Arcane Mage PvE Guide

[Koltrane]

What about AOE rotation? I am hearing spam NT, and cast AM when it procs. No?

[schwarzkopf]

What about AOE rotation? I am hearing spam NT, and cast AM when it procs. No?

I'm doing NT only for a lot of targets, and {NTxn + AE + ABar cleave for n targets}/repeat on 'n' stacks.

[Weirdzzl]

Hi guys, just a quick question. Would it be advisable to just ABspam/AM and end fights with ~0 mana or would it still be better to maintain 90-100% mana at the end of the fight. Hope this question have not been asked. Please advise. Thanks in advance

[Deleted]

Hi guys, just a quick question. Would it be advisable to just ABspam/AM and end fights with ~0 mana or would it still be better to maintain 90-100% mana at the end of the fight. Hope this question have not been asked. Please advise. Thanks in advance

In a perfect world the final hit on the boss would be your 6-stack Barrage; so no you shouldn't spam away all your mana.

[Awry]

After testing out both mastery and haste version at my gearlevel I seem to do the most dps with a more haste oriented build. There seem to be a middle ground to me though. I prefer having the 15th nether tempest tick at about 30% haste raid buffed. I think I'll go with less haste more mastery as I get better gear.

[Bugs]

Where are you guys reading stuff about Mages? I mean, I can easily make a Haste build, where I gem/reforge/enchant Haste. But where do you see when enough is enough? What about Mastery? How much should I have?

[Deleted]

After testing out both mastery and haste version at my gearlevel I seem to do the most dps with a more haste oriented build. There seem to be a middle ground to me though. I prefer having the 15th nether tempest tick at about 30% haste raid buffed. I think I'll go with less haste more mastery as I get better gear.

personally i got the opposite results by heavy mastery build i seemed to do a few k more dps but it may be up to ur playstyle and stack management

[Deleted]

Where are you guys reading stuff about Mages? I mean, I can easily make a Haste build, where I gem/reforge/enchant Haste. But where do you see when enough is enough? What about Mastery? How much should I have?

At the moment it's more of a feeling;

DreamSpyre, for example, has 10K Haste and has stated that they are already feeling as if they are getting diminishing returns from Haste; it just depends on where you draw the line.

As our gear scales up through the tiers Haste will be easier to come by and I have very little doubt that Mastery will almost certainly pull ahead; this is already beginning to happen this tier.

I'm currently sitting at 6.2K haste, but when I get to ~6400 for the extra tick of Nether Tempest I might think about going into Mastery some more, it'll just depend.
There is currently no set value on how much Mastery you should have, you either go full Haste build or full Mastery and play accordingly.

[Bugs]

At the moment it's more of a feeling;

DreamSpyre, for example, has 10K Haste and has stated that they are already feeling as if they are getting diminishing returns from Haste; it just depends on where you draw the line.

As our gear scales up through the tiers Haste will be easier to come by and I have very little doubt that Mastery will almost certainly pull ahead; this is already beginning to happen this tier.

I'm currently sitting at 6.2K haste, but when I get to ~6400 for the extra tick of Nether Tempest I might think about going into Mastery some more, it'll just depend.
There is currently no set value on how much Mastery you should have, you either go full Haste build or full Mastery and play accordingly.

Makes sense. Do you have access to some chart where you can see what it requires for you to get a extra tick on NT?

[Deleted]

Makes sense. Do you have access to some chart where you can see what it requires for you to get a extra tick on NT?

Here you go

[Bugs]

Here you go

Thanks alot!

[Sperry]

Hi Shangalar, I have a few questions.

1. Can you elaborate more on your follow gemming report:

7.2.1 Intellect gemming

Intellect gems in red sockets.
Intellect/Hit gems in blue sockets if missing Hit, Expertise/Hit if you’re really in a bad place, otherwise pure Intellect.
Intellect/Mastery gems in yellow sockets if the socket bonus is Intellect.

7.2.2 Mastery gemming (possibly better, to be determined)

Intellect/Mastery gems in red sockets.
Mastery/Hit gems in blue sockets if missing Hit, Expertise/Hit if you're really in a bad place, otherwise pure Mastery.
Mastery gems in yellow sockets.

