Cataclysm Classic Arcane Mage Rotation and Cooldowns

For Arcane Mage, Mana equals Damage (make sure to always have Mage Armor active!). This is the reason why the single target rotation is divided into a Burn Phase and a Conservation Phase. For both phases (unless you are in the middle of a Burn Phase), use Flame Orb on cooldown.

• Burn Phase
  1. Cast Arcane Power and use available DPS cooldowns (On-Use Trinkets, Mana Gem, etc.)
  2. Cast Arcane Blast until you have 30% mana left.
  3. Cast Evocation to fill up your mana. Conservation Phase starts now.
• Conservation Phase
  1. Cast anywhere from two to four Arcane Blasts. This depends on your gear and Mana management. On proc, cast Arcane Missiles. If no proc cast Arcane Barrage.
  2. Stay close to 100% Mana until the cooldown on Evocation is almost over and return to the Burn Phase.

When enemies are close to you, cast Arcane Explosion. You can amplify your Arcane Explosion damage by building up to four Arcane Blast before. On range, alternate between Flamestrike and Blizzard.

Your Cooldowns are basically Arcane Power and Presence of Mind, which cannot be used during Arcane Power. If you use your Arcane Power for a Burn Phase, you want to make sure Evocation will be ready at the end of the Burn Phase. Presence of Mind can also be used to give you freedom in movement, but that use is very limited. Mirror Image does a little extra damage, but you need to make sure they do not die from random damage, or the cooldown will not be worth it's use. Mirror Images can also be used to mask your threat, allowing you to continue pumping. But be careful to not overaggro, reset your threat with Invisibility, if you must.

With Glyph of Arcane Power, you Blink, Mana Shield and Mirror Image induce no global cooldown during Arcane Power! Be sure to use that to your advantage and do not waste global cooldowns on these abilities, if you can use them during Arcane Power instead.