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[PVE] Arcane Mage Guide - 4.3
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Edited by Teraptus on 3/2/12 1:27 PM (PST)
[PVE] Arcane Mage Guide - 4.3
I. Introduction Welcome to my extensive guide for the Arcane Mage (4.3). This guide will be a accumulation of all the information I've learned doing research and applying the knowledge to my own Mage. Most will be objective thinking and some will be preference as there will always be difference in play style that will allow variance in certain aspects. I encourage you to read over this information and leave me a comment on your on preferences or perhaps any mistakes you may find withing the guide. I will do my best to incorporate every valid piece of input i receive to help maximize the information present in the body of the guide. I will not presenting a gear choice list as true BiS lists are mostly particle when you have access to all the top gear... till then Bis for your current accessible gear may depend heavy on your current gear and buffs. Your best bet is to run a simulation on your character to help maximize your DPS and gear choices. |
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Edited by Teraptus on 2/21/12 12:06 PM (PST)
II. Talents
As with a lot of classes your Talent Tree can vary depending on current situations and needs. As much as people love cookie cutter options the only true way to pick the best talants is to learn your talent tree and how each point affects you. Only then will you understand not only why you are placing your points there but how to best optimize the use of those points in the way you play. Let’s look at these talents and give you a better idea of what where dealing with. Tier I:
Improved Counterspell (Skip) – In my opinions and most others this is pure PvP Netherwind Presence (Mandatory) – 1% spell haste per point will allow you to move even more haste over to more valuable DPS stats. And one thing you’ll have when you reach your T13 4pc set is tons of haste. 3% becomes a big jump and will allow a lot of reforging into viable stats. Tier II:
Invocation (Optional) – I did not take it in my spec for one simple reason. My raid composition was such that I hardly if ever found myself using CS. If this where to change I would give the talent a lot more consideration in my tree, after all its 5% extra damage for 8 seconds which should result in a small DPS increase. Improved Arcane Missiles (Mandatory) – Not only does it provide 2 extra missles which will be a core ability in your conserve phase but it’s also a prerequisite for Missile Barrage, another mandatory talent, to increase the rate of the missles. Both combined creating a large DPS increase over the unspecced Missiles. Improved Blink (Optional) – I opted not to take improved blink as I don’t even find myself needing to use blink during my raiding mechanics.. And if I do I expect to be far from what I was trying to avoid. The increased speed does not seem like the most beneficial use of 2 talent points Tier III:
Presence of Mind (Mandatory) - A highly useful utility or dps enhancement ability. Ive used this from popping it to create instant mana gems to utilizing it right in my burn phase rotation. Its also a prerequisite for Arcane Tactics which is also mandatory and worth taking Presence of Mind even if you where silly and never used it. Missile Barrage (Mandatory) – Yay for faster Missiles and more DPS! Prismatic Cloak (Optional) – I took my points from what seemed like a waist in Improved Blink and moved them to Prismatic Cloak. Providing me with 6% damage reduction which im sure your healers will not argue with. Instant Invisibility isent the most useful thing but it can wipe agro if you get an early shot of AB in on a pull. It can also allow you to survive a wipe and mass rez your group. Tier IV:
Arcane Tactics (Mandatory/Optional) – The 3% damage buff is mandatory in any raid situation. However, it’s optional in the nature that Ret Paladins and BM Hunters can also provide this Buff. Making this talent dependent on your group composition and it will assit in heroics and other runs that those classes may not be present. Your safe bet is to just spend the 1 point. Incanter’s Absorption (Optional) – Yes, this is dependent on raid damage of the appropriate type. However having those shield up at opportune moments can greatly increase your raids ability to heal and also provide a temporay boost in DPS. Seems like a win/win to me. Improved Arcane Explosion (Optional) – Kind of a nice tool to have to spam Arcane Explosion during certain moments. I can think of several situations in DS where I’ve spammed Arcane Explosion for a small period of time. Yor’sahj’s comes to mind when you get a Dark Globule |
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Edited by Teraptus on 2/22/12 6:28 AM (PST)
Tier V:
Slow (Mandatory) – prerequisite for Arcane power makes this a no brainer. However it is also the prerequisite for Nether Vortex which is also mandatory for reasons ill explain next. Nether Vortex (Optional) – Gives Arcane Blast a 100% change to apply slow to the target. Torment of the Weak which is a mandatory spell from Tier 2 provides 6% increased damage to slowed targets. Keep in mind however tanks should be applying a slow affect that should activate Torment of the Weak. So this can be a situational talent and most useful on non tanked targets or with a tank that is not applying a slow Tier VI:
Improved Mana Gem (Mandatory) – Using a mana gem will give you 2% more Spell Power for 15 seconds. A must have for that burn phase and squeezing our every drop of damage from it. Tier VII:
Fire and Frost Spec Talants
Master of Elements (Recommended) - This is very nice considering how important our mana is to us. However keep in mind this draws from the base mana and therefore it doesn't have as significant an impact as it would otherwise. Burning Soul (Recommended) - There is alot of AOE and pushback mechanics going on so this can be very beneficial with the 70% reduction in casting delays form such damage Fire Power (Optional) - For single target DPS 2/3 Fire Power is optimal, but using Flame Orb on cooldown ive noted this talent is only like a 0.3% DPS gain. Not worth very much for 2 points, but that's min/maxing for you. III. Glyphs Prime Glyphs
Arcane Blast Arcane Missiles Major and Minor Glyphs mostly come down to personal choice. But ill list mine Major Glyphs
Arcane Power Blink Minor Glyphs
Arcane Brilliance Monkey |
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Edited by Teraptus on 2/21/12 2:51 PM (PST)
IV. Stats
This can be a debatable topic I’ve found but here is how I’ve seen the best results on my stat priority Intellect > Hit to 17% > Haste to Soft Cap > Mastery > Crit Intellect is your most important stat and will provide the most benefit in every situation Hit Rating is second in the list because it determines your chances to miss your target when casting a spell. Once you reach 17% (1748 rating) any extra points of Hit are being wasted. Haste Rating lowers the casting time for spells. After Intellect and Hit this will be your best stat right up until your Soft Haste Cap. Master Rating is vital to our Mana Adept Ability which increased damage based on our amount of unspent mana. Its also our highest rated DPS stats once you have both your hit cap and haste soft cap. Critical Strike Rating is our lowest priority stat. However, id recommend not taking it any lower then about 17%. Reading around and getting a lot of opinions it seems to be the consensus you wanna keep your mastery in the 17-20% range. Haste Soft Cap: Q: What is the Haste Soft Cap? A: Its when it takes you exactly 1 second to cast Arcane Blast when using all the buffs at your disposal. Seeing as the global cooldown is 1 second after the soft haste cap haste loses value and drops below mastery in the priority list. Once you past soft haste cap your stats priority list will look like this Intellect > Hit to 17% > Mastery > Crit > Haste There are two ways to determine your soft haste cap. The first is to calculate the cap yourself. to do so simply remove all your gear and get yourself to a target dummy. Pop timewarp and cast Arcane Blast 4 times and simply write down the cast time given by the tooltip. 1.) If you will have 5% haste raid buff then divide that result by 1.05 2.) If you have your T11 4 Peice bonus then divide that result by 1.1 3.) Subtract 1 from the result 4.) Multiply the result by 12806 to obtain the Haste Rating that constitutes the soft haste cap. 5.) If you have T13 two peice bonus, subtract 500 from the value you obtained Or cheat and use this handy chart Ask yourself 4 questions for soft cap
T11 4pc? T13 2pc? Raid Buff? input answer in order and get soft hit cap NO | NO | NO | NO | 2497 NO | YES | NO | NO | 1106 NO | YES | NO | YES | 433 NO | NO | YES | NO | 1997 NO | NO | YES | YES | 1268 NO | NO | NO | YES | 1768 YES | NO | NO | NO | 2345 YES | YES | NO | NO | 968 YES | YES | NO | YES | 312 YES | NO | YES | NO | 1845 YES | NO | YES | YES | 1124 YES | NO | NO | YES | 1624 For example... Im not a goblin... i dont have my T12 4pc... I do have my T13 2 PC... and i do have a raid 5% haste buff.. So my answers where NO | NO | YES | YES So my Haste Soft cap is 1268 |
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Edited by Teraptus on 2/21/12 8:18 PM (PST)
V. Enchants and Gems
Enchants Head: Shoulders: Back:
Chest:
Wrists:
Hands:
or Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery Waist: Legs: Feet: Enchant Boots - Lavawalker Mainhand Weapon: Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent Offhand Weapon: Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect Gemming: For all sockets bonuses that are not +20 Intellect or more, Use Red Gems There epic counterparts are obviously ideal however not affordable by all... Red Socket: Yellow Socket: Blue Socket: |
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Edited by Teraptus on 3/1/12 12:21 PM (PST)
VI. Arcane Rotations
