Needs a rework, because this spec makes no sense for a new player.
5 Likes
I have said it once and i’ll say it again, Arcane feels like you need a PhD to get the maximum out of it, but that Maximum is the bare Minimum of other classes.
Specially if we compare it to the likes of DH or Outlaw Rogues and how much damage they deal while not having 5 different Cooldowns just for damage to track.
5 Likes
It is by far the most complex and newbie unfriendly spec I have tested, I have tried to learn it for over a week now but I am struggling, there is a lot of stuff to think about.
Not like havoc or bm hunter where you press a few buttons in a order and do top dmg.
4 Likes
i like that its hard to play, but i wish pressing buttons would do dmg sometime.
3 Likes
Frost pinnacle design was in Wrath & MoP.
Fire pinnacle design was in Wrath & Cata.
Arcane pinnacle design was in Legion.
So they never got them all right at the same time and never will.
i agree with this
BUT
Arcane right now its not too far from legion
Fire design is not terrible either, but yeah wotlk and cata were better
frost, i can’t say, i didn’t particulary like it during wotlk of mop, i rly don’t like the idea of deepfreeze and spam icelance… tbh its not so terrible now, but it feels terible when pinned vs insane mobility cc and interrupts we have nowdays, as mage feels more like a ranged support than a dueler fighter like it used to be
Havoc and BM are overtuned rn. There’s 5 at the top and 5 at the bottom that tuning in m+ at least.
Yeah I wouldn’t compare anything to havoc and bm currently, they will get nerfed and fire mage will be at the top again lol. Maybe even arcane too.
fire has been at the top for a week or 2 in sl, and corruption season with masterful, when tank pulled properly, other than that, fire being top is just a misconception of people. it never is
Legion had overall best classes for me. Legion arcane was GOLD.
I had most fun playing legion big crits fire mage with like 70% crit or big haste versa. Current fire is OK too.
Would kill to play legion SP again. Or fury warrior. Or Arms warrior. Or balance druid.
Damn legion was good.
I agree on what little i tested out arcane.
I would like to see overhaul of frost and arcane specs in next expansion. Frost baseline is quite simple and yet the button overfloat is bit overhelming T~T
Arcane is overwhelming and any mistake in rotation is extremely punishing for dps. I ditched it - I used to love arcane in older expacs but recent iterations just killed it for me entirely.
1 Like
I managed to get it down with the help of a few macros. Fair play to the big brain, long fingered heros that can play that spec optimally without macros and weakauras.
Some people love difficult specs. Leave it be.
1 Like
When I see these posts I feel like Im missing something. How is Arcane difficult? Mind you i dont play like hardcore or anything im very casual and i just play low keys etc but I always do decent damage and i find the rotation very simple…Totm and NT macroed in one button, Arcane surge when active, spam AB and AM, and Barrage when i have orbs or Totm to bring charged right back up. Evo when low on mana
Am i missing something?
I dont have Radiant Spark but that would be just one more button and I would do even more damage.
I find fire more difficult tbh. I had to drop it bc i was doing sh*t damage. Outside the burst combustion window i was doing barely any damage i dont know why.
Arcane Mage Opener/Cooldowns
The burst sections of the rotation are entirely based around maximizing cooldown stacking as much as possible and maximizing damage done during those cooldowns. Without T30 we will burn off some mana during siphon storm, then enter surge and touch at the end of spark to maximize damage done in those windows. With T30 due to arcane overload, we send our surge and touch a lot sooner to maximize our time with surge or overload stacked with siphon storm. Most of what we do is about optimizing our siphon storm windows.
Advanced Tactics
It is a dps gain to clip Arcane Missiles with Arcane Blast when you are above 30% mana, this is especially true during Touch of the Magi, but a dps loss to do this if you have Arcane Artillery from Wayward Chronomancer’s Clockwork.
Prepull Sequence
Cast Conjure Mana Gem if you’re not at 3 charges.
Cast Arcane Familiar.
During the countdown cast Arcane Explosion to get a Clearcasting proc to use later.
Cast Mirror Image ~6 seconds before pull.
Cast and channel Evocation fully for the Siphon Storm buff ~5 seconds before pull.
Cast Arcane Blast ~2 seconds before pull.
Pull Sequence
Cast Arcane Orb.
Cast Nether Tempest if you’re going to use Time Warp.
Use Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power .
Cast Time Warp twice, it stacks.
Cast Arcane Missiles if you have Clearcasting.
Big Burn Sequence
Cast Arcane Blast while spending Clearcasting procs on Arcane Missiles until you are out of mana or Siphon Storm has less than 17 seconds remaining - skip this step if you have Mage Arcane 10.1 Class Set 4pc.
Cast Radiant Spark.
Cast Nether Tempest.
Cast Arcane Surge.
Use Mana Gem and any trinkets/racials.
Cast Arcane Barrage, then cast Touch of the Magi while Arcane Barrage is in the air.
Cast an unqueued Arcane Barrage and while it is midair apply Touch of the Magi. Read this writeup to understand why we do not want to spellqueue Arcane Barrage.
Cast Arcane Blast 3 times.
Follow the Filler/Touch priority below and when your Siphon Storm buff runs out, use Shifting Power.
Miniburn Sequence
Cast Radiant Spark when Touch of the Magi’s cooldown will be ready in ~2 seconds.
Cast Nether Tempest.
Cast Arcane Barrage and while it is midair apply Touch of the Magi.
Cast Arcane Blast 4 times.
Touch/Filler Phase Priority
Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision.
Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting.
Cast Arcane Blast.
Use Presence of Mind in the last moment of Touch of the Magi and cast Arcane Blast.
Cast Arcane Orb to recoup Arcane Charges after using Arcane Barrage.
Cast Nether Tempest if your mana is below 10%.
Cast Arcane Barrage if mana is below 10%.
Once Evocation is back up, restart the sequence for Big Burn, starting with Evocation
3 Likes
Or…let at least one spec in this game be hard and challenging. There are more than enough specs that are way too easy to be played. Just leave the 2-3 ones that still require some skill exactly as they are.
Nobody forces anyone to play arcane.
1 Like
It feels fulfilling to play something hard and be very good at it, especialy in PvP. But if you get outplayed by far easier spec, its not fun.
Thats true when the reward for mastering a difficult class is that youre actually OP.
When you mastery and youre just decent and on par to way easier classes, its just not fun and feels a waste of time to get to master the spec
3 Likes
I agree with you, but this “complexity” should be rewarded.