Arcane Mage DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

The new expansion brings plenty of changes for WoW The War Within Arcane Mages. In this Arcane Mage guide, we’ll share everything you need to know about this specialization, including its rotation, hero talents, builds, and leveling tips. Let’s dive in—there’s no time to waste!

Arcane Mage Overview

Arcane Mage is a very burst oriented specialization, that has various unique mechanics amongst DPS specs. Arcane does very high burst damage during its cooldowns, followed by a lower damage phase, biding time until the cooldowns come back up. Unlike other DPS specs in the game, Arcane has a mana pool it has to pay attention to. Many of its spells cost very large amounts of mana, and you will have to carefully maintain your mana, via cooldowns like Evocation and Arcane Surge to get the most of your toolkit.

Arcane Mage Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Single-Target DPS
• Mythic+/AoE DPS
• Burst damage
• Strong defensives
• High mobility
• Able to do a lot of its damage while on the move
• Gains bonus single target damage from additional targets (funnel)

Weaknesses

• Has no ability to do AoE damage if targets are spread out
• Reliant on cooldowns for DPS

Arcane Mage Basic Gameplay

Arcane Mage is a spec highly dependent on its cooldowns. It can do large amounts of damage during Arcane Surge and similar cooldowns while doing pretty low damage outside of them. As an Arcane Mage, you also have your Mana to consider, as your hardest-hitting spells cost a lot of Mana. This further highlights the importance of using your cooldowns well, as your cooldowns are the primary way to handle your Mana. Evocation provides you all of your Mana back over a couple of seconds, and Arcane Surge gives you more mana regeneration than you can spend while it is active.

Most of your time will be spent casting Arcane Blast as this is your main Mana expenditure spell. Additionally, Arcane uses various cooldowns, like Arcane Surge to boost the damage you do while burning through your Mana. The main way for Arcane to regenerate Mana will be via Evocation. Conserve phases are made possible via Arcane Barrage as this allows you to drop your Arcane Charges to reduce the Mana cost of your spells.

Arcane Mage Changes in Patch 11.2

Patch 11.2 brings a variety of adjustments for Arcane, focusing on stat rebalancing, talent tweaks, and some mechanical improvements.

Artifact Cloak

The new Reshii Wraps Artifact Cloak was added. While it does not directly change Arcane's playstyle, it affects gearing choices. Details on obtaining and upgrading it can be found on the Reshii Wraps page.

Talent Changes

• Time Anomaly has been removed.
• Inspired Intellect now grants 6% Intellect (up from 3%).
• Mastery: Savant  received significant buffs: grants 10% more maximum mana and mana regeneration, increases Arcane Blast damage from Mastery by 30%, Arcane Barrage by 40%, and all other damage bonuses by 10%.
• Spellfrost Teachings no longer automatically triggers Arcane Orb; instead, direct hits from Splinters reduce its cooldown by 0.5 seconds.
• Prodigious Savant now buffs Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage by 15% per point instead of increasing Mastery.
• Arcane Orb now travels faster (30 yards/sec), helping ensure Arcane Charges even at long range.
• Intuition now lasts 5 seconds (up from 3).
• Arcane Rebound and Static Cloud swapped positions on the talent tree.

Due to these adjustments, nearly all sections of the guide have been updated, with major changes on the Rotation, Talents, and Gear pages to reflect new optimal gear, talents, and rotations.

Arcane Mage Leveling Guide for The War Within

Arcane Mage Leveling Playstyle

Arcane Mage is exceptionally strong for outdoor content, thanks to its virtually infinite mana during downtime while questing. This allows it to easily 1-shot most outdoor enemies by maintaining 4 Arcane Charges at all times, making questing a highly effective way to level up.

Arcane is also very strong in dungeon content, dealing impressive DPS, particularly around level 40 when most of its kit is unlocked. If you have friends, especially a tank or healer, queuing for dungeons becomes an incredibly efficient way to level. However, if you're playing solo, the queue times for dungeons as a DPS class can make it impractical.

Leveling Gear for Arcane Mage

When leveling up, always opt for the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is when you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level but two secondary stats instead of one.

Arcane Mage War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section, we will rank the best PvP talents for leveling and solo/small group PvE content.

1. Chrono Shift – A huge mobility boost that greatly aids in kiting enemies in the open world.
2. Temporal Shield – Arguably the best defensive tool in the game. It is off the global cooldown and has a short cooldown, allowing you to avoid most damage from enemies.
3. Master of Escape and Mass Invisibility – Both talents help you skip more mobs when moving through crowded areas, making them excellent for reducing downtime and avoiding unnecessary fights.

