Arcane Mage 7.3

[Guest Arahmitz]

Hey! Got a question-  do you think that in 7.1.5 Arcane will be more viable than Elemental?

[Guest Rhaagola]

On 12/28/2016 at 7:59 AM, evanbloom said:

It's really annoying and pretty much the main reason I don't use Arcane Familiar. If I can't trust it to be constantly online during a dungeon it's just a hassle. And it's a pity because it interacts directly with the artifact ability.

Last time I checked this on PTR, it came up as a buff on 7.1.5 as opposed to the pet icon like it does on Live.  It seemed to solve the issue of it vanishing when zoning, and also it dying randomly.

[evanbloom 1]

On 12/28/2016 at 2:00 PM, Blainie said:

Do you use WeakAuras? It might be worth setting up a tracking WA that flashes when it is not summoned. https://wago.io/ probably has one that you can use.

Yes I've already tried that. I made a nice Arcane-themed discrete not-too-flashy aura, but it's still annoying :D I'm glad someone said that it seems to be fixed in the PTR. Happy New Year!

[Valks 2,375]

On 12/29/2016 at 2:21 PM, Guest Arahmitz said:

Hey! Got a question-  do you think that in 7.1.5 Arcane will be more viable than Elemental?

Unfortunately, we'll only know when the patch actually goes live.

[Valks 2,375]

4 hours ago, evanbloom said:

Yes I've already tried that. I made a nice Arcane-themed discrete not-too-flashy aura, but it's still annoying :D I'm glad someone said that it seems to be fixed in the PTR. Happy New Year!

Fair enough. At least you won't need it on the PTR! :)

[Valks 2,375]

The guides are currently being updated for 7.1.5! I just wanted to leave a few notes for all of our users that might be getting ready to leave a comment:

• Some pages do not require updates. The "Last Updated" stat does not mean the page is out of date, it might just not have needed any changes. If you feel that it does, leave a comment telling us what needs changing and why.
• The process will not happen immediately - some guides will be updated faster than others simply due to the number of resources available. Be patient, they'll be ready when you need them!
• There might be some continuity errors when making small adjustments to large guide pages. If you do find one of these, just let us know in the comments and we'll get it fixed ASAP.
• "Why have you not taken into account X buff to X ability?" - remember, just because something got buffed, it doesn't mean it is now automatically better than the other options!

As always, we want to thank you all for being patient while we get things updated and I'm always available to help you all if you need it :)

[Niebvelungen 1]

Pls update the Gear section, its only EN no Myth+, Kara or ToV Gear. Would appreciate that.

[Valks 2,375]

3 hours ago, Niebvelungen said:

Pls update the Gear section, its only EN no Myth+, Kara or ToV Gear. Would appreciate that.

This will be coming soon for sure! It was intended originally to be a "raid only" sort of BiS, but we've began transitioning them to better BiS lists gradually.

[Guest Sith]

Is there a reason AoE is listed as a "weakness" for the spec? Because that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

[Furty 51]

1 hour ago, Guest Sith said:

Is there a reason AoE is listed as a "weakness" for the spec? Because that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

It's all relative I guess. Compared with the leading specs for AoE I think "mediocre" is an apt description. If there was a fight where you had to choose a Mage spec to quickly eliminate hordes of adds (let's say decaying minions in P2 Mythic Helya) then you're definitely going to think Living Bomb before Arcane even crosses your mind.

[Valks 2,375]

11 hours ago, Guest Sith said:

Is there a reason AoE is listed as a "weakness" for the spec? Because that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

I think also it's worth remembering what you are comparing it to: itself. Compared to the Single Target boss damage, the AoE is slightly more mediocre, no?

[Kiddae 0]

I never got the feeling that arcane was mediocre in AoE. Cleave is mediocre, that's for sure, but for many small targets Arcane can pull an amazing AoE burst (completely insane now with Arcane Orb or Overpowered).

And I really feel that for small packs (4-5 mobs) arcane is a really good spec with Aluneth + ROP + (OP +) + Arcane Explosion.

What do you guyz think about at the new Arcane for ST ? I see a dps increase, but movement is really a pain in the ass (have to keep AM stack). And I feel that Arcane is really a spec you want to use for specific encounter that require high burst phase, did not feel really competitive in heavy ST fight like Nyth or Ursoc

[Valks 2,375]

48 minutes ago, Kiddae said:

I never got the feeling that arcane was mediocre in AoE. Cleave is mediocre, that's for sure, but for many small targets Arcane can pull an amazing AoE burst (completely insane now with Arcane Orb or Overpowered).

Burst I agree, for sure, I think it has an amazing ability to blow away packs of adds, but if you are put into a sustained cleave/aoe situation, it starts falling off. As Furty puts it in the guide, the "pack to pack" AoE is great, but it falls behind fire on the sustained. 

50 minutes ago, Kiddae said:

What do you guyz think about at the new Arcane for ST ? 

I think the removal of Ice Floes actually shows Blizzard almost anticipating the strength of the spec in ST. If you had Ice Floes, Arcane would likely perform much better due to the ability to sustain while moving. As it stands in EN, it seems people are sticking with Fire simply due to mobility and sustained AoE/Cleave. There seem to be some log toppers on Heart playing Arcane, but this is to be expected.

[Vayra 12]

On 1/13/2017 at 2:00 PM, Blainie said:

Burst I agree, for sure, I think it has an amazing ability to blow away packs of adds, but if you are put into a sustained cleave/aoe situation, it starts falling off. As Furty puts it in the guide, the "pack to pack" AoE is great, but it falls behind fire on the sustained. 

