Arcane DPS help

[dollbaby 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I am not the kind that asks for help easely, but I am really frustrated with my DPS on my arcane mage...

 

I used to be fire before the nerf and have followed the crowd over to Arcane for "top DPS" ... that's a debate in itself - I did like fire, was really used to it, but now it seems you kind of need to be arcane to be competitive. At least according to raidbots.com

 

This is a whole debate in itself. The real reason for my question is that my DPS is horrific compared to my guildmates, and I would really love some pointers to improve.

So:

 

Malcoroc HC log: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-4h623jk5m1vj3j0w/details/19/?s=3306&e=3635

 

Armoury: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/kazzak/Dollbaby/simple

 

Issues I am already aware of: 

1) LB uptime 75% can and needs to improve

2) valor upgrade the gear (doing that now)

3) get a better trinket than UVoL (been really really really unlucky)

 

Other than that:

 

A. should I / could I go fire and outperform arcane? (generally speaking I know it's fight dependant, etc)

B. I am at the 2nd LB haste breakpoint (9500 haste + frost armour + raid buffs) according to AMR... Should I be/shouldn't I be? Should I use frost armour?

C. Is my current DPS reasonable-ish for my ilvl or is it really poor?

D. how the f-e-k do I improve? I am so frustrated, it feels like something is broken, I am spamming the crap out of the keyboard, prepotting, doing all the good things...

 

Thanks guys

Edited December 6, 2013 by dollbaby

[Akraen 230]

You've answered most of your own questions to be honest. Having UVLS is a bigger DPS loss than you can imagine. I can see that you were only in a RoP for 78% of the time, which is pretty detrimental along with your LB uptime. I can't tell too much from your breakdown how well you managed mana, but I don't see that you used a mana gem at all. You also don't have mana gem glyphed for AT abuse, while not required, it is nice.

 

Looking at your current gear, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that you would do the most DPS as frost, followed by arcane, and then fire. But all would be reasonably close if played well. So go with what you're comfortable playing and don't rely on raidbots for a number of reasons.

 

Also don't use frost armor as arcane.

 

Fire = Molten

Frost = Frost

Arcane = Mage

 

Biggest weakness you have is the UVLS, get a Timeless Isle trinket over that piece of crap, honestly. I'd even use Light of the Cosmos over it.

[dollbaby 0]

Hi, 
 

Thank you so much for checking me out.

 

Also don't use frost armor as arcane.

 

Fire = Molten

Frost = Frost

Arcane = Mage

 

Biggest weakness you have is the UVLS, get a Timeless Isle trinket over that piece of crap, honestly. I'd even use Light of the Cosmos over it.

AMR shows UVLS as an upgrade over both Woosholays' and Volatile Talisman....which would you recommend? I am thinking Volatile for the constant int and the extra haste...?

 

Lots of people talk about using Frost armour to get to the 2nd LB haste point....And only use Mage armour for NT.... Now I am really confused as to what to do with this...

Edited December 6, 2013 by dollbaby

[Elro 47]

Never use Frost Armor, period. The mastery gain from Mage Armor will outweigh the breakpoint for LB. In addition, I would advise against using Presence of Mind. Blazing Speed and Ice Floes are both better for making movement easier, and managing movement is key to Arcane. I personally like Ice Floes, I macro it with RoP so I can place a rune down while I'm moving to it, so I'm not losing the stationary time to place the rune down. Also, you only used Arcane Power once, as well as Mirror Image and Alter Time. Check this page here: https://www.icy-veins.com/arcane-mage-wow-pve-dps-macros-addons for the macro for Alter Time, and learn to use it as often as you can. It has a big impact on your dps. I can't find a potion use anywhere, you should be using 2 per fight by prepotting, and using another with cds in the fight.

