Arcane Mage guide for WoW Forever

The Arcane Mage in WoW Forever finally has damage spells of its own. Arcane Blast stacks spell damage, Missile Barrage makes Arcane Missiles free and fast, and Arcane Wrath is a heavy nuke that grows with your mana. The spec hits hard on one target, but it burns mana fast and depends on procs. This guide covers the builds, rotation, mana, survival and gear.

Role	Ranged burst on one target
Build at level 30	21 points in Arcane, Talented adds Arcane Mind and Arcane Instability
Key talents	Arcane Blast, Missile Barrage, Arcane Wrath, Arcane Concentration, Arcane Meditation
Strength	High damage, scales with gear, group utility
Weakness	Very hard mana management, depends on procs and gear
Leveling	Mage leveling guide
Talent order per level	Mage level build

What changes for Arcane

• Arcane Blast is new. A talent at level 20 with a 1.5 second cast. Each cast gives 15% of your Intellect as spell damage, up to 4 stacks, and raises the mana cost of the next Arcane Blast by 175%.
• Missile Barrage is new. At 2/2, Arcane Blast has a 40% chance, and Arcane Wrath, Fireball, Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt a 20% chance, to make your next Arcane Missiles free and twice as fast. Arcane Missiles hits have a 10% chance too.
• Arcane Wrath is new. A talent at level 25: 3.5 second cast, 6 second cooldown, with extra spell damage equal to 5% of your maximum mana.
• Arcane Meditation is stronger. At 3/3, 50% of your mana regeneration continues while casting. With Mage Armor at level 34 that becomes 100%.
• The old support talents remain. Arcane Concentration, Arcane Mind, Arcane Instability and Arcane Power still do what they did, now for a spec with real damage.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
High damage on one target with Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath	Arcane Blast gets very expensive from the third stack
Grows strongly with Intellect, spell damage and level	Without good gear and a big mana pool, you run dry
Arcane Intellect, Dampen Magic, Amplify Magic, food, water and portals	Without Clearcasting or Missile Barrage procs, the rotation falls apart
Missile Barrage turns Arcane Missiles into a real damage spell	Less survival than Frost, and no Ice Block

Two builds for level 30

Both builds use the 21 points you have at level 30. Talented from the Legacy system adds 5 points to each: Arcane Mind 5/5 and Arcane Instability 1/3.

Single target build

For questing and the open world. 5/5 Improved Channeling keeps your casts going when monsters hit you, and the build goes as deep as it can toward Arcane Mind. The price is the 6% critical strike chance of Arcane Impact. Open the build in the talent calculator.

Talent	Points
Arcane Focus	3/5
Improved Channeling	5/5
Missile Barrage	2/2
Arcane Concentration	5/5
Arcane Blast	1/1
Arcane Meditation	3/3
Arcane Wrath	1/1
Arcane Mind	1/5

Open the Talented version with Arcane Mind 5/5 and Arcane Instability 1/3.

Dungeon build

For dungeons, when someone else tanks. Arcane Subtlety lowers the threat of your Arcane spells by 30%, so you can spam Arcane Explosion, and Arcane Impact 3/3 adds 6% critical strike chance. Without Improved Channeling, monsters that hit you delay every cast. Open the build in the talent calculator.

Talent	Points
Arcane Focus	3/5
Missile Barrage	2/2
Arcane Subtlety	2/2
Arcane Concentration	5/5
Arcane Impact	3/3
Arcane Blast	1/1
Arcane Meditation	3/3
Arcane Wrath	1/1
Arcane Mind	1/5

Open the Talented version with Arcane Mind 5/5 and Arcane Instability 1/3. The Mage level build gives a talent for every level from 10 to 35.

What the key talents do

Talent	What it does in Forever
Improved Channeling	At 5/5, Arcane Missiles never lose casting time when you take damage, Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath 70% of the time
Arcane Focus	1% more chance to hit with Arcane spells per point. Needed against bosses and monsters above your level
Missile Barrage	Free Arcane Missiles that channel twice as fast, see above
Arcane Concentration	10% chance after a damage spell to make your next damage spell free
Arcane Blast	Stacking spell damage, the heart of the spec
Arcane Meditation	50% of your mana regeneration continues while casting
Arcane Wrath	A heavy nuke that grows with your maximum mana
Arcane Impact	6% more critical strike chance with Arcane spells at 3/3
Arcane Mind	10% more Intellect and 100% more critical strike damage for Arcane spells at 5/5
Arcane Instability	1% more damage and critical strike chance per point

Rotation

One enemy

1. Cast Arcane Blast to build stacks and damage the target.
2. Spend every Clearcasting proc on Arcane Blast.
3. Cast Arcane Missiles as soon as Missile Barrage procs.
4. Cast Arcane Wrath at 3 or 4 Arcane Blast stacks.
5. Can you not afford another Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath is on cooldown? Cast Fireball or Frostbolt to fish for Missile Barrage, or Arcane Missiles without a proc.
6. Fire Blast while you move.
7. Frost Blast to slow a target from a distance, Frost Nova rank 1 to lock down a dangerous monster, Cone of Cold when it reaches you.
8. Counterspell on a dangerous cast, Polymorph on a dangerous extra enemy.

A pack of enemies

• Spam Arcane Explosion. Take the dungeon build if you do this a lot.

