Arcane Mage Raid Guide
Welcome to the Arcane Mage Raid guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.0.5! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!
Overview
Hero Talents
Sunfury
Spellslinger is the main hero talent used in both single and AoE scenarios. Sunfury is almost identical in Single Target but falls behind slightly in AoE. As such, the rest of the guide assumes Spellslinger is being played.
- Splintering Sorcery
- The entire fantasy of Spellslinger revolves around shooting dozens of spikes at your enemy during combat. Most of the hero tree talents are passive effects and you do not play around anything specific.
- Slippery Slinging and Look Again
- Generally, default to Slippery Slinging as you would need to drop some utility in the class tree to pick up Displacement. If you ever were to have Displacement however, Look Again is the default pick.
- Phantasmal Image
- This talent synergizes extremely well with Reduplication potentially making your Mirror Images more potent and a very short cooldown.
- Spellfrost Teachings
- Be ready to react to all the free extra Arcane Orbs you get while playing Spellslinger. Especially in AoE, you gain tons of free Arcane Barrages.
- Splinterstorm
- When playing Spellslinger, this trait contributes to changing your rotation in a quirky way. Shifting Power becomes the first button pressed after going into your first big burn!
- Spellfire Spheres
- This is the defining aspect of Sunfury. The entire playstyle revolves around generating as many Spellfire Spheres as possible. The more Spellfire Spheres generated, the more damage in single and AoE.
- Invocation: Arcane Phoenix
- Your Spellfire Spheres are spent through this talent. The bird popularly known as "Arlo" takes the generated Spellfire Spheres and cast spells such as Arcane Surge and even Flamestrike.
- Burden of Power and Glorious Incandescence
- These two talents go hand in hand and are the main reason why the playstyle revolves around generating as many Spellfire Spheres as possible.
- Thanks to Glorious Incandescence, the arcane charges lost from casting Arcane Barrage are regenerated instantly.
- Memory of Al'ar
- After Arcane Surge ends, the Arcane Soul buff is gained dependent on how many Spellfire Spheres were used. This buff allows the use of multiple fully charged Arcane Barrages in a row without depleting arcane charges and giving a stack of Clearcasting for each cast.
Talents
Gameplay Altering Talents
Discover all talents that significantly alter your gameplay within the Spec and Class Talent trees. This section gives a concise overview of these talents and their applications but for a more detailed look check out the Rotation and Deep Dive sections below.
Spec Tree
- Arcane Surge
- This is your major cooldown as an Arcane Mage. Granting you massive spell power and mana regeneration.
- Touch of the Magi
- This is a short cooldown that accumulates 20% of your damage to the target for 12 seconds. Thus, making it one of the most important spells to play around in your rotation.
- Aethervision
- This talent allows you to cast an empowered Arcane Barrage that also refunds your arcane charges. This stacks from consuming Nether Precision and it is important you track both buffs as they impact your rotation.
- Magi's Spark
- In most cases this talent is completely passive, just remember in AoE situations you need to cast Arcane Blast at least once during your Touch of the Magi window.
- Aether Attunement
- This talent allows every third cast of Arcane Missiles to deal increased damage and cleave onto other targets. This is your only Arcane Missiles that is fully channeled (more about clipping in deep dive).
- Arcing Cleave
- A majority of the cleave/AoE damage comes from this talent. Be sure to make good use of the Arcane Barrage spell.
- Orb Barrage
- Reacting and playing around this proc is very important in Cleave and AoE scenarios to not lose potential Arcane Charges as each Arcane Orb should fully regenerate your Arcane Charges.
Class Tree
- Shifting Power
- This spell is a channel used after your cooldowns to reduce all your spells by 12 seconds.
- Spellsteal
- There are a lot of magic mechanics you can Spellsteal to gain their benefit.
- Time Anomaly
- Be ready to react to the procs acquired get from this talent, they can impact the rotation differently depending on when they proc.
- Mass Barrier
- Make sure to use Mass Barrier to give your teammates Prismatic Barrier!
- Shimmer
- This talent node is the main reason Mages in general have such high mobility. Being castable while casting and off the GCD, it is essential you manage your Shimmer well to achieve 100% uptime on DPS during any encounter.
Hero Talents
- Slippery Slinging
- Generally better but if you do find yourself using Displacement, feel free to swap to Look Again.
