Arcane Mage Frequently Asked Questions — Shadowlands 9.2.5
On this page, we go over several of the most frequently asked questions regarding Arcane Mage in World of Warcraft — Battle for Azeroth Shadowlands 9.2.5. This will be updated as more common repeated questions surface over the course of the expansion.
How much Haste should Arcane Mage use?
There are no haste caps for Arcane Mages.
However, depending on your chosen talents, and your other stats, Haste will lose some value at higher levels. To make sure you run with optimal stats, it is advised to use Raidbots Stat Weights to actively keep your stats up to date (see our Raidbots guide).
How good is Arcane Mage in Shadowlands Season 3 (Patch 9.2)?
All three Mage specs are very competitive with eachother in 9.2. Arcane is one of the best raiding and Mythic+ specs, with very little downsides.
Which race is best for Arcane Mage?
Troll is the best race for Arcane Mage. However, all races are very close in DPS and it generally does not matter which race you pick.
For a full overview of the DPS of every race, check the simulations page.
Should I Use Rune of Power or Incanter's Flow?
Rune of Power and Incanter's Flow are relatively close in overall DPS, with Rune of Power generally winning out.
There are some reasons that could stop you from running Rune of Power. Below we have listed the reasons to not run Rune of Power:
- There are raid mechanics which you can not plan for in advance that may
cause you to have to move out of your
Rune of Power.
- There is a lot of movement required on the fight in general.
- It is also worth noting that
Rune of Power is a lot harder to play with than
Incanter's Flow, so it should not be used when you are not very comfortable with the spec and fight.
When Should I Enter the Burn Phase?
You can enter the Burn Phase whenever you have Arcane Power and Touch of the Magi ready, and you have at least 50% Mana (30% if Overpowered is talented).
What is important to note here, is that there are no requirements in regards
to Evocation. A lot of players think Evocation needs to be (almost)
ready before you can enter the Burn Phase, but this is not true. If Evocation
is not ready, you simply start your Burn phase, and when you run out of Mana,
you start your Conserve Phase. Then when Evocation is ready, you use it to
generate back to full Mana and continue your Conserve Phase. This also works
the other way around; when Evocation is (about to be) ready, you should make
sure you are low on Mana, so you can use it right as it becomes available. You
do not have to save it for your Burn Phase. It is important to keep both
Arcane Power and Evocation on cooldown as much as possible.
Changelog
- 31 May 2022: Page reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 22 Jan. 2022: Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 01 Nov. 2021: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 28 Jun. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 23 Nov. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands Launch. Changed balance question for level 60.
- 21 Oct. 2020: Updated the balance question now that prepatch has been out for a week.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Mage Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Dutchmagoz. Dutchmagoz is a Mythic raider in one of the top raiding guilds, Angered, owner of the Mage theorycrafting website Altered Time, and the owner of the Mage Discord server, Altered Time.
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