arcane 4 pc bonus, what to do.

[Tinythegreat]

Im about to get 4 piece bonus and i like arcane and dont want to feel obligated to go fire when i get four piece. With four piece as arcane i am not sure what to do, do arcane missile directly after if it is not consumed or to just stay with normal rotation. Need help!

[vonstein]

try the new rotation and see if it has any direct affect on ur dps weather it be bad or good and decide from there :P

[Axlash54]

I wanna say 3 AB 1 AM, and if the 4 piece procs do a quick AB and then an AM

[illbanu]

I believe with 4 part t8, you should use Missile Barrage as soon as it procs, regardless of stacks(even if it means casting at 0).

Kyth did a guide called "mages in ulduar" that you can probably find at Stratfu, and it had some more detailed information.

[Tinythegreat]

try the new rotation and see if it has any direct affect on ur dps weather it be bad or good and decide from there :P

what new rotation

[extrudedcow]

I've yet to see anyone do the (fairly complex) math to find what the optimal choice is when the set bonus procs, but both choices seem acceptable.

I would love to see a decent fight simulator that could handle finding the optimal rotation with the new set bonus.

[Takachi]

I would love to see a decent fight simulator that could handle finding the optimal rotation with the new set bonus.

Well as you might know its not possible since its all random :S

[Jante]

According to Elite Jerks 4 pc bones for arcane mages is a dps boost of under 0,5%. The reason why missile barrage is a dps improvement is because of the 3 stacks of AB - if you use your Missilie barrage without any AB stacked, it will be a dps decrease, compared to your normal rotation.

Go ToTW fire spec

[Sedative]

I'm arcane. (Armory isnt updating) But i'll be going fire for this very reason when i get 4pc.

Too bad they couldnt code it to check for AB stacks at time of AM cast then if you get a 4pc proc save the AB stacks.

[Xevec]

see, this is why the T8 4 piece is perfect for fire mages, and not arcane mages. Nothing like having fireball/pyroblast....then fireball/pyroblast.

About the 4 piece T8, does the proc chance have a cooldown? Or can it happen multiple times?(like how clearcasting does not have a cooldown)

[extrudedcow]

There is no cooldown. In extremely rare instances, you can chain cast instant pyroblasts until the hot streak buff expires, as the buff timer is not refreshed by the set bonus.

[PvE_Mage]

the 4pcT8 bonus can proc 4 times in a row... hence it's important to use the proc when you've got it, otherwise your 10 secs will be up.

what I love about the proc is that it gives fire mages mobility; moving and casting Pyroblast is awesome.

[Cryosa]

Besides the math and the calculations, there exists a thing called fun. I just like the arcane spec better than the ttw/fire. It's more of a challenge in my opinion. So I'm gonna just gonna stay with it and hope T9 will be better balanced among the several raid specs.

Personally I like the 2p bonus from T7 more than 4p T8, because you can combine it with other cooldowns.

Regarding the rotation I'd just stick to the usual rotation.

[mireigi]

Besides the math and the calculations, there exists a thing called fun. I just like the arcane spec better than the ttw/fire. It's more of a challenge in my opinion. So I'm gonna just gonna stay with it and hope T9 will be better balanced among the several raid specs.

Personally I like the 2p bonus from T7 more than 4p T8, because you can combine it with other cooldowns.

Regarding the rotation I'd just stick to the usual rotation.

Arcane is good for burst, and very simple to play imo.
1. Cast Arcane Blast
2. Cast Arcane Blast
3. Cast Arcane Blast
4. Cast Arcane Missiles
5. Repeat step 1 to 4
When you have used 6k mana, stack up to 3 Arcane Blast debuffs and use a Mana Gem (with 2set bonus from t7), cast Arcane Power, Icy Veins and Mirror Image followed by Arcane Missiles, then go see step 5 above. When there is 2 seconds left on Icy Veins, cast Evocate and go see step 5 above.

All you really do is spam 2 different spells with the occasional CD burn.

[quandary87]

Arcane is good for burst, and very simple to play imo.
1. Cast Arcane Blast
2. Cast Arcane Blast
3. Cast Arcane Blast
4. Cast Arcane Missiles
5. Repeat step 1 to 4
When you have used 6k mana, stack up to 3 Arcane Blast debuffs and use a Mana Gem (with 2set bonus from t7), cast Arcane Power, Icy Veins and Mirror Image followed by Arcane Missiles, then go see step 5 above. When there is 2 seconds left on Icy Veins, cast Evocate and go see step 5 above.

All you really do is spam 2 different spells with the occasional CD burn.

You say it is simple and give a reasonable rotation, but that doesn't really hold true. The above rotation will generate reasonable DPS, but arcane optimization goes so much further than that.

Following just steps 1-4, you don't have an optimal arcane rotation yet. At least on certain (if not almost all) fights, you will want to start the CD on your mana gem as soon as possible. Coupled with the fact that you will have burn phases of ABx(N+3) -> MBAM, you really should start this cycle as soon as possible. So, really the optimal rotation is ABx(N+3) -> MBAM until you've used up more mana than a single mana gem. Once you pop the gem, you're near full mana again, and presumably you've popped IV / AP and a trinket as well. If the trinket is a SP trinket, you can notice that you will gain a lot of DPS by spamming ABx(N+3) -> MBAM here, especially since you still have your evocate cooldown available. Once you burn through 65%-70% of your mana, its time to evocate. Now you have to adjust to a lower DPS, higher DPM rotation (depending the cooldown on the gem and evocation). Depending on the fight, if there are spaces of no casting, you will have a much easier time, too.

Arcane's application fight to fight changes. On Mimiron, you might want to pop AP almost immediately, since I believe that the phases will align well with the 1.4 minute cooldown. On Hodir, Sapphion and KT, you will have mana coming back from frost warding. On Heigan, you will have lots of mana regen time and time for your cooldowns to come back because of the dance. On those fights you will spam more. On Loatheb you will have to figure out when to spam and when to conserved based on +crit proc. Same on Thaddius. I wonder if its better not to cast when you don't have the +damage buff.

Each fight really is a little different for Arcane and the variety is amazing. There is just no set rotation.

[DJet820]

Arcane is good for burst, and very simple to play imo.
1. Cast Arcane Blast
2. Cast Arcane Blast
3. Cast Arcane Blast
4. Cast Arcane Missiles
5. Repeat step 1 to 4
When you have used 6k mana, stack up to 3 Arcane Blast debuffs and use a Mana Gem (with 2set bonus from t7), cast Arcane Power, Icy Veins and Mirror Image followed by Arcane Missiles, then go see step 5 above. When there is 2 seconds left on Icy Veins, cast Evocate and go see step 5 above.

All you really do is spam 2 different spells with the occasional CD burn.

Mirror images are pretty much a waste of GCD, only use them when you're moving or right before a pull.

[Sedative]

Mirror images are pretty much a waste of GCD, only use them when you're moving or right before a pull.

I find MI pretty useful for managing threat on fights like Hodir and General. Just to name a couple.

[DJet820]

I find MI pretty useful for managing threat on fights like Hodir and General. Just to name a couple.

Alright let me restate what I meant then.

Mirror images are pretty much useless for a dps increase.

[Deleted]

Alright let me restate what I meant then.

Mirror images are pretty much useless for a dps increase.

Wrong, MI means 30 seconds of nuke without worrying about threat. So this means dps increase.

[Wage]

I believe I read something saying that as long as they are up for at least 15 seconds, its a dps increase.