Arcane Mage DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

© Wowhead

Copy the Arcane Mage talents, paste them into the game.

Spellslinger Single Target Talents

Spellslinger (Raid) Cleave Talents

Spellslinger Mythic+ Talents

Arcane Mage War Mode Talents

In this section, we rank the best War Mode talents for leveling and outdoor content.

1. Temporal Shield – Off the Global Cooldown, allowing you to use it without sacrificing damage. It is highly effective for mitigating incoming damage and restoring full health once the shield ends.
2. Ring of Fire – A powerful tool for AoE damage in the open world, particularly effective against high-health targets.
3. Chrono Shift – An excellent kiting and mobility tool for open-world encounters.

Best Hero Talents for Arcane Mage in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Arcane Mage

Sunfury and Spellslinger are effectively tied in single-target damage, making the choice between them a matter of personal preference for pure single-target encounters.

However, Spellslinger excels in cleave and AoE situations and benefits from additional targets by gaining single-target damage through "funnel" mechanics. Because of this, it is generally the preferred spec for raiding, where extra targets frequently appear.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Arcane Mage

Spellslinger provides better AoE damage while maintaining the same boss damage as Sunfury, making it the preferred spec for Mythic+ content.

Arcane Mage DPS Stat Priority

1. Intellect
2. Haste
3. Versatility
4. Mastery
5. Critical Strike

All secondary (non-Intellect) stats are very close in value, despite their order on our list. We encourage players to sim themselves to determine which stats to prioritize based on their current distribution, as stat values can shift depending on what you already have. A deficiency in one stat can increase its relative value until it reaches a more balanced level.

Due to this, we strongly recommend using Raidbots Top Gear to optimize your gear choices (see our Raidbots guide).

Using purely stat weights is never the most effective way to gear your character. On the gear page, we provide a detailed breakdown of the best gearing strategies for different types of content.

Diminishing returns on secondary stats

Secondary stats have diminishing returns, meaning that as you accumulate more points in one stat, it takes increasingly more rating to gain an additional 1%. The reduction follows this pattern:

• 0% to 30% – No penalty.
• 30% to 39% – 10% penalty.
• 39% to 47% – 20% penalty.
• 47% to 54% – 30% penalty.
• 54% to 66% – 40% penalty.
• 66% to 126% – 50% penalty.

You cannot gain more than 126% from gear rating.

Generally, this is not a major concern, but it highlights the importance of using simulations to determine the optimal stats. We strongly advise using Raidbots Top Gear to select the best gear, as it automatically accounts for these complexities.

Stat Explanations

Intellect is your primary stat, providing Spell Power, which increases the damage of your spells.

Mastery (via Mastery: Savant) increases your Mana pool and regeneration, allowing you to cast more spells at maximum Arcane Charges between Evocations. It also enhances the damage buff of Arcane Charges and boosts the damage of all other spells.

Haste increases the cast speed of your spells.

Critical Strike raises your chance to critically hit with spells and abilities. Critical hits deal double damage by default, with some effects further increasing their potency.

Versatility provides a flat damage increase and reduces damage taken.

Arcane Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-Target Rotation for Arcane Mage

1. Go into the cooldown sequence whenever Evocation, Arcane Surge, and Touch of the Magi are ready.
2. Cast Arcane Barrage if Arcane Tempo or Intuition would expire before you can finish your next cast.
3. Cast Shifting Power whenever it is ready and none of your cooldowns are currently active: Arcane Surge, Siphon Storm (the buff from Evocation), or Touch of the Magi.
4. Cast Arcane Missiles when you have Clearcasting and you do not have Nether Precision, OR you have 3 Clearcasting stacks.
5. Interrupt Arcane Missiles by casting your next spell as soon as your global cooldown is over unless it is impacted by Aether Attunement.
6. Cast Arcane Orb when available and you have less than 3 Arcane Charges.
7. Consume Aether Attunement by casting Arcane Missiles if you have Aether Attunement up and you are about to use Arcane Barrage into Touch of the Magi, since the 4-piece Tier Set bonus guarantees that Touch of the Magi grants Aether Attunement.
8. Cast Arcane Barrage into Touch of the Magi if Touch of the Magi is ready, Arcane Surge is not ready in the next 45 seconds, and you have 4 Arcane Charges.
9. Cast Arcane Barrage in any of the following situations:
   • You have 18 or more stacks of Arcane Harmony.
   • You have Intuition.
   • Arcane Tempo is about to expire.
   • You have Arcane Orb ready and 4 Arcane Charges.
10. Cast Arcane Blast as your filler.
11. Cast Arcane Barrage if you are out of Mana.