- Signature Spell
- Numerically the better option.
- Reactive Barrier
- Generally the better option but some dungeons you can get more value out of Mirror Image and Phantasmal Image becomes more attractive of a talent.
- Volatile Magic
- Numerically the better pick.
When to use this Spec
Use this spec whenever there is more than one target present at any point during the encounter.
Talent Adjustments
Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.
Spec Tree
- Added
- Arcing Cleave
- The majority of your AoE damage comes from barrage cleaving onto enemies.
- Arcing Cleave
- Added
- Resonance
- Improves your main spenders damage in AOE.
- Resonance
- Removed
- Consortium's Bauble
- Removed
- Energized Familiar
Rotation
Tier Set
- 2-Set: Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage damage increased by 6%.
- 4-Set: Casting Arcane Blast or Arcane Barrage has a 5% chance to make your next Arcane Barrage deal 20% increased damage and generate 4 Arcane Charges.
This tier set is a nice addition to the already pleasant arcane rotation. It increases the damage of our main abilities while also providing a free and empowered Arcane Barrage to use.
Single-Target
Opener
- The goal of the opener is to enter the Touch of the Magi window as fast as possible. This assumes you enter the opener with 0 Arcane Charges, if you already have 4, simply cast barrage before Touch of the Magi. Be sure to cast Touch of the Magi before the Arcane Barrage hits the target.
- Evocation is casted 4 seconds before the pull happens.
- Arcane Missiles is casted 1 second before the pull.
- Touch of the Magi is off the GCD.
Priority List
This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.
All Arcane Missiles are clipped except ones empowered by Aether Attunement (more about clipping in deep-dive).
- Cast Shifting Power after your Arcane Surge expires.
- Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting if you do not have Nether Precision.
- Cast Arcane Barrage if:
- Arcane Tempo is about to fall off.
- You have 2 stacks of Aethervision or Intuition (this is from your tier set) and Nether Precision.
- You have 4 Arcane Charges with an available Arcane Orb and you do NOT have a Nether Precision or Clearcasting proc.
- Cast Arcane Orb when you have less than 4 Arcane Charges.
- Cast Arcane Blast.
- Cast Arcane Barrage if you are out of mana.
Multi-Target
IMPORTANT
It is recommended to perform the Single Target rotation in AoE as well with a small rotational change to Arcane Barrage. You gain much more funnel / priority damage doing this compared to the amount of AoE damage lost. If you find yourself in a pure AoE situation, feel free to use the AoE opener and rotation. For the modified single target funnel rotation, replace the barrage condition in single target with this new barrage condition:
- Cast Arcane Barrage if:
- Arcane Tempo is about to fall off.
- You have 2 stacks of Aethervision or Intuition (this is from your tier set).
- You have 4 Arcane Charges and an available Arcane Orb charge.
Opener
- The goal of the opener is to enter the Touch of the Magi window as fast as possible. This assumes you enter the opener with 0 Arcane Charges, if you already have 4 Arcane Charges, add an Arcane Barrage cast before Touch of the Magi.
- Evocation is casted 4 seconds before the pull happens.
- Arcane Orb is casted 1 second before the pull if you have less than 2 Arcane Charges.
- Touch of the Magi is off the GCD.
- Every Touch of the Magi has an Arcane Barrage casted before if you enter Touch of the Magi with 4 Arcane Charges.
- Be sure to cast Touch of the Magi before the Arcane Barrage hits the target.
Priority List
This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.
All Arcane Missiles are clipped except ones empowered by Aether Attunement (more about clipping in deep-dive).
- Cast Shifting Power after your Arcane Surge expires.
- Cast Arcane Blast once during your Touch of the Magi to proc Magi's Spark.
- Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting if you do not have Nether Precision.
- Cast Arcane Barrage if you have 4 Arcane Charges.
- Cast Arcane Orb when you have less than 4 Arcane Charges.
- Cast Arcane Blast.
Deep Dive
Mana Management
Generally, the only part of the rotation where mana is an issue is after the second Touch of the Magi of the fight in Single Target if you lusted on pull. In this situation, it is best to cast Arcane Barrage if Arcane Blast can not be casted due to lack of mana. Build back up Arcane Charges with Arcane Orb and continue the cycle. You can enter your Arcane Surge Touch of the Magi combo with 0% mana as Arcane Surge gives you all of your mana back. Generally, mana is not a big concern anymore compared to previous iterations of Arcane Mage.