I'm currently using tier chest: Robes of the Burning Scroll. 2 yellow sockets with socket bonus of 180 haste. But you mentioned "Intellect/Mastery gems in yellow sockets if the socket bonus is Intellect." Since the socket bonus is NOT intellect. I assume you meant put pure intel into those 2 sockets. So instead of getting [(80 int 160 Mastery) x2] + 180 haste (socket bonus) = 160 Int, 320 Mastery, 180 Haste. You would have me gem (160 int) x2 = 320 int. Lets minus the difference in intel from the comparisons. 320 int - 160 int = 160 int. So I'm left with 160 intel versus 320 Mastery, 180 Haste. Is this really the better gemming decision?

2. Why do you suggest haste to 3300-3400 instead of stopping at 3056?

3a. Do you have the Haste plateau table for Arcane? Or at least the first and second (and/or possibly third) haste cap figure for non-goblin with and without the 5% raid buff haste?

3b. Do or should we throw in a few hundred additional haste rating like you did for 3056 haste when we hit the next haste cap?

4. Do you have the Stat Weightages for Arcane? Like for Fire its (I know this is pre-nerf weightages):

3.78 Int
2.95 SP
2.36 Hit
1.98 Crit
1.36 Haste
1.34 Mastery

5. What do you think is or should be the offpiece tier for Arcane spec?

6. Do you have a BIS list for Arcane gear? Or at the very least have a BIS list for Arcane trinkets and the calculations/score as to their rankings like Windry on the Fire thread has?

Thanks!

[Shangalar]

Oooh. I'm posting this just to let you know Sperry that I'm not ignoring you, I just need more than 5 minutes of free time to answer the questions

[Awry]

personally i got the opposite results by heavy mastery build i seemed to do a few k more dps but it may be up to ur playstyle and stack management

Maybe. I made a vid to show how I dps but I can't post links on this site before I get my post count up. Any one know how many posts the requirement is?

Anyway I'm basically 6 charge camping using scorch weaving to keep my mana up.

A lot of variables to know for sure why we get different results. I'm probably going to go back and forth between haste and mastery next reset to test.

[Shangalar]

Hi Shangalar, I have a few questions.

1. Can you elaborate more on your follow gemming report:

7.2.1 Intellect gemming

Intellect gems in red sockets.
Intellect/Hit gems in blue sockets if missing Hit, Expertise/Hit if you’re really in a bad place, otherwise pure Intellect.
Intellect/Mastery gems in yellow sockets if the socket bonus is Intellect.

7.2.2 Mastery gemming (possibly better, to be determined)

Intellect/Mastery gems in red sockets.
Mastery/Hit gems in blue sockets if missing Hit, Expertise/Hit if you're really in a bad place, otherwise pure Mastery.
Mastery gems in yellow sockets.

I'm currently using tier chest: Robes of the Burning Scroll. 2 yellow sockets with socket bonus of 180 haste. But you mentioned "Intellect/Mastery gems in yellow sockets if the socket bonus is Intellect." Since the socket bonus is NOT intellect. I assume you meant put pure intel into those 2 sockets. So instead of getting [(80 int 160 Mastery) x2] + 180 haste (socket bonus) = 160 Int, 320 Mastery, 180 Haste. You would have me gem (160 int) x2 = 320 int. Lets minus the difference in intel from the comparisons. 320 int - 160 int = 160 int. So I'm left with 160 intel versus 320 Mastery, 180 Haste. Is this really the better gemming decision?

2. Why do you suggest haste to 3300-3400 instead of stopping at 3056?

3a. Do you have the Haste plateau table for Arcane? Or at least the first and second (and/or possibly third) haste cap figure for non-goblin with and without the 5% raid buff haste?

3b. Do or should we throw in a few hundred additional haste rating like you did for 3056 haste when we hit the next haste cap?

4. Do you have the Stat Weightages for Arcane? Like for Fire its (I know this is pre-nerf weightages):

3.78 Int
2.95 SP
2.36 Hit
1.98 Crit
1.36 Haste
1.34 Mastery

5. What do you think is or should be the offpiece tier for Arcane spec?

6. Do you have a BIS list for Arcane gear? Or at the very least have a BIS list for Arcane trinkets and the calculations/score as to their rankings like Windry on the Fire thread has?

Thanks!

Ok... Let's start:

1. Considering the insane value of EITHER Haste OR Mastery (not both at the same time but either one or the other), I would from my current point of view completely disregard Intellect gemming. You should focus either on full Haste gemming and reforging or on full Mastery. However, I always go for the socket bonuses when doing this. So look at 7.2.2 (Mastery gemming) and apply it to either Mastery or Haste, whichever you currently prefer. The results what is better are still inconclusive.

