Arcane Mage Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Mana, crit and burst: Arcane Concentration, Arcane Power and the arcane spells.

A cloth-wearing caster who deals Arcane, Fire and Frost damage from range, controls enemies with Polymorph and frost spells, and conjures food, water and portals. More about the mage

Class: Mage
Roles: Damage
Used for: Raids and dungeons
Top talent: Arcane Power
Popular builds: 1
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Arcane in Classic supports the other trees: Arcane Mind adds Intellect, Arcane Instability adds damage and crit, Arcane Meditation keeps mana regenerating while you cast, Presence of Mind makes one spell instant and Arcane Power trades mana for damage. There's no Arcane Blast in Classic, so most Arcane mages cast Frostbolt.

The tree trades efficiency for burst: Arcane Power and Presence of Mind together, with a trinket, give a short window of very high damage, after which Arcane Meditation and Evocation refill your mana. Clearcasting from Arcane Concentration makes the occasional spell free.

It suits players who want Frostbolt's safety with bigger cooldowns.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Mage Armor in raids for mana regeneration.
2Frostbolt as your main spell.
3Arcane Power and Presence of Mind together, with trinkets, in the burn phase.
4When Clearcasting procs, cast your most expensive spell.
5Evocation and mana gems when mana runs low.
6Counterspell and Polymorph when the fight needs them.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Big burst windows with Arcane Power and Presence of Mind.
Better mana regeneration than the other trees.
Keeps Frostbolt's slow for safety.

Weaknesses

Arcane Power drains mana fast.
Lower sustained damage than Frost or Fire in Classic raids.
Between its burst windows, the tree is ordinary.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Spell damagefrost damage counts for Frostbolt
2
Hitto 16% against bosses
3
Critical strike
4
IntellectArcane Mind raises it further
5
SpiritArcane Meditation
6
Stamina

What to look for

Spell damage first; frost damage gear counts for Frostbolt.
Intellect is worth more than usual with Arcane Mind and Arcane Meditation.
A trinket with an on-use effect to line up with Arcane Power.

Items worth chasing

Talisman of Ephemeral PowerA burst of spell damage on use.
Mana Igniting CordA cloth belt with spell damage and crit.
Briarwood ReedSpell damage and healing in a trinket.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Arcane
Fire
Frost

Arcane Power Frostbolter
DamagePvE
3120
31/0/20
Arcane for raids that cast Frostbolt: Arcane Power and Presence of Mind on demand, with Arcane Mind and Arcane Meditation for a deep mana pool.
- Arcane Resilience 1/1
- Presence of Mind 1/1
- Arcane Mind 5/5
- Arcane Instability 3/3
- Arcane Power 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Arcane Power · top talent, up to 1
When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec.
Arcane Subtlety · tier 1, up to 2
Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 10 and reduces the threat caused by your Arcane spells by 40%.
Magic Absorption · tier 2, up to 5
Increases all resistances by 10 and causes all spells you fully resist to restore 5% of your total mana. 1 sec. cooldown.
Arcane Concentration · tier 2, up to 5
Gives you a 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.
Improved Arcane Explosion · tier 3, up to 3
Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Explosion spell by an additional 6%.
Arcane Resilience · tier 3, up to 1
Increases your armor by an amount equal to 50% of your Intellect.
Arcane Meditation · tier 4, up to 3
Allows 15% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.
Presence of Mind · tier 5, up to 1
When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
Arcane Mind · tier 5, up to 5
Increases your maximum Mana by 10%.
Arcane Instability · tier 6, up to 3
Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 3%.

Arcane abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.