Shimmer Cast Immunity
Shimmer is very unique as it gives the caster a small grace period of being able to cast spells while moving. This lets Mages perform some technical maneuvers in order to lose zero damage during knockbacks or other events where casting is required and the Mage needs to move small steps. At a basic level, you achieve this by first casting a spell, using Shimmer, taking the small step then standing still and resuming casting. When using this on a knockback, you first start casting a spell, use Shimmer right before the knockback and Shimmer again as soon as the knockback goes off. If done correctly, the cast should not have canceled and you have achieved full uptime during a knockback without Ice Floes!
Clipping Arcane Missiles
- Clipping refers to intentionally canceling your Arcane Missiles channel in order to cast another spell.
- Currently, it is best to clip every Arcane Missiles besides ones empowered by Aether Attunement in both Single and AoE. This is done because the buffs you obtain from using Arcane Missiles is far more important than the damage Arcane Missiles does. The spell is also designed in a way where you stop casting on a tick of Arcane Missiles so it is very efficient.
Orb Barrage Minmaxing
There is a trick you can use to maximize your Orb Barrage efficiency in AoE scenarios. I have coined this trick the "7-10 Split".
DISCLAIMER: This trick is highly technical and mechanically taxing. I do not recommend trying this trick unless you are proficient at Arcane Mage already.
7-10 Split
The 7-10 split refers to casting multiple fully charged Arcane Barrages with a singular Arcane Orb. This is only usable when there are 8 or more targets. The difficulty is dependent on how stacked the mobs present are. The looser the stack, the easier it is to use this trick. You can achieve this when the mobs are almost fully stacked but it is extremely difficult.
You can achieve this majestic feat by first having an Arcane Orb headed towards 8 or more targets. When the Arcane Orb hits 4 enemies, send a Arcane Barrage before the Arcane Orb damages the rest of the enemies. You want to stand around 20+ yards from the mobs (this distance depends on your haste, the higher your haste, the closer you can stand) in order to not lose globals waiting for the Arcane Orb to hit the targets.
Here is a clip from S2 Dragonflight showcasing this very well. Even though it is a previous patch, the concept is the same as Orb Barrages has not changed.
As you can see, the mobs are fairly stacked and every global during Touch of the Magi is filled with fully charged Arcane Barrages even when getting average procs.
Understanding Mechanics
Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.
Nerub-ar Palace
The following tips are mainly applicable to Heroic Bosses. Mythic tips are released after our progression concludes.
← Scroll for more Bosses →
Offensive Cooldown Usage
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - Used before each Carnivorous Contest.
Alter Time - Used at the start of Carnivorous Contest to maintain uptime during the drag.
Mirror Image - On pull and during intermission to not gain any threat while hitting the adds.
Greater Invisibility - During the Carnivorous Contest or Hulking Crash, whichever was more dangerous at the time.
Ice Cold - Panic button used throughout the fight when I felt I was in danger.
Boss Tips
- Be aware of all the movement that is needed on this fight. Use Shimmer well to not lose uptime throughout the entire fight.
- Additionally, during Ready to Feed utilize Alter Time to quickly feed the boss multiple times
Offensive Cooldown Usage
- Cooldown usage in this fight depends heavily on which group you are assigned to go down on. The general rule is to have Arcane Surge ready for whichever group you are in.
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - Generally on every mechanic I could. If it did damage to me and I had barrier available I would use it.
Alter Time - Mainly used for mobility around the platform to maintain 100% uptime.
Mirror Image - Used before each down phase i went down on.
Greater Invisibility - Generally, most of the damage events do similar damage, use this for whichever one you feel the most danger on.
Ice Cold - Panic button used throughout the fight when I felt I was in danger.
Boss Tips
- You can Shimmer and even Alter Time over Spewing Hemorrhage.
- You can damage the adds with Arcane Barrage if you face your camera towards the adds and the boss thanks to Arcing Cleaves.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - I used if it was available and I was targeted by Phase Blades or Decimate.
Alter Time - Usually used for mobility to get back to my starting position after dropping Phase Blades.
Mirror Image - Used whenever I was targeted by Phase Blades or Decimate.
