Arcane Mage PvE Guide

[Deleted]

Not being able to move for 4sec or less, versus, having to recast ROP and lose it while running/scorch.


in 5.2.. It will be pretty fun, being able to go from empty to full mana in a GCD.. until they nerf the crap out of it, and we're all back at step 1..

Preference I guess.

Did I miss something? A GCD? oO

[DreamSpyre]

Preference I guess.

Did I miss something? A GCD? oO

Well getting it down to just a gcd won't be possible, but the full evocation channel will definitely be sub 2 seconds with haste stacking and under 1.5 for sure with lust or procs.

[Deleted]

Well getting it down to just a gcd won't be possible, but the full evocation channel will definitely be sub 2 seconds with haste stacking and under 1.5 for sure with lust or procs.

Fun stuff. Cheers. I'm guessing with this and how much Haste we'll be able to stack to make it very good, Trolls may not be such a good race?

[mrgreenthump]

Well getting it down to just a gcd won't be possible, but the full evocation channel will definitely be sub 2 seconds with haste stacking and under 1.5 for sure with lust or procs.

But taking it under 1.5 seconds means you would GCD cap with frostbolt/arcane blast, and fire doesnt want as massive ammounts of haste, so unless we get to a point where stacking haste past GCD softcap is beneficial, then under 1.5 secs is kinda a no go. But yes 1.5 secs is mighty fast to go from low to full indeed..

[DreamSpyre]

Fun stuff. Cheers. I'm guessing with this and how much Haste we'll be able to stack to make it very good, Trolls may not be such a good race?

That remains to be seen, but as long as you aren't popping berserking during lust you should be fine.

But taking it under 1.5 seconds means you would GCD cap with frostbolt/arcane blast, and fire doesnt want as massive ammounts of haste, so unless we get to a point where stacking haste past GCD softcap is beneficial, then under 1.5 secs is kinda a no go. But yes 1.5 secs is mighty fast to go from low to full indeed..

With the haste invocation arcane playstyle, in the tests I've run, haste still out values mastery and crit past the soft cap, mainly because time spent outside of lust and trinket is far larger than time spent inside, not to mention evocate will always be able to benefit from more. Mastery is also devalued just based on how you're playing that spec. I'm also operating under the assumption that next tier, we will have better trinkets than EoT that won't be haste proc based. That's assuming you burn to 30%, the 70% style I'm not familiar with and haven't tested yet.

[spaace]

I'm looking forward to the Int trinket, with an int proc..


I haven't manged to do much on the PTR, with snowboard season in full swing.
It's still too soon to have anything solid with 5.2 invocation. I can see it being "fixed" or nerfed.. or whatever you may call it, very soon after release (if not before).

But as it stands, there is not much difference between invocation now and then. Spam, invoke, repeat.

[Deleted]

3.1 AoE Gameplay

3.1.1 Clustered Targets

1. Apply Bomb (or several Bombs - NT by multidotting, LB by Glyph of Fire Blast)
2. Flamestrike
3. Arcane Explosion
4. Arcane Barrage when number of targets = Charges + 1

Extra – if targets are CC-able, try to freeze them before Barrage

At what # of mobs do you replace single target rotation with AE?
At what # of mobs does crit guarantee of blast become worth the GCD of Frost Nova?
At what # of mobs does Frost Bomb surpass Living Bomb with FB glyph? (Only relevant in 5.1)

[spaace]

Has anyone come up with a good actionlist to simulate the evo/haste arcane build on simulationcraft ?

I find that this action list give me the higher dps but i'm not an expert with simulationcraft

I use a few different;

actions.precombat+=/mirror_image

actions+=/mana_gem,if=mana.pct<83&buff.alter_time.down

going to try to remove
actions+=/conjure_mana_gem,if=mana_gem_charges<3&target.debuff.invulnerable.react
see what it does.

[Deleted]

What am I doing wrong? My DPS is just awful.
http://worldoflogs.com/reports/ajqx0jp3kif6ahff/

I always try to maintain 6 charges and scorch weave but I just can't kick out the numbers.
Armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...ranzk/advanced

[Shangalar]

The primary problem is that you are gemmed and reforged for Fire which follows nearly the exact opposite of what you need for Arcane.

