Arcane Mage Class Guide - MoP Classic

Welcome to our Mists of Pandaria Classic (MoP Classic) Arcane Mage Class Guide for Phase 1, it focuses on getting you up to speed with the Spec for PvE content, Dungeons and Raiding. The guide includes key information for what has changed going into MoP, the best Talent builds, Major Glyphs, your Rotation, Gearing and Consumables for Arcane Mage.

Table of Content:

• Changes from Cataclysm to MoP
• Talents
• Rotation & Abilities
• Gearing & Consumables

What’s New for Arcane Mages in Mists of Pandaria Classic

Mage is another class that got a lot of changes from Cataclysm to MoP Classic. Arcane Mages had a lot of problems, and Mists of Pandaria tries to change that. With the introduction of Rune of Power, Arcane doesn’t have a “Burn” and a “Build” phase in their rotation, and plays the same way during the whole fight, with way more Arcane Barrage casts. The introduction of Alter time also drastically changes the way you play around your cooldowns.

• No more reagents needed for Slowfall and Tables.
• The different Armors now give better offensive stats and stay through death.
• Remove Curse removes all the curses on the target.
• Deep Freeze and Shatter are available to all specs.
• Alter Time is a new offensive Cooldown.
• Burning Soul is a new passive.
• Flame orb has been deleted.
• Nether Attunement is a new passive, giving more mana.
• Cold Snap only works on Ice block, Frost Nova and Cone of cold.

Is Arcane Mage Good?

Mage is and will always be one of the best caster in World of Warcraft. What will change however, is specialization strength. Arcane is in a very unique space. Fire is getting all the hype with its scaling, and Frost is a very good leveling specialization. Arcane on the other hand might not be the greatest for leveling and might not scale as well as Fire but it can’t be underestimated. During Throne of Thunder and a good chunk of SoO, it’s one of the best caster specializations in Mists of Pandaria. First phase performance might be a bit rough until it gets enough secondary stats, but with a new gameplay (that’s somewhat restrictive because of Rune of Power) and good DPS, it’s a great choice.

Best Talents & Glyphs for Arcane Mage in MoP Classic

With the new revamped talents, we will provide you with 2 talent builds, one for Dungeons and one for Raiding. Don’t forget that, with the new talents, a lot of utility options can be changed depending on the fight or Dungeon requirements.

Arcane Mage Raiding Talent Build

Here’s the typical Raid Talent Build for Arcane Mages. Ice Floes and Temporal Shield are great and don’t really have any competition in those two first rows. Ring of Frost can be swapped with other choices depending on the encounter. But in most cases, Ring of Frost is the best option.

Cauterize and Greater Invisibility are both great, Cauterize is a cheat death and can save you in a lot of dangerous situations, and Greater Invisibility gives a nice Damage Reduction cooldown if you need it.

Living Bomb is the best DPS option in single target, Nether Tempest is better for Cleave on 2 to 4 targets and finally Frost Bomb is the best option for Heavy AoE.

Finally, Rune of Power is the best and only options for Arcane Mages.

Best Arcane Mage Raid Glyphs

Regarding Major Glyphs, you will want to obtain Glyph of Arcane Power, Glyph of Evocation (works with Rune of Power) and Rune of Rapid Displacement. Another option for AoE is Glyph of Cone of Cold, replacing Rapid Displacement. Glyph of Arcane Explosion is also a good replacement for Glyph of Evocation.

For Minor Glyphs, the only one worth getting above all the others is Glyph of Momentum.

Arcane Mage Dungeons & Challenge Mode Talent Build

In Dungeons, the Dungeon Talent Build choices are pretty much the same. Depending on the dungeon, Greater Invisibility might be better, you can swap around Ring of Frost and if your tank does only big pulls you can play with Frost Bomb, but that’s pretty much it for the changes you can have in this tree.

Regarding Major Glyphs you will want to obtain Glyph of Arcane Power, Glyph of Arcane Explosion and Glyph of Cone of Cold.

For Minor Glyphs, the only one worth getting above all the others is Glyph of Momentum.

Rotation for Arcane Mage in MoP Classic

Single Target Rotation & Priority

1. Maintain Frost Armor.
2. Maintain Rune of Power. Stay in it. You can recast it to move it.
3. If you need to move, use Ice Floes on Cooldown.
4. Maintain Living Bomb.
5. Use Mirror Image on Cooldown.
6. Use Arcane Power on Cooldown. Try to synchronize this with Alter Time and Mirror Image.
7. Use Alter Time on Cooldown with 4 Arcane Charges and Arcane Power active.
8. Cast Arcane Missiles with 4 stacks of Arcane Charges. Even if you have 2 Charges, wait for 4 Arcane Charges before casting Arcane Missiles.
9. Cast Arcane Barrage at 4 stacks of Arcane Charges if you don’t have any Arcane Missiles charges.
10. Cast Arcane Blast.

Arcane Mage Opener

Regarding the opener, it’s the trickiest part. Place your Rune of Power, your Mirror Image, pre-cast Arcane Blast, Living Bomb, Arcane Blast to reach 4 Arcane Charge, Arcane Power, then Alter Time. From here, you should have 1 or 2 Arcane Missiles charges. Use the first one, cast Arcane Blast to generate another Charge, use Arcane Barrage, Alter Time, Arcane Missiles to lose all your Arcane Missiles charges, then Arcane Barrage and continue with the single target rotation.

AoE Rotation & Priority

AoE is pretty much the same. If you play without Living Bomb, just maintain the talent that takes its place. In heavy AoE, more than 5 targets, just use Cone of Cold on Cooldown, the level 75 row talent of your choosing, Arcane Barrage on 4 charges and spam Arcane Explosion. Don’t forget to use your offensive cooldowns.

Best Gear & Stats for Arcane Mage in MoP Classic

Best in Slot (BiS Gear) aren’t as big in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Reforging is the new hype, so you can tailor your gear better than before.

The gear you should aim for are: Trinkets, Tier Sets and Weapons.

The best weapons you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Crane Staff, from Inscription.
• Je’lyu, Spirit of the Serpent, from Sha of Doubt, Temple of the Jade Serpent.
• Headmaster’s Will, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.

The best off-hands you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Red Fan, from Inscription.
• Bottle of potent potables, from Hoptallus in Stormstout Brewery.
• Scroll of Whispered Secrets, a BoE.

The best pre-raid trinkets are:

• Relic of Yu’lon, from Inscription.
• Vision of the Predator, from Striker Gad’ok, Gate of the Setting Sun.
• Ghost Iron Dragonling, from Engineering.
• Flashfrozen Resin Globule, from Vizier Jin’bak, Siege of Niuzao Temple.

MoP Classic Arcane Mage Stat Priority

Your best stat is Intellect, which should be your first priority. Then, Hit Rating and Expertise to reach a 15% chance to hit.

After that, you want Mastery and Haste. Having a good Haste baseline helps with the rotation, and Mastery is the best damage stat. We would recommend a little bit of Haste and everything else in Mastery. Critical Strike Chance isn’t great.

Consumables, Enchants & Gems for Arcane Mage in MoP Classic

The following tables outline the recommended Consumables, Enchants and Gems for Arcane Mage in Raiding and Dungeon content.

Consumables

Enchants

Gems

We hope this guide helped you improve your Arcane Mage Gameplay and better understand the spec. To check out all of our MoP Classic content, such as Class Guides, Tier Lists and more, you can browse our full library of MoP Classic Guides.