Greater Invisibility - Alternated this and Ice Cold to live every Shattering Sweep.
Ice Cold - Alternated this and Greater Invisibility to live every Shattering Sweep.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - If I was targeted by any mechanic and Prismatic Barrier was up, I used it.
Alter Time - Generally used for mobility to move around the platform.
Mirror Image - Generally on Infested Spawn if I was targeted to not gain any aggro on the mobs and reduce the damage. Can generally use on a majority of mechanics if you feel in danger.
Greater Invisibility - Used on Spinneret's Strands.
Ice Cold - Panic button used throughout the fight when I felt I was in danger.
Boss Tips
- Help control the Infested Spawn if needed.
- You are generally in one Shimmer range for all mechanics during this fight. If targeted with Spinneret's Strands for example, simply Shimmer away instantly and Shimmer back after the mechanic.
- Save Shimmer charges to quickly follow and inturrupt the boss.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
- Offensive cooldowns can vary dependending on the strategy your guild uses. Some add sets that spawn are harder than others and you can potentially save Arcane Surge for those specific adds. Generally, you can send Arcane Surge on cooldown or slightly delay it and it is going to help with certain add sets either way.
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - If I was targeted by any mechanic and Prismatic Barrier was up, I used it.
Alter Time - Generally used for mobility.
Mirror Image - On pull and every Ingest Black Blood that happens. Alternatively you can use during egg sets if you are getting aggro frequently.
Greater Invisibility - Used on Experimental Dosage.
Ice Cold - Used on Experimental Dosage.
Boss Tips
- Use Prismatic Barrier to quickly cleanse yourself from Unstable Web. This is doable because of the Energized Barriers talent.
- As a Mage you are an excellent interrupter as you can travel great distances and instantly Counterspell enemies.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression. This fight specifically each spell had to be planned out in order to not get one shot by multiple mechanics so it will be laid out by phase.
During each phase, you can only be targeted by one ability. This means you can only get one Twilight Massacre or Assassination per phase.
Prepull - Mirror Image and Prismatic Barrier.
I Saved Greater Invisibility for each Twilight Massacre per phase.
Mirror Image is used during each intermission.
Prismatic Barrier during each phase was used for exploding orbs after being hit by a mechanic. During each intermission, I Prismatic Barriered as many Regicide as I could. Mass Barrier can be used to cover the last Regicide as everyone in your raid gets damaged by this.
Alter Time was used before Twilight Massacre along with Greater Invisibility. I reactivated Alter Time whenever I would get the most value out of it or right before I needed to get in position before exploding.
Ice Cold was used at the start of P1 intermission to cover my cooldowns during the Regicide if I received one to maximize my damage. If you do not need damage, save this for emergencies.
Boss Tips
- Use Ice Cold as an emergency button. For example, if you get hit by multiple Twilight Massacres.
- The main thing to keep an eye out for on this boss is the position of each Nether Rift. Their placement dictates how much you get pulled towards them. Try to position yourself in a way that each Nether Rift is at a similar distance to you.
- It can be very difficult as a Mage during the pull ins because your first instinct is to Shimmer away. I found it is best to trust the pull and go whenever it drags you and only Shimmer if it is absolutely necessary.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
- P1 - Use Cooldowns on pull, mini burn the first damage amp then big burn the 2nd damage amp. You will have to hold your cooldowns for this to line up.
- P1 Intermission - Mini Burn
- P2 - Use Arcane Surge right after the first grip before the dispels. You will get some value on the dispels. You need to send this early to have Arcane Surge up for the next dispel damage amp. Your second Arcane Surge is used on the second dispel damage amp. If possible, ask kindly for a blessing of autumn so you can time your Arcane Surge better with the maximum damage amp.
Defensive Cooldown Usage
The defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression.
Prismatic Barrier - Generally on every mechanic I could. If it did damage to me and I had barrier available I would use it.
Alter Time - Mainly used for mobility.
Mirror Image - Used during each intermission and on pull.
Greater Invisibility - Generally whenever I felt in danger, lots of mechanics do similar damage so this one was freestyled.
Ice Cold - Same idea as Greater Invisibility. On progress I used Ice Block to immune a bad orb drop in the specific strategy we were doing. This is not needed anymore and Ice Cold should be better.
