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Arcane Mage Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade

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, Player versus player
Top talent
Slow
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Burning Crusade

How to play

Arcane is a burst spec built on Arcane Blast, a quick spell whose every cast in a row is faster and costs more mana. Arcane Power, Presence of Mind and Icy Veins (from Frost) stack for huge bursts, Spell Power raises your crit damage, and Mind Mastery turns Intellect into spell damage.

Arcane is about mana: cast Arcane Blast while you can afford it, then let its stacks fall off with cheaper Frostbolts or Arcane Missiles, and spend mana freely with Arcane Power and Icy Veins when the raid needs it.

Arcane shines in short fights; in long ones, Fire or Frost often does more.

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 Burning Crusade.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Mage Armor for regeneration on long fights, Molten Armor otherwise.
  2. 2Arcane Blast up to three stacks while mana allows.
  3. 3Frostbolt or Arcane Missiles as cheaper filler while the stacks drop.
  4. 4Arcane Power, Icy Veins and Presence of Mind together, with trinkets and Bloodlust.
  5. 5Evocation, mana gems and potions to refill.
  6. 6Counterspell, Spellsteal and Polymorph when needed.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Huge burst for short fights.
  • Mind Mastery turns Intellect into damage.
  • Slow for arena control in the deep build.

Weaknesses

  • Runs out of mana fast.
  • Demanding mana management.
  • Weaker in long fights.

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. 1

    Spell damage

  2. 2

    Hitto 16%, less talents

  3. 3

    Intellectmana and Mind Mastery

  4. 4

    Spell haste

  5. 5

    Critical strike

  6. 6

    Spirit

What to look for

  • Spell damage and Intellect; mana is your damage.
  • Spell hit to the cap.
  • Trinkets with on-use effects to line up with Arcane Power.

Items worth chasing

  • Icon of the Silver CrescentSpell damage, and more on use.
  • Serpent-Coil BraidMana gems restore more and add spell damage.
  • Spellstrike HoodCrafted cloth helm with spell hit.

Builds

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

  • Arcane
  • Fire
  • Frost

Key talents

  • Slow · top talent, up to 1

    Reduces target's movement speed by 50%, increases the time between ranged attacks by 50% and increases casting time by 50%. Lasts 15 sec. Slow can only affect one target at a time.

  • Improved Blink · tier 5, up to 2

    For 4 sec after casting Blink, your chance to be hit by all attacks and spells is reduced by 25%.

  • 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 total Intellect by 15%.

  • Prismatic Cloak · tier 6, up to 2

    Reduces all damage taken by 4%.

  • Arcane Instability · tier 6, up to 3

    Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 3%.

  • Arcane Potency · tier 6, up to 3

    Increases the critical strike chance of any spell cast while Clearcasting by 30%.

  • Arcane Power · tier 7, up to 1

    When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec.

  • Spell Power · tier 7, up to 2

    Increases critical strike damage bonus of all spells by 50%.

  • Mind Mastery · tier 8, up to 5

    Increases spell damage by up to 25% of your total Intellect.

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.

Related

Other mage specs: Fire, Frost