Arcane: Mana gems and trinket procs question

[HeatM1ser]

I have often wondered when it was best to use my mana gem. Let me throw out a scenario for you...

The pull is made and I use my synapse springs (+480 INT for 12 seconds) and happen to get a darkmoon card: volcano proc. So my mana pool goes from about 115k to say 150k, leaving my mana pool at about 75% while the procs are up. Now, I know when the procs finish I will be at 100% mana.

So, my question is....should I pop a mana gem when i get the procs for more DPS, or wait until the procs end and my mana pool is still at 100%....burn down to say 80% mana and then use the mana gem? Which would yield the higher DPS results?

[Eschatonin]

I'm guessing you're arcane, so you pop mana gem along with Arcane Power when you start your burn phase. Pop Springs then also (all can be macroed). You pop this when, after burning ABx4, you've burned enough mana for mana gem to take you back to full.

[Saegno]

Yes, you want to use mana gem after your int procs and along side AP. Since the SP you gain from mana gem scales with your current SP, using it after a proc will yield higher SP gains. You also basically start out the fight with a free high mastery, high SP burn before even touching your actual mana pool.

[Deleted]

You want to line up all your procs. While mana adept does increase your damage if you are closer to 100% mana, the damage increase from this source is very small compared to the damage increase you get from burning 4xABs with all cooldowns active.

[Dusteyy]

Macro's do wonders:

#showtooltip Mana Gem
/cast Arcane Power
/use Mana Gem
/use 13
/cast Mirror Image
/run UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

Use this and win. Only use Mana Gem when paired with AP and a full burn phase.

[Deleted]

Basically: Pre-pot 2 secs before pull, start drinking so you'll get some extra mana (your max mana will be higher but your current mana is the same), go to 4AB stacks, Synapse Springs, DMC:V and Power torrent should be up, maybe Lightweave Embroidery as well if you're a tailor and use your mana gem + arcane power. Also, when you're about to begin your 2nd burn phase in the fight make sure you use potion before mana gem because the SP it gives is based around your max mana.

[HeatM1ser]

ok, thanks...I usually prepot, and pop my synapse springs , ABx4, pop arcane power, then use my mana gem because it increase my SP by 2% of my maximum mana....but by the time the procs and trinket finish, I still haven't gotten through enough mana to bring me below 100% of my normal mana pool....so I was unsure whether or not saving the mana gem for after the procs would allow me to sustain higher DPS for longer. I rarely play my mage anymore, so I haen't kept up to date on changes or anything...but I'm starting to play him for alt raids

[Eschatonin]

The point with procs in arcane, along with the obvious, is to not waste mana by going over your non-procced 100% and then losing the proc. If you're able to mana gem above your non-procced mana and burn it down before the proc wears off, you've mastered arcane a little more.

[Disgruntler]

ok, thanks...I usually prepot, and pop my synapse springs , ABx4, pop arcane power, then use my mana gem because it increase my SP by 2% of my maximum mana....but by the time the procs and trinket finish, I still haven't gotten through enough mana to bring me below 100% of my normal mana pool....so I was unsure whether or not saving the mana gem for after the procs would allow me to sustain higher DPS for longer. I rarely play my mage anymore, so I haen't kept up to date on changes or anything...but I'm starting to play him for alt raids

If you've popped mana gem, you're not looking to 'sustain dps.' You're looking to AB spam until you go to roundabout 35% your normal maximum mana, then evocate back up to almost full. Burning a lot of mana to puke out a ton of damage during a trinket proc is pretty much good times for arcane, and seeing those 100k+ crits is the entire raison d'etre for the spec. Evocation is a DPS cooldown, you just use it after you've puked purple puffs of death.

Macro's do wonders:

#showtooltip Mana Gem
/cast Arcane Power
/use Mana Gem
/use 13
/cast Mirror Image
/run UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

This, This, This. Make your cd's one button, and win. On-use trinkets with a 2 minute cooldown are ideal for the spec.


Okay, but what if you're not in a burn phase? Run a cute little addon called 'MageManaBar'. Basically it'll keep track of your mana relative to your permanent amounts, removing procs from consideration. It has a nice little thing on top of it that warns you if you're about to waste mana (mana = damage for arcane). If it's red, spam arcane blast until it is not red. It's a very powerful tool, and will do wonders for your arcane dps, as well as remove the panic that sets in when you have DMC:V, Lightweave, and Power Torrent proc at the same time, and suddenly you're at 2/3rds mana and you're like WTF OMG MANA WENT AWAY OH GOD. Instead, MageManaBar goes 'Relax, chill. You're at 110% mana. Start unloading some death. It's okay.'