Arcane Mage Guide - Talents, Rotations, Races & More

Level 30 Talents (21,0,0)

This build is fully going into Arcane so we can pick up Presence of Mind.

When you hit level 25 you can respec into this build and get all the way to Arcane Blast Missile Barrage. Once again, incase you skipped the giant block of red text at the top of the guide, it is highly not recommended to play or try this build until you reach 25 and can respec into it. It's simply not going to work without these 2 talents. You're going to be incredibly weak if you don't spec into Frost or Fire instead as you work your way to level 25.

1. At level 25 you'll max out Improved Channeling and put 2 points into Arcane Focus.
2. Put 5 points into Arcane Concentration, 2 points into Arcane Impact, 1 point into Arcane Blast and 1 point into Missile Barrage.
3. Next you'll put 3 points into Arcane Meditation and then finish off Arcane Impact.
4. Put your final point into Presence of Mind.

Level 60 Talents (37/3/11)

Here's a look at what we think the level 60 Arcane Mage Talent Tree will look like. As mentioned above, this guide will be updated as we go through the beta and during launch to include any other Endgame Arcane Mage Talent Trees, along with all the other information you need to excel in the endgame and Raids as a Mage.

Playable Races

Alliance - Human, Gnome & Skyborn

Horde - Orc, Troll & Undead

Recommended Races

Gnome is quite possibly the best race in the game and the one you want to pick as Alliance. Eureka! reduces the cost of your next 3 abilities and gives them 10% increased damage. Expansive Mind gives you 5% more maximum mana. Escape Artist grants you immunity to Roots and Snares.

Troll is great since you’ll be fighting a lot of beasts in the early game and they have 5% increased damage to beasts. Their Berserking buff grants you 10% casting speed for 10 seconds and they also have Rapid Regeneration which allows you to restore 50% of your health every 3 minutes.

Orc is the other competitive horde race choice. Blood Fury boosts your Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds. Shatter Curse grants immunity to Curses, Banes and reduces Magical Damage taken. Hardiness decreases stuns by 20%

For every race's full ability list, check our racial abilities guide.

Level 1-25

This is build really isn't designed for the beta since it doesn't come online until level 25. If you want to try this out you're going to need to follow our Mage Leveling Guide and play as Frost until you hit level 25, then go to your trainer, respec your talent tree, and come back to make this build.

Level 25+

The primary Skills you’ll use are Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles.

1. Open up on enemies with Arcane Blast and keep spamming it until you see Missile Barrage proc.
2. Once you have the buff from Missile Barrage, cast Arcane Missiles.
3. Rinse and Repeat, that's the entire rotation.
4. At level 30 you can use Presence of Mind to finish off a nearby enemy with Arcane Blast.

Normally I'd say you can Blink away when they get close, or Frost Nova them to move away to keep casting. You can for sure do these things, but the talent Improved Channeling is giving you 70% reduced chance to be interrupted when casting Arcane Blast, and 100% reduced reduced chance of interruption while channeling Arcane Missiles. In most cases you can just stand your ground, stick to the rotation and delete anything you come across.

If taking damage is a concern you can always open up with a Rank 1 Frostbolt before beginning the rotation, so they enemy starts with a chill on them as well.

You can check how powerful Arcane Mage is in WoW Forever in our tier list rankings.

Visit your Class Trainer often to get your new skills, levels 10 & 20 specifically have some incredible new abilities and upgrades to your current ones. Always go back to train at even levels 4, 6, 8, etc.

You're a Bakery and Drinking fountain! Always make your own food and water to prepare for your sessions. Mages get a tremendous benefit of not having to buy these consumes.

A Mages Favorite Stats are Intellect and Spirit. Intellect increases your maximum Mana and increases your Spell Critical Strike Chance. Spirit increases your Health and Mana regeneration when you're out of combat. Stamina is also great while leveling, and since part of the idea of this build is "standing your ground and keep blasting" it's going to be even more beneficial for Arcane Mage.

In group play you'll be pulling more than 1 mob at a time allowing you to get huge AOE damage from your Flamestrike, Arcane Explosion and even Blizzard. Keep in mind early on most tanks will have a hard time getting threat on multiple mobs , you want to play this by ear and make sure you aren't driving them crazy every pull.

It's quite possible that just sticking to the rotation explained above will do incredible in group play on it's own, it'll also reduce the chance of having threat problems quite a bit. Play it by ear and see what seems to be working best for you and the groups you get into.

You may be asked to sheep mobs regularly in dungeons. You can also take it upon yourself to sheep a distant caster mob that's being annoying or use it as a way for your party to get out of trouble. Speaking of trouble don't forget about the defensive power of Blizzard and Frost Nova, If things are ever getting spicy you can slow down a group of mobs with Blizzard or freeze then in place with your Frost Nova to allow your party to retreat.

Get ready for everyone to ask you for food and water. It's always wise to keep several stacks on you in preparation of this if you're heading off to join a group for any activity.

Wand

For all casters the #1 tip for leveling is to obtain wands early and upgrade them often. Tailors can make Lesser and Greater Magic wands that deal incredible DPS for their level range. Either get the Tailoring Profession and make your own or head over to the auction house to buy one!

Loot has changed in WoW forever and the location of great wands may be different from original Classic. Here's a quick rundown of wands that you can look out for to stay on top of it:

• Level 5 - Lesser Magic Wand, 11.3 DPS (Tailoring or Auction House)
• Level 13 - Greater Magic Wand, 17.5 DPS (Tailoring or Auction House)
• Level 18 - Gravestone Scepter, 29 DPS (Blackfathom Villainy Quest in Ashenvale)

While the Gravestone Scepter is technically available at level 18, the dungeon itself has enemies in the high level 20 range. You likely won't be able to obtain it this early unless you have a group of high level guildies or friends just carry you through the dungeon. Aside form new wands being available up to level 30 in WoW Forever this is likely the best wand you'll be able to obtain in the BETA.

Other

Keep Arcane Intellect and Frost Armor up at all times!

You can make portals to other cities for payment, and can even sell your Conjured Food and Water to people in town.

Auto Shoot Wand Macro

#showtooltip Shoot

/cast !Shoot