Arcane Mage Midnight Talents Guide

C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMzwYZmZmFMDamxAAAwAAgAmZmZZZmJWAAYDzMzM2sMzMzyMGjZmBLMzMzMDAwAAAMzsAAmBADzMD

C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMzwYZmZmFMDamxAAAwAAgAmZmZZZmJWAAYbwMzwmlZMjZMmZmZGWYmZmZGAgBAAYmZDAMDAGmZG

C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMzwYZmZmFMDamxAAAwAAmZmmlllZAgYDAgNYmZYzyMmZZGjZmZmhFmZmZmBAYAAAGgZGwMAYYmZA

C4DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMzwYZmZmFMDamxAAAwAAmZmmlllZAgYDAgNMzMzYzyMzMLzYMmZGswMzMzMAADAAwAMzAmBADzMD

With the new 12.1 Patch, since Mirror Image is now a defensive instead of just a utility button, so you want to make sure that you invest all your available talent points into Mirror Image and Improved Conjuration to lower it’s CD.. Additionally you also want to invest into 1 talent point into a brand new passive defensive called Improved Warding.

In Midnight, there are two new notable choice nodes. One is a choice between Time Walk and Temporal Realignment. Time Walk may seem familiar, as it is essentially a renamed version of Master Of Time from The War Within. Temporal Realignment, on the other hand, functions as a budget cheat death that automatically triggers Alter Time if you drop below 25% health and heals you back to 50%. I would still recommend picking Time Walk in almost every situation, but there is a strong possibility that Temporal Realignment will see some play.

The second new choice node is between Spatial Manipulation and Reflection. In most cases, you will want to pick Spatial Manipulation for the extra Shimmer charge, but Reflection may be worth considering in certain niche situations.

Each Mage spec also gets access to a special Barrier effect, which changes depending on the specialization you are playing. Arcane gets Improved Prismatic Barrier, which further reduces magical damage taken by an additional 10% and grants you a 2nd charge. This barrier is the strongest out of all 3, since the majority of damage in WoW is magical.

The spec tree is split between mostly Arcane Orb and Arcane Missiles talents.

Talents like Overpowered Missiles, Aether Attunement, and High Voltage heavily buff your missile output and add extra functionality, such as Arcane Missiles granting Arcane Charges.

On the other hand, talents like Orb Barrage and Orb Mastery focus on increasing Arcane Orb throughput and allow Arcane Orb to do more damage.

Prismatic Bolt (1): Arcane Barrage has a 1% chance per stack of Arcane Salvo consumed to replace your next Arcane Blast with Prismatic Bolt!.

Prismatic Bolt Devastates the target with overwhelming energy, dealing (3200% of Spell Power) Arcane damage to them and (2500% of Spell Power) Arcane damage to other nearby enemies. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.

Prismatic Bolt is an ability that replaces your Arcane Blast when it procs, and it has a chance to be granted for each salvo consumed by Arcane Barrage. It is by far Arcane Mage's hardest-hitting ability, and on top of that, it grants you Clearcasting. Pressing it should be your top priority whenever it procs — at the latest before you Arcane Barrage again, so that you don't overcap.

Prismatic Bolt (2,3): Prismatic Bolt has a 50%/100% chance to grant Clearcasting. Arcane Missiles damage increased by 15%/30%. This makes Prismatic bolt, besides doing a lot of damage, grant you a proc of Clearcasting.

Prismatic Bolt (4): Increases the chance to gain Prismatic Bolt by 1% per stack of Arcane Salvo consumed. Arcane Barrage damage increased by 15%. Since the proc chance of Prismatic Bolt scales with the Arcane Salvo consumed, it's beneficial to always cast Arcane Barrage with at least some Arcane Salvo stacks rather than none.

Spellslinger

This hero talent, as the name suggests, focuses on slinging as many spells as possible. The entire hero talent tree revolves around Arcane Splinter, which make up a decent portion of your damage, and nearly every talent contributes to their generation.

Important Spellslinger Hero Talents

Splintering Sorcery: Casting Arcane Blast or Arcane Pulse conjures an Arcane Splinter.

Splintering Orbs: Whenever your Arcane Orb deals damage, you summon 1 Arcane Splinter, up to 2. Additionally, Arcane Orb damage is increased by 50%. This is one of the most important Spellslinger talents, making Arcane Orb a strong Arcane Splinter generator.

Augury Abounds: Conjuring one or more Arcane Splinter has a 10% chance to conjure a burst of 8 Arcane Splinter.

Infused Splinters: Direct damage from Arcane Splinter has a 25% chance to grant 1 stack of Arcane Salvo. This talent gives significantly more value to the Arcane Splinter generation. When generating many splinters at once, you can rapidly gain Arcane Salvo stacks, so you must actively track your current stack count to not overcap.

Polished Focus: Casting Arcane Barrage at 20 or more Arcane Salvo stacks refunds 3 Arcane Salvo stacks and increases Arcane Barrage damage by 15%. This is the most important talent in the Spellslinger hero tree and completely changes how Arcane is played compared to Sunfury. When playing Spellslinger, Arcane Barrage should only be cast at 20 Arcane Salvo stacks.

Spellfrost Teachings: Direct damage from Arcane Splinter reduces the cooldown of Arcane Orb by 0.30 seconds. This talent heavily alters gameplay, as you need to constantly monitor when Arcane Orb becomes available.

Splinterstorm: Each time Ray of Frost damages one or more enemies, it generates 1 Frost Splinter. For 10 sec after casting Ray Of Frost, your chance to conjure an additional Frost Splinter is increased to 100%.

Defensive Spellslinger talents

Reactive Barrier: Prismatic Barrier can absorb up to 25% more damage based on your missing health, reaching maximum effectiveness when you are below 25% health.

Phantasmal Image: Your Mirror Image summons one extra clone.

You should by default always pick Reactive Barrier, since Mirror Image doesn’t have a damage reduction attached to it anymore.

Sunfury

This hero talent revolves around your Arcane Phoenix pet, which is automatically summoned during Arcane Surge, and a variety of Fire themed passive effects. It also features an extremely powerful burst window through Arcane Soul, which turns Arcane into a fast paced Arcane Barrage spam machine and is one of the most fun buffs in the kit.

Important Sunfury Hero Talents

Glorious Incandescence: Arcane Barrage summons 1 Meteorite for every 5 Arcane Salvo stacks consumed.

Pyrocosm: Each wave of Arcane Missiles has a 10% chance to summon a Meteorite. When a Meteorite lands, you have a 5% chance to gain Clearcasting.

Spellfire Salvo: Arcane Salvo can stack 5 additional times. Meteorite damage is increased by 15%. This talent raises your Arcane Salvo cap from 20 to 25.

Memory Of Al'ar: During Arcane Surge, you gain twice as many stacks of Mana Cascade. When your Arcane Phoenix expires, it empowers you, granting Arcane Soul for 4 sec.

Arcane Soul: Arcane Barrage grants Clearcasting and generates 4 Arcane Charges. Each cast of Arcane Barrage grants 5 stacks of Arcane Salvo and casting Arcane Barrage does not consume Arcane Salvo. This effectively makes your Soul window a Barrage spam. Your aim is to get 25 Arcane Salvo stacks before you get into Arcane Salvo, and then spam Arcane Barrage throughout the entire Arcane Soul window.

Sunfury Execution / Savor The Moment (choice node): Arcane Barrage deals 5% increased damage to enemies affected by Touch Of The Magi. When you cast Arcane Surge, its duration is extended by 0.8 sec for each Spellfire Spheres you have, up to 2.4 sec.