In this article, we list your Arcane Mage (WoW MoP 5.3) core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation). We also explain when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that playing an Arcane Mage will face you with.

The other articles of our Arcane Mage guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Blatty, one of the best Mages in the world, who raids in Method, the currently ranked #1 guild on WoWProgress. He has been contributing a lot to the community through his streams on Twitch and now works for Millenium, his new streaming platform.

1. Single Target Rotation↑top

The rotation of an Arcane Mage consists in the following priority list.

1. Cast Arcane Missiles when you have 4 stacks of Arcane Charge.
2. Cast Arcane Barrage when you have 4 stacks of Arcane Charge (and no proc of Arcane Missiles).
3. Apply and refresh Living Bomb.
   • When you have a large damage-increasing proc (trinkets, weapon enchants, etc.), refresh it right away, otherwise refresh it after it explodes.
4. Cast Arcane Blast to build up stacks of Arcane Charge.

The idea is to always stay close to 100% mana, without ever reaching 100% mana.

When moving, cast Arcane Barrage and Arcane Explosion if you are close to the boss or Arcane Barrage and Fire Blast when you are not close enough (meaning that there are times when you will have nothing to cast because both spells will be on cooldown).

Refreshing your Tier 5 talent (also called your bomb) is a tricky business as an Arcane Mage because these spells benefit from your Mastery: Mana Adept, meaning that properly using your bomb can greatly increase your DPS. For more details about optimising your bomb usage, please refer to our dedicated section.

See our Opening Sequence for instructions on what to cast when the fight starts.

1.1. Tier 6 Talent

Rune of Power is your only viable Tier 6 talent choice. It is very straightforward to use. Always stand in it and recast it 1 second before it fades.

We discuss how your other choices of talents affect your play style further down the page.

1.2. Cooldown Usage

1.2.1. Arcane Power

Arcane Power is your main cooldown and should be used whenever it is available (always use your potion and on-use trinkets in conjunction with this cooldown) or delay using it for a bit if a boss mechanic is going to increase your damage ( Fluidity on Jin'rokh, Cracked Shell on Horridon, Shell Concussion on Tortos, etc.).

For maximum effect, try to have 2 procs of Arcane Missiles and 4 stacks of Arcane Charge before activating Arcane Power.

While Arcane Power is up, your rotation does not change much. Since spells cost 10% more during Arcane Power, you simply need to adapt your rotation slightly so that you do not go below 80%. To do so, use Arcane Barrage more often to reset your Arcane Charges.

1.2.2. Alter Time

Alter Time returns you to your current location, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs when you cast it a second time or after 6 seconds. While you can use it to bypass encounter mechanics (for example, before receiving a large amount of damage or a dangerous debuff), we advise you to always use Alter Time as a DPS cooldown.

To do so, simply cast Alter Time after using your other cooldowns (potions, Arcane Power, etc.) and let it run its course. It will enable you to benefit from these cooldowns for 6 more seconds (the duration of Alter Time).

When using Alter Time, make sure you have 4 stacks of Arcane Charge. When Alter Time is about to expire, cast Arcane Barrage. It will consume your stacks of Arcane Charge, but when Alter Time will end, your stacks will be reset to 4.

Your Mana Gem should be kept for Alter Time, so try not using it in between casts of Alter Time. Glyph of Loose Mana causes your mana to be restored over time (under the form of a 6-second buff). So, use your Mana Gem before casting Alter Time to double the amount of mana it restores.

1.2.3. Mirror Image

Mirror Image is a very small DPS cooldown, which you should use when the images can attack the boss for their entire duration (30 seconds).

2. Multiple Target Rotation↑top

For 2 and 3 targets, you should use Living Bomb as your Tier 5 talent. For more targets, use Nether Tempest.

Against 2 targets, keep Living Bomb up on both targets and use your single-target rotation on one of them.

Against 3 or more targets tanked apart, keep Living Bomb up on all targets and use your single-target rotation on one of them.

Against 3 targets tanked together, keep Living Bomb up on all targets and use your single-target rotation on one of them with the following tweak: cast Arcane Barrage at 2 Arcane Charges.

Against 4 targets tanked together, keep Nether Tempest up on all targets and use your single-target rotation on one of them with the following tweak: cast Arcane Barrage at 3 Arcane Charges.

Against 5 or more targets tanked together, keep Nether Tempest up on all targets and use your single-target rotation on one of them.

