Arcane Mages in Wrath of the Lich King

As the burstiest class in WoTLK, our damage scales better in shorter engagements, but it has the disadvantage of using a lot of mana very rapidly. Our first objective will always be to annihilate mobs while offering crowd control via Polymorph and other potent Mage CC abilities.

Arcane Mages were quite strong in TBC, but many people thought they were a little dull – our damage “rotation” basically consisted of blindly casting Arcane Blast until our target died or we ran out of mana and/or Innervates. Blizzard, luckily, fixed this problem, since our rotation is much more dynamic now, with Arcane Missiles procs thanks to our new Missile Barrage ability, and a new instant cast spell, Arcane Barrage, which lets us to continue inflicting damage while moving.

It’s all rainbows and sunshine for us. However, we still have the main flaw that we had in TBC: in prolonged encounters, we run out of mana and are unable to perform damage. As conflicts become longer and longer with each phase, we tend to slack off over time. At the same time, because of its great scaling, our Fire specialty grows stronger with each phase, leading many to regard Arcane as a “temporary” spec you play until you obtain enough gear to transition to Fire. Regardless, it may be a lot of fun to play!

Arcane Mage Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

High-level single-target damage
We have the best early-level damage in the game as arcane mages since our damage is reliant on how quickly we can empty our mana bar (and, hopefully end with no mana left). To make matters worse, unlike those crazy melee DPS types, we can do it all from a safe distance, giving us a significant advantage in some of these more melee-unfriendly situations.

Effective crowd control
Other classes despise Mages in PvP because of our superior crowd control, which includes spells like Polymorph and Counterspell. It turns out that they are a fantastic tool to have on your squad, assisting your raid in controlling scary creatures!

Effective threat management
Whereas other classes may struggle with danger on occasion, Arcane Mages are unconcerned. We have a permanent threat reduction of 40% owing to the Arcane Subtlety skill, as well as many means to lower danger, such as Invisibility, if necessary.

Weaknesses

AoE damage that is low to middle of the pack
While there is no doubting that our raw single target damage is incredible, our AoE and cleave damage cannot compete with the “big guys.” You’ll normally do average to below average in fights with more than one target.

Loot competition is fierce.
Raids will often include a large number of Mages, Warlocks, Shadowpriests, and other casters battling for treasure. As a result, it may be difficult to obtain all of the goods need to perform at your best.

Cannon made of glass
We need all of the threat-management tools we have because we are constructed of extra-fragile glass. Arcane Mages are the definition of a glass cannon, dying to each stray ability that comes our way due to a lack of survival aids such as Frost’s Ice Barrier.

Arcane Mage Utility

Arcane Mages provide the following bonuses and debuffs to a raid, in addition to their damage:

Focus Magic
Mages of all specialties have access to this odd reciprocal benefit, which allows us to increase another player’s spell crit chance by 3%. If the target of this ability crits with any attack, our spell crit probability increases by 3% for 10 seconds. It’s not a large benefit because it only applies to one person at a time, but it’s a nice small boost nonetheless. Exchange this buff for another Mage! Crit is significantly more beneficial to them than it is to Warlocks.

3 percent damage boost raid bonus (does not stack) – Arcane Empowerment
Only Ret Paladins and BM Hunters have this must-bring boost. Nobody invites BM Hunters to raids in Wrath, so it will be up to you or your raid’s Ret to take advantage of this invaluable bonus — and, a lot of the time, you’ll be the one responsible for it in 10-man raids as well.

Arcane Intellect is an Intellect bonus that does not stack.
The Mage’s domain has always been enhancing another player’s Intellect stat. This remains true in WotLK, since all Mages can still deliver this useful benefit. Warlocks may also provide this benefit with their Felhunter pet, but their version is substantially weaker than ours, therefore we won’t be replaced!

Refreshment Ritual
There’s no knowing how much gold you’ll save your friends by cooking them dinner. Though this spell does not significantly increase your raid’s DPS, your guildmates will appreciate it.

Conclusion

We hope this information has helped you determine whether Arcane Mage is the class or spec for you. Check out our other areas for further information on how to increase your performance as an Arcane Mage in WotLK, like as Talents, Gear, Gems, and so on!