4.3 Arcane Compendium

[Pyromagik]

Sorry, I don't have to time to read through all 14 pages to see if this was already addressed. I wanted to say that I think crit gets a bad rap from your guide, Swizzle. The mana return from critical strikes shouldn't be ignored...

I think stat priority should be haste until cap, then mastery, then crit, with any extra haste reforged to mastery, and and if there's already mastery on the item, definitely crit instead of leaving the haste on. Extraneous haste is weak because it throws off the burn/conserve cycle (and keep in mind that Stolen Time is giving you 500 extra haste most of the time).

Also, I think it's worth addressing when/if to use Arcane Power with the four piece bonus (I use it every time but have to really cut down on AB usage while it's up. I also make sure I have 10 stacks of Stolen Time if I'm going to use it during conserve phase, and I DON'T use it if it won't be back up in time for my next true Burn phase.)

Also, it's worth stating that some fights lend themselves excellently to having conservation-free rotations. In fights where adds spawn and die (lots of down time in between) like Beth'tilac or Warlord Blackthorn, or fights with long interruptions like Haggara, your mana will likely be regenerating way faster than you can get rid of it, so you can pretty much spam AB the entire fight, but punctuate it with cooldown-using burn phases at key moments (Like Hagara's stun that makes her take 100% extra damage), or whenever cooldowns are up.

[Shangalar]

Crits return 30% of the base mana cost of spells. Arcane Blast has a tiny base mana cost and missiles are free. Therefore, focusing on crit isn't worth it since you need sustained damage outside of burn phases and only mastery grants that.

No objectiona to your other two points, I never had mana problems on beth'tilac when it was top-tier.

[vitaminc1231]

Is this macro ok?

#showtooltip Mirror Image
/use 13
/use 14
/use mana gem
/cast Arcane Torrent
/castsequence reset=5 Arcane Power, Arcane Blast, Mirror Image, Arcane Blast

Also, I will use this macro after 4 stacks of AB. Do I also Flame Orb before I hit it?

[Shangalar]

yes, you should use flame orb just before arcane power...

since I don't use such elaborate macros, I cast 4 x Arcane Blast, Flame Orb, Presence of Mind, Arcane Blast, Burn Macro (Power+Gem), and then use mirror images manually in an milisecond between 2 arcane blasts.

If you're looking at the opener, recently it's been discovered that stacking Stolen Time to 10 before entering the burn phase is better. This came from Method's guide for Dragon Soul mages.

[Neichus]

If you're looking at the opener, recently it's been discovered that stacking Stolen Time to 10 before entering the burn phase is better. This came from Method's guide for Dragon Soul mages.

Any word on whether that's seriously just 10x AB to get it stacked or do they take their time in a very short conversation phase pre-burn?

[Shangalar]

Simply stack to 10, preferrably helped with presence of mind to save.as much potion time as possible.

[LaplaceNoMa]

Is Opal really better than FF Choker + 50int gem?

[Azatos]

Flowform + 50 int is better

[Shangalar]

It would depend on your gear setup and whether you miss Hit from other sources. It's always better to have Hit on gear than to reforge other stats to Hit, at least that's what I understood.

[Azatos]

It would depend on your gear setup and whether you miss Hit from other sources. It's always better to have Hit on gear than to reforge other stats to Hit, at least that's what I understood.

FF has more int than opal (with a brilliant QG), and being that you can't reforge to int (your highest dps stat)...but you can hit....FF is better...regardless what your setup is.

*edit* I'm sure someone will say otherwise about being hitcapped etc....but if you're to the point in game where heroic ffc is available and you're questioning that vs opal, (gear, progression, etc I would assume you're roughly 400ilvl and 5-8/8hm) you shouldn't have a problem getting hitcapped through small reforges off your 397/410 gear.

[zentenforius]

So I was talking about this with a guildy earlier in the day. Regarding weapons, in the sense that a legendary isn't in the picture, what would be preferred? Talking normal raiding here. Does one go for Rathrak and grab on OH, or would you prefer to go after Ti'tahk. And if you do go for Ti'Tahk, is the haste buff able to stack with Insignia of the Corrupted Mind?