Boss Tips
- Use Mirror Image before the pull to cover the first Venomous Rain as you can take lots of damage early on in the fight and it saves you an entire global!
- Use Alter Time and teleport back instantly after getting pulled in by Web Vortex to save yourself some movement.
- Alternatively, use Demonic Gateway if available to negate the pull in effect.
- Try to get some good distance from the adds that spawn from Call of the Swarm since they fixate the closest target.
- Alternatively, if you are feeling nice, you can bait them on you intentionally and use your movement to get away from them.
Offensive Cooldown Usage
- P1 - Use on cooldown and it will line up nicely for the shield during the intermission
- P2 - Use Arcane Surge during the second platform. Prefer targeting the shield mob as you gain execute value.
- P3 - Depending on the strategy you used, this can change very tiny amount. You ideally want to get as much value onto the adds that hang from the ceiling as possible. For me, I used Evocation during the first bait and then on cooldown from then on and it lined up nicely.
Defensive Cooldown Usage
Similar to Nexus-Princess, the defensive cooldown usage will go over how I used each of the defensives throughout the fight during progression. This fight specifically each spell had to be planned out in order to not get one shot by multiple mechanics so it will be laid out by phase.
P1 -
Prismatic Barrier was used for each Toxin explosion and for each Silken Tomb.
Alter Time was mainly used for mobility.
Mirror Image was used on pull and before the last toxin explosion to cover that and the intermission.
Greater Invisibility was used to break the roots alongside the gnome racial. If you are ice floes, use this for an intermission grip or toxin explosion during p1.
Ice Cold was used for the second grip during the intermission shield. It was also my panic button. If i felt like I was trapped by Web Blades or misused Prismatic Barrier, I would cover it with Ice Cold. I would cover the second grip with a Prismatic Barrier and maybe a healthstone or healthpot if I used Ice Cold earlier.
P2 -
Prismatic Barrier was used before each dispel explosion.
Alter Time was mainly used for each grip.
Mirror Image was used before the first grip on the first platform and it would cover the massive amounts of damage during the second platform
Greater Invisibility was used as I went through the portal and got dispelled.
P3 -
Prismatic Barrier was used for as many damage events as I could cover. The most important ones are the Royal Condemnation explosions.
Alter Time was mainly used for mobility.
Mirror Image was used before the first bait of the add spawns during the phase then on cooldown. It lined up nicely with the last acolyte set.
Greater Invisibility was used when I got Royal Condemnation anytime throughout the phase. You can only receive Royal Condemnation once during the entire phase.
Ice Cold was used when I was dropping off my essence as the one I was assigned to pick up lined up with a Royal Condemnation explosion. If you do not have this essence assignment, feel free to use it anytime throughout the phase whenever you feel like you are in danger.
Boss Tips
- I used Gnome racial and Greater Invisibility to cover each root during P1. If you do not want to race change to gnome, use Ice Floes and blink each root. The pool dropped will drop at the end of the blink location, not where you are currently rooted.
- Use Alter Time and teleport back instantly after getting pulled in by grips to save yourself some movement.
Stat Priority
Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Raid boss fights as an Arcane Mage. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.
Higher Item level items are better in most scenarios. For an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft! A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your individual gear.
- All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!
Tertiary
- Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
- Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing. Leech is a great stat tertiary stat to have, especially on AoE.
- Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.
