Arcane Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.0.7
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Arcane Mage in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Arcane Mage rotation.
Arcane Mage Rotation
Welcome to our Rotation page for Arcane Mages. On this page you will find everything you need to know about actually playing the spec in Raiding scenarios.
Mythic+
The primary focus on this page is on raiding scenarios. Although the rotation is going to give pretty good results in Mythic+ as well, for a more Mythic+ oriented rotation, see our Mythic+ page.
Easy Mode
If the rotations below seem overwhelming to you, or you would like to read a more simplified version of the rotation, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page, which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation in simpler terms.
PvP
The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.
Single-Target Rotation for Arcane Mage
Use the switches below to tailor the rotation to the talents you are using or situations you expect to be facing, and it will populate the rotation priority list appropriately.
Keep in mind, some talents are so critical to the spec to function correctly, or you must take them to be able to navigate the tree properly, in which case they will not have a checkbox below and will be assumed picked. Talents that are substantial DPS boosts and often picked are pre-checked below, but if you are not running them, you can uncheck them.
- Show
Rune of Power
- Show
Siphon Storm
- Show
Radiant Spark
- Show
Nether Precision
- Show
Temporal Warp
- Show
Nether Tempest
- Show
Time-Breaching Talon equipped
- Show
Arcane Harmony
- Show
Arcane Bombardment
- Show
Conjure Mana Gem
The rotation of an Arcane Mage is outlined in the following priority list. The concept is to maintain a high and stable Mana pool during your Conserve Phase, biding time until your cooldowns are available. As soon as your cooldowns are ready, you enter the Burn Phase, where you siphon all your Mana into damage.
The Burn Phase
There are 2 types of burn phases for Arcane Mages. A "mini burn" and a "full
burn".
The difference is whether or not Evocation and
Arcane Surge are
ready.
If both are ready, it is considered a full burn; otherwise a mini burn.
You apply the burn rotation below any time
Touch of the Magi,
Rune of Power and
Radiant Spark are ready.
You can enter the (mini)Burn Phase when the following is all true:
Touch of the Magi is ready;
Rune of Power is ready;
Radiant Spark is ready;
- You have 4 Arcane Charges, or 2+ Arcane Charges and
Arcane Orb is ready;
- Cast
Evocation for
Siphon Storm.
- Cast
Time Warp if you have
Temporal Warp equipped and a Time Warp (or similar) effect is already active or has been used earlier in the fight. If no one else is around to use a Time Warp or similar effect, cast Time Warp twice.
- Cast
Arcane Orb, if ready;
- Cast
Rune of Power;
- If you are under the effect of
Time Warp (or similar effect) and
Arcane Surge is ready:
- The goal here is to burn some of our Mana and use up a portion of
our
Rune of Power before going into our
Radiant Spark rotation. You should do this with the following priority:
- Cast
Arcane Missiles if you have 2 stacks of
Clearcasting and no
Nether Precision proc;
- Cast
Arcane Blast until you have around 250k Mana remaining, or less than 5 seconds of
Rune of Power left. There is some flexibility in how low you go here with Mana based on your Mastery, as long as you make sure to keep enough Mana so you do not run out of Mana before casting
Arcane Surge;
- Cast
Arcane Missiles until 16+ stacks of
Arcane Harmony. Make sure to not interrupt the Arcane Missiles channel when you reach 16 stacks or more;
- The goal here is to burn some of our Mana and use up a portion of
our
- Cast
Radiant Spark;
- Activate
Time-Breaching Talon;
- Cast
Arcane Blast 3 times if
Arcane Surge is ready, otherwise cast
Arcane Blast 4 times;
- Cast
Arcane Surge, and any other cooldowns, like Racial abilities and on-use trinkets (Except
Time-Breaching Talon, see above), if ready;
- Cast
Nether Tempest, this will not consume a Radiant Spark charge;
- You should now have 4 stacks of
Radiant Spark on the target;
- If you are under the effects of
Time Warp (or similar effects), cast
Arcane Blast and then immediately queue up the
Arcane Barrage from the next step;
- Cast
Arcane Barrage, consuming the final Radiant Spark charge;
- Shortly after Arcane Barrage, while it is traveling toward the target,
cast
Touch of the Magi. Due to Touch of the Magi being off the global cooldown, it should apply before Arcane Barrage reaches the target;
- While Touch of the Magi is active, cast
Arcane Blast when
Nether Precision is up;
- While Touch of the Magi is active, cast
Arcane Missiles while
Clearcasting is up;
- If the target is below 35% health
(for
Arcane Bombardment), cast
Arcane Barrage shortly before
Touch of the Magi ends. The goal is to land Arcane Barrage before Touch of the Magi expires, so keep in mind travel time if you are far away;
- Cast
Arcane Blast as filler;
- Cast
Arcane Barrage during the last global of
Arcane Surge.