Opener / Cooldown Sequence

You should go into the Cooldown Sequence whenever Evocation, Arcane Surge and Touch of the Magi are ready.

1. Cast Evocation for Clearcasting and the Intellect buff.
2. Cast Arcane Missiles, consuming the Clearcasting from Evocation and granting Nether Precision.
3. Activate any on-use items that provide stat increases, like trinkets or Neural Synapse Enhancer.
4. Activate any on-use Racials that provide stat boosts, like Berserking or Blood Fury.
5. Cast Arcane Surge.
6. If you have 4 Arcane Charges, cast Arcane Barrage. This will not be the case in the opener, but later in the fight, you will do this sequence while on 4 Arcane Charges.
7. Cast Touch of the Magi. If this is after Arcane Barrage, make sure you cast it while Arcane Barrage is traveling towards the target. Since Touch of the Magi is off the global cooldown, it should apply before Arcane Barrage reaches the target.

Multi-Target Rotation for Arcane Mage

The AoE rotation for Arcane Mage is similar to the single-target rotation. You can be more aggressive with Arcane Barrage, generally dumping your charges whenever you have a way to get them back, such as High Voltage, Arcane Orb, or Intuition. Arcane Explosion is used minimally, only on low Arcane Charges while Arcane Blast has a very slow cast time.

Multi-Target Rotation for Arcane Mage

1. Go into the cooldown sequence whenever Evocation, Arcane Surge, and Touch of the Magi are ready.
2. Cast Arcane Barrage if Arcane Tempo or Intuition would expire before you can finish your next cast.
3. Cast Shifting Power whenever it is ready and none of your cooldowns are currently active: Arcane Surge, Siphon Storm (the buff from Evocation), or Touch of the Magi.
4. Cast Arcane Missiles when you have less than 4 Arcane Charges to generate Arcane Charges via High Voltage.
5. Cast Arcane Missiles when you have Clearcasting and you do not have Nether Precision, OR you have 3 Clearcasting stacks.
6. You should interrupt Arcane Missiles by casting your next spell as soon as your global cooldown is over unless the Arcane Missiles is impacted by Aether Attunement.
7. Cast Arcane Orb when available and you have less than 3 Arcane Charges.
8. Consume Aether Attunement by casting Arcane Missiles if you have Aether Attunement up, and you are about to do the Arcane Barrage into Touch of the Magi line below, since Mage Arcane 11.2 Class Set 4pc guarantees Touch of the Magi gives Aether Attunement.
9. Cast Arcane Barrage into Touch of the Magi if Touch of the Magi is ready, Arcane Surge is not ready in the next 45 seconds, and you have 4 Arcane Charges.
10. Cast Arcane Barrage in any of the following situations:
    • On 3 targets or more, cast Arcane Barrage anytime you have 4 Arcane Charges for maximum AoE damage.
    • For more priority damage, follow the priorities below (relevant already on 2 targets):
      • You have 4 Arcane Charges and Clearcasting.
      • You have 4 Arcane Charges and Arcane Orb is ready.
      • You have 12 or more stacks of Arcane Harmony.
      • You have Intuition.
      • Arcane Tempo is about to expire.
11. Cast Arcane Explosion whenever you have less than 3 Arcane Charges.
12. Cast Arcane Blast as your filler.
13. Cast Arcane Barrage if you are out of Mana.

Arcane Charges: Understanding Your Mana Pool

1. Arcane is unique among DPS specs, as it is one of the few who not only have to manage their Mana, but Mana itself is a key part of the spec identity.
2. Arcane Charges have the following effect:
   • Increase the mana cost of Arcane Blast by 100% per stack.
   • Increase the damage of Arcane Blast by 60% per stack and reduce the cast time by 8% per stack.
   • Increase the damage of Arcane Barrage by 30% per stack.
   • The above effects are further increased by your Mastery.
   • Arcane Charges stack up to 4.
3. As you can tell, Arcane Charges have a significant impact on the damage of some of your key abilities, but it also makes Arcane Blast cost significantly more Mana.
4. Simply spamming Arcane Blast while on 4 stacks of Arcane Charges will cause you to go out of Mana very fast.
5. Arcane Barrage exists to drop your Arcane Charges back to zero and make your Arcane Blast more affordable.
6. Because casting Arcane Blast on low charges does very little damage, you want to avoid casting those as much as possible.
7. This offers a unique challenge, where you try to limit your low stack Arcane Blasts without running out of Mana and being completely unable to cast anything.
8. The main way we do this is by using other spells that do high damage and then recouping our Mana during the time we are casting those spells. The biggest factor for this is Arcane Missiles.
   • Arcane Missiles does high damage, provides various other beneficial effects, and costs a few seconds to cast, giving us valuable time to regenerate our Mana.
   • Arcane Missiles is locked behind the Clearcasting proc.
9. There are other ways we can recoup some mana, for example:
   • Cast Arcane Barrage into Arcane Orb into Arcane Barrage to give you a few precious seconds of mana regeneration without having to cast low-stack Arcane Blasts.
   • Intuition is another great way to have a hard-hitting Arcane Barrage while regenerating some mana.
10. As a Sunfury Arcane Mage, we also get access to Glorious Incandescence.
11. Finally, our big mana regeneration tools are:
    • Evocation, which fully regenerates our Mana.
    • Arcane Surge, which, after fully draining our Mana, grants us a very high amount of mana regen for some time, during which we can cast anything we want without losing Mana.