Gear
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Cocoonsilk Cowl | Mists of Tirna Scithe |
| Neck | Sureki Zealot's Insignia | Sikran |
| Shoulder | Beacons of Violet Rebirth | Catalyst |
| Cloak | Wings of Shattered Sorrow | Rasha'nan |
| Chest | Runecoat of Violet Rebirth | Catalyst |
| Wrist | Consecrated Cuffs | Crafting |
| Gloves | Jeweled Gauntlets of Violet Rebirth | Catalyst |
| Belt | Shattered Eye Cincture | Queen Ansurek |
| Legs | Coattails of Violet Rebirth | Catalyst |
| Boots | Tainted Earthshard Walkers | Catalyst |
| Ring 1 | Seal of the Poisoned Pact | Queen Ansurek |
| Ring 2 | Acidic Attendant's Loop | City of Threads |
| Trinket 1 | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Spymaster's Web | The Silken Court |
| Weapon | Sovereign's Disdain | Queen Ansurek |
| Offhand | Vagabond's Torch | Crafting |
Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Crown of Enfeebled Bodies | Grim Batol |
| Neck | "Emergency Stop" Keychain | The Stonevault |
| Shoulder | Reanimator's Mantle | The Necrotic Wake |
| Cloak | Anvilhide Cape | The Stonevault |
| Chest | Shadowed Orator's Tunic | The Stonevault |
| Wrist | Necropolis Lord's Shackles | The Necrotic Wake |
| Gloves | Gory Surgeon's Gloves | The Necrotic Wake |
| Belt | Cord of the Pious Warder | Priory of the Sacred Flame |
| Legs | Curse-Tainted Leggings | Grim Batol |
| Boots | Membranous Slippers | The Dawnbreaker |
| Ring 1 | Stitchflesh's Misplaced Signet | The Necrotic Wake |
| Ring 2 | Experiment 08752's Band | City of Threads |
| Trinket 1 | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj | The Dawnbreaker |
| Weapon | Wand of Untainted Power | Grim Batol |
| Offhand | Pail of Preserved Obscurity | City of Threads |
Trinkets
Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the raid boss.
Active Trinket alternatives
- Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
- Decent on-use trinket but can be worse if it's a movement heavy fight.
- Treacherous Transmitter
- Very strong on-use trinket but has a downside.
- Requires you to complete one out of 3 tasks before getting the effect.
- Very strong on-use trinket but has a downside.
Passive Trinket alternatives
- Unbound Changeling
- Good passive trinket that procs secondary stats.
- Hadal's Nautilus
- Damage proc trinket that's decent on both single-target and AoE.
Embellishments
- Writhing Armor Banding
- Empowers any Nerubian embellishment by 100%.
- Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension
- Gain a random secondary stat stacking up over time.
Remaining Sparks
- Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 639 on max item level therefore it's not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.
Simcraft
To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.
Consumables
- Phials
- Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- maximum DPS.
- Flask of Tempered Versatility -- less DPS but more survivability.
- Food
- Feast of the Divine Day
- Feast of the Midnight Masquerade
- Combat Potion
- Tempered Potion
- Health Potion
- Algari Healing Potion -- a big burst of healing
- Weapon Oil
- Algari Mana Oil -- default
- Augment Rune
- Crystallized Augment Rune
- Sockets
- Quick Onyx
- Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique, use one of each gem color to enhance your Culminating Blasphemite.
- Deadly Sapphire
- Versatile Emerald
- Masterful Ruby
Enchantments
| Head | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Neck | Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Cloak | Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace |
| Chest | Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance |
| Wrist | Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Waist | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Legs | Sunset Spellthread |
| Boots | Enchant Boots - Defender's March |
| Ring 1 | Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Ring 2 | Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Weapon | Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths |
You buy Nerubian Gemweaver from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists & Waist.
Races
For min-maxing an Arcane Mage in raiding, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your character. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.
- Stoneform -- Dwarf
- Dispels Magic and Bleed debuffs. Has been useful in the past on some bosses with Bleeds.
- Rocket Jump -- Goblin
- Do a small jump in the direction your character is facing.
- While you're in the Rocket Jump animation you are placed on a global cooldown until your character lands.
- Spatial Rift -- Void Elf
- Spawn a shadow traveling into your facing direction, and activate it again to teleport to it.
- Maximum range of 100 yards.
- Hyper Organic Light Originator -- Mechagnome
- Works the same way as Mirror Image in terms of threat.
Recommendation
In general, it's safe to say that if you care about min-maxing your DPS, you should go with the highest DPS racial. That being said, the story is a bit different if it's about progression raiding. Some help out massively to speed up the progression on certain bosses. Notably, Dwarf with their Stoneform helped out on Tindral Sageswift and Fyrakk the Blazing in the latest Race to World First by having easy access to dispelling yourself at crucial points of the fights mentioned.
Macros
Discover recommended macros for Arcane Mages during Raid encounters and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.
Mouseover Macros
Recommended Macros
Addons
Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Arcane Mage, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Raids to make your life easier.
Addons
WeakAuras
Changes this Patch
Patch 11.0.5
Patch 11.0.2
Patch 11.0
FAQ
Q: Why is my Touch of the Magi small?
Credits
Written By: Hopeful, Wolfdisco
Reviewed By: Soda