Arcane Mage 7.3

[Guest Lid]

On 7/18/2016 at 8:25 AM, Damien said:

This thread is for comments about our Arcane Mage guide for Legion.

My concern is the mage who reviews and approves this is currently fire spec and has been half the time I've checked. The stat priorities are confusing, per blixius and OP it lists vers as 2nd priority and yet has always been the lowest stat, while it says these stats should be about equally balanced. I know new gear is going to mess with stats, but it would be helpful to see something along the lines if stat weights with priorities. The crucible talents are difficult to understand also, my guild uses this site like it's law and yet because what's written contradicts itself as you read further down or look at other arcane mages it leaves those of us who actually read through the entire thing confused. Going through the other tabs is just as confusing and contradictory in places that no matter which way I play it (based of this guides for the non-casual) my damage has gone down and even my guildies are referencing different sections of what's best from the same page. If you are going to write it one way, stick with it throughout and back it up with proof please; you'll save people a lot of time and arguments and confusion. I'm beginning to see why others say this site is based solely on perception and unreliable, which is sad because it used to be the go to for solid answers

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/22/2018 at 7:05 PM, Guest Lid said:

My concern is the mage who reviews and approves this is currently fire spec and has been half the time I've checked. 

This isn't really a representation of Blixius' dedication to Arcane. Given that his guild wishes to progress, he will likely play whichever Mage spec is required. Simply checking the armory of a player doesn't really say much about what they play, since Fire completely destroys the other specs in Mythic+ and not playing it makes pushing very high keys near impossible. 

As of right now, he is in Frost spec, which doesn't necessarily mean he isn't qualified to write a guide for Arcane. His guild has just killed Argus on Mythic and, if you check WLogs rankings, https://www.warcraftlogs.com/rankings/17#class=Mage&boss=2092, there doesn't look like much of a reason for him to not be playing Frost there, at least if they want a kill as soon as possible.

On 1/22/2018 at 7:05 PM, Guest Lid said:

The stat priorities are confusing, per blixius and OP it lists vers as 2nd priority and yet has always been the lowest stat, while it says these stats should be about equally balanced. I know new gear is going to mess with stats, but it would be helpful to see something along the lines if stat weights with priorities. 

I'm not sure what you mean by Versatility always being the lowest stat? It was our top recommended stat for a large portion of early Legion, much to the dismay and disagreement of many players that didn't "like" Versatility, but it was mathematically the highest performing stat at the time. 

The guide doesn't say the stats should be equally balanced. It says:

Quote

All of the stats are quite close in value despite the way they are ordered on our list. We encourage players to sim themselves if possible to determine what stats you should desire according to your current distribution and legendary setup, as this may change depending on your current values. This is because a deficiency of one stat will often cause it to become high in value, relative to the others, until you reach a "normalized" value.

The value of each stat is fairly close, meaning that you should abandon Mastery and Crit completely, not that they should all be equal. There are times when every single one of those stats could be your highest priority, depending on your gear, the content you are doing and the legendaries you currently posses. It's not possible to write a perfect priority with weights for every player because, as with Frost Death Knight, the spec's stats are varied in how they prioritise. This is the closest that you can come to a "general" priority, but, as stated in the guide, if you want it to be as accurate as possible, you need to sim it yourself. 

This has become extremely easy with stat weight and gear comparison sims that are done in browser by RaidBots - https://www.raidbots.com/simbot.

On 1/22/2018 at 7:05 PM, Guest Lid said:

The crucible talents are difficult to understand also, my guild uses this site like it's law and yet because what's written contradicts itself as you read further down or look at other arcane mages it leaves those of us who actually read through the entire thing confused.

Why do you feel the crucible talents are difficult to understand? I'm not sure how looking at other Arcane Mages would confuse you as to your Netherlight choices, since it is your choice based on the options given to you. You only have two traits to choose from in Tier 2, which are presented in the upgrade priority. 

