Cataclysm Classic Arcane Mage Enchants and Consumables

Arcane Mage in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm pursue item enchantments, gems, and consumables to amplify their spellpower and intellect, which directly augments the potency and efficiency of their arcane spells, enabling them to unleash devastating magical assaults on their foes.

Enchants play a pivotal role in enhancing a Arcane Mage's capabilities. Optimal choices include:

Slot	Main Enchantment	Secondary Enchantment
Head	Arcanum of Hyjal
Shoulders	Felfire Inscription (Requires Inscription) Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone
Back	Lightweave Embroidery (Requires Tailoring) Enchant Cloak - Greater Intellect
Chest	Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Wrist	Draconic Embossment - Intellect (Requires Leatherworking) Enchant Bracer - Mighty Intellect	Socket Bracer (Requires Blacksmithing)
Hands	Enchant Gloves - Haste Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery	Synapse Springs (Requires Engineering) Socket Gloves (Requires Blacksmithing)
Waist	Ebonsteel Belt Buckle	Nitro Boosts (Requires Engineering)
Legs	Master's Spellthread (Requires Tailoring) Powerful Enchanted Spellthread
Feet	Enchant Boots - Lavawalker
Ring	Enchant Ring - Intellect (Requires Enchanting)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent
Off-Hand	Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect

Gems are essential for fine-tuning a Arcane Mage's attributes. After reaching the Hit cap, mostly via Reforging, prioritize gems that amplify Intellect. By doing so, you will meet your Meta Gem requirement of using at least three Red Gems automatically. Try to avoid socket bonuses, unless they offer at least 20 Intellect.

Sockets	Gems
	Burning Shadowspirit Diamond — make sure you meet the requirements for it to be active
	Brilliant Inferno Ruby
	Reckless Ember Topaz
	Veiled Demonseye
	Brilliant Chimera's Eye — Requires Jewelcrafting, can use up to 3
	Fractured Cogwheel — Requires Engineering

Consumables provide temporary, but impactful bonuses to a Arcane Mage's performance.

You should always be eating food that provides 90 intellect. Options include:

• Severed Sagefish Head
• Seafood Magnifique Feast
• Fortune Cookie

Your preferred is the Flask of the Draconic Mind, the best potion choice for encounters will be Volcanic Potion.

While Mana Gem is not particularly a flask/potion, use it wisely in combat. Make sure to think through if using Evocation before Mana Gem or vice-versa is the best choice for an encounter. This depends largely on downtime during encounters and how you can manage your Mana throughout the encounter.

Dense Embersilk Bandage can heal a lot of damage and help you survive, so First Aid is a key profession!

Archaeology offers you Staff of Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan as a pre-raid BiS weapon, but it it can take a long time to get, as the drop rate is very low.

Engineering provides tons of items that make your life easier, such as Loot-A-Rang, which is incredible for farming, the well-known Jeeves, MOLL-E, different kinds of repair bots, the Gnomish Army Knife.

However, the real reason why you want to have Engineering is that it provides Synapse Springs (BiS gloves enchant, usable alongside with gloves enchants), Nitro Boosts, the Grounded Plasma Shield (both in the belt slot now) and the continued use of bombs, such as Saronite Bomb or Global Thermal Sapper Charge. The Big Daddy and High-Powered Bolt Gun can also pound out substantial amounts of damage, as this video shows, making engineering also a very nice leveling profession, even at low levels (e.g. Iron Grenade).