I am trying to get my woefully neglected mage into raids. He has basically been unplayed since 3.1. Before that he was frost for PvP and useless in PvE. So he's not quite geared. I've played fire before but never arcane, looked like that had decent raid utility and figured I'd give it a shot. But I've been stumped at rotations.
First off, I have read The Greatest Mage Post Ever. But it seemed like the Arcane part was from 3.09 and may no longer apply. Also, it was hard to figure out the abbreviations since AB can stand for Blast or Barrage. I went down to a target dummy to see how my guy would do. Ugh. Oom after a few casts. I don't see how you can pull this off without going oom since everything is prohibitively mana-expensive. Basically, I was hitting Arcane Blast x3, then Arcane Barrage. Whenever the Missile talent procced I'd launch them. But my mana bar went down far faster than the dummy's health. Now, I'm sure that's not the right rotation. And I apologize if it's in the Greatest Mage Post and I missed it. But can someone who hasn't neglected his mage during WotLK set me straight?
For the record, I'm: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Icecrown&n=Mxylnick . (The spec was done on a whim and will be fine-tuned before I raid. And don't bother with the gear; I know what I need.)
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Arcane Blast x 3
Arcane Missiles
That is the rotation to follow.
If you have big mana problems do:
Arcane Blast x 2
Arcane Missiles
remember with replenishment and other raid buffs you will stay afloat for longer.
arcane barrage is not part of the rotation and hasn't been for a couple of patches. Things haven't changed since 3.09 as far as I know.
Arcane Missiles
That is the rotation to follow.
If you have big mana problems do:
Arcane Blast x 2
Arcane Missiles
remember with replenishment and other raid buffs you will stay afloat for longer.
arcane barrage is not part of the rotation and hasn't been for a couple of patches. Things haven't changed since 3.09 as far as I know.
Thanks much; I apologize for my cluelessness.
You need to pick up the glyphs for Arcane Blast/Missiles & Molten Armor and drop the points you have in Improved CS and Prismatic Cloak for Incinerationx3 and Student of the Mindx1. The 6% critical on Arcane Blast goes a long way and Student of the Mind is nice for the little bit of mana regen and crit from Molten Armor. If you're only planning on using Arcane for raids you can drop the point in slow and put that in Student of the Mind.
Your mana woes will be alleviated by raid buffs and your dps should go up with activation of Torment the Weak from some snare effect from other raid members. If you find you're still having problems you can always go back to the entry level FFB spec.
Your mana woes will be alleviated by raid buffs and your dps should go up with activation of Torment the Weak from some snare effect from other raid members. If you find you're still having problems you can always go back to the entry level FFB spec.
tuskerdu wrote:
First off, I have read The Greatest Mage Post Ever. But it seemed like the Arcane part was from 3.09 and may no longer apply. Also, it was hard to figure out the abbreviations since AB can stand for Blast or Barrage. I went down to a target dummy to see how my guy would do. Ugh. Oom after a few casts. I don't see how you can pull this off without going oom since everything is prohibitively mana-expensive. Basically, I was hitting Arcane Blast x3, then Arcane Barrage. Whenever the Missile talent procced I'd launch them. But my mana bar went down far faster than the dummy's health.
I had the exact same issue when I went from frost to arcane about two months ago. I also posted just about the same as you did - damn, I go OOM fast with arcane!
Mindel put it best when he said that "One thing about arcane is that you don't really have a rotation. What you have is a throttle control." Its true. Mana management is much more intensive with arcane than fire or frost. Your mana gem and evo are going to be in constant use and you need to plan ahead somewhat. The timing of that use is key and comes with experience as you play the spec.
Stick with it and it will eventually "click" for you. If you have a group that you can raid with regularly, talk to the raid lead and let him or her know you're trying a new spec. After a few runs it will become second nature.
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