7.1.5 - Arcane Mage Guide - Updated: 02-16-2017

[x1xruex1x]

Aside of all the trinket stuff, I'm finding that with luck, and sephuz's secret, I'm able to be at a 53% haste rating every 30 seconds for 10 seconds. Fight depending that is. If there are interrupts, dispells, or frost novae targets then it helps.

Im a 35/20/31/2 for Crit/Haste/Mastery/Vers

When I proc Mark of the Claw, and get a Sephuz's Secret proc, I sit at: 39/53/31/2

Im not personally a fan of flaunting legendary increases around since not everyone has them, but I know a lot of people tend to chance upon the infamous sephuz's secret and discard it as a useful legendary. I'm just finding it to be rather useful. I'm combo'ing it with my kil that I just got, and in fights where I can't utilize it, I jump over to the Shard of the Exodar.

Overall, it's just a little insight to what I've been playing around with. I'm really enjoying the Mark of the Claw so far as I feel like I get more engaged with what I'm casting when I see the buff. Whereas Satyr just had me sitting there and not paying attention to it's proc nature.

[seoh]

My Icon of Rot is pulling about 6% of my overall damage, beating out Touch of the Magi, Hidden Satyr, and sometimes Mark of Aluneth. Just in some of the tests I've done. It's doing solid damage output and the +stat is good imo. I just don't get how it's ranking so low

% Damage can be very misleading. A more useful stat is the actual damage, if you want to know how valuable it is. For instance, if you simply do less damage for a variety of reasons, but your trinket procs the same amount, then it will do a larger % of your damage.

Another contributing factor could be rng. If a trinket procs slightly more or less, it will do an according amount of damage. I noticed this when I was using empowered ruby. Some fights I got terribly unlucky and it proc'd once. Other times it was doing 6+% single target. Getting trinket procs during ap/rop is also highly beneficial. Also, I believe some of these trinket procs rates are elevated by haste, which with less quickening probably makes them slightly worse.

Finally, and the most important point has to do with the 35th trait. The 35th trait makes int scale better and better. This results in int stat sticks, int trinkets with procs much better. To add, arcane's 35th only amplifies arcane damage (other classes 35th modifies all damage). So assuming this modifies the damage of these trinkets, since none of them do arcane, most of these proc trinkets do not have their damage boosted at all.

That is why trinkets with raw stats (stat sticks, arcano) tend to be weighted so highly. They have growing value as you approach lvl 54 along with being very consistent. Trinkets like metronome and whispers are strong because they give you a large influx of haste, which scales damage in a potent way, not just a flat dmg proc.

[x1xruex1x]

Thank you for the input

[Aelyra]

Hey guys !
I just want to be sure of one thing, i've read everywhere that mastery was the way to go for arcane mage in 7.1.5... In your guide, Crit > Haste > Mastery > Versa... Am I dreaming ? How comes there is such a contradiction b/w different sources ?

Respectfully,
Aelyra

[Kenos]

I just want to be sure of one thing, i've read everywhere that mastery was the way to go for arcane mage in 7.1.5... In your guide, Crit > Haste > Mastery > Versa... Am I dreaming ? How comes there is such a contradiction b/w different sources ?

mastery gets relevant once you get lots of haste trinket procs (whispers in the dark, erratic metronome).

My personal statweights are pretty much all equal, (ranging from 11.70 to 11.28, with int being at 14.21, i'm using arcanocrystal and urn, my stats are ~9k crit, ~7k haste, ~5k versatility & mastery) so I pretty much only go for itemlvl at this point. To get any accurate results, it's probably best to sim yourself.

[x1xruex1x]

Hey guys !
I just want to be sure of one thing, i've read everywhere that mastery was the way to go for arcane mage in 7.1.5... In your guide, Crit > Haste > Mastery > Versa... Am I dreaming ? How comes there is such a contradiction b/w different sources ?

Respectfully,
Aelyra

@Aelyra,

The reason I've chosen to go with Crit > Haste > Mastery > Vers is a couple of reasons.
Primarily because mana is not much of a concern any longer, even without the kilt you can easily conserve once you're low enough, and if you enter a burn at the right %Mana level you won't run out and complete it just fine (given that it's -60% reduced mana costs during AP while using OP).

