TTW vs Arcane?

[nerdmage]

I am currently arcane and see another mage who I outgear doing DPS near that of mine. Here are our armories

Mine
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...dum&n=Nerdmage

His
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...Uldum&n=Revilo

Is TTW the new accepted build? What is the rotation?

[Malice83]

From looking at your armories you have no clue what you are doing so I assume you are really bad at your rotations.

Horrible meta, Really +INT gems?

You don't know how to gear or gem yourself. Your haste is very very sub-par for arcane.

[nerdmage]

Than you for not contributing anything to the topic at hand.

The lack of haste gear is from my lack of seeing any drop that has enough SP to be worth taking over my crit gear. The gems are bad, but when I got them I had no money and honestly just forgot about them since.

[Jeddite]

The lack of haste gear is from my lack of seeing any drop that has enough SP to be worth taking over my crit gear. The gems are bad, but when I got them I had no money and honestly just forgot about them since.

So your gear is less than optimal for your spec and your socketing is bad. And you're wondering why somebody is dishing out comparable damage to you?

hur hur hur hur hur

[nerdmage]

So your gear is less than optimal for your spec and your socketing is bad. And you're wondering why somebody is dishing out comparable damage to you?

hur hur hur hur hur

I feel as though I would have gotten better responses from the second-rate 4chan site, Gamefaqs.

[Mousethecat]

You asked a question, someone responded with the correct answer. Then you say "I already know this, give me a better answer".

Good luck getting better answers.

[nerdmage]

You asked a question, someone responded with the correct answer. Then you say "I already know this, give me a better answer".

Good luck getting better answers.

How did anyone answer my question? My question was - Which is better, TTW or Arcane? If TTW, what is the rotation?

Nowhere was anything related to this topic mentioned.

[Msor88]

TTW can put out some great numbers but the rotation really depend on if your Spec'ing into Frost or Fire with TTW.

Frost Roations would be - Frostbolt > Icelance Procs > BrainFreeze Procs
Fire Rotaion would be - Scorch > Living Bomb > Fireball Spam. Making sure you renew Scorch and Living Bomb Debuff when required.

[Omeg4]

Listen, the bottom line is that your rotation probably sucks. The TTW Fireball build is very good right now, but arcane specs are unique because they can essentially convert mana to damage using arcane blast. The forum posts over at elitist jerks do an excellent job of explaining the math and logic behind the rotation, but essentially, you should know your class and the boss fight well enough to end every battle with zero mana. In doing so you have succeded in pumping every last bit of damage out of your mage. If you have done that, then your rotation was largely sucessful and you were doing all you can to out dps your counterpart. There is no reason why you shouldn't be beating your guildie in the meters. Know your class and your spec before you take it.

We are all answering your question in a round about way. The bottom line is that arcane has the potential to be the best in most situations, but the power of arcane scales with gear. As you get more intellect, more of that intellect is converted to SP and your larger mana pool gives you more mana to "convert" to DPS by perhaps adding and extra stack of AB into your rotation. Learn your rotation and your limits (and given your massive mana pool, I'd say you have the potential to just spam AB rather consistently), and you will out dps the TTW mage for sure.

[nerdmage]

TTW can put out some great numbers but the rotation really depend on if your Spec'ing into Frost or Fire with TTW.

Frost Roations would be - Frostbolt > Icelance Procs > BrainFreeze Procs
Fire Rotaion would be - Scorch > Living Bomb > Fireball > Renew Scorch Debuff when required > Renew Living Bomb when required.

So the fire one is basically the same as FFB, just replace FFB with FB it looks like. I think ill give it a try.

[Msor88]

So the fire one is basically the same as FFB, just replace FFB with FB it looks like. I think ill give it a try.

If you give it a try, you'll probably want to spend some time investing in Gems, Glyphs and what not. - I know it sounds small and insignificant but they really do add up and you won't see any decent numbers from any spec un-till you get those right. Read through http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=36955.0 - It's full of information on gems and such like

[Omeg4]

I would not suggest the TTW build. I used the FFB build for quite a while and it was extremely boring. Arcane specs are much more challenging but much more rewarding also. They require more skill and are more interactive in their rotations. It took me a couple boss fights to fully understand how to work the arcane spec but now that I understand it I love it. Take the time to learn the build before you cop out and switch.

Neo, they fixed the 11% hit bug with FFB a while ago. 14% hit is now required. Also, his gems alone don't explain why the other mage is out-dpsing him. I have no access to his battle stats, recount data, etc. but I would venture to say that he doesn't know how to play his spec.

[Omeg4]

Oh, I get you. Keep in mind that using neo's logic, arcane specs require only 8% hit due to precision and arcane focus. This of course assume you have boomkins in the group. Also, I believe shadow priests provide some sort of 3% hit buff too, correct? (or maybe, it doesn't stack? not sure.)

[Omeg4]

Oooh, gotcha. I was never really sure how that worked.

[Aerials]

The lesser geared mage is doing the same damage as you because you are bad.

