World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Arcane Mage Complete Guide (2024)

Out of every Mage specialization in World of Warcraft, Arcane is often considered the hardest to master. Much of the challenge comes down to managing your mana usage for maximum damage. But once you get the hang of it, Arcane has some of the highest potential of any DPS class in the game.

Related: World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Fire Mage Complete Guide

In Dragonflight, things are only exacerbated by the new talent trees and class reworks. The skill ceiling is higher because of the integration of new abilities, but it also cements Arcane as a highly sought-after specialization for raids and Mythic+ dungeons. If you want to learn how to become one of the best, here's everything you need to know.

Class Overview

Arcane Mage is one of the few DPS classes in the game that has to pay attention to their mana. Put simply, as they gain their class resource, Arcane Charges, they gradually spend more mana per attack to make those attacks stronger.

Therein lies the challenge of Arcane. You have to know when you should deal increased damage at higher mana usages, and when you should expend your Charges to recover that precious resource. Luckily, by picking key talents and the right race, you can make things significantly easier.

Race

While it is possible to be any race in the game and still be a Mage in Dragonflight, there are limited choices if you want to have the best synergy with Arcane.

• If you want to be Alliance, Gnome or Human are your best bets. Gnome will give you more mana to optimize your damage output, while Human is a great choice due to their increased secondary stats.
• For the Horde, you can choose between Blood Elf, Undead, or Nightborne. Blood Elf and Undead are both able to rapidly recover their mana and offer strong active abilities, while Nightborne fuels Arcane's potential by granting more magical damage.

Stat Priority

Your primary stat will be Intellect. Since Arcane Mage is a spellcaster, Intellect will grant you the vast majority of your spell damage, and it can be found on almost any cloth armor or staff in the new expansion.

Past your primary stat, you should focus on boosting your Mastery whenever possible. This dictates how much your Arcane Charges tune up your damage while influencing your maximum mana and how fast it can regenerate. Your third priority should be Versatility due to how much it can increase your DPS.

Arcane Mage Rotation

There are several spells in an Arcane Mage's arsenal, and the core rotation can change depending on how much mana you have left, if you have stacks of Clearcasting, and how many enemies there are.

• Generally, you'll want to open with Arcane Blast. This is your spammable ability and can grant you Arcane Charges with every cast.
• If there are multiple enemies, you can opt for Arcane Orb instead, which grants Arcane Charges per enemy hit.
• Once you have maximum Arcane Charges, continue to use Arcane Blast, or Arcane Explosion and Nether Tempest for multiple enemies.

• If you sense your mana beginning to lower around 25 percent, use Arcane Barrage to expend your Arcane Charges, then build them again with Arcane Blast while it naturally regenerates.

• When your enemy's health drops below 35 percent health, take advantage of the Arcane Bombardment talent and use Arcane Missiles repeatedly to finish them off.

Along with these abilities, think about hotkeying several useful cooldowns like Radiant Spark, Prismatic Barrier, or Touch of the Magi.

Arcane Mage Leveling

When it comes to leveling as an Arcane Mage, you have more free rein to change the talents as you see fit. However, you should generally follow the guidelines of your Arcane tree buffing your core rotation.

Related: World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Frost Mage Complete Guide

Gearing Up

After you hit max level, there are a few different avenues that can offer you better gear before you begin your endgame journey.

The first sources that can reward you with a better Item Level are world quests and storyline quests, whether they be the main or optional stories. Not only do these grant good starting gear, but they scale to give better pieces as you become stronger yourself.

Next, you can pick up a crafting profession or even commission orders from other crafters through the Artisan's Consortium. Because of the new quality mechanic, gear made by crafters can range from minor upgrades to rivaling endgame gear.

Lastly, you can benefit from the Great Vault, which drops high-quality gear once every week. In order to activate the Vault's rewards, you'll have to take part in raids, Mythic+ dungeons, or rated PvP like ranked arenas or battlegrounds, which only makes this option viable once you've geared sufficiently for those activities.

Gems And Enchants

Along with boosting your Item Level as much as you can, you can socket gems or enchant pieces of your gear to give you more mana and more secondary stats like Mastery and Versatility.

Arcane Mage Endgame

In endgame content like raids and Mythic+, you'll be swapping out your self-heals and utility spells for more damage, as you'll be working with tanks and healers.

When it comes to boss fights, you'll want to open with Arcane Surge, as it not only grants you additional spell damage, but it gives you a free Rune of Power. Pop Mirror Images as well to ensure a maximum DPS output.

Utility Tips

While a big focus of Arcane Mage is just how much damage you can do, don't underestimate the utility tools you still have available to you.

• Polymorph and Mass Polymorph are great choices if you want to avoid a fight with a mob, turning them into incapacitated sheep for up to one minute.
• Raids and Mythic+ dungeons can often be swamped with attacks to avoid, so use Shimmer whenever you can to move out of the way while still casting.
• Ice Block and Cryo-Freeze are your best friends in world content, making you immune to all damage while healing back 80 percent of your health.
• Invisibility or Greater Invisibility can drop your threat level in an instant, making them useful in both world content and dungeons.
• If you sense that you're going to take a lot of damage, cast Alter Time before it's inflicted, then recast it again to return to your starting health.

Next: World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Arcane Mage PvP Guide