I want to show you how to be an Arcane Mage in Phase 1 of the WoW Classic Season of Discovery. Arcane is not only a lot of fun, but in phase two, we get access to Arcane Power, Power infusion, Moonkin Aura, and Innervates. Add on whatever new runes we get with the possibility of replenish showing up.
Gears
As far as gear goes, based on your raid’s kill times, you might need more or less Mana.
Talents
Here are the talents. You only need 3 points into Arcane Focus. Arcane Concentration for Clearcasting is a must-have. Improved Arcane Explosion is nice for trash but not needed for parsing bosses. You can take Magic Attunement if you don’t want the wand damage. One point in Meditation for the mana regen.
Runes
For runes, I am currently running Arcane Blast, Living Flame, and Burnout. I could see Enlightenment being better in future phases, but right now the fights are so short that it doesn’t get enough value versus the crit from Burnout.
Consumes And Buffs
Let’s talk about our consumes.
You’ll want all the world buffs: Boon from BFD, Ashenvale damage buff, and Dark Moon Faire buff. If Darkmoon Faire is in town, get the 10% damage buff as well. Do not take the 10% in buff and always take the damage buff. If you are an engineer, Heavy Dynamite and Minor Recombobulator for the extra Mana. You’ll want regular Mana potions. For food, you’ll want Smoked Sagefish and 3 MP5. You can take Elixir of Firepower for Living Flame damage and Fire Blast damage. It is a little sweaty though. You will also want Scrolls of Spirit.
Speaking of Scrolls, Mages have a new feature called Scrolls in Season of Discovery. Though, Mages identify these Scrolls, and they can provide you with some unique buffs. You’ll want to spend your SOD Gold to buy Comprehension Charms from the Reagent Vendor, and you’ll want to use them on these four Scrolls: Sthenic Lunate, Omit Kesa, Wubba Wubba and Voce Well. These tier 2 Scrolls have a chance to drop a special green scroll that is unique to Mages.
You are specifically after the following two: Scroll of Arcane Power (increases your crit by 1%) and Scroll of Arcane Recovery (gives you 8 MP5). Finally, you’ll want Blackfathom Mana Oil, which provides 2% hit and 12 MP5. Your raid may require you to use Free Action Potions or Shadow Protection Potions on Krosus, but your healer should just get good.
Rotation
Let’s talk about rotation. This may change based on where your current Mana pool is, as well as your raid’s kill times.
For the opener, I will pre-cast Arcane Blast as the tank is about to pull. I build up the four stacks of Arcane Blast and then Living Flame. Living Flame now consumes Arcane Blast and will benefit from the 60% damage increase. After that, your rotation depends on the length of the fight.
If the fight is less than 60 seconds, I will use Arcane Blast four times and then use Arcane Missiles. Repeat this for the rest of the fight. If the fight is longer than 60 seconds, I will use Arcane Blast three times and then use Arcane Missiles. Repeat this for the rest of the fight. When Living Flame is back up, I will either instantly use it or build up the four stacks again and reuse it.
If the boss is about to die, don’t bother wasting your time with Arcane Blast or Missiles. Try to squeeze the last-second Fire Blast in. You ideally want to avoid using Evocation. Obviously, if your raid’s kill times are too slow, you won’t have a choice. The amount of DPS you lose while casting it isn’t worth it with the current kill times.
Boss Strats
Baron Aqanis: You should have your range spread out on the beach and the water. This makes it less painful in the Hurricane damage. As long as you have a healer covering you, you can also stand in the hurricane and just blast. Pray you don’t get the knock-up debuff and have to run. Four Arcane Blast rotations should be good here.
Ghamoora: Don’t waste any of your Mana during the bubble phase. Apply Detect Magic so you can see the number of stacks he’s at. At 20 stacks, I start building my Arcane Blast and time my Living Flame to hit them just as the bubble breaks. If your raid can’t one-phase them, save your Evocation for the second bubble phase, and you should be able to use the four blast rotation for the entire fight.
Lady Sarevess: You can just tunnel her with the four blast rotations.
Gelihast: You can do the four blast rotation for the entire fight. If you do have Mana issues, you can usually squeeze in an Evocation during phase two. If you’re having no Mana issues at all, you can pre-build your Arcane Blast stack for the second Living Flame during his final transition.
Lorgus Jett: Jett is an annoying fight because of his Lightning Totems. The timing of them can ruin Arcane Missiles. Often, the totem dies so fast you can’t even get a full cast off. This is a hard fight to get a rhythm on. Be mindful of the timing of the totem and plan your missiles around that.
Kelris: I assume, for most of the players, Kus will be a three Arcane blast rotation fight. My guild kills him fast enough that I can for rotation now. Kus: I assume, for most of the players, Kus will be a three Arcane blast rotation fight. My guild kills him fast enough that I can for rotation now. Fire Mages are solid at going inside the portal, but it’s not worth the Mana for Arcane Mages to go inside. Try to have your raid leave you outside so you can just tunnel the boss into the whole fight.
Aku'mai: It’s pretty straightforward. Just spread out and burn the boss. Let better AOE classes handle that. It’s not worth the Mana for you to Arcane Explosion, so just a single target the boss down. If you need to Evocate, do it during his transition.