Cookie Cutter arc build is the top DPS spec for mages.
Swapping specs won't help you, because you will still be bad.

imo pass on all loot so the other mage can carry you more.

[Swizzle]

The lesser geared mage is doing the same damage as you because you are bad.

Cookie Cutter arc build is the top DPS spec for mages.
Swapping specs won't help you, because you will still be bad.

imo pass on all loot so the other mage can carry you more.

cookie cutter arc isn't the highest mage DPS spec, and hasn't been since it got nerfed in 3.09. TtW/fireball pulls out ahed due to longevity and just higher overall sustained DPS. so shush

[jacobuj]

If you want to do more dps with your current spec might I suggest swapping out that glyph of mage armor for a glyph of arcane missiles. It will increase your dps. If you want an alternative for longer fights use your second spec in the dual spec mechanic to spec into the currently more popular fireball spec. But as most have stated already, your lacking dps has to do with your glyphing/gemming, not your spec in particular.

[Nym]

After reading through most of the flames and some constructive comments ill attempt to throw in my 2 cents. I have played/tested the top 3 DPS specs. TTW/Fire, FFB, Arcane. They all have their own benefits. You need to take some time to find out which style is best for you. Personally I enjoy arcane the most because I feel it is the biggest challenge and requires the raider to know the fights and their raid composition. Arcane is actually a bit more gear friendly in the fact that you gain a spell power and hit rating just from specing into it. Where in TTW/Fire you do not. TTW is a bit more gear dependent on producing big numbers, having the higher hit and not losing crit and spell power can get hard to do sometimes.

If you are having issues with Arcane do a self check list
1. At Hit Cap
2. Spec is Setup Correctly
3.Gems/Enchants and glyphs are done correctly
4. Practice Rotations to understand how Mana is used in Arcane. (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL)
5. Learn the fights and how long they normally take with your raid. (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL)

To go more in depth on 4 and 5. Arcane is all about proper mana usage. Fire Arcane Blast 1 to many times and you get punished. My normal rotation is 3xArcane Blast fallowed by an Arcane Barrage Unless Missile Barrage is Procd then its 3x Arcane Blast fallowed by a An Arcane Missile.
This rotation tends to be standard with Arcane spec. Can be modified to suit ones needs. Feel like your burning mana to fast and the fights going long then bump it down to 2xABs and ABR. If you really starving drop it to 1xAB then ABR.

You need to also know how long the fight is going to last and when to Use your mana gems and Evocation. A well timed Mana Gem with Arcane Power is a HUGE dps boost. Say your guild does a fight that takes 5 mins long then you should be burning your mana efficiently so that at the end of the fight you should be left with less then 10% mana. If you don't know how long the fight may take or notice while in the middle of the fight its taking longer then normal you could easily go OOM.

Hope this helps. Im headed to bed lol

[Zereye]

After reading through most of the flames and some constructive comments ill attempt to throw in my 2 cents. I have played/tested the top 3 DPS specs. TTW/Fire, FFB, Arcane. They all have their own benefits. You need to take some time to find out which style is best for you. Personally I enjoy arcane the most because I feel it is the biggest challenge and requires the raider to know the fights and their raid composition. Arcane is actually a bit more gear friendly in the fact that you gain a spell power and hit rating just from specing into it. Where in TTW/Fire you do not. TTW is a bit more gear dependent on producing big numbers, having the higher hit and not losing crit and spell power can get hard to do sometimes.

If you are having issues with Arcane do a self check list
1. At Hit Cap
2. Spec is Setup Correctly
3.Gems/Enchants and glyphs are done correctly
4. Practice Rotations to understand how Mana is used in Arcane. (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL)
5. Learn the fights and how long they normally take with your raid. (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL)

To go more in depth on 4 and 5. Arcane is all about proper mana usage. Fire Arcane Blast 1 to many times and you get punished. My normal rotation is 3xArcane Blast fallowed by an Arcane Barrage Unless Missile Barrage is Procd then its 3x Arcane Blast fallowed by a An Arcane Missile.
This rotation tends to be standard with Arcane spec. Can be modified to suit ones needs. Feel like your burning mana to fast and the fights going long then bump it down to 2xABs and ABR. If you really starving drop it to 1xAB then ABR.

You need to also know how long the fight is going to last and when to Use your mana gems and Evocation. A well timed Mana Gem with Arcane Power is a HUGE dps boost. Say your guild does a fight that takes 5 mins long then you should be burning your mana efficiently so that at the end of the fight you should be left with less then 10% mana. If you don't know how long the fight may take or notice while in the middle of the fight its taking longer then normal you could easily go OOM.

Hope this helps. Im headed to bed lol

Learning to rotate mana gem/evocation/mana pot (lolwut?) is probably the most important thing to do to boost dps as arcane. I pull 6k deeps on patch without breaking a sweat becase A) i rotate my mana CD's effectively B) glyphs and spec are correct C) i know exactly how long the fight will last every time. Hope that helps, 1st post XD

[Swizzle]

drop arcane barrage out of your standard rotation. it's a proven DPS loss.