You primary Arcane rotations is going to consist of two phases. Phase One: The Burn Phase In this phase where going to basically burst our DPS using most of our cooldowns and Mana Regen abilities. The only prerequisites of enter the burn phase is being at 100% mana and being certain that Evocation is either off cooldown or will be by the end of the burn phase. My Burn Phase.... First off im a Blood Elf so i have Arcane Torrent I'm accounting for a 2% mana regen on each cooldown Within the rotation i pop AP and mirror image once all 4 stacks are up... So AB Spam to 92% - Arcane Torrent - AB Spam till im just low enough where  Mana Gem will put me at 98% and pop it... AB Spam till im low enough for my  Mighty Rejuvenation Potion to bring me to 98% and pop it... then at about 70% ill pop my flame orb to try to extend my burn as long as possible... Spam AB!At about 30% i evocate and go into a 4 x AB -> AM rotation... i almost never miss the AM proc by 4 AB and on the very rare occasion i do ill make a snap judgement based on my mana on if i should just cast another AB or use barrage to wipe the stacks. Since i have the 4pc my AP is up well before my next burn phase and ill usually pop it even if i plan to just stick with my 4 x AB -> AM rotations... either way its still 20% increased damage and it will be up for the next burn phase and if you pop it with your flame orb i don't really get effected to much by the increased mana cost... and both AP and flameorb will be back for the next burn Finding your perfect Conserve Phase can take a little trial and error and you may only be able to maintain 3 x Arcane Blast before needing to wipe the stacks with a Arcane Missile or Arcane Barrage |
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Edited by Teraptus on 3/2/12 1:28 PM (PST)
VII. Notable Patch Notes and Information
Patch 4.3.3 Notes Patch 4.3.2 Notes Patch 4.3 Notes Patch 4.2 Notes Patch 4.1 Notes |
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Edited by Teraptus on 2/21/12 2:09 PM (PST)
-Reserved-
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Ya i just realize it was posting on my war... switched over to my mage.. now i dont see anyway to switch the posted character over... But this is my mage
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Mana shield glyph is huge in ds
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Agreed, I mostly just listed my major and minors i had planned to lay them all out and talk about them But ill make sure to mention this.. thanks! |
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Thats my first rouge draft... Any comments or suggestions would be great. This way as i go threw and give everything another look i can make changes relative to anything brought to my attention that might be missing...
Only part i did not lay out yet is i plan to build more detail on the Glyphs |
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Edited by Tishä on 2/21/12 4:25 PM (PST)
I disagree on your assessment of nether vortex. Any competent tank will have a debuff on your target which will count for torment the weak. In the few situations where your target is not being tanked or even debuffed by the tank, you can apply slow manually.
Also, Improved blink is extremely useful. The further your blink takes you, and the faster you can get in position and start casting, the better. If where you need to be is outside of your blink range, the short sprint that improved blink gives you is pretty awesome. |
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You could say mana shield is almost mandatory, since its incredible on 7 of the 8 hm fights (ultraxion)
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Red Socket: minor thing |
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Edited by Acidreflux on 2/21/12 8:25 PM (PST)
I disagree on your assessment of nether vortex. Any competent tank will have a debuff on your target which will count for torment the weak. In the few situations where your target is not being tanked or even debuffed by the tank, you can apply slow manually. I'm curios if that's true... Dont tanks have to manually add a slow? I dident think they had an automatic slow on all targets As per blink... i still don't see the benefit and i think you mistaking it for the Glyph which i use... The talent is 70% speed buff after you blink which i just don't utilize.. if i blink im out of my mechanic and if I'm not its just a step away and I'm stopped and casting immediately. I will not be placing my points into it untill i find myself needing to athually run after a blink which i'm just not |
Red Socket: thanks, corrected |
Going to agree with her on this one. Improved Blink is by far mandatory. Honestly when I was picking through the tree there are a lot of extra talent points and sutff. So if nothing else this is better than nothing. Ok, why? Their are only two fights where I don't this border line mandatory to take. Ultraxtion has no movement so bascily making any shaman speced in to ghost wolf etc kind of a waste of points on that fight but whatever. It's semi useful in Spine when the area gets big and you need to get to a hole fast. Other than that I'd be sad to see some1 not have it. I mean if nothing else what would you put 2 points in to instead of Imp Blink. |
what i have |