In regards to choosing, you are given a guide on how to best choose based on the options presented to you, in case they are close in value in the rankings:

Quote

Optimizing through the Netherlight Crucible is straightforward; you are offered 2 initial paths, Shadow and Holy, and you should determine your path contingent on which leads to your best trait. If the 2 available paths are equal or very close in ranking it is usually best to adhere to the fork that leads to the highest value Tier 3 trait, as this often results in the largest DPS increase. If the best available Tier 3 trait is in the middle, you should always default to the highest ranked Tier 2 upgrade, as you are able to reach it from either path.

With this, you should be able to find what is your best choice.

On 1/22/2018 at 7:05 PM, Guest Lid said:

Going through the other tabs is just as confusing and contradictory in places that no matter which way I play it (based of this guides for the non-casual) my damage has gone down and even my guildies are referencing different sections of what's best from the same page. If you are going to write it one way, stick with it throughout and back it up with proof please; you'll save people a lot of time and arguments and confusion. I'm beginning to see why others say this site is based solely on perception and unreliable, which is sad because it used to be the go to for solid answers

Can you please let me know where you are seeing these contradictions? I want to get them fixed ASAP, but with no actual examples of it, I can't give anything to Furty to fix. If the contradictions lay within the Easy Mode guide compared to the rest of the guide, then those are contradictions that should exist.

[Guest Rubur]

So... What stat prio is it? 
The one listed under easy mode, or the one under "stat priority"?

[Valks 2,375]

On 2/2/2018 at 5:46 PM, Guest Rubur said:

So... What stat prio is it? 
The one listed under easy mode, or the one under "stat priority"?

The one under stat priority. Easy mode is a separate section:

Quote

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

Hope this helps.

[ArpharazonEU 0]

I know that Legion is almost over but shouldn't this guide be updated? The BiS list is not accurate for example. You play with T21 4pc + T20 2pc in single target situations. The BiS trinkets are not Amanthul's + Acrid Catalyst Injector. It's Amanthul's + Tarnished Sentinel Medallion (from ToS). And the single target build does not use Charged up but Resonance instead (because of the T20 2pc).

With 4pc + 2pc the opener would be:

1. Pre-Pot

2. Pre-Cast Arcane Blast

3. Arcane Blast x3

4. Mark of Aluneth

5. Rune of Power

6. Arcane Barrage

7. Arcane Power + Tarnished Sentinel Medallion + Presence of Mind (Macro it all together)

8. Instant Arcane Blast x2

9. Arcane Missiles and Arcane Blast Spam

10. Rune of Power when Arcane Power expires

11. Arcane Missiles and Arcane Blast Spam until oom

12. Arcane Barrage

13. Evocation

14. Start Conserve Phase

And one thought regarding the BiS relic traits: I think it should be mentioned, that Aegwynn's Imperative is not the BiS trait, if you cannot fit another Arcane Blast or Arcane Missiles in the Arcane Power window with it. This obviously depends on your haste values but I think it should be mentioned. Just go full Arcane Missiles relics in that case. 

[Valks 2,375]

On 09/04/2018 at 6:26 PM, ArpharazonEU said:

I know that Legion is almost over but shouldn't this guide be updated? The BiS list is not accurate for example. You play with T21 4pc + T20 2pc in single target situations. The BiS trinkets are not Amanthul's + Acrid Catalyst Injector. It's Amanthul's + Tarnished Sentinel Medallion (from ToS). And the single target build does not use Charged up but Resonance instead (because of the T20 2pc).

Will ask Furty to update - it seems like WLogs has people using both in terms of tier bonuses, so it looks like it depends on what gear you have available. The top parse for Garothi is using T20, while #2 and #3 aren't - top parse is also around 12-15 item levels lower than the other two, so it might be that T20 is making up that difference.

[Valks 2,375]

This guide will be updated for the release of the pre-patch of Battle for Azeroth in the next few days. We are aiming to have every guide deployed prior to the patch going live.

Please note that a new feedback thread will be created for the new guide, meaning that this one will be archived. Any feedback you have for the new guide should be placed in the new comment thread.

Thank you all for your patience and we are working to get the new guides up as soon as possible.