At the start of the fight, simply pre-cast Evocation (with
Siphon Storm and then immediately go into the Burn phase.
Conserve Phase
The Conserve Phase is deceptively straightforward but mercilessly
punishes mistakes. Once Evocation is on cooldown, the only way
to regain your Mana is by waiting for it to regenerate slowly or by using
Arcane Barrage if
Mana Adept is talented. Therefore, paying
close attention to your Mana and available spells is crucial.
During the Conserve Phase, you should try to maximize the amount of timetime spent
casting
Arcane Blast with 4 Arcane Charges while keeping your Mana
high enough for mini-burns. You can spend all your Mana if your next burn phase
is a full burn phase (so including
Evocation and
Arcane Surge,
otherwise, make sure you stay above 60% Mana, unless the boss is very close to
dying.
- Go into the burn phase above when you meet the burn phase conditions above.
(Even without
Arcane Surge and
Evocation, you can do a mini-burn without them)
- Cast
Arcane Orb when available and you do not have 4 Arcane Charges;
- Cast
Shifting Power when available;
- Cast
Arcane Missiles with 3 stacks of
Clearcasting;
- Cast
Arcane Blast with
Nether Precision;
- Cast
Arcane Missiles with
Clearcasting;
- Cast
Arcane Barrage when on 4 Arcane Charges, and you are below 60% Mana. You can skip Arcane Barrage if your next burn is a full burn phase (so including
Evocation);
- Cast
Arcane Blast as your filler.
Multi-Target Rotation for Arcane Mage
The way you switch between burn and conserve phases remains the same in Multi-Target scenarios, but there are some spell usage changes to the rotation depending on target counts.
AoE Burn Phase
Below, we list the burn phase for AoE situations. Keep in mind, the below
rotation uses the talent toggles selected at the top of the page.
All of the burn phase conditions from the single target also apply to the AoE
burn phase, like having Touch of the Magi,
Radiant Spark etc
ready.
Additionally, you should either have a charge of Arcane Orb ready,
or have 3+ Arcane Charges.
- Get into melee range, if possible.
- If you do not have a charge of
Arcane Orb ready, and do not have 3+ stacks of Arcane Charges, cast
Arcane Explosion (or
Arcane Blast if not in melee) until 3 Arcane Charges.
- Cast
Evocation for
Siphon Storm.
- Cast
Time Warp if you have
Temporal Warp equipped and a Time Warp (or similar) effect is already active or has been used earlier in the fight. If no one else is around to use a Time Warp or similar effect, cast Time Warp twice.
- Cast
Radiant Spark;
- Cast
Arcane Orb, if ready and not already on 3+ Arcane Charges. If you have 3+ Arcane Charges, cast
Arcane Explosion (or
Arcane Blast if not in melee) instead. Your target now has 1 charge of
Radiant Spark.
- Cast
Nether Tempest.
- Activate
Time-Breaching Talon;
- Cast
Arcane Surge, and any other cooldowns, like Racial abilities and on-use trinkets (Except
Time-Breaching Talon, see above), if ready. Your target should now have 2 charges of
Radiant Spark;
- Cast
Arcane Barrage after
Arcane Surge, applying the third charge of
Radiant Spark;
- Shortly after Arcane Barrage, while it is traveling toward the target,
cast
Touch of the Magi. Due to Touch of the Magi being off the global cooldown, it should apply before Arcane Barrage reaches the target;
- Cast
Arcane Blast once, applying the fourth stack of
Radiant Spark;
- Cast
Arcane Barrage (you should have 4 Arcane Charges again from
Touch of the Magi), consuming the final
Radiant Spark charge.