I think the removal of Ice Floes actually shows Blizzard almost anticipating the strength of the spec in ST. If you had Ice Floes, Arcane would likely perform much better due to the ability to sustain while moving. As it stands in EN, it seems people are sticking with Fire simply due to mobility and sustained AoE/Cleave. There seem to be some log toppers on Heart playing Arcane, but this is to be expected.

This is entirely true for Arcane AOE. So far since this patch I've been out DPSing everyone (even lots of classes and players with much higher ilvls) in the shorter pulls and fights while it does indeed fall off a bit (but only ever so slightly) in prolonged fights. This is also true for Arcane single target, because shorter fights allow you to entirely skip conserve phases and evocate between pulls.

Some aspects that cannot be underestimated is Arcane's 14 yard range on Explosion, which trumps anything you can find within Fire, and while the overall dps for Arcane sustained cleaving may be a bit lower, you can mix in some hefty single target burst with well placed Barrages and AM's. In addition, the versatility here comes not from being mobile, but from being able to squeeze interrupts between every AoE damage spell because Arcane Explosion has no cast time and stuff like Flamestrike does. Between that and Shimmer, I would say Fire is not specifically more mobile than Arcane, it just goes about it differently and Arcane requires better positioning overall.

So far it feels like Fire has become the entry-spec for Mages and Frost/Arcane up the difficulty and reward that with higher DPS.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Vayra

[Furty 51]

6 hours ago, Vayra said:

This is entirely true for Arcane AOE. So far since this patch I've been out DPSing everyone (even lots of classes and players with much higher ilvls) in the shorter pulls and fights while it does indeed fall off a bit (but only ever so slightly) in prolonged fights. This is also true for Arcane single target, because shorter fights allow you to entirely skip conserve phases and evocate between pulls.

Some aspects that cannot be underestimated is Arcane's 14 yard range on Explosion, which trumps anything you can find within Fire, and while the overall dps for Arcane sustained cleaving may be a bit lower, you can mix in some hefty single target burst with well placed Barrages and AM's. In addition, the versatility here comes not from being mobile, but from being able to squeeze interrupts between every AoE damage spell because Arcane Explosion has no cast time and stuff like Flamestrike does. Between that and Shimmer, I would say Fire is not specifically more mobile than Arcane, it just goes about it differently and Arcane requires better positioning overall.

So far it feels like Fire has become the entry-spec for Mages and Frost/Arcane up the difficulty and reward that with higher DPS.

Flamestrike is an instant cast as well, as it isn't used without a Hot Streak. My personal feeling is Fire has overall the highest potential for skillful play in this current expansion, though until HFC I would always have argued in favor of Arcane. This spec is definitely capable of great things with the right legendaries, however, and I think it is a perfectly viable choice in Nighthold.

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/17/2017 at 6:19 PM, Vayra said:

Arcane requires better positioning overall.

This is defintely true. You'll notice a much harsher drop in DPS if you position badly multiple times as Arcane than Fire.

[Niebvelungen 1]

Nice to see the Gear-Section updated! But where is the Trinket from the Shade of Mediv? Is it useless?

[Guest Rhaagola]

10 hours ago, Niebvelungen said:

Nice to see the Gear-Section updated! But where is the Trinket from the Shade of Mediv? Is it useless?

I was going to ask the same...

Did Aran's Relaxing Ruby get a nerf at some point to procs that it dropped off the list?  It was number 1 for a long time, and as far as I can tell, it still procs nonstop.  Did an Arcway run and Flame Wreath accounted for 5% of my damage yesterday, with Nether Meteor from Star Gate counting for 3.5%.

[Zadina 923]

Υes, its proc rate was nerfed. It's still decent for aoe situations.

[Tigersharrk 4]

So question about trinkets, how does the Burning Sky trinket (iLvl 875) off of High Bot fair in comparison to Arcano Crystal at 860iLvl. I also got the Metronome and Stargate so im very confused as what to use.

[Guest Confused]

"it now boasts impressive AoE as well"

"mediocre cleave and AOE"

?

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/22/2017 at 7:53 AM, Niebvelungen said:

Nice to see the Gear-Section updated! But where is the Trinket from the Shade of Mediv? Is it useless?

It was actually fixed rather than nerfed funnily enough. There was a stupidly inflated proc-rate for the trinket that made it basically BiS for every DPS. It has dropped from what was something like a 1.7-1.8 RPPM to somewhere around 1. As you can imagine, this just destroyed how powerful the trinket was.

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/22/2017 at 6:20 PM, Guest Rhaagola said:

Did Aran's Relaxing Ruby get a nerf at some point to procs that it dropped off the list?

See above.

[Valks 2,375]

On 2/2/2017 at 3:02 AM, Tigersharrk said:

So question about trinkets, how does the Burning Sky trinket (iLvl 875) off of High Bot fair in comparison to Arcano Crystal at 860iLvl. I also got the Metronome and Stargate so im very confused as what to use.

As far as I am aware, the Burning Sky trinket sucks in ST. In AoE it's really strong if there is sustained damage, but it's terrible vs. adds that die fast (the effect is tied to the mob since it is a debuff - if they die, no explosion). 

Metronome and Stargate are fairly similar in prio for ST, Stargate is FAR better in AoE.

I'd go Arcano + Metro for ST, BS + SG for AoE (assuming sustained) or Arcano + SG for burst AoE.

[Valks 2,375]

1 hour ago, Guest Confused said:

"it now boasts impressive AoE as well"

"mediocre cleave and AOE"

?

Where are you seeing these statements, specifically the first one? Just quoting them and not telling me where they come from doesn't really allow me to explain/fix them.