Arcane Mage PvE guide: level 60 Arcane Blast and Arcane Power raid build

Overview

Level 60 · Arcane Mage · DPS in dungeons and raids.

In Classic, Arcane was a support tree mages dipped into for Clearcasting and Arcane Power. The WoW Forever Arcane tree is a real damage spec. Arcane Blast stacks up to four times, each stack adding 10% damage to your other spells and 175% to Arcane Blast’s own mana cost, Missile Barrage turns Arcane Blast and Fireball casts into free, fast Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Mind now doubles the crit bonus of Arcane spells. The Fire half adds Incineration for Arcane Blast crits and a faster Fireball as the cheap spell between Arcane Blast cycles. It is the most mana-intensive way to play a mage, and it needs testing more than any other mage build here.

Your job in the group

Your job is burst on the phases that matter and mana discipline everywhere else. Save Arcane Power and full Arcane Blast stacks for the moments the raid leader calls, such as an add that must die or a boss vulnerability window, and spend the quiet parts of a fight in the cheaper Fireball phase so you still have mana for the next burst. You bring the same mage utility as any other spec: Arcane Intellect, Polymorph, Counterspell and Remove Lesser Curse.

Why play it

• Burst on demand: Arcane Power plus stacked Arcane Blasts is the strongest short window any mage build in this set has.
• Arcane resistance is rare on raid bosses in Classic, so Arcane rarely loses damage to immunities.
• Missile Barrage makes Arcane Missiles a free, fast filler after Arcane Blast casts.
• Arcane Instability raises all spell damage and crit, including your Fireballs.

Weak points

• Mana-limited on long fights: without careful cycles, Arcane runs dry before the boss dies.
• Untested design: Arcane Blast and Missile Barrage are new to this ruleset, so the right balance of Arcane Blast and Fireball needs beta testing.
• Arcane threat: burst windows can pull aggro even with Arcane Subtlety.
• Weak AoE: this build has no AoE talents, so dungeon trash packs are slower than for Frost.

Level 60 talent build

Arcane 32 / Fire 19 / Frost 0, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Arcane (32)

• Arcane Focus 5/5 — +5% hit with Arcane spells: Arcane Blast and Missiles are your main damage, so this is your hit talent.
• Improved Channeling 5/5 — Damage cannot interrupt Arcane Missiles and rarely delays Arcane Blast at 5/5.
• Arcane Subtlety 2/2 — Lowers target resistances by 15 and cuts Arcane threat by 30%, which matters for a burst spec.
• Arcane Concentration 5/5 — Clearcasting procs are best spent on a high-stack Arcane Blast, its most expensive cast.
• Arcane Blast 1/1 — The core spell: each cast adds 10% damage to your other spells and raises its own cost, up to 4 stacks for 8 sec.
• Arcane Meditation 3/3 — 15% of regeneration continues while casting, a small but steady help for a mana-hungry spec.
• Missile Barrage 1/1 — 40% chance from Arcane Blast and 20% from Fireball to make the next Arcane Missiles free and twice as fast.
• Presence of Mind 1/1 — An instant cast every time it is ready, and required for Arcane Power.
• Arcane Mind 5/5 — +10% Intellect and doubled crit bonus on Arcane spells.
• Arcane Instability 3/3 — +3% spell damage and +3% crit chance on everything.
• Arcane Power 1/1 — 30% more spell damage for 15 sec at 30% more mana cost: line it up with full Arcane Blast stacks.

Fire (19)

• Incineration 3/3 — +6% crit chance on Arcane Blast from the Fire tree.
• Improved Fireball 5/5 — A faster Fireball is the cheap spell you cast while Arcane Blast stacks fall off to recover mana.
• Ignite 5/5 — Fireball crits still leave a burn, which gives your low-cost casts more value.
• Flame Throwing 1/2 — The last point: a little extra Fireball range.
• Burning Soul 2/3 — Filler to open the next Fire row, with less pushback on Fireball.
• Master of Elements 3/3 — Fireball crits refund mana; Arcane crits do not, so this helps the recovery phase only.

Rotation and priority

1. Open with Arcane Blast and build it to 4 stacks. Any other damage spell gets the stack bonus but also ends the stacks.
2. With 4 stacks and a Missile Barrage proc, cast the free Arcane Missiles to cash in the bonus, then start stacking again while your mana is high.
3. When mana drops, let the stacks fall off and cast Fireballs: they are cheaper, crit into Master of Elements refunds and can still proc Missile Barrage.
4. Burst window: Eureka! and Arcane Power, then Arcane Blast to 4 stacks and Presence of Mind on the last Arcane Blast.
5. Use Clearcasting on the most expensive Arcane Blast you can.
6. Mana Gem, Evocation and potions follow each burst window so you can build stacks again.

Resources

Mana is the whole game for this build. Arcane Blast’s cost climbs with every stack, and Arcane Power adds 30% on top. Plan cycles: a high-mana burn with Arcane Blast and Arcane Power, then a cheaper Fireball phase to recover. Eureka! (half cost on three damage spells) belongs in the burn phase, Presence of Mind can be used on every cooldown, and Evocation should never be held for too long.

Stat priority

Spell hit, from gear and Arcane Focus, until you stop seeing Arcane Blast miss; then Intellect, which is worth more for Arcane than any other mage build because of Arcane Mind and Arcane Blast’s rising cost. Spell damage and spell crit follow; Arcane Mind makes crit strong for Arcane spells. Mana regeneration matters on long fights.

Gear and set bonuses

The datamined Tier 1 mage set is Manaflare Regalia. Its bonuses: 2 pieces, +1% spell hit; 3 pieces, 5 sec shorter Counterspell cooldown; 4 pieces, up to 21 spell damage against Elementals; 5 pieces, Frostfire Bolt gets a higher chance to trigger Missile Barrage and Fingers of Frost and extra crit chance during Combustion. The item pieces are still withheld in the datamine, so slots and stats are unknown. Arcane gains from the hit bonus; the 5-piece Missile Barrage part applies only if Frostfire Bolt is trainable in WoW Forever, so do not chase the fifth piece for Arcane until that is confirmed.

Consumables and professions

• Spell damage: Greater Arcane Elixir and Brilliant Wizard Oil are the Classic choices; there is no Arcane-only elixir, so general spell damage elixirs apply.
• Mana above all: Major Mana Potions, Demonic or Dark Runes, Mageblood Potion and Brilliant Mana Oil if you are short on mana more than damage.
• Intellect: Arcane Intellect and any Intellect food or scrolls available in Forever.
• Professions: Tailoring and Enchanting as for other mages; Alchemy if you want to keep up with the potion cost of this spec.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Mage DPS Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Mage DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents
• Icy Veins: Classic Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
• Icy Veins: Classic Mage DPS Stat Priority
• Icy Veins: Classic Mage DPS Enchants and Consumables