- While
Touch of the Magi is active, use all
Clearcasting on
Arcane Missiles (for very high
Arcane Echo damage);
- Use
Arcane Barrage whenever you have 4 Arcane Charges;
- Build Arcane Charges by casting
Arcane Orbs and
Arcane Explosions;
- After
Arcane Surge ends, cast
Shifting Power and go into the Conserve Phase;
AoE Conserve Phase
The AoE conserve rotation is practically the same as the single target
conserve rotation. The only difference is that you should cast
Arcane Explosion instead of
Arcane Blast and no longer use
consume
Clearcasting with
Arcane Missiles, unless you are
talented into
Arcane Harmony. Additionally, whenever you reach 4 Arcane
Charges, cast
Arcane Barrage.
Rotational Changes for Dragonflight Season 1 Tier Sets
The current tier set for Arcane is as follows:
Arcane Mage 2pc: For each Arcane Charge,
Arcane Blast critical strike chance is increased by 5%, and
Arcane Explosion critical strike chance is increased by 3%
Arcane Mage 4pc: When
Arcane Blast or
Arcane Explosion critically strikes at least one target, the critical strike chance of your next
Arcane Barrage is increased by 10%, stacking up to 4 times.
As an Arcane Mage, the current tier set bonuses do not impact the rotation. If you want more information on whether or not the tier bonus is worth equipping and how it impacts the best in slot list, check out our gearing page.
Important Notes for Arcane Mage
Arcane Charges: Understanding Your Mana Pool
If you are unfamiliar with Arcane, managing your Arcane Charges
can initially be a bit confusing. Arcane as a specialization is fundamentally
very straightforward but also stands apart from many specializations in that
you have full control over your damage output and resources. Ultimately, the only wild card in the Arcane rotation is
Clearcasting, and it uniquely alters the specialization.
Since
Arcane Missiles does not cost any Mana to cast when used
during Clearcasting, it functions as a way to regenerate Mana without having to
cast
Arcane Barrage. Every time you do a new pull on a boss, you will
reorganize your abilities into a different sequence due to the randomness of
Clearcasting procs. Ultimately this results in a reactive playstyle
revolving around your Mana pool.
For each Arcane Charge you have, you deal more damage with
Arcane Blast,
however, the Mana cost is also increased by 100% per charge. It is not possible
to maintain a stable Mana pool by only casting Arcane Blast at 4 Arcane Charges,
and therefore, you will have to sometimes clear your charges with
Arcane Barrage.
In conclusion, your Mana pool and Arcane Charges have inverse synergy.
The longer you remain at higher stacks of Arcane Charges,
the faster your Mana bar will deplete, but the more burst damage you will deal.
The shorter you remain at higher stacks of Arcane Charges, the
easier it will be to maintain a stable Mana pool (or possibly regenerate Mana).
However, you will deal less burst damage. Clearcasting serves as
a tool to allow you to remain at high stacks for an increased period without
penalty but occurs randomly, keeping you on your toes. Finally, during the
Burn phase, the intent is to remain at maximum permanently
Arcane Charges until your Mana pool is entirely depleted.
Spells That Benefit From Arcane Charges
Evocation is not affected by Arcane Charges, but it is still
preferable to ensure you do not clear your charges with
Arcane Barrage before casting Evocation. This is because
you will finish Evocation with 100% Mana and 4 Arcane Charges,
allowing you to immediately cast a 4 charge
Arcane Blast instead
of Mana capping for a few seconds.
Truncating Arcane Missiles
When chaining Arcane Missiles with another Arcane Missiles, you can
chain anywhere between the last 2 ticks without losing any ticks. However, in many
cases, Arcane Missiles will be followed up by a non-channeling spell,
which does not allow you to "transfer" the final tick to the next cast. Due to
this,
you will want to ensure you fully finish the Arcane Missiles channel if you
follow it up with a non-channeled spell. (
Arcane Blast for
example)
Many players will accidentally clip the last tick of the channel, canceling the
final missile and robbing them of a noticeable amount of damage.