Secondly, the weapon is a gigantic detriment because Arcane scales really well with spell power.

I'm on mobile atm and WoL are retarded on my phone so I can't check your rotation and cooldown usage, but reforging and gemming properly and getting at least a Raid Finder weapon will probably increase your Arcane output by at least 10k and probably more.

[Deleted]

What am I doing wrong? My DPS is just awful.
http://worldoflogs.com/reports/ajqx0jp3kif6ahff/

I always try to maintain 6 charges and scorch weave but I just can't kick out the numbers.
Armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...ranzk/advanced

By 'Scorch weave', what do you mean? A lot of people are under the misconception it's Blast/Missiles until a certain Mana % and then back to Blast/Missiles after you've Scorched back up. The best thing to do is Blast->Filler->Blast->Filler, with the filler being either AM or Scorch depending on procs.

Looking at logs (Imperial Vizier, Blade Lord is very unkind to Arcane, especially with some bad RNG):
- Your uptime on NT is relatively poor - 230s/266s fight means that it was off the boss for a full 36 seconds over the course of the fight - while this won't provide the massive fix you're looking for it's better than nothing.
- Charge uptime is slightly low considering it counts from when you're at 1 charge rather than 6.
- RoP uptime is really low.
- Your AM/ABlast damage is very similar. This means that either you're incredibly lucky with procs, or you're doing the rotation wrong. See above.

Here are my logs from last week (same fight) by comparison: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/r...e/?s=635&e=901

Bear in mind that when I was doing that fight I was in 480 iLvl (gearing up new mage) with a blue wand and 476 OH as well; so even your weapon isn't really the best of excuses here. I understand that in the case of all the up-time issues you lost 13.5 seconds while being converted, but even when that's taken into consideration your uptimes are fairly low.

For your Armory you're currently logged out in your Fire gear with Fire reforges. I know you changed out Jade Magistrate Figurine for EoT, but please log out in Arcane gear if you're wanting us to judge your Arcane DPS.

[Deleted]

What am I doing wrong? My DPS is just awful.
http://worldoflogs.com/reports/ajqx0jp3kif6ahff/

I always try to maintain 6 charges and scorch weave but I just can't kick out the numbers.
Armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...ranzk/advanced

• Go with Mage Armor for Arcane
• Nether Tempest uptime on Vizier is 86%, should be in the 90s. I use Power Auras to track buffs and debuffs - if you're not already doing this it might be worth considering
• Didn't see any use of pots. If Time Warping on mid-fight you want to use it there along with Arcane Power
• Don't use Flame Strike during Convert - it's not worth it
• 70% in Rune of Power is not nearly high enough - for Attenuations, I try to place two runes about 10 yards apart and simply strafe between them to maximize uptime

[Deleted]

• Go with Mage Armor for Arcane
• Nether Tempest uptime on Vizier is 86%, should be in the 90s. I use Power Auras to track buffs and debuffs - if you're not already doing this it might be worth considering
• Didn't see any use of pots. If Time Warping on mid-fight you want to use it there along with Arcane Power
  
• Don't use Flame Strike during Convert - it's not worth it
• 70% in Rune of Power is not nearly high enough - for Attenuations, I try to place two runes about 10 yards apart and simply strafe between them to maximize uptime

Two issues in bold. First one Mage Armor is situational. If they're going Haste build Frost Armor can be better.
Second issue - you can't control what you cast during convert -.- you're mind controlled by the boss...

[Shangalar]

I'm sure that he meant it's not worth using Flamestrike on your converted allies

[Deleted]

I just don't understand why you would include it in an otherwise serious post :P

[Deleted]

Okay will update armory, sorry, when made post was Arcane spec/reforged ;P
Edit: Can't update armory, isn't working. Fkin eu bugs swear down.