[Azatos]

For arcane, you wouldn't want to use Ti'tahk...especially not insignia...I think the mastery proc 5 man trinket is better than the lfr, maybe even the 397 version. I would stick with Rathrak + oh....or even lightning rod. Best bet would be to download Rawr and go off that imo.

[Pookstar]

MH Rathrak w/ 397 OH is a bit better.
To Azatos, Insignia is still a good trinket for Arcane. A haste proc isn't a bad thing. You are overvaluing mastery, yes, it's the best stat between haste, mastery, and crit, but is worth far less than hit and int, the pure intellect increase will out performing any type of proc.

I'm fairly certain at any gear level, the difference between Haste, Crit, and Mastery is less than 1 dps per point, however the difference between Intellect and those 3 secondary stats is upwards to 5 dps per point.

[Shangalar]

for Arcane, the best Trinkets are Will of Unbinding and Cunning of the Cruel... the weapons are Rathrak + OH... Rathrak and Cunning give Arcane nice procs to counter movement/aoe issues. They don't do it fully, but they help.

[Eschatonin]

I understand that with the 4P, there is a mini burn between burn phases with the use of Arcane Power? If so, what mana percentage should I burn to, and do int procs from Spellweave/Power Torrent affect this?

[Azatos]

i don't think there is a set answer for this...you're just going to have to play around and find what you're comfortable with. That or get SoW and never worry about mana again!

[Shangalar]

there is no reason for mini-burn phases... you can even continue your regular conservation cycle, only with arcane power... also, Missiles deal a lot of damage under the effect of Power, you can even try a missiles mini-burn using Flame Orb and Arcane Power. Honestly, I found that everything works nicely. You still need to stay around 90% to have as much as possible Mastery benefits.

As a point: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/r...?s=6492&e=7241


That's with Dragonwrath, VPLC Normal, Insignia Normal and Focus Magic.

It's all how you organize yourself. On Zon'ozz, Hagara, Spine and Madness you need to time your Arcane Power for Shadow/Stun/Tendons/Cataclysm and always mass spam explosion on the bloods to proc spellweave. On Yor'sahj you can save Power for the black phases and spam Explosions with 4 stacks of Blast - although you will rarely be able to match any other class in terms of AoE damage. On Morchok your damage will 99% of the time just suck. And on Ultraxion... well... it's the only fight where you can really show what you can do as an Arcane Mage, but it falls down to your latency, skill and practice.

[LaplaceNoMa]

I don't think that's a good arguement about 'whether you have hit from other sources'.

I'm talking about the full BiS set of gear (other than the necklace). I honestly believe that in full BiS FF+50int is better than Opal.

[Boots23]

Which one is better 390 Rathrak and Dragonfire Orb or 403 Ti'Tahk. Arcane Mage. Thanks.

[Eschatonin]

I was wondering if I could get some criticism towards my method in HC Madness before we go for the kill this week. I'm not going in for gamebreaking numbers, I'm going in to get it down. Pretty much on a platform I:

1st platform:
-At start with lust I ABx3 AM to fish for stacks of Will of Unbinding/Stolen Time.
- AB at 4 stacks and ready to burn down first Corruption.
- Fire Orb and Mirror Images on Corruption.
- Dream the Parasite explosion.
- Evo and ready to mini burn (about 3-4 ABs) on Bolt.
- Arcane Power Conserve with a few seconds to go before Cataclysm.

2nd and 3rd:
- Conserve phase up until a few seconds on first parasite spawn, where I have ABx4 up and at the mana Managem will take me back to.
- Start Burn on Parasite, then Corruption.
- Burn phase nearly done when bolt spawns, AB it down. Evo.
- Conserve on 2nd Parasite
- Arcane Power Conserve as before.
- Blizzard Bloods if near the Corruption.

4th platform:
- Pre-place myself outside where the raid would stack for bolt, so the corruption may slap me instead of the raid.
- Burn on first parasite.
- Iceblock the bolt.
- Mini burn on 2nd parasite. (This is where we got up to on our first night)
- Blizzard Bloods when near the corruption.
- Full Burn when possible