It’s a good thing I don’t categorize this as a Fire mage blog anymore, because I just jumped back onto the Arcane bandwagon, following the latest trend after Blizzard buffed the ever-loving crap out of the tree in 3.0.8. You may remember last post when I mentioned that deep fire was mana-inefficient; I’m not gonna take what I said there back. However, I in no way intend to imply that any other leading spec in the current patch was inefficient, especially not my latest spec, 57/3/11. I was pointed to this spec after raiding Frostfire two days ago, and proceeded to try it out. (I’ve finally hit the 50g mark for respeccing, partly due to my involvement in arenas.) I was a little nervous since I was bringing an untested spec into a 25-man raid tonight, and my feelings were compounded by the fact that I was burning through mana on test dummies faster than I ever had as Frostfire, but after raiding with it, I saw a 1000-1500 DPS increase.
After the break: How to play 57/3/11, and a short discussion of the mechanics.
Okay, so you’re interested in this new mage spec? All right, I’ll give you some pointers.
First off, the rotation is a little more complex than anything else I’ve played to date. It’s quite a step up from a Fireball/FFB spec especially, as you actually have to HAVE a rotation rather than just keep a Scorch/LB up on target. The one great thing about Arcane is exactly the same as it was in BC. As I stated in a previous post, Arcane has little to no buildup time before you start doing full DPS, and that hasn’t changed–the only thing different is the numbers that I’m putting out.
Basically, what you’re gonna want to do depends on how long your mana pool can last. Because of the new changes to Arcane Blast, you may have to adjust to how many times you use the spell, but the basic rotation is Arcane Blast x3 -> Arcane Missiles -> Arcane Barrage. If you clip Arcane Missiles and fire Arcane Barrage before Missiles’ last tick, you can get the Arcane Blast damage buff to also benefit Barrage, which will supplement DPS enormously. (Think 18k Arcane Barrages, with trinkets and Arcane Power.) The numbers you’ll be seeing are just silly. However, this spec is a bit mana-intensive, especially when you factor in Missile Barrage. You may want to wait on this spec until you’re in mostly Naxx gear at least. Although you’re still going to have mana issues with high-level gear, using mana gems (preferably with a 2-pc T7 bonus), Evocation (with its 2-minute cooldown!), and (if Blood Elf) Arcane Torrent will pretty much balance things out.
Pop your cooldowns as you would if you were Frostfire: early and often. Throw everything you have at the boss at the beginning of a fight, and keep popping cooldowns as soon as they come up. Try to synchronize with Bloodlust/Heroism as best you can, but if that’s being saved until the end of a fight, feel free to use your cooldowns early and then again at the end.
You should glyph for the spells that this spec uses–that is to say, Arcane Blast and Arcane Power. I use Mage Armor (and its corresponding glyph) rather than Molten Armor for this spec due to its high mana cost, but it’s really a matter of personal preference.
Basically, the raw DPS numbers this spec has are largely due to Blizzard’s changes to Arcane Blast and Torment the Weak. Now that TtW affects targets that are afflicted by effects such as Thunder Clap, it gains a lot more raid usefulness. However, more importantly, Arcane Blast now increases the damage done by your next Arcane spell by 15% per stack, stacking up to 3 times. Arcane Blast itself has high damage output, but it’s mainly used as a build-up for a Missiles/Barrage combo due to its prohibitive mana cost when stacked. Looking at, say, crit strikes on a Barrage, you’re going to see 45% increased damage (from Arcane Blast), plus another 50% damage from the Spell Power talent, plus a possible 30% damage from Arcane Power. The numbers start getting pretty crazy – and higher than anything you’d see as Frostfire!
It’s been far too long since I’ve done serious in-depth mage blogging, and was nice to get back to the roots of this blog for a change. I started blogging based on personal progression, but since then it’s kind of morphed into more of a strategy-centric blog, and I like it that way. Here’s hoping you do, too. =)
[...] Mages and 3.0.2 18 10 2008 01/24/09: Have you considered looking at my post regarding Arcane DPS in 3.0.8? You may want to check that out instead. In that post, I explain a good spec and rotation for the [...]
-sigh-
Damn you Aj, my lil mage is still 30 :[
That said Lock is coming along nicely so mwahaha!