[dollbaby 0]

Never use Frost Armor, period. The mastery gain from Mage Armor will outweigh the breakpoint for LB. In addition, I would advise against using Presence of Mind. Blazing Speed and Ice Floes are both better for making movement easier, and managing movement is key to Arcane. I personally like Ice Floes, I macro it with RoP so I can place a rune down while I'm moving to it, so I'm not losing the stationary time to place the rune down. Also, you only used Arcane Power once, as well as Mirror Image and Alter Time. Check this page here: https://www.icy-veins.com/arcane-mage-wow-pve-dps-macros-addons for the macro for Alter Time, and learn to use it as often as you can. It has a big impact on your dps. I can't find a potion use anywhere, you should be using 2 per fight by prepotting, and using another with cds in the fight.

Cool stuff - I will reforge out of this LB breakpoint and go with mage armour :)

 

Also - got the macro for MI / AT and have berzerk in there, as well as pot usage - also I normally do prepot.

 

Excellent idea with Ice Bloes and ROP btw - never occured to me, I will do the same :)

 

Keep them coming guys!!! :)

[Ghanjo 37]

Heya.

 

First, your damage is not horrific. It is fine. You have an item level of 560 and a bad trinket. I checked out the gear of the other people in your guild on Wowprogress. Most of the top damaging players in your guild have an item level of 570-575. They are the ones at the top of your damage logs. Compared to the raiders who have your item level, you're doing fine. You can still gain a lot by doing the improvements mentioned in this thread, but you won't be able to top the meters until you get better gear. A dps of 240k is reasonable for your gear level. Don't worry, you'll get there :)

 

If you want to, you can compare your log to my log of my first and only Malkorok HC. I was ilvl 563 at the time. While it is 10-man vs. your 25-man, I assume that the fights are similar enough for the comparison to make sense. We did around the same dps.

 

Some thoughts on your log:

 

As Elro said, spells like Arcane Power, Mirror Image and Alter Time should be used more than once per fight. I would recommend an addon like WeakAuras 2 or TellMeWhen to alert you when they are off cooldown. 

 

If a person pre-pots, but doesn't use a potion during the fight, the buff won't show up in worldoflogs, since it technically isn't used during the encounter. I cannot see the potion buff in your logs. Remember to use a second potion during the fight. I would recommend that you use your second potion just before you would use Alter Time for the second time during the encounter.

 

Increase the uptime of Living Bomb. Again you can use addons like WeakAuras 2 to help you if your bomb drops off your target.

 

Put down two runes before the fight starts, and try to move so you aways gain a buff from one. You should be able to get your rune buff time over 90%. Even on this fight.

 

When I look at you in AMR, I can see that you can gain around 5% extra Mastery if you re-gem to the different types of mastery gems instead of the haste ones you have now.

 

Using Mage Armor instead of Frost should also give you an increase in damage.

 

Presence of Mind should be changed to something more useful, I am personally a fan of Blazing Speed, since it lets me quickly relocate when I have to move. Ice Floes is good too. The increased mobility from these two talents is worth much more than the minor dps increase you get from an instant-cast spell every 1 minute.

 

I wouldn't recommend Glyph of Arcane Power. Since it makes your spells cost more mana, having a longer buff time will just make you loose more mana in that time, making it less efficient. Being able to cast it twice with half the buff time makes it much easier to manage your mana during the buff. Just make sure to use it when it is off cooldown, so it is ready again for your next Alter Time.

 

I need sleep now. I hope this makes sense and helps.

[dollbaby 0]

Really good stuff - I think I may know what's going on with RoP....

 

I think there may be some kind of a "bug" where if you put down 2 RoPs one on top of the other, and the first one expires, you loose the buff if you dont move as the game may not be registerring the second one which is "layered" underneath...

Not sure if that's true but may explain why my uptime is so low... I genuinely try to be in what visually looks like the range of the RoP, except if I am moving to avoid something, etc..

 

In regards to the Glyph of Arcane Power - that's also a good idea, getting rid of it

[Tarazet 144]

It doesn't look like you're always using Barrage with 4 Arcane Charges. If I look at your Blast usage vs. Barrage, it looks like you get to an average of 3 Charges and then Barrage, or possibly you are using Missiles procs with 3 Charges. Use Blast 4 times always, then Missiles, then Barrage. However, with your 2p bonus, if you can use Missiles at least twice with 4 Charges, you will want to use Arcane Blast a fifth time before you Barrage.