World Of Warcraft 4.0.3a Arcane Mage guide!

Sup guys incase you didnt know, I play a mage! Now, if youve stumbled upon this blog post that means you most likely need help speccing, and playing your arcane mage. Im here to help! This post is short, and simple.


To start off, lets take a look at a spec shall we?
NOTE: THIS POST WAS MADE IN PATCH 4.0.3a pre cata look for a newer post if this is outdated.

Basically its your average arcane spec.
This spec is NOT for leveling. It provides optimal damage and survivability required for raiding.

GEMMING

Once youve got your spec going your gonna want some gem help.
As arcane mages the meta well use is a Chaotic skyflare diamond.

This meta is a +21% crit strike and a +3% damage bonus meta.
Once again OPTIMAL for damage.

RED SOCKETS

As for your red sockets, just stick to Brilliant cardinal ruby for +20 intellect.


BLUE SOCKETS


Now, blue sockets are important because they will activate the meta!
The optimal blue gem to use is Purified Dreadstone for +10 intellect & spirit.

YELLOW SOCKETS

Ah probably the most confusing of them all, go for the Reckless ametrine  for +10 intellect and +10 haste.

ENCHANTS

Now enchanting is VERY important. Choose wisely. 

Instead of listing all the enchants you could use (there are many) and it depends on your gold situation because there are lower quality versions of MANY of them.

Head on over HERE


That will help you find the right enchant your looking for. 
(Wowpopular is an EXCELLENT site, look around its really easy to use)

ROTATION....(Not much of a rotation anyway..)

This is probably the most IMPORTANT part of the whole thing. Yeah you could have the best enchants, gemming and spec.... but you need to know what buttons to press!

Here is a simple way of doing it!

• Arcane Blast – This should stack to 4 , until you get a missile proc. If you hit 4 stacks of this keep using it until your missile barrage procs!

 

• Once missile barrage procs - MAKE SURE YOU HAVE 4 STACKS OF THE ARCANE BLAST BUFF and than missile barrage the shit out of your enemy! =D

• After you use your missile barrage proc-  Use arcane barrage, this hits instantly for high damage and has a GREAT chance of proccing missile barrage again

•  IF MISSILE BARRAGE PROCS AGAIN - Use it! And Arcane barrage again, if you dont get another missile barrage proc, go back to arcane blast!

• Rinse and repeat!

Thats pretty much the basics!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

 

 DO NOT USE ARCANE MISSILES UNTIL YOU HAVE CASTED ARCANE BLAST 4 TIMES!

There is a significant amount of DPS loss if you cant control yourself!

Save your cooldowns, mirror image etc. until bloodlust or heroism is popped!

Be sure to watch your threat! You DONT want to pull off the tank now do you? NO!

If there are any questions feel free to leave a comment! Thanks guys!