Against a lot of low health targets tanked together, spam glyphed Cone of Cold and Arcane Explosion, and cast Arcane Barrage whenever you reach 4 Arcane Charges. You can also pre-cast Flamestrike where the adds will appear.

3. Armors↑top

Your best choice of armor is Mage Armor.

4. Optional Read: Mastering Your Arcane Mage↑top

While the rotations we gave in the previous sections will yield very good results, there are many things you should be aware of, in order to play your Arcane Mage to its full potential. In particular, you will need to become a master at managing your mana.

4.1. Arcane Charge System

Arcane Charge is a system of charges that increases the damage and mana cost of some of your spells.

Arcane Charge is basically a self-debuff that lasts for 10 seconds and stacks up to 4 times. Stacks are granted and consumed by the following spells:

• Arcane Blast grants a stack;
• Arcane Missiles grants a stack per channel (and not per hit);
• Arcane Explosion always refreshes the duration of the debuff and has a chance to grant a stack if it hits at least one target;
• Arcane Barrage consumes all the stacks;
• Evocation consumes all the stacks.

Spells are modified by Arcane Charge in the following ways:

• Arcane Blast's damage is increased by 50% per charge and its mana cost by 50% per charge;
• Arcane Missiles always costs no mana and its damage is increased by 50% per charge;
• Arcane Explosion's damage and mana cost are not affected by the charges;
• Arcane Barrage deals 50% more damage per charge and hits 1 additional target per charge, for 50% damage;
• Evocation's mana regeneration is increased by 25% per charge.

4.2. Mastery, Mana Costs, and Mana Regeneration

Understanding what your Mastery does, how much your spells cost and how your mana regeneration works is an important part of playing an Arcane Mage.

4.2.1. Mastery: Mana Adept

Mastery: Mana Adept is a unique proficiency that you gain by choosing the Arcane talent tree. It increases the damage you deal with Arcane spells according to the percentage of mana you currently have. Initially, you start with a 16% increase, and you increase that value by increasing your Mastery Rating.

For example, the tooltip of your Mastery Rating can say:

• Increases all spell damage done by up to 20%, based on the amount of mana the Mage has unspent.

In this case, for a spell that would otherwise deal 10,000 damage, you will deal:

• at 10% mana, 10,200 damage, which corresponds to the normal damage value increased by 2% (10% of the 20% increase from Mana Adept).
• at 25% mana, 10,500 damage, which corresponds to the normal damage value increased by 5% (25% of the 20% increase from Mana Adept).
• at 50% mana, 11,000 damage, which corresponds to the normal damage value increased by 10% (50% of the 20% increase from Mana Adept).
• at 75% mana, 11,500 damage, which corresponds to the normal damage value increased by 15% (75% of the 20% increase from Mana Adept).
• at 100% mana, 12,000 damage, which corresponds to the normal damage value increased by 20% (100% of the 20% increase from Mana Adept).

As you can see, the penalty for casting spells at low mana is not that extraordinary, especially if you compare it to the increased damage (+200%) that Arcane Blast does when you have 4 stacks of Arcane Charge.

4.2.2. Mana Costs and Regeneration

Arcane Blast, the spell that you will use the most, has a fixed cost: 5,000 mana for every Mage at level 90. At 4 stacks of Arcane Charge, the mana cost of this ability increases to 35,000 mana, which means that you need to be careful with the number of stacks you allow yourself to build.

Your mana regeneration does not increase with your gear. Technically it does increase with your spell haste, but this does not compensate the fact that casting faster causes your mana to be consumed faster. Also, mana regeneration is not tied to your maximum amount of mana (as it used to be), which will now remain fixed at 300,000 (regardless of gear).

In Mists of Pandaria, your mana regeneration is fixed at 15,000 mana every 5 seconds (30,000 is you stand in your Rune of Power). This is increased by your haste. For example, if you have 10% haste, you regenerate 10% more mana.

The conclusion to all these facts is that gear will no longer influence the way you play as an Arcane Mage.

4.3. Arcane Missiles

Arcane Missiles has two charges, so if it procs and you do not use it, it can proc again and you will be able to use it twice in a row. This is important to take into account because it means that you are not forced to cast Arcane Missiles as soon as it procs.

Arcane Missiles' damage is increased by your number of Arcane Charges (+25% per stack). This means that, while you are building up charges with Arcane Blast, you should delay casting Arcane Missiles for as long as possible, so that it benefits from the increased damage provided by the charges. Currently, the best strategy is to build up 4 Arcane Charges before spending your charges of Arcane Missiles.