Edit Edit: These are my stats with Arcane Reforges/Spec/Raid Buffs
Intellect - 17207
Mastery - 60.10%
Spell Power - 24582
Spell Hit - 14.95%
Spell Crit - 12.60%
Spell Haste - 13.07%

I don't know if you can see this:
http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/gear/0...6-5e5dff6a3cd2
Just punch 'Optimize' and you got my stats/reforges

By 'Scorch weave', what do you mean? A lot of people are under the misconception it's Blast/Missiles until a certain Mana % and then back to Blast/Missiles after you've Scorched back up. The best thing to do is Blast->Filler->Blast->Filler, with the filler being either AM or Scorch depending on procs.

Looking at logs (Imperial Vizier, Blade Lord is very unkind to Arcane, especially with some bad RNG):
- Your uptime on NT is relatively poor - 230s/266s fight means that it was off the boss for a full 36 seconds over the course of the fight - while this won't provide the massive fix you're looking for it's better than nothing.
- Charge uptime is slightly low considering it counts from when you're at 1 charge rather than 6.
- RoP uptime is really low.
- Your AM/ABlast damage is very similar. This means that either you're incredibly lucky with procs, or you're doing the rotation wrong. See above.

Here are my logs from last week (same fight) by comparison: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/r...e/?s=635&e=901

Bear in mind that when I was doing that fight I was in 480 iLvl (gearing up new mage) with a blue wand and 476 OH as well; so even your weapon isn't really the best of excuses here. I understand that in the case of all the up-time issues you lost 13.5 seconds while being converted, but even when that's taken into consideration your uptimes are fairly low.

For your Armory you're currently logged out in your Fire gear with Fire reforges. I know you changed out Jade Magistrate Figurine for EoT, but please log out in Arcane gear if you're wanting us to judge your Arcane DPS.

Thanks for reply!

- Did you see uptime on NT just for Zor'lok?, because when he changes platform we normally stay behind and kill the Echo.
- I have issue with Charges when changing platforms because when we kill Echo it's usually an Attenuation from Zor'lok and we can't get across safely. Not really sure what else to say about this ?
- RoP, Attenuation is my main killer here and I know it. We usually stack behind boss then when he casts Attenuation run around in a circle, can't weave between rings due to green blobs. Not really sure what I can do here?
- Probably doing it wrong :'(

What I normally do is,
AB, AB, Scorch/AM, AB, Scorch/AM, AB, Scorch/AM, Scorch/AM <- repeat
Is this wrong?

• Go with Mage Armor for Arcane
• Nether Tempest uptime on Vizier is 86%, should be in the 90s. I use Power Auras to track buffs and debuffs - if you're not already doing this it might be worth considering
• Didn't see any use of pots. If Time Warping on mid-fight you want to use it there along with Arcane Power
• Don't use Flame Strike during Convert - it's not worth it
• 70% in Rune of Power is not nearly high enough - for Attenuations, I try to place two runes about 10 yards apart and simply strafe between them to maximize uptime

- Did you see uptime on NT just for Zor'lok?, because when he changes platform we normally stay behind and kill the Echo.
- Used pots at the start, didn't really get a chance to use a second when we got him into middle.
- I didn't use Flame Strike, must of been the MC.
- Attenuation is my main killer here and I know it. We usually stack behind boss then when he casts Attenuation run around in a circle, can't weave between rings due to green blobs. Not really sure what I can do here?

I'm sure that he meant it's not worth using Flamestrike on your converted allies

Didn't do that.

[Deleted]

Okay will update armory, sorry, when made post was Arcane spec/reforged ;P

- Did you see uptime on NT just for Zor'lok?, because when he changes platform we normally stay behind and kill the Echo.
- I have issue with Charges when changing platforms because when we kill Echo it's usually an Attenuation from Zor'lok and we can't get across safely. Not really sure what else to say about this ?
- RoP, Attenuation is my main killer here and I know it. We usually stack behind boss then when he casts Attenuation run around in a circle, can't weave between rings due to green blobs. Not really sure what I can do here?
- Probably doing it wrong :'(

What I normally do is,
AB, AB, Scorch/AM, AB, Scorch/AM, AB, Scorch/AM, Scorch/AM <- repeat
Is this wrong?