Arcane Blast stacks and procs

The spec plays in burn phases. The first Arcane Blast starts a 15 second buff that stacks to 4. Four Arcane Blasts in a row and then everything else would be ideal, but the mana cost rarely allows that, especially at low levels. So you spread your Arcane Blasts out and lean on two procs.

1. Clearcasting first. Use it on Arcane Blast for a free stack, especially once you are at 4 stacks.
2. Missile Barrage next. Arcane Missiles can trigger another Missile Barrage or Clearcasting by itself.
3. Arcane Wrath twice per window. Once at 3 stacks and once at 4, before the buff runs out. More Haste makes the long cast easier.

No procs at all? Save mana for the next window. Cast Arcane Wrath on cooldown until the buff ends, then switch to Fireball or Frostbolt to fish for Missile Barrage. From level 40, Frostfire Bolt works for that too.

Mana

Everything about Arcane revolves around mana. Out of combat Conjure Water gives you endless water. In combat you control your mana in three ways: hold back Arcane Blast when you run low, time your procs with your most expensive spells, and use direct mana.

• Evocation from level 20 raises your mana regeneration by 1500% for 8 seconds, with an 8 minute cooldown. Save it for long boss fights. A High Order Skyborne can combine it with Read Leyline.
• Mana gems such as Conjure Mana Agate from level 28 restore 375 to 425 mana, one charge per gem. Make a new one before every long fight.
• Mana potions restore a lot, depending on their level.

From the third Arcane Blast stack, casting without thinking is the fastest way to run dry. Arcane Meditation and later Mage Armor carry you, but only if you pick your moments.

Survival

Arcane has less survival than Frost and no Ice Block. Kill a target before it kills you, and pick your fights. Blink and Frost Nova get you out of most trouble. Mana Shield costs too much mana to use all the time, but Mana Shield with Evocation can save you as a last resort.

Use Frost Blast or rank 1 Frostbolt to slow a target from a distance, Cone of Cold as an instant slow, and Polymorph to take a target out of the fight. Fences, hills, buildings and trees break line of sight: an enemy has to walk around them, which buys you casts. Against a caster, break line of sight when Counterspell is on cooldown.

Cooldowns and utility

• Frost Nova is for attack and defense. Use it as often as you can.
• Presence of Mind makes your next spell instant: Arcane Blast or Arcane Wrath for burst, or Polymorph in an emergency.
• Remove Lesser Curse removes Curses and Banes. Use it fast on dangerous ones.
• Amplify Magic makes a group member take more damage from spells, but receive more healing. Good against physical damage.
• Dampen Magic lowers spell damage taken, but also the healing received. Use it against casters, not against enemies that burst you down.
• Polymorph a dangerous target in every group pull.

Stats and gear

The exact priority at level 60 follows after the launch. These stats help an Arcane Mage:

• Spell damage and Arcane spell damage first. Arcane spell damage only helps Arcane spells.
• Intellect matters more for Arcane than for the other Mage specs: a bigger mana pool, 10% extra from Arcane Mind, and Arcane Blast turns 15% of it into spell damage per stack.
• Critical strike chance. Arcane Impact and Arcane Mind make crits stronger. Incineration in the Fire tree adds 6% critical strike chance to Arcane Blast.
• Haste means faster casts and more procs. At low levels only Troll (Berserking) and High Order Skyborne (Wind Blessed) get it.
• Spirit and mana per 5 seconds are worth more for Arcane than for other Mages, thanks to Arcane Meditation and later Mage Armor.
• Stamina comes on most gear. You do not need to look for more.

Armor. Cloth with spell damage, Intellect and Stamina. Violet Sorcerer’s Robes at level 27 is a new robe with 15 Intellect and spell damage.

Weapons. Weapons got a lot more spell damage in Forever. Look for Intellect, Stamina and spell damage, such as Death Prophet Spine, but a weapon with only spell damage, such as Buzzer Blade, can be the better pick.

Wands. The new Enchanting wands carry you: Lesser Magic Wand and Greater Magic Wand early, Lesser Eternal Wand and Greater Eternal Wand later. Torch of Light waits at level 60. Look for spell damage and wand damage per second.

Races and professions

Faction	Race	Why
Horde	Orc	Blood Fury: 10% more spell power with the same 3 minute cooldown as Arcane Power. Savage: 1% more critical strike chance. Shatter Curse: 5% less magic damage taken
Horde	Troll	Berserking: 10% faster casts. Rapid Regeneration is a survival tool that Arcane needs
Horde	Undead	Touch of the Grave is the only racial that helps in PvE. Stronger in PvP
Alliance	High Order Skyborne	Wind Blessed: 3% Haste. Read Leyline: extra regeneration, also with Evocation. Elemental Insight: 5% more damage to Elementals
Alliance	Human	Ruthless: 2% more critical strike chance. The Human Spirit: 5% more Spirit, worth more once you have Mage Armor
Alliance	Gnome	Eureka! is short burst with Arcane Power. Expansive Mind: 5% more mana, which matters less later

Orc is the strongest pick in PvE, Troll the second. For the Alliance, High Order Skyborne comes first and Human second. Gnome took nerfs on the beta and mainly stays interesting with Engineering. None of it is strong enough to skip a race you like more.

Professions. Tailoring makes cloth sets with spell damage and Intellect, and pairs with Enchanting for your own wands and enchants. Engineering is the best partner for Tailoring if you want the most damage. Herbalism feeds Alchemy, which makes elixirs, potions and flasks.