So having massive mastery didn't seem logical any longer, especially since it takes more mastery rating to get a +1% damage increase on your select AC affected spells.

Whereas Crit and Haste both affect every spell you have, and can allow for harder hits, and increased ticks per casted instance.

I have a full set of mastery gear with minimal focus on the other stats, and I roll around 51-53% mastery when buffed fully. It's a struggle to burn my mana out, and in turn my AP doesnt align with Evo and things get wonky over time. As for the damage output, in my trials I've seen it sit around low 300's high 200's in the DPS range which peaks only hitting about 500 at most. Whereas the Crit/Haste build I'm hitting 700-800 on occasions more frequently, and consistently am in the 300's unless it's a really bad fight or I fail mechanically.

However, I'm not ruling mastery out completely. I'm sure there's a way to hone in and make it work, I just haven't had any luck with it as of yet.

So, yes, you're not dreaming about what I said, but it doesn't mean it's the only way to go. Give us some ideas of what your dps looks like.

Also remember, I'm not a perfect player, I tend to mess up rotations and priorities because I'm in the habit of leading others during raid and telling them what to do so they don't wipe us or themselves. So i get distracted very easily.

But yea, let us know what your output looks like, if you have a specific rotation or priority list for spells, share that as well. I'd be interested in seeing what you have to say. Especially because I know that Arcane has multiple play styles, just a lot of us gravitate towards the meta and stick to it exclusively. *hint hint* I've been using Nether Tempest during Spellblade Aluriel and it works better than either of the other two talent choices overall, especially w/ my haste procs via the mark of the claw, and in Heroic i look forward to interrupting the fire elementals and getting sephuz's secret procs for even more haste consistently.

[x1xruex1x]

I just want to be sure of one thing, i've read everywhere that mastery was the way to go for arcane mage in 7.1.5... In your guide, Crit > Haste > Mastery > Versa... Am I dreaming ? How comes there is such a contradiction b/w different sources ?

mastery gets relevant once you get lots of haste trinket procs (whispers in the dark, erratic metronome).

My personal statweights are pretty much all equal, (ranging from 11.70 to 11.28, with int being at 14.21, i'm using arcanocrystal and urn, my stats are ~9k crit, ~7k haste, ~5k versatility & mastery) so I pretty much only go for itemlvl at this point. To get any accurate results, it's probably best to sim yourself.

Kenos,

Lol you got to them just before i finished my post!

Anywho, could you share your full stat weight numbers?
I'm trying to set up PAWN (addon) to have multiple builds in it, and I have my own personal one which I suck w/ weights so I dont think it's really good at it's job, but I'd like to see what yours says about my gearing and backup gear I have.

[Kenos]

Anywho, could you share your full stat weight numbers?
I'm trying to set up PAWN (addon) to have multiple builds in it, and I have my own personal one which I suck w/ weights so I dont think it's really good at it's job, but I'd like to see what yours says about my gearing and backup gear I have.

or the pawn string: ( Pawn: v1: "Kenosmage": Intellect=14.21, CritRating=11.70, HasteRating=11.28, MasteryRating=11.32, Versatility=11.54 )

That's single target with amp, resonance, rop, erosion and OP, my exact stats are 9367 crit, 7242 haste, 5125 versatility and 5039 with 44122 int (that's with flask and crit food)

Oh, I'm also using satyr enchant, though I'm considering switching to mark of the claw with all the AoE situations nighthold has. Also i've got an 880 arcway neck (the one with 5% max mana), when i simmed it against the one chronomatic anomaly drops (versatility mastery iirc) it only got outvalued once the chronomatic neck hit about 905-910.

I've also got the t19 4pc as well as rhonin's bracer and the blink chest for a statstick. Both 2pc and bracers affect my mastery statweight. 4pc would as well if it worked in simcraft, so in reality mastery is worth even less for me. I sometimes do have issues with running oom without evocation up, but it doesn't really want to make me go for more mastery, since I also do have some situations when evocation is off cd, but i just can't for the love of god get rid of my mana while not overcapping arcane missiles.

Anyways, all of that might change once i get my hands on a whispers in the dark or high ilvl metronome.

