Arcane Mage DPS Stat Priority in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Arcane Mage
  • 3. Arcane Mage Strengths
  • 4. Arcane Mage Weaknesses
  • 5. Arcane Mage Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics for Arcane Mage
  • 2. Talent Choice for Arcane Mage
  • 3. Stat Choice for Arcane Mage
  • 4. Basic Rotation for Arcane Mage
    • 4.1. The Burn Phase
    • 4.2. The Conserve Phase
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Arcane Mage Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources of Arcane Mage
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Arcane Mage
  • 4. Important Procs for Arcane Mage
  • 5. DPS Cooldowns for Arcane Mage
  • 6. Defensive and Utility Abilities for Arcane Mage
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Arcane Mage
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Arcane Mage
    • 2.1. Single Target
    • 2.2. Heavy Cleave/AoE
    • 2.3. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 10. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 10.1. Arcane Mage War Mode Talents
  • 11. ChangeLog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Azerite Traits for Arcane Mage
  • 3. Outer Ring Traits for Arcane Mage
    • 3.1. Generic Outer Ring Traits
    • 3.2. Arcane Mage specific Outer Ring Traits
  • 4. Middle Ring Traits for Arcane Mage
  • 5. Inner Ring Traits for Arcane Mage
  • 6. Azerite Traits Rotation Changes and Details for Arcane Mage
  • 7. Relative strength of Azerite Traits for Arcane Mage
    • 7.1. Single Target Azerite Traits comparison for Arcane Mage
      • 7.1.1. Outer Ring Trait Comparisons for Arcane Mage on Single Target
      • 7.1.2. Middle Ring Trait Comparisons for Arcane Mage on Single Target
    • 7.2. AoE/Cleave Azerite Traits comparison for Arcane Mage
      • 7.2.1. Outer Ring Trait Comparisons for Arcane Mage on AoE/Cleave
      • 7.2.2. Middle Ring Trait Comparisons for Arcane Mage on AoE/Cleave
    • 7.3. Inner Ring Trait Comparisons for Arcane Mage
  • 8. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List for Arcane Mage
    • 1.1. The Burn Phase
    • 1.2. Conserve Phase
  • 2. Important Notes for Arcane Mage
    • 2.1. Arcane Charges: Understanding Your Mana Pool
    • 2.2. Spells That Benefit From Arcane Charges
    • 2.3. Truncating Arcane Missiles
    • 2.4. Effectively Handling AoE
    • 2.5. Rune of Power
    • 2.6. Prismatic Barrier
  • 3. Core Concepts for Arcane Mage
    • 3.1. Mana Management During Conserve Phase
    • 3.2. Executing the Burn Phase Consistently
    • 3.3. Movement Management
      • 3.3.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Arcane Mage: Opening Sequence
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Arcane Mage in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Arcane Mage Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Arcane Mage Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Arcane Mage
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. Mythic+ Azerite Traits
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Having High Downtime
  • 2. Going into the Burn Phase at the Wrong Time
  • 3. Ending the Fight on High Mana
  • 4. Not Knowing How To Sim Yourself
  • 5. Analyzing Your Mistakes as an Arcane Mage
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Battle for Azeroth Frequently Asked Questions for Arcane Mage
    • 1.1. Should I Use Rune of Power or Incanter's Flow?
    • 1.2. When Should I Enter the Burn Phase?
    • 1.3. Do I Use Reverberate or Nether Tempest for Dungeons?
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. ChangeLog
• ×Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Arcane Mage
  • 2. Arcane Mage: Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Arcane Mage
  • 2. Enchants for Arcane Mage
  • 3. Consumables for Arcane Mage
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons for Arcane Mage
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. DeathNote
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros
    • 2.1. Generic Macros for Mages
      • 2.1.1. Stopcast Blink
      • 2.1.2. 1-Button Block
      • 2.1.3. Block Cancel
    • 2.2. Specific Macros for Arcane Mages
      • 2.2.1. Stopcast Displacement
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. Azerite Gear for Arcane Mage
  • 2. Evaluating Upgrades
  • 3. Trinket Notes for Arcane Mage
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we explain what the best statistics are for Arcane Mages in World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth 8.0.1, how the class benefits from each of them.

The statistics priority is important as it influences itemisation choices (gear, enchants, and gems).

The other pages of our Arcane Mage guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Dutchmagoz. Dutchmagoz is a Mythic raider in UnknownError, owner of the Mage theorycrafting website Altered Time, and an admin of the Mage Discord server, Halls of the Guardian.

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

• 12 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.

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