Hmm, logs are showing it as a Normal kill. Even then, if you are staying behind to kill the Echo this shouldn't affect the DoT uptime as it's only a GCD and doesn't affect movement.

Charges I can understand when changing platforms, but this still shouldn't be as high as ~30s; if you need to use Arcane Explosion to keep stacks up on the move (assuming boss is in range).

I've not tried the fight on HC yet, so can't comment on the HC version of Attenuation. Again, logs are showing a normal kill (I'm not looking at wipes) and it's this kill that I'm basing my data on. For Normal Attenuation it's very easy to have one Rune placed and side-step to avoid the majority. You might get hit by one or two but if it isn't going to kill you it's not *too* bad; for a HC Progression guild a little damage on a normal fight shouldn't strain your healers too much

On HC I honestly don't have a solution as I can't use experience to help out. It might be worth casting two Runes close to each other and move between them using Scorch and Arcane Explosion to maintain stacks - you're very likely to lose DPS during this phase anyway so it's just about trying to keep stacks as high as possible so that when you go back to standing you're ready to rock.

Scorch-weave rotation is fine - what are you during Alter Time?

[Deleted]

Hmm, logs are showing it as a Normal kill. Even then, if you are staying behind to kill the Echo this shouldn't affect the DoT uptime as it's only a GCD and doesn't affect movement.

Charges I can understand when changing platforms, but this still shouldn't be as high as ~30s; if you need to use Arcane Explosion to keep stacks up on the move (assuming boss is in range).

I've not tried the fight on HC yet, so can't comment on the HC version of Attenuation. Again, logs are showing a normal kill (I'm not looking at wipes) and it's this kill that I'm basing my data on. For Normal Attenuation it's very easy to have one Rune placed and side-step to avoid the majority. You might get hit by one or two but if it isn't going to kill you it's not *too* bad; for a HC Progression guild a little damage on a normal fight shouldn't strain your healers too much

On HC I honestly don't have a solution as I can't use experience to help out. It might be worth casting two Runes close to each other and move between them using Scorch and Arcane Explosion to maintain stacks - you're very likely to lose DPS during this phase anyway so it's just about trying to keep stacks as high as possible so that when you go back to standing you're ready to rock.

Scorch-weave rotation is fine - what are you during Alter Time?

Yeah kill was normal, didn't really care about the normal kill lol
And I mean wipes, probably should of specified. Sorry!

Alter Time I do:
AM, AM, AB, then hit Alter Time again, then AM and return to normal

This is probably our best wipe:
http://worldoflogs.com/reports/ajqx0...?s=8562&e=8994

[Deleted]

Yeah kill was normal, didn't really care about the normal kill lol
And I mean wipes, probably should of specified. Sorry!

Alter Time I do:
AM, AM, AB, then hit Alter Time again, then AM and return to normal

I usually don't look at wipes for DPS (in terms of improving) purely because even if you've been wiping on a boss for a while you will value survivability far more than your DPS just for the sake of progression until your guild is very comfortable with the fight and as such you can often expect lower uptimes, so forth. However, on a kill which you've done plenty of times your DPS should come easier and you'll feel more comfortable on the fight therefore you'll play better.

Ah ok, your Alter Time rotation is slightly wrong. Again, this won't provide a magical fix for you but it will definitely help.

I see you're a Troll and you also use Frost Armor - therefore during Berserking you should be able to do the following:

AM -> Blast -> AM -> Blast (Replace with Missiles if they proc) -> Barrage *AT resets* -> AM -> return to normal.

If you can't fit this in (I also notice you don't benefit from Spell Haste in your raids - so you can test this on a dummy to avoid losing too much DPS) then just do AM -> Blast -> AM -> Barrage into reset and continue. Hitting Barrage during Alter Time allows you to get a hefty chunk of damage without the inconvenience of having to rebuild stacks.

[Deleted]

Okay thanks for the wise words! Will defo try some things tonight