2. I suggest 3300-3400 solely for the reason that I prefer Arcane Blast's cast time at 3300-3400 than at 3056. A small difference but for me personally it feels a lot while playing.

3.a The haste breakpoints for Nether Tempest (with the Spell Haste raid buff) are 3056, 6414, 9762... you can see it all in more detail here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...er=true&gid=39

3.b If you go to higher Haste breakpoints, then no, you do not need more Haste as I said in your second question what my extra Haste is used for.

4. I have some stat weights in my guide, BUT there are lots of issues here:
- the stat weights were made for me through a simulation of my character in my gear
- I don't trust simulations for Arcane
- simulations put a higher value to Haste than I do personally
- I see better results focusing on Mastery than I do when focusing on Haste
- we still have no clue at which point Mastery becomes better than Haste in any gear because simulationcraft always tries to push you to the next haste breakpoint which is sometimes bullshit

5. The offpiece tier for Arcane is by far the Chest - the other pieces have Mastery and the Gloves have Hit/Haste, while the chest only has Crit and Haste. As far as I'm concerned the best stats are Hit, Mastery and then Haste.

6. I do not have a BiS list, I'm not good at creating BiS lists (because every piece in it is connected to every other piece in a BiS set) and honestly I don't have the time or will to design a BiS list. As far as trinkets go, the order, according to Mr. Robot, is as follows:

1. Light of the Cosmos Heroic
2. Essence of Terror Heroic
3. Light of the Cosmos Normal
4. Essence of Terror Normal
5. Relic of Yu'lon
6. Light of the Cosmos LFR
7. Shock-Charger Medallion (or Horde equivalent from Landfall)
8. Essence of Terror LFR

and so and so... HOWEVER - I disagree with numbers 4 and 5 and I believe that Relic of Yu'lon is better than Essence of Terror Normal. Ultimately, mr. robot only gives it a +100 dps anyway, so I would stick to Relic of Yu'lon until you can get your hands on Essence of Terror heroic.

[Soulstrike]

why do people sacrifice so much mastery for haste??

have you guys tried switching armor from mage>frost??

4.17% haste: 13 ticks in 12.48 seconds
12.5% haste: 14 ticks in 12.44 seconds
20.84% haste: 15 ticks in 12.41 seconds
29.17% haste: 16 ticks in 12.39 seconds
37.5% haste: 17 ticks in 12.36 seconds

its possible to get 16th tick with full haste gems and reforge haste AND use frost armor

everyone should aim for 7.14%(about 3037haste rating) so they can reach 12.5% haste cap for both living bomb AND NT

if you however are using frost armor you should aim for 7.56%(3214.69 haste rating) so you can get your 15th tick of NT

posting this because some fights requires you to have Living bomb rather than NT and extra haste on living bomb wont get you anywhere near the next tick

[mrgreenthump]

6. I do not have a BiS list, I'm not good at creating BiS lists (because every piece in it is connected to every other piece in a BiS set) and honestly I don't have the time or will to design a BiS list. As far as trinkets go, the order, according to Mr. Robot, is as follows:

1. Light of the Cosmos Heroic
2. Essence of Terror Heroic
3. Light of the Cosmos Normal
4. Essence of Terror Normal
5. Relic of Yu'lon
6. Light of the Cosmos LFR
7. Shock-Charger Medallion (or Horde equivalent from Landfall)
8. Essence of Terror LFR

and so and so... HOWEVER - I disagree with numbers 4 and 5 and I believe that Relic of Yu'lon is better than Essence of Terror Normal. Ultimately, mr. robot only gives it a +100 dps anyway, so I would stick to Relic of Yu'lon until you can get your hands on Essence of Terror heroic.

Its weird cause I've been getting the exact opposites, Relic beating Cosmos normal and Essence normal beating cosmos heroic and Cosmos heroic only barely inching before Relic of Yu'lon

[Zavri]

Just gonna say i'm loving Arcane after fire is kinda shitty. Having fun while wrecking meters is amazing.

[Deleted]

Hey, im just wondering what I should upgrade first. My Torch of the Celestial Spark(Normal), Light of the Cosmos(Normal) or Relic of Yu'lon.

Thanks for all help!

[Shangalar]

Save for something else (like Tier sets with Mastery). However, if you are not likely to obtain LotC at any near point in time and you're at Valor Cap, then consider upgrading that or Relic of Yu'lon.