You can solve this by using !nochannel macros, which prevent you from interrupting a channeled spell with another cast. This induces slight input lag, causing a slight delay between the end of your channel and the beginning of a new cast, so it is not recommended. For players that want maximum results, the best solution is AddOns. The easiest way to avoid missile clipping is by installing Quartz, a cast bar AddOn specifically designed to make channeled ticks easily identifiable. Unlike the in-game castbar or other AddOns, it updates dynamically with latency, so your actual tick rate is always displayed.
Effectively Handling AoE
As a specialization typically known for single target damage, AoE is
a bit of a foreign concept to some Arcane Mages. It is possible, however, to
deal very effective AoE damage as Arcane. Arcane Surge does
technically affect your AoE spells; however, it is often inefficient to
dedicate your Burn phase to AoE damage (generally speaking); however, there are
some exceptions to this rule. For example, in a dungeon environment where you
know your cooldowns will be up in timetime for the boss, it makes sense to use your
cooldowns to help clear the trash in a more timely fashion.
2 main spells are the reason Arcane Mages can do good AoE
damage, namely Arcane Explosion and
Arcane Barrage. The
idea is to cast Arcane Explosion from 0 to 4 Arcane Charges, doing significant
damage, and then following it up with a very hard-hitting Arcane Barrage,
especially with
Resonance. It is important to realize that this is
not Mana neutral, so you will eventually run out of Mana when keeping this
rotation up for prolonged periods of timetime. So make sure you keep an eye on your
Mana bar to ensure you keep enough Mana for the rest of the fight.
If you need to continue doing AoE damage for prolonged periods of timetime,
there is a Mana-neutral rotation that you can use via the use of
Rule of Threes. Instead of using
Arcane Explosion when on
3 Arcane Charges, you instead use
Arcane Blast to go from 3 Arcane
Charges to 4. Because of
Rule of Threes, the Arcane Blast going
from 3 to 4 Arcane Charges will not cost any Mana, saving a good portion of
your Mana by casting less Arcane Explosions and regaining Mana during the cast
time of the free Arcane Blast. This is only suggested when it is essential
to be able to keep up AoE damage for a long period of timetime, as Rule of Threes
is otherwise not the best talent.
If you are playing with Arcane Orb,
you should drop your stacks with
Arcane Barrage and instantly
rebuild them via the above talent. Additionally, you should do the same
Touch of the Magi.
Prismatic Barrier
Do not forget to cast this any time you have to reposition and slightly
Blink/
Shimmer is either unavailable or would move you
too far to be helpful. It lasts for 60 seconds and has a 25-second cooldown,
so be careful not to cast it if it is still active.
You can and should cast it before the start of every engagement.
Core Concepts for Arcane Mage
Arcane Mage is an elementary enough specialization to perform on a target dummy. Still, a few key factors will separate the good from the great. Learning to focus on what is essential and master the core concepts of specialization leads to overall solid performance on the damage charts. 3 major concepts form the central trinity of optimizing for success:
- Mana management during the Conserve phase;
- flawless execution during the Burn phase;
- movement management.
Managing movement is a fundamental skill shared by all the caster classes in World of Warcraft. The highly mobile nature of the Mage class allows flexible and creative ways to move during combat, making it of supreme importance that you give this the proper respect.
Mana Management During Conserve Phase
It is highly recommended you develop an instinct for your Mana regeneration rate by practicing on a target dummy or in LFR. The more Mastery you have, the faster you regenerate Mana in combat. In contrast, the more Haste you have, the quicker you will spend your Mana, making this regeneration highly variable depending on your gear level.
It is important to have a good sense of the interplay between your
Arcane Charges and your current Mana pool. Pay close attention to your timers
on encounters with cleave
and AoE if you plan on capitalizing on the
extra targets. If you need to unleash a little extra burst in the Conserve
phase for an important add, AoE opportunities, or to push a damage check,
ensure you correctly budget Mana and Rune of Power +
Touch of the Magi
in advance.
Arcane Familiar does not increase base Mana regeneration. Evocation, however,
does benefit from the extra 10% Mana from Arcane Familiar. This is further
increased through
stacking Mastery, which will increase your maximum Mana and Mana regeneration
and thus lower the number of Arcane Barrage casts per fight, allowing
you to stay at 4 Arcane Charges longer.
If you have an AddOn that allows you to detach your Mana bar, it is highly recommended you put it somewhere near the lower center of your screen so you can easily keep track of your current resource level. Newer players tend to overburn during the Conserve phase and cannot execute a complete Burn phase.
Although the Burn Phase is often seen as the most important part of the
Arcane
rotation, this does not mean that you should not try to maximize the amount
of Mana, you use during the Conserve phase, especially since you spend a long
portion of the fight in this Phase. You should never sit on 100%
Mana,
because every second spent at 100% Mana is Mana wasted. Especially with high
Mastery levels, you can cast a surprising amount of Arcane Blasts
during the Conserve phase, before you need to start using
Arcane Barrage
actively.
Executing the Burn Phase Consistently
Although the Burn Phase is only a tiny portion in terms of timetime spent,
it is not a small portion of your total damage. During your Burn Phase,
you can do enormous amounts of damage in this short time window.
Therefore, it is essential to perform your Burn Phase
correctly and consistently.
Arcane Surge should be used on cooldown wherever possible, though you
do want it to overlap with any other major damage buffs (such as
Touch of the Magi or raid mechanics that increase your damage). You should
cast
Evocation immediately upon hitting 0 Mana, so the cooldown
becomes available as quickly as possible.
Pay close attention to the Burn Phase priority list posted at the top of this page. This seems very straightforward on the surface, but a surprising number of players will stutter in the execution. Make sure you are prepared before entering the Burn phase!
Movement Management
While it is difficult to describe the best ways to position and move during a dungeon or raid encounter, it is essential to your success as an Arcane Mage.
Try and use Blink for "urgent" movement — when you need to
travel from one place to another as quickly as possible.
Prismatic Barrier is a good choice when you only need to take
a few steps, as it only costs a single GCD.
Shimmer is a great talent
as it is off GCD and does not interrupt your current cast, allowing you to
continue casting when a damaging raid mechanic spawns under you by shimmering
out of it.
Alter Time is underutilized by many players
but is an essential part of your mobility kit. This spell is fantastic for
mechanics that force you to run out of the raid and return moments later.
It is also great for dealing with dance mechanics — after the "dance"
ends, you can return to your original location without delay. Do not underestimate
Alter timetime, and do not be afraid to get creative with how you use it!
Always position yourself in a central location to fight movement. For example, if the boss is being moved in a circle, try to stay on the inside of the kite path to ensure minimal movement.
Quiet Movement
Many players will unconsciously move during fights, despite it being unnecessary. For example, sometimes the boss or adds will be moved by the tank a couple of yards. Though you are still in range to cast, you subconsciously mirror that movement, costing you global cooldowns. Consciously work to "quiet." your movement, and reduce unnecessary movement to a minimum. The best way to see this in action is to take a video of your raid, then watch yourself play. Most players will be surprised by the amount of wasted movement they commit. When you are forced to move, use the tips above, and make your path as direct and decisive as possible.
Arcane Mage: Opening Sequence
At the start of the fight, simply pre-cast Evocation (with
Siphon Storm and then immediately go into the Burn phase.
Changelog
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 18 Jan. 2022: Updated burst rotation based on latest theorycrafting and expanded on the AoE rotation.
- 13 Jan. 2022: Improve mana gem rotation and added talon usage.
- 13 Dec. 2022: Improve burn rotation slightly and add more clarity to end of the burn phase.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Added section explaining rotational changes due to the tier set.
- 30 Nov. 2022: Updated burst rotation slightly based on new theorycrafting.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight 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, Turtles and the owner of the Mage Discord server, Altered Time, where he is involved in all things Mage, and you can reach out to him directly for feedback or questions about the guide.
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