Arcane Mage PVP - Question

[Fluffygong]

So this is possibly my first post after being a long time reader, for some reason I already had an account though, useful.

Armory: In signature.

To the point, I've always only ever played PVE but I'm not trying out some PVP in BG's and 2vs2 arena. My main question is just to make sure I'm getting things gearwise correct.

My gear is currently a mix of PVP and PVE as I'm still collecting my PVP gear, I was going to stick with my T10 chest for the bonus haste though, is this a bad idea? Should I take full PVP gear? The only PVE bits I was planning on keeping were the chest and the ashen verdict ring, plus the weapons until I can replace them with PVP ones. Trinkets I was going to use 264 PVP trinket and Dislodged trinket which I have on at the moment.

The information I have got so far is:

Gemming:
Meta - 3% Crit and crit damage
Yellow - Sp/Haste + 1 20 resi gem
Blue - Sp/Spell Pen
Red - Sp

Enchanting:
Head - Sp/Resi
Shoulder - Sp/Resi
Back - Spell Pen
Chest - Resi(?)
Wrist - Sp
hands - Sp
Legs - Sp/Stam
Gloves - Sp/Speed
Rings - Sp

Spec ?? <-- Need some hints and tips with this, I have a PVE spec at the moment and I can see the talents I want but not sure what to drop, I was planning on staying far enough in Frost for IV for the burst then picking up Imporved Blink, Improved CS and Prismatic Cloak then not sure about the rest. Basically I'm a PVP nub.

Which mage armor is another thing I'm confused about, currently using Molten Armor because that's just what I normally use, not sure though. When it comes to Resi I've read somewhere I should aim for about 1100-1200 as arcane is this about right? So far for PVP addons I have just download Gladius and Afflicted 3, I already have a bunch of PVE addons so those 2 were the only PVP only ones I went for.

Any help would be much appreciated or just confirmation that some of my ideas about PVP are correct.
Many thanks, Fluffygong!

Edit: Just found this spec after some reading on the official forums, wowhead.com/talent#oberfzrczcGuGttdZhhbbo a good starter spec?

[Hairyzac]

Arcane mages are super squish in PvP. Arcane and Fire are hands down the squishiest specs in the game of any class. You are going to want as much resilience as you can get.

I can't really answer most of your other questions but I would recommend making focus macros for poly and counterspell onto your focused target. I would also recommend a decurse add-on. I use Smartdebuff because it's very simple and takes up literally no memory but there are many others.

Good luck and I'm sure you will get some better replies shortly.

[Fluffygong]

Thanks for the reply, I already have Decursive from PVE'ing. I think I'm all covered on addons. Macro's I've a bunch for all sorts set up, my main question remaining after some reading on an arena site is which armor an arcane mage should us and if my enchanting and gemming was correct.

[Deleted]

Mostly use Mage Armor as default, switch to Ice Armor if there's melee sitting on you. About the spec, Incanter's Absorption in its current state is rather lackluster except for duels, many tend to skip it or just put one point in it, however it can be valuable if you're getting focused in arena which can happen a lot. Something you might also consider is dropping the points in Arcane Concentration and Arcane Potency and putting them into Netherwind Presence and Improved Blink. Arcane isn't terribly haste reliant, but 4% more is a lot and Improved Blink can be gamebreaking when it eats a Blind, Kill Shot, Death Coil etc. These are just some suggestions, Arcane specs have a bit more variety than Frost in general.

Gemming:
Yours (in PvP gear) looks alright. Remember though that even for arcane it's quite important to get at least 80 spen to start with.

Here's a very basic and common example of 60/0/11 used by amongst others Abni who's the highest rated arcane mage in the world. Mana efficient and a very nice fit for RMP.

Now, about Arcane Stability. Some like it, some skip it in favor of getting clearcasting, Arcane Potency or whatever. There's an alternative Arcane build that has Stability that I'm quite fond of; 53/7/11.

Here's a variation used by Xirid who wizard cleaved his way to 2800+ at one point with it.

Stability + Burning Determination = No pushback, and basically immunity to 50% of all interrupts. Something worth noting is that the Burning Determination buff itself isn't seemingly consumed by blanket silences that have no interrupt component; if a rogue kicks your cast, you'll be immune to let's say a shadowpriest's Silence without losing the buff, saving it for the next kick from the rogue. Putting 7 points into Fire taxes your arcane talents quite a bit but it's a fun build that really lets you turret damage. It is tremendously good against hunters who normally make a mage's life hell if Icy Veins isn't up.

PS.
--53/7/11 Promotion--
Tired of casting frostbolts all day, not getting any crits and HITTING LIKE AN IMPOTENT WET NOODLE? Frustrated with getting locked in Frost, unable to Ice Block? Look no further than 53/7/11. That's 53 points in Arcane, 7 in Fire and 11 in Frost, kids. Arcane Stability and Burning Determination will get you all the girls and will make hunters rage. 8K Chimera Crit? How about back to back 8K Arcane Blast HITS? LUDICROUS DAMAGE! THAT'S RIGHT YOU PIECE OF SHIT. What's that? Silencing Shot, Readiness, Silencing ShOH NEVERMIND IMMUNE LOLOLOLOLOL. GET THE FUCK OUT AND TAKE YOUR PET WITH YOU. ALLCAPS MEANS THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

No pushback, a truckload of damage, a couple of more truckloads of damage and anti-interrupt functionality. Ask your parents for gold and visit the local mage trainer, NOW!

[Skarrd]

...and will make hunters rage. 8K Chimera Crit? How about back to back 8K Arcane Blast HITS? LUDICROUS DAMAGE! THAT'S RIGHT YOU PIECE OF SHIT. What's that? Silencing Shot, Readiness, Silencing ShOH NEVERMIND IMMUNE LOLOLOLOLOL. GET THE FUCK OUT AND TAKE YOUR PET WITH YOU. ALLCAPS MEANS THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

I wish that actually worked. Hunters rip mages a new asshole, just bend over.

[Naryn]

Arcane Mages are super squishy if you let yourself get hit but arcanes biggest strength is in its instant spells and its spells like blink and invisibility
60/11/0 is a build I use but you can also use one with Icy Veins.

If you are planning on doing Arena you really need over 1000 resilience and I've found having a healer is your best partner

[patrins]

I wear 1300 resilience when i play arcane but 5s is the only bracket i play it in. (read: lolburst) id definately get 130spell pen and stack as much SP/Haste as possibly. I would really only wear 1 piece of pve gear if possible (leggings of woven death are nice)

seriously tho a geared hunter will solo 60-70% of your hp bar in the time it takes you to get off one casted spell. pillars are your friend. your job vs hunters is basically to never get hit by them. I would recommend getting both armor talents if you're playing arcane (arcane fortitude and frost warding)

heres my armory
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...low&cn=Patrins
(im probably frost in it, but i just swap out the relentless ring to wrathful (don't need as much hitrating as arcane and throw on a resil trinket and spellpower battlemasters.

[Fluffygong]

Thanks for all the replies! I've been trying arcane out this week and used much of the advise you have given me here throughout the week. However I have been advised many times that Frost is just better for 2vs2's and will be better for me as a noob to PVP, so I'm going to try frost a bit and I'm going to guess everyhing I need to know is in the sticky. Thanks again for the replies!