casts nothing DPS Mean : 1250 in 114 casts
If you already have max hit
10k runs 2 min fight base_sp = 1000 base_crit = 40 base_hit = 16 use arcane power + active trinket 5 seconds into fight
mqg DPS Mean : 1353 in 121 casts mark of champ DPS Mean : 1334 in 114 casts reos DPS Mean : 1323 in 114 casts gulch DPS Mean : 1319 in 117 casts charm_of_magic DPS Mean : 1306 in 114 casts tear DPS Mean : 1305 in 114 casts shard of nightmare DPS Mean : 1301 in 114 casts eye of dim DPS Mean : 1299 in 114 casts toep DPS Mean : 1293 in 114 casts zandalarian hero charm DPS Mean : 1283 in 114 casts nothing DPS Mean : 1272 in 114 casts
Arcane Trinket comparison on trash AOE
base_sp = 1000 base_crit = 40 base_hit = 16 10k, 30 sec fight, 3 mobs, level 60 spam arcane explosion, 0.07s server lag per cast
charm_of_magic DPS Mean : 1491 in 18.9 casts reos DPS Mean : 1441 in 18.9 casts toep DPS Mean : 1422 in 18.9 casts mark of champ DPS Mean : 1416 in 18.9 casts zandalarian hero charm DPS Mean : 1411 in 18.9 casts eye of dim DPS Mean : 1407 in 18.9 casts tear DPS Mean : 1397 in 18.9 casts shard of nightmare DPS Mean : 1393 in 18.9 casts gulch DPS Mean : 1389 in 18.9 casts nothing DPS Mean : 1376 in 18.9 casts mqg DPS Mean : 1376 in 18.9 casts
How does cooldown haste work with Accelerated Arcana?
See https://turtle-wow.fandom.com/wiki/Mage_General_FAQ#How_does_haste_work? for a general explanation of haste.
The cooldown reduction from the talent uses the same formula that is used for cast time discussed in the link above. So if you have 5% haste from Accelerated Arcana and use Mind quickening gem (33% haste) -> Arcane power the cooldown for arcane power will be
<math>\frac{180}{1.33 \cdot 1.05} \approx 129s</math>
How does haste work with arcane missiles?
The cast time of the arcane missile channel follows the same haste formula as other spells. That cast time is then divided by either 5 or 6 (if you are using one of the belts that increases the base channel time by 1 second).
So as an example if I just have the 5% haste from Accelerated Arcana:
<math>\text{Channel time for 5 missiles} = \frac{5}{1.05} = 4.76s</math>
<math>\text{Individual missile time} = 0.95s</math>
Same example but with a belt that increases the missile channel time by 1s:
<math>\text{Channel time for 6 missiles} = \frac{6}{1.05} = 5.71s</math>
<math>\text{Individual missile time} = 0.95s</math>
So if you need better mana efficiency the belt can be good otherwise use whatever gear your have that is best.