WoW Wrath Classic: Arcane Mage PVE Guide (WotLK)

Table of Contents

Mage Specialization PvE Guides

Introduction to Arcane Mages in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

Arcane Mages perform fairly well in Player vs Environment encounters, especially in the earlier phases of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. The play style is very simple, as single target encounters largely involve using only 2 abilities, managing mana, and cooldown usage. This specialization is suited for players who enjoy focusing on the game and not overly complicated class mechanics.

This guide is specifically intended for level 80 players focusing on PvE end-game content in WoW WotLK: Classic.

Best Race To Choose For Arcane Mages In Wrath Classic

For Horde, the only race that provides any significant advantage is Trolls for their Haste buff: Berserking. Arcane Mages damage benefits greatly from Haste, so much so that it is often the case that they will become Haste Capped, requiring them to alternate On-Use cooldowns.

For the Alliance, Draenei provide the best benefit with a 1% increased Hit Chance from Heroic Presence. Humans have The Human Spirit which helps with Molten Armor and Glyph of Molten Armor. They also have Will to Survive while very strong in PvP has limited uses in PvE. Gnomes have Expansive Mind for an increase in Intellect and Escape Artist, which is less useful than the Human Racial.

Best Professions for Arcane Mages in WotLK

The top professions for Mages to have are Engineering and Tailoring. Engineering provides many tools and buffs that will increase damage. Tailoring provides the best in slot back piece enchantment and can also create some decent cloth armor pieces.

Here is a table that shows the benefits that each profession provides that are specific to Mages. Each of these recipes can be learned from the respective profession trainer.

Best Talent Build For Arcane Mages In WoW Classic Wrath

This is the standard talent build for Level 80 Arcane Mages. The talent choices are made with the intent to maximize the damage of a simplified burst skill rotation.

Talent calculator courtesy of https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/talent-calc/mage

There is not a lot to highlight or stray away from when choosing talents for Arcane Mages. One of the major drawbacks for most Arcane Mage builds is that their damage suffers from encounters with a lot of movement. The primary sources of damage are Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles and they both require the player to be stationary for casting. Choosing Arcane Barrage and using it to spend stacks of Arcane Blast is an option for those heavy movement encounters.

Variations:

Depending on the encounter you are facing there are a couple of changes to take into consideration.

• Magic Attunement is useful for increasing the range of Arcane spells
• Arcane Meditation and Student of the Mind are both helpful for longer fights where mana conservation is necessary
• Incanter's Absorption combined with Frost Warding is a unique playstyle suitable for fights where there is a lot of Fire or Frost Damage being taken. The buff doesn't stack, in the traditional sense but can be applied multiple times so long as either Frost Ward or Fire Ward is active.
• Arcane Stability is another option if there is not a Holy Paladin providing Improved Concentration Aura.

Cold Snap Burst Build

The addition of Cold Snap has the potential to be a very strong cooldown to use Icy Veins again. This is only advisable for encounters that are very short, under a minute at most. There are too many sacrifices in mana efficiency to get that far down the Frost Talent tree. The Cold Snap talent build is shown in the image below.

Talent calculator courtesy of https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/talent-calc/mage

Best Major Glyphs for Arcane Mage

The Major Glyphs that provide Arcane Mages the biggest increase in damage are as follows:

• Glyph of Arcane Blast for increased damage of Arcane Blast
• Glyph of Arcane Missiles for increased critical strike damage of Arcane Missiles
• Glyph of Molten Armor for increased critical strike rating based on Spirit when Molten Armor is active.

Best Minor Glyphs for Arcane Mage

There are only two Minor Glyphs that have any impact on performance in PvE content. Note that if players intend on using Incanter's Absorption in their talent build, a reflected spell provided by Glyph of Frost Ward and Glyph of Fire Ward will not apply the buff

• Glyph of Arcane Intellect for reduced mana cost of Arcane Intellect and Arcane Brilliance.
• Glyph of Slow Fall to never run out of Light Feather for Slow Fall. Particularly useful in encounters like Malygos.

Arcane Mage Skill Rotation For Wrath of the Lich King Classic

The Skill Rotation for Arcane Mages is very simple; cast Arcane Blast and if Missile Barrage occurs, cast Arcane Missiles after the 4th Arcane Blast. Should you be unlucky and not have a Missile Barrage occur until the 6th Arcane Blast, cast Arcane Missiles to clear the stacks.

Use Evocation if you run out of mana, ideally timed during moments of downtime or before burst damage is required.

Arcane Mage Single Target Rotation

Mages should always have Molten Armor active as it increases Critical Strike Rating. At the beginning of a long encounter use a Potion of Speed or Potion of Wild Magic just before combat begins.

1. Arcane Blast x3
2. Mirror Image
3. Icy Veins and Arcane Power
4. Presence of Mind and Arcane Blast
5. Arcane Missiles
   • Mana Efficient: Arcane Missiles after 3 Arcane Blast.
   • Burst: Arcane Missiles if Missile Barrage occurs, else cast 1 or 2 more Arcane Blast

6. Evocation if out of mana

Arcane Mage AoE Rotation

For the Area of Effect DPS rotation in encounters with multiple targets (more than 2), the skill rotation will vary depending on the length of the encounter and whether or not you need to be mobile.

• For quicker or mobile fights use Arcane Explosion.
• For longer stationary fights use following:
  • Presence of Mind with Blizzard
  • Flamestrike (Rank 9)
  • Flamestrike (Rank 8)
  • Blizzard until dead

Useful Macros For Arcane Mages In Wrath Classic

The use of macros improves the quality of life by performing certain actions automatically. Players can activate trinkets and cooldowns with a single button press, saving time and ensuring they all get pressed in the right order. This is built into the game through the Macro menu (type "/m" and hit in the text chat bar).