Arcane Mage DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.0.5)
In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Arcane Mage in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5).
Best AoE/Mythic+ Talents for Arcane Mage
Both Sunfury and Spellslinger are good in Mythic+ content. However, the Spellslinger build does do more overall AoE DPS (while doing similar single-target), making it generally the favoured spec for Mythic+. We listed both in-case you do want to play Sunfury.
You can easily import the talent trees below into the game by using the "Export Talents" button below.
Spellslinger AoE Build
This build does higher AoE damage while doing similar single-target damage.
Sunfury AoE Build
This build does lower overall AoE damage, while doing similar single-target damage.
Flexible Talents
Utility / Defensive Flexible Talents
- Replace Mass Barrier for Mass Invisibility if your dungeon route requires the ability to skip enemy packs and have no one else providing the group with invisibility (a Rogue or using potions).
- Swap out of Remove Curse for any defensive talent of your choice when there are no Curses to dispel in the dungeon you plan to do or if someone else will handle the dispelling.
- Swap out of Spellsteal for any defensive talent of your choice when there are no buffs worth dispelling in the dungeon you plan to do.
- Take Ring of Frost or Ice Nova if you need any more crowd-control at the cost of any of your defensives.
- Replace Blast Wave for any defensive talent of your choosing if you do not need the crowd-control.
- Replace Supernova for any defensive talent of your choosing if you do not need the crowd-control.
- Opt out of Ice Cold (and the nodes leading to it) for any defensive nodes of your choosing if you need the immunity of Ice Block for the dungeon you are doing.
DPS Flexible Talents
- In the Sunfury build, swap out of Orb Barrage for Consortium's Bauble for more single-target DPS and less AoE DPS.
Arcane Mage Utility In Mythic+
The main reason to bring an Arcane Mage to a Mythic+ group is for its damage, but aside from that, it also has some very valuable utility:
- Arcane Intellect is a big boost for both the other caster DPS in the group, as well as additional healing for the healer.
- Time Warp is a required cooldown for any Mythic+ group.
- Remove Curse can be useful to dispel Curses in some dungeons.
- An Arcane Mage can add a lot of crowd control in the form of Supernova, Polymorph, Blast Wave, Ice Nova, Ring of Frost, or even Mass Slow.
- Spellsteal can be useful in some dungeons to remove dangerous buffs from enemy targets. Sometimes, it can also be used as a big DPS boost for the Arcane Mage by Spellstealing beneficial buffs that increase your damage.
- Mass Barrier can be brought as a decent defensive cooldown for the group.
- Mass Invisibility can be very useful to skip certain packs.
Arcane Mage Mythic+ Rotation
The AoE rotation outlined in the Rotation Page below is a perfect fit for Mythic+ content. However, we also list some additional tips on this page that only apply to Mythic+.
Dungeon Tips and Tricks for Arcane Mage for The War Within Season 1
This section has Mage-specific tips and tricks that may not seem obvious, for all dungeons' bosses and mobs. Generic tips or guides for the dungeons are not included here.
Mythic+ Tips for Arcane Mage in The War Within Season 1
Bosses
Avanoxx
- Try to use Arcane Surge immediately on the pulls so that Arcane Soul is up for the first adds.
Anub'zekt
- Use Shimmer when targeted by Burrow Charge, or use Greater Invisibility to completely cancel the ability.
Ki'katal
- You can Blink to break the root of Grasping Blood. Shimmer can still be used while rooted to reposition, but it does not break the root.
- Use Alter Time before Cosmic Singularity goes out far away from the boss, and re-activate it when you get pulled close.
Trash
- You can Blink out of the root of Silken Restraints and Grasping Blood. Shimmer can still be used while rooted to reposition, but it does not break the root.
Bosses
Orator Krix'vizk
- Use Prismatic Barrier right before Shadows of Doubt to reduce the duration.
Trash
- Silk Binding from Sureki Silkbinder can be completely negated by casting Prismatic Barrier combined with Energized Barriers.
- Use Prismatic Barrier right before Shadows of Doubt from Herald of Ansurek to reduce the duration.
Bosses
Speaker Shadowcrown
- Shimmer can bug out quite often while on the ship. You can still use it, but do not leave it for last second movement as it is quite likely to fail and simply not move you at all. Arcane Orb often does not work either on the ship.
Rasha'nan
- Mages are pretty good at delivering Arathi Bombs due to good mobility, so be ready to pick some of these up, especially outside of DPS cooldowns.
Trash
- Tormenting Ray from Nightfall Ritualist can be cancelled completely via Greater Invisibility.
- Tormenting Beam from Nightfall Darkcaster can be cancelled completely via Greater Invisibility.
- Ensnaring Shadows from Nightfall Shadowmage can be dispelled via Prismatic Barrier combined with Energized Barriers when on yourself, or Remove Curse when on anyone.
- You can Spellsteal Abyssal Howl from Nightfall Commander and Darkblade from Nightfall Curseblade.
Bosses
General Umbriss
- Greater Invisibility completely cancels Rock Spike by pressing it right as you get the circle.
Forgemaster Throngus
- Note that the orc is not the main boss and usually dies very quickly. The main boss ends when dragon reaches 50% health, so do not use big DPS cooldowns right before that.
Drahga Shadowburner
- Remove Curse should be used on Curse of Entropy.