Arcane Mage DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Arcane Mage in The War Within

The best stats for Arcane Mages when raiding or doing Mythic+ depend heavily on your gear. The optimal stats for Arcane are very dynamic, with an increase in one stat often improving the others and vice versa. Generally, Haste and Versatility are safe choices, but depending on your gear, other gems may be more effective. There is no universal rule for gemming Arcane Mage, and over-gemming one type of gem can make the others more valuable.

You should use Culminating Blasphemite in one socket. Then, ensure you have one gem of each type in other sockets to maximize the Crit effect, ideally Quick Ruby/Quick Onyx/Quick Sapphire/Versatile Emerald. Fill in remaining sockets with Versatile Emerald.

However, if simming shows that other gems are better, we suggest following those results.

An alternative option is using Elusive Blasphemite. This provides a small DPS loss (~0.5%), but offers a meaningful movement speed boost, which can often result in a net DPS gain due to reduced movement time.

Best Flask for Arcane Mage in The War Within

You should be drinking the Flask of Alchemical Chaos at all times.

Best Potion for Arcane Mage in The War Within

Your stat potion should be Tempered Potion. Use these when you will do the most damage with your abilities, likely during your cooldowns and/or Bloodlust/Heroism. You can also obtain Fleeting Tempered Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

You should keep a stock of Invigorating Healing Potions to use when at low health, and if you have a Warlock in the group, grab their Healthstones and use them as well. Do not macro these together, they are best used separately! You can also obtain Fleeting Invigorating Healing Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

Best Food for Arcane Mage in The War Within

You should be eating from a Feast at all times, either Feast of the Divine Day, Feast of the Midnight Masquerade, or Hearty Feast of the Midnight Masquerade.

If Feasts are not available, eat Outsider's Provisions, Beledar's Bounty, Jester's Board, or Empress' Farewell instead.

In addition, if you can afford it, you should use Crystallized Augment Rune to increase your primary stat. Augment Runes are expensive, and disappear on death, so use them wisely!

Best Enchants for Arcane Mage in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Legs	Sunset Spellthread
Boots	Enchant Boots - Scout's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Arcane Mage DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Arcane Mage

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Augur's Ephemeral Wide-Brim	Forgeweaver Araz/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Neck	Bloodstained Memento	Great Vault
Shoulder	Augur's Ephemeral Orbs of Power	The Soul Hunters/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Critical Strike	Main Story
Chest	Augur's Ephemeral Habiliments	Fractillus/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers	Consecrated Cuffs with Writhing Armor Banding and Haste + Versatility	Crafted — Tailoring
Gloves	Codebreaker's Cunning Handwraps	Great Vault
Belt	Singularity Cincture	Dimensius The All Devouring in Manaforge Omega
Legs	Augur's Ephemeral Trousers	Loom’ithar/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots	Interloper's Silken Striders	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Radiant Necromancer's Band	Great Vault
Ring #2	Signet of Collapsing Stars	Great Vault
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2	Azhiccaran Parapodia	Great Vault
Weapon	Voidglass Sovereign's Blade	Nexus King Salhadaar in Manaforge Omega
Off-Hand	Vagabond's Torch with Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and Haste + Versatility	Crafted — Inscription

Best Trinkets for Arcane Mage in The War Within Season 3

Disclaimer: Just like any other gear, your best trinkets heavily depend on the gear you already have, and which level of content you are doing. We strongly recommend you simulate your own character to ensure you equip what is best for yourself, instead of the general recommendations below.

