This guide is simply intended to provide
a general overview of the Arcane Mage. For a far more in-depth
and highly detailed resource on this class, check out the
Killer Mage guide, here (fully updated for Wrath of
the Lich Ling.)
1.0 - The Arcane Mage
Arcane Mages represent massive and continued burst DPS so far as mages
go, even surpassing that of the much vaunted heavy fire mage once you obtain the proper gear. However, that's just it, without the amount of mana required to sustain Arcane's massive DPS you fall far short of par.
Additionally Arcane Mages see much less light in the Arena as opposed
to cookie cutter 17/0/44 Frost
Mages or 17/44/0 Fire
mage PvP specs,
often due to the simple fact that either of those will be a direct
improvement over arcane. However, see the video in the PvP section
(below) for 61/0/0 Arcane pwnage.
All is not lost, with proper control, skills, and of course gear,
Arcane can still succeed quite nicely at brining the pain in PvP, earlier
raid instances, and much more so on into the later end raiding
game EX: Mount Hyjal & Black Temple
NOTE: The below section is nearly identical for all three specializations
of mage, this is due to the usage of almost entirely the same stats for
any mage no matter the talent build/elemental specialization.
4.0 - Number Crunching
Spell Hit - 12.6 = 1%
Spell Critical - 22.1 = 1% Spell Penetration - 1 = 1 Lost point of Resistance Spell Haste - 15.7 = 1%/0.025 seconds off of Global Cooldown & Spell Cast Time
Spell Hit Cap W/ (3/3) Elemental Precision = 164 For Fire & Frost/126 (Frostbolt Only) Spell Hit Cap W/ (5/5) Arcane Focus = 76 for Arcane Spell Hit Cap W/ (3/3) Elemental Precision & (3/5) Arcane Focus = 126 for Fire, Frost & Arcane
4.1 - Spell Hit, Crit, etc.
The Numbers above detail the percentage to which each point of +Spell Damage actually effects any given spell. For instance, 1 point of spell damage does not automatically equal an increase of one damage, rather it will increase it to a percentage as listed above.
If the spell you're looking for isn't listed above then simply take the base casting time(without talents) and divide it by 3.5. However, a different formula will apply to AoE spells.
What to shoot for when entering Karazhan & Heroics:
If you simply want to make certain you're good to begin attempting karazhan and heroics try aiming for the stats below as an absolute minimum, surpassing them however is recommended to make things overall quite easier.
Additionally, you can downgrade these stats somewhat for the easier heroic dungeons as Karazhan is definitely more challenging than most if not all of them.
These numbers should cover you for passing Karazhan into the 25-man raiding content, statistics such as spell hit will be notably harder to achieve prior to gearing up in Karazhan & Heroics quie a bit. Otherwise if you have this or higher by the time you eclipse Karazhan you'll be fine.
Note: As this is a PvE gear guide I'll only list
the PvP rewards capable of being obtained via Honor, arena rewards
are however viable alternatives to many pieces of gear.
Many pieces of gear will be equally useful to both fire, frost, and arcane mages, the only few pieces that really differ are Spellfire Vs. Frozen Shadowweave and a couple little rings.
Arcane mages have all the powers to level very quickly, but they
will do it even faster with a full blown 1-80 leveling guide, such
as Zygor's.
Every step of the way, what to do, where to go, is right there on your
main screen at all times. Quests automatically update as you complete
them and waypoints are also set, automatically. You may never have
to look at your quest log again.
It's much like having an expert friend looking over your shoulder as
you level, giving you constant pointers on what to do next. Check
it out here (and grab your copy) or read the review
of Zygor's Guide first.