Erudax, the Duke of Below
- Blink / Ice Block can remove Depth's Grasp if you happen to be running these spells.
Trash
- Remove Curse Enveloping Shadowflame from Twilight Warlock.
- Greater Invisibility completely cancels Corrupt from Faceless Corruptor.
Bosses
Blightbone
- Greater Invisibility makes Heaving Retch pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
Amarth, The Harvester
- Use Supernova on the adds right as Final Harvest is ending to avoid the explosion.
Surgeon Stitchflesh
- Greater Invisibility cancels Morbid Fixation.
- Greater Invisibility makes Spew Disease pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
- Shimmer can sometimes bug out on the platform so be careful relying on it too heavily.
Nalthor the Rimebinder
- Greater Invisibility makes Dark Exile pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
Trash
- Spellsteal Dark Shroud from Nar'zudah quickly, especially if you have physical DPS in the group.
- Greater Invisibility makes Drain Fluids (cast by multiple enemies) pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
- Greater Invisibility cancels Morbid Fixation from Separation Assistant.
Bosses
Ingra Maloch
- Greater Invisibility makes Heaving Retch pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
Mistcaller
- Polymorph works on Freeze Tag to stop it from moving.
Trash
- Always be in melee range of Druid Spiteclaw to avoid getting 1-shot by Bloodletting.
- Dying Breath can be removed via Remove Curse if someone got hit.
- Greater Invisibility cancels Overgrowth from Tirnenn Villager.
- Greater Invisibility cancels Harvest Essence from Drust Harvester.
- Greater Invisibility cancels Expel from Mistveil Defender. Make sure to let the cast finish, and then activate Greater Invisibility.
- Spellsteal Bramblethorn Coat and Nourish the Forest (if not interrupted) from Mistveil Shaper/Tender
- You can spellsteal Stimulate Resistance from Spinemaw Staghorn, but since this is AoE, you will end up having to Spellsteal many times, so it is much better that your group interrupts it.
Bosses
Chopper Redhook
- If targeted by the fixate, the best solution is to simply kite the boss into a bomb. However, if for some reason you cannot do this, you can Greater Invisibility right before the end of the fixate to avoid the boss AoE damage.
Dread Captain Lockwood
- Greater Invisibility makes Fiery Ricochet pick a new target. Careful using this as it might cause a party member to be caught off guard by the sudden target switch.
Hadal Darkfathom
- Shimmer generally does not work properly on many parts of this fight. The planks and the final boat almost never work, but even on the first two platforms it can bug out, so do not rely on it too heavily.
- Prismatic Barrier reduces the duration of Putrid Waters if you have it up before you get the debuff.
Trash
- Spellsteal Watertight Shell from Irontide Waveshaper.
- Spellsteal Bolstering Shout from Ashvane Commander.
- You can Remove Curse Cursed Slash from Irontide Curseblade if your tank struggles with survivability. (or just to be nice to your tank... never hurts)
Bosses
Master Machinists
- Quickly Shimmer into Counterspell when the boss jumps away.
Trash
- Remove Curse Void Infection from Cursedheart Invader.
Affix Tips, Tricks and Management for Arcane Mage in The War Within Season 1
This section has Mage-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. If you want general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.
Affix Guide for Arcane Mage in The War Within
Ascendant Affix Management for Arcane Mage
Blast Wave and Dragon's Breath / Supernova are great at handling this affix.
Oblivion Affix Management for Arcane Mage
We do not have anything of particular use here, simply use your mobility tools as needed to soak these.
Devour Affix Management for Arcane Mage
Remove Curse should be used to remove Void Rift.
Optimizing Movement and downtime in Mythic+
One of the most important parts of your damage in Mythic+ will come from how efficiently you move between packs and how you use the downtime between packs. Below, we have some tips on how to manage this.
- Make sure you start the run with some water so you can generate mana out of combat if needed.
- Make sure you drink some water if you are low on mana while moving to the next pack. The easiest way to do this is to Blink or Shimmer ahead right after a pack dies and getting in 2 or 3 seconds of drinking. Although nowadays you are unlikely to fully run out of mana, if you do end up very low on mana, make sure to use the downtime to recover this.
- Avoid using Evocation in combat whenever possible. You should always try to fit Evocation in between packs so that you can immediately start doing damage when you enter combat with the next pack or boss. Make sure to use Shimmer or Slipstream to follow your group toward the next pack while casting Evocation. Of course, if a pack or boss still has plenty of health left and Evocation is ready, you should still use it but otherwise, aim to use it outside of combat.
Changelog
- 22 Oct. 2024: Updated talents based on last minute nerfs.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated best talents for 11.0.5 rework. Added Spellslinger vs Sunfury information. Added dungeon specific tips.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for TWW Season 1.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6. and updated talent choice information.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated talents for 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated suggested talents and rotation for reworked Arcane.
- 01 May 2023: Removed mentions about thundering and reviewed for 10.1 changes.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7 and provided some small phrasing tweaks.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 16 Jan. 2022: Updated suggested talents to Mana Gem build and some minor tip changes.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Mage Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Dutchmagoz. Dutchmagoz is a Mythic raider in one of the top raiding guilds, Turtles and the owner of the Mage Discord server, Altered Time, where he is involved in all things Mage, and you can reach out to him directly for feedback or questions about the guide.
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