4.4. Proper Usage of Tier 5 Talents (DPS Optimisation)

As an Arcane Mage, your Tier 5 talents (or bombs) are tremendously more powerful than in Fire or Frost specialisation, because their damage scales with your Mastery: Mana Adept. This means that your bomb is sometimes your main source of damage in raid encounters.

As a result, you have to pay close attention to refreshing your bombs at the right time. Track buffs that increase your Intellect or your damage done and make sure to refresh your bomb accordingly, as explained below.

• Always refresh your bomb before a buff fades. For example, refresh your bomb with Primal Nutriment on Ji-Kun or when leaving a pool on Jin'rokh.
• Clip your bomb right away (i.e., refresh it even if it still has a lot of time left on it) if you have important procs or buffs (trinket procs, boss mechanics, Arcane Power, etc.). The idea is that your bombs will snapshot your stats at the moment you cast them and they will deal increased damage for their whole duration (even after your buffs have run out).
• When you are not under the effect of a buff or a damage-increasing boss mechanics, simply refresh your bomb before it runs out.

4.5. Opening Sequence

We advise you to use the following opening sequence (or opener).

• Before the pull:
  1. cast Mirror Image (-3 seconds);
  2. use your Potion of the Jade Serpent and start casting Arcane Blast (-2 seconds);
  3. apply Nether Tempest.
• After the pull:
  1. spam Arcane Blast and save your procs of Arcane Missiles;
  2. as soon as you get 2 procs of Arcane Missiles or as soon as your mana drops below 70%, use your Arcane Power+ Alter Time macro;
  3. during Alter Time, your priority is Arcane Missiles > Arcane Blast;
  4. when Alter Time is about to expire, make sure to cast Arcane Barrage (this will clear your Arcane Charges, but they will be reset when Alter Time expires).

4.6. Talent Cooldowns and Abilities

4.6.1. Tier 1 Talents

Blazing Speed currently is the most important Tier 1 talent, and you should practice and master its usage, in order to minimise your movement and optimise your DPS. Rune of Power forces you to stay as immobile as possible, so keep Blazing Speed for situations where you need to stand still in your Rune of Power, casting spells, before moving out of danger in a flash. Consider it as an extra Blink: use it to get out of a situation that would otherwise kill you or if your target goes out of range.

Presence of Mind and Ice Floes are the other two cooldowns that you can choose as your Tier 1 talent. If you choose Presence of Mind (encounters without movement), it should be made into a macro that will serve as your primary way of casting Arcane Blast (see our Presence of Mind Macro). If you choose Ice Floes (encounters with short sequences of movement), then, whenever you have to move, you should use it with Arcane Blast or Arcane Missiles (both spells have the same cast/channel time).

5. Changelog↑top

• 18 Jun. 2013: Update from Blatty. Improved Arcane Power advice. Added section to optimise bomb usage and deal increased damage.
• 15 Jun. 2013: Update from Blatty. Added advice for doing damage while moving. Re-added Cone of Cold in the multiple-target rotation. Improved advice for Alter Time.
• 07 Jun. 2013: Updated multiple-target section after 2 weeks of Patch 5.3 raiding.
• 25 May 2013: Mage Armor is once again the armor of choice for Arcane Mages. Living Bomb is now the best option for single-target situations. Multiple-target rotation still needs to be updated, but another lockout of testing is needed.
• 20 May 2013: Patch 5.3 update: nothing changed (may need to review AoE rotation after a few days of raiding).
• 19 May 2013: Arcane Missiles should now be cast only at 4 Arcane Charges (thanks to Blatty for the optimisation).
• 17 Apr. 2013: Update after Blatty's review of the guide.
  • Slight improvements to the single-target rotation.
  • Improved AoE rotation.
  • Added opening sequence.
  • Emphasised the importance of Blazing Speed over the other two Tier 1 talents in the talents cooldown section.
• 29 Mar. 2013: Frost Armor is now the advised armor for Arcane Mages (was Mage Armor previously).
• 13 Mar. 2013: Removed last mentions of Arcane Charge having 6 stacks.
• 07 Mar. 2013: Patch 5.2 update.
  • Arcane Charge now only stacks up to 4.
  • Scorch is no longer available to Arcane Mage. The rotation was updated to reflect that.
  • Evocation now consumes all your Arcane Charges and returns 25% more mana per Arcane Charge consumed.