Arcane Mage Dragonflight 10.2 Guide

My name is Tamir, also known as tam1h.

I've been pushing high mythic+ keys since Legion as a mage and raiding since Warlords of Draenor. I have been raiding in the top 30 scene throughout most of Shadowlands and Dragonflight.

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tam1h

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamirWow

Patch 10.2 Arcane mage Tuning Changes (drafted before 10.2 release)

Going forward to patch 10.2, Arcane definitely looking like a strong spec although be aware that tuning still may change. The Tier set for 10.2 which I will discuss later might be a bit on the less interactive part in terms of gameplay, but the power is definitely there. I think personally, Arcane will be in a similar spot as it was in 10.1 and Aberrus.

Gameplay wise from what it seems, we are going back to the old 10.0 Arcane rotation since losing our tier set from Aberrus will definitely make our burst window/after burn windows slightly weaker plus losing the mana regen after using Arcane Surge is going to be noticeable as well. However, with the big item level bump and new trinkets and weapon I think it will offset arcane damage up from losing Aberrus tier set.

There were no impactful changes for Arcane Mage in Patch 10.2, since the spec just got reworked.

Major Changes from the 10.1.5 Mage Rework

• Rune of power getting removed (all abilities getting buffed by around 12-15% to compensate for the loss of rune of power)
• Incanter’s flow replace invisibility in the class tree(our default choice)
• Shifting power has been moved in the class tree 
• New talent: Ice Cold Replace Ice Block - reduces all damage taken by 70% for 6 seconds but no longer grants immunity, this spell is off the GCD(means u can press it while casting something else)
• New talent: Mass Barrier: Cast mage spec based barrier (ice barrier for frost) on yourself and 3 nearby allies on 2 minutes CD (very strong for Dungeon Content)
• New talent: Mass Invisibility Similar to the mage pvp talent, you and your allies within 40 yards instantly become invisible for 10 seconds, taking any action will cancel this effect and only works outside of combat(similar to shroud).
• New Talent: Concentrated Power – Clearcasting makes your next Arcane Missiles channel 20% faster or causes your next Arcane Explosion to echo for 40% damage.
• Orb Barrage has been redesigned – Arcane Barrage has a 10% chance per Arcane Charge consumed to launch an Arcane Orb in front of you.
• Arcane Barrage has been removed from the talent tree and is now learned at level 11.
• Arcane Barrage damage increased by 6% and no longer has a 3 second cooldown.
• Resonance now increases Arcane Barrage damage by 12% per target hit (was 15%).
• Clearcasting has been removed from the talent tree and is now learned at level 12.
• Arcane Surge duration has been increased by 3 seconds and now increases spell damage by 35% (was 10%).
• Clearcasting no longer makes Arcane Missiles channel time faster.
• Arcane Explosion damage reduced by 6%.
• Arcane Orb damage reduced by 6%.
• Siphon Storm no longer grants Arcane Charges and now halves Evocation's channel time.
• Improved Prismatic Barrier reduces magic damage taken by 10% (was 5%) and reduces harmful Magic effect durations by 15% (was 10%).
• Improved Prismatic Barrier no longer connects to Touch of the Magi.
• Arcing Cleave no longer connects to Touch of the Magi.
• Nether Tempest now connects to Chrono Shift and Supernova in the Arcane tree.
• Reverberate is no longer a choice node with Nether Tempest and is located directly after Arcane Missiles.
• Arcane Power has been removed.

First Impressions

Here are some of my first impressions of the spec.

• The class has serious front-load damage inside our cooldowns
• It's much easier to manage mana compared to shadowlands
• We got Greater invisibility as a talent (which we already had) on the class try but didn't gain anything else in return like the other specs in the defensive department (Fire's Cauterize + Greater Invisibility / Frost's Greater Invisibility and 2x Ice Blocks)
• Very CD depended, and the damage outside of Arcane Surge is very lackluster
• Very strong on 5-8 Target cleave with Arcane Surge / Touch of the Magi / Arcane Echo Splash
• If you want to do proper damage as an Arcane Mage it will take some time to set it up properly
• Very immobile in Ramp (our damage setup)
• You are heavily affected by mechanics. If you need to do something during your burst or setup window, you will get heavily punished.
• Requires some preparation and encounter familiarity to achieve proper damage
• More punishing than the other 2 specs in terms of damage ramp / setup, but it can be gratifying if targets are stacked
• Requires your Touch of the Magi Target to be alive for a long time to do proper cleave.