[x1xruex1x]

....
or the pawn string: ( Pawn: v1: "Kenosmage": Intellect=14.21, CritRating=11.70, HasteRating=11.28, MasteryRating=11.32, Versatility=11.54 )

That's single target with amp, resonance, rop, erosion and OP, my exact stats are 9367 crit, 7242 haste, 5125 versatility and 5039 with 44122 int (that's with flask and crit food)
...
Anyways, all of that might change once i get my hands on a whispers in the dark or high ilvl metronome.

@Kenos,

Thank you for the stat weights ^_^ Greatly appreciated!

I'll trial myself with some of your strings to see how it pans out for myself ^_^

[Burra]

Hi guys, I'm very sorry if this is posted somewhere else and I missed it, but I'm still a bit confused on timing of RoP, MoA, AP, and Evoc.

Should you try to line them all up every time, thus missing out on potential extra RoP/MoA's?

Or should you be going for something closer to this (sorry if my times are off, but I think you get the idea):

Opener (RoP/MoA/AP)
01:00 (RoP/MoA)
01:30 (RoP/AP)
02:00 (RoP/MoA)
03:00 (RoP/MoA/AP)

I feel like I get better damage on the dummy lining everything up with AP, but I don't want the dummy to be ME! Thanks guys.

[x1xruex1x]

Hi guys, I'm very sorry if this is posted somewhere else and I missed it, but I'm still a bit confused on timing of RoP, MoA, AP, and Evoc.

Should you try to line them all up every time, thus missing out on potential extra RoP/MoA's?

Or should you be going for something closer to this (sorry if my times are off, but I think you get the idea):

Opener (RoP/MoA/AP)
01:00 (RoP/MoA)
01:30 (RoP/AP)
02:00 (RoP/MoA)
03:00 (RoP/MoA/AP)

I feel like I get better damage on the dummy lining everything up with AP, but I don't want the dummy to be ME! Thanks guys.

@Burra,

Goal would be to never cap on RoP charges. so ideally, the above is pretty on point. In reality, things get messy sometimes or you may not be able to sync those items up due to an incoming mechanic that'll require relocation or so.

Aim is to have RoP w/ MoA and when able to, RoP w/ MoA & AP. Just sometimes doesn't happen that way. Think of it like having mini-burn phases where you don't have AP ready but you have RoP and/or MoA ready. I would say, it's best to try to save MoA to always go with a RoP just for the extra damage it provides. but as with before, given that you wont have to be moving away from the RoP due to a mechanic or so.

[Asara]

i usually use rop/moa/ap in the opener, and after i done i use rop again to burn my AM charges. Its off cd on time again for the next MoA

[x1xruex1x]

i usually use rop/moa/ap in the opener, and after i done i use rop again to burn my AM charges. Its off cd on time again for the next MoA

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[Haruichi]

i usually use rop/moa/ap in the opener, and after i done i use rop again to burn my AM charges. Its off cd on time again for the next MoA

/\

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That's only part of the answer to the question asked. Making sure MoA go with RoP isn't dificult. The initial question had three variables: RoP, MoA and AP. Do you, in fact, always sync them - meaning, do you purposefully keep MoA off CD for 30 secs until it lines up with *both* RoP and AP. As far as I can gather, math hasn't been done to provide a definitive answer. I saw Kythos make a qualified guesstimate that on shorter fights (4 mins-ish), it's better to sync all three (and use your RoP2 on a mini-burst offloading AMs), but on longer fights you're better off having three types of burst phases: 1) AP, MoA RoP; 2) MoA, RoP and 3) AP, RoP. I underline: I've not done any math to substantiate the merit of these notions.

[x1xruex1x]

Hi guys, I'm very sorry if this is posted somewhere else and I missed it, but I'm still a bit confused on timing of RoP, MoA, AP, and Evoc.

Should you try to line them all up every time, thus missing out on potential extra RoP/MoA's?

Or should you be going for something closer to this (sorry if my times are off, but I think you get the idea):

Opener (RoP/MoA/AP)
01:00 (RoP/MoA)
01:30 (RoP/AP)
02:00 (RoP/MoA)
03:00 (RoP/MoA/AP)

I feel like I get better damage on the dummy lining everything up with AP, but I don't want the dummy to be ME! Thanks guys.

@Burra,

Goal would be