There are various trinkets that are good for Arcane in The War Within Season 3. Below we list the most important options:

• Araz's Ritual Forge — Very strong on-use trinket, granting you an incredibly large amount of Intellect for 30 seconds. Best on-use trinket for Arcane, and most important trinket to get to improve your burst damage, and thus overall damage. Use this immediately after you cast Arcane Surge.
• Azhiccaran Parapodia — A strong passive trinket that is simply equip and forget.
• Astral Antenna — Another very strong passive trinket, pretty much identical to the other options.
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky — A strong passive trinket, slightly worse than the best options above, but great to use if you loot it.

Additionally, if you are unable to obtain those best trinkets above, or want more flexibility, there are various other options:

• Ara-Kara Sacbrood — A strong passive trinket. Slightly weaker than the best options above, but a strong alternative.
• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj — A strong passive trinket. Slightly weaker than the best options above, but a strong alternative.
• Funhouse Lens — A strong passive trinket. Slightly weaker than the best options above, but a strong alternative.
• Diamantine Voidcore — A strong passive trinket. Especially good for Arcane, since you naturally go below 25% mana, due to Arcane's mana management. Slightly worse than the best options listed above.
• Signet of the Priory — A strong on-use trinket. Slightly worse than Araz's Ritual Forge, but still a very good option. Use immediately after you cast Arcane Surge.

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Arcane Mage

The Tier Set is comprised of 5 items of the Augur's Ephemeral Plumage set. Wearing 2 and 4 pieces grants DPS bonuses based on your spec and Hero Talents.

Sunfury

Mage Sunfury 11.2 Class Set 2pc : Spellfire Spheres spell damage bonus increased by 1.0%. Mana Cascade now grants an additional 0.5% Haste per stack.

Mage Sunfury 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Exceptional spells cast by your Phoenix add 0.5 sec to the duration of your next Arcane Soul. When your Phoenix expires, it empowers you further, granting Lesser Time Warp, which increases Haste and spell damage for 10 sec.

Spellslinger

Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Arcane Blast damage increased by 12% and grants 1 stack of Arcane Harmony. Direct Splinter damage has a 25% chance to grant a stack of Arcane Harmony.

Mage Spellslinger 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Splinter damage increased by 8%. Arcane Orb has a 100% chance to grant a stack of Arcane Harmony, up to 8 times. Upon reaching 20 stacks, gain Intuition at full strength.

The Tier Set Bonus is mandatory for competitive play, and you should prioritize obtaining it. Use the Matrix Catalyst to convert regular items (such as from Mythic+) into Tier pieces.

You only need 4 pieces out of 5 to gain both set bonuses. Which 4 you obtain is not critical, as secondary stats are close in value. The best-in-slot setup skips Gloves, but any 4 pieces will be nearly equal in performance. See the BiS List for details.

The bonuses slightly impact your rotation, especially as Spellslinger. With the 4-piece bonus, you can reliably trigger Intuition at 20 stacks of Arcane Harmony, letting you use Arcane Barrage more freely.

Addons for Arcane Mage

Generic Addons

• ElvUI
• Weak Auras
• BigWigs (BW) or Deadly Boss Mods (DBM)
• Plater
• Details

Extra AddOns

• Mythic Dungeon Tools (MDT)
• Method Raid Tools (MRT)

WeakAuras for Arcane Mage

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Arcane Mage and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Arcane Mage Frequently Asked Questions

How much Haste should Arcane Mage use?

There are no specific Haste caps for Arcane Mages. However, at higher levels, Haste can lose some value depending on your talents and other stats. To optimize your stats, regularly use tools like Raidbots Stat Weights to keep your setup up-to-date.

Which race is best for Arcane Mage?

Racial differences for Arcane Mages are minimal, with all races being very close in DPS performance. Typically, Mechagnome, Human, or Troll might perform slightly better, but the differences are within half a percentage. The best race can vary based on your gear and the content you’re running, so choose the race you prefer.

How good is Arcane Mage in the current patch?

Arcane Mages are performing middle-of-the-pack across most content. While they aren’t the best at any specific role, they also don’t underperform in any area.

• Raiding: Arcane provides solid single-target and AoE damage without needing to compromise. It is the weakest of the three Mage specs, but the difference is negligible, allowing you to play whichever spec you enjoy.
• Mythic+: Similar to raiding, Arcane does well in both single-target and AoE situations, making it a versatile and reliable choice for any key.

When Should I Enter the Burn Phase?

Enter the Burn Phase when you have Arcane Surge, Touch of the Magi, and Evocation ready to maximize your damage output during this window.