Arcane Mage DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.2

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.

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.

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.

The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.

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 Mage Arcane 10.2 Class Set 4pc
• Show Siphon Storm
• Show Radiant Spark
• Show Nether Precision
• Show Temporal Warp
• Show Nether Tempest
• Show Arcane Bombardment
• Show Conjure Mana Gem
• Show Balefire Branch
• Show Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle
• Show Belor'relos, the Suncaller
• Show Nymue's Unraveling Spindle
• Show Arcane Harmony

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.

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 and Radiant Spark are ready.

You can enter the (mini)Burn Phase when the following is all true:

• Touch of the Magi is ready within 5 seconds;
• Radiant Spark is ready;
• You have 4 Arcane Charges, or 2+ Arcane Charges and Arcane Orb is ready;

1. Cast Evocation for Siphon Storm.
2. 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.
3. Cast Arcane Orb, if ready;
4. Use Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle whenever it is ready;
5. Activate Balefire Branch as long as there are 20 seconds or left less on Siphon Storm. If you do not want to track the Siphon Storm timer, you should use it whenever you are a couple of seconds away from casting Radiant Spark;
6. If you are under the effect of Time Warp (or similar effect) and Arcane Surge is ready:
   1. The goal here is to burn some of our Mana before going into our Radiant Spark rotation. You should do this with the following priority:
   2. Cast Arcane Missiles if you have 2 stacks of Clearcasting and no Nether Precision proc. You should immediately queue up Arcane Blast while channeling Arcane Missiles, so that Arcane Missiles is cancelled when the global cooldown is over . If you have Arcane Battery (the Mage Arcane 10.2 Class Set 4pc proc), do not cancel the Arcane Missiles early;
   3. Cast Arcane Blast until you have around 250k Mana remaining. 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. Generally, 50-60% Mana should be fine;
   4. Cast Arcane Missiles until 16+ stacks of Arcane Harmony. Make sure not to interrupt the Arcane Missiles channel when you reach 16 stacks or more;
7. Channel Nymue's Unraveling Spindle;
8. Cast Radiant Spark, and any other cooldowns, like Racial abilities and on-use trinkets (if not listed separately elsewhere), if ready;
9. Cast Arcane Blast 3 times if Arcane Surge is ready, otherwise cast Arcane Blast 4 times;
10. Cast Nether Tempest, this will not consume a Radiant Spark charge;
11. Cast Arcane Surge;
12. Use Mana Gem right after casting Arcane Surge;
13. You should now have 4 stacks of Radiant Spark on the target;
14. Cast Arcane Blast and then immediately queue up the Arcane Barrage from the next step;
15. Cast Arcane Barrage, consuming the final Radiant Spark charge;
16. 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;
17. While Touch of the Magi is active, cast Arcane Blast when Nether Precision is up;
18. While Touch of the Magi is active, cast Arcane Missiles while Clearcasting is up. You will want to cancel channeling Arcane Missiles for a Arcane Blast whenever the global cooldown has finished. This is most easily achieved by simply queuing up Arcane Blast while Arcane Missiles is ticking. If you have Arcane Battery (the Mage Arcane 10.2 Class Set 4pc proc), do not cancel the Arcane Missiles early;
19. 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;
20. Cast Arcane Blast as filler;
21. When Siphon Storm ends, cast Shifting Power. Radiant Spark and Touch of the Magi should be almost up again, allowing you to immediately go into a mini-burn;

1. Cast Evocation for Siphon Storm.
2. Use Arcane Barrage if you have 4 Arcane Charges and Touch of the Magi is ready.
3. Cast Touch of the Magi.
4. Cast Arcane Orb if you do not have 4 Arcane Charges.
5. Cast Nether Tempest if you have 4 Arcane Charges, and it is not up or has less than 3 seconds remaining, and both Arcane Surge and Rune of Power are currently not active.
6. Cast Arcane Surge.
7. Cast Presence of Mind if Arcane Surge would run out before you can finish your next Arcane Blast.
8. Use Mana Gem when you are at 85% Mana or lower and have 1 or 0 Clearcasting stacks.
9. Cast Arcane Blast if Nether Precision is up.
10. Cast Arcane Missiles when Clearcasting is up.
11. Cast Arcane Blast.
12. Cast Evocation when out of Mana.
13. If you run out of Mana before Evocation is available, simply use Arcane Barrage to reset your Arcane Charges and continue like normal until Evocation is available.

At the start of the fight, simply pre-cast Evocation (with Siphon Storm) and then immediately go into the Burn 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.

1. 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)
2. Cast Arcane Orb when available and you do not have 4 Arcane Charges;
3. Cast Shifting Power when available;
4. Cast Arcane Missiles with 3 stacks of Clearcasting;
5. Use Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle whenever it is ready;
6. Use Belor'relos, the Suncaller whenever it is ready, and Arcane Surge is not becoming available in the next 20 seconds. The goal is to maximize the amount of usages, but it is important you do not put your other on-use trinket on cooldown right before you need to use it during Arcane Surge;
7. Cast Arcane Blast with Nether Precision;
8. Cast Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting;
9. Cast Nether Tempest if you have 4 Arcane Charges, and it is not up or has less than 3 seconds remaining.
10. 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);
11. Cast Arcane Blast as your filler.

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.

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.

1. Get into melee range, if possible.
2. 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.
3. Cast Evocation for Siphon Storm.
4. 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.
5. 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;
6. Cast Radiant Spark;
7. Cast Nether Tempest.
8. Cast Arcane Surge, and any other cooldowns, like Racial abilities and on-use trinkets, if ready. Your target should now have 1 charge of Radiant Spark;
9. Use Mana Gem right after casting Arcane Surge;
10. Cast Arcane Barrage after Arcane Surge, applying the second charge of Radiant Spark.
11. 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;
12. If you do have Orb Barrage talented and it procs (applying the third stack of Radiant Spark), cast a single Arcane Blast (applying the fourth stack of Radiant Spark). If Orb Barrage did not proc, cast Arcane Barrage (applying the third stack of Radiant Spark) followed by Arcane Orb (applying the fourth stack), unless Orb Barrage proceed off the latest Arcane Barrage (which would apply the fourth stack).
13. If you do not have Orb Barrage talented: Cast Presence of Mind followed by Arcane Blast twice, applying the third and fourth stack of Radiant Spark;
14. Cast Arcane Barrage to consume the fourth stack of Radiant Spark;
15. Use Arcane Barrage whenever you have 4 Arcane Charges. If you have Orb Barrage talented, keep an eye out on when it procs. If it procs, immediately cast Arcane Barrage again. If you are lucky, you can end up chain-casting Arcane Barrages through most of Touch of the Magi;
16. If you have Arcane Battery (the Mage Arcane 10.2 Class Set 4pc proc) cast Arcane Missiles.
17. Build Arcane Charges by casting Arcane Orbs and Arcane Explosions. Keep an eye out on extra Arcane Charges due to Reverberate;
18. After Arcane Surge ends, cast Shifting Power and go into the 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. Keep an eye out of Reverberate and Orb Barrage procs giving you Arcane Charges. Lastly, if you have Arcane Battery (the Mage Arcane 10.2 Class Set 4pc proc) cast Arcane Missiles.

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.

• Arcane Barrage
• Arcane Blast
• Nether Tempest

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

1. Mana management during the Conserve phase;
2. flawless execution during the Burn phase;
3. 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.

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 + Touch of the Magi and Radiant Spark 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.

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!

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.

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.

At the start of the fight, simply pre-cast Evocation (with Siphon Storm and then immediately go into the Burn phase).