Arcane Mage DPS Stat Priority — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

1. The Basics of Stats for Arcane Mage

The following is a good guideline for stats for Arcane Mages:

1. Intellect;
2. Critical Strike;
3. Haste;
4. Mastery;
5. Versatility.

Intellect is by far the best stat, which means that in almost any cases, an item of higher item level will be better. All of the secondary (non-intellect) stats are very close in value, despite the way they are ordered on our list. We encourage players to sim themselves, if possible, to determine what stats you should aim for according to your current distribution, as this may change depending on your current values. This is because a deficiency of one stat will often cause it to become high in value, relative to the others, until you reach a "normalized" value. A sim can be very easily run by almost anyone using the Raidbots Stat Weights tool.

These statistics have been obtained by combining common sense, in-game testing, and simulations using SimulationCraft.

2. Arcane Mage: Getting a Better Understanding

2.1. Statistics Explanations

Intellect is your primary stat. You should look for this stat in all of your upgrades. It provides you with Spell Power, which increases the damage of your spells.

Mastery, thanks to Mastery: Savant, increases your Mana pool and Mana regeneration, allowing you to cast more spells at maximum Arcane Charges between Evocations. Savant also increases the damage gain per Arcane Charge.

Haste increases the cast speed of your spells. It also reduces the cooldown of Arcane Barrage.

Critical Strike increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and abilities.

Versatility is a flat-out damage done increase and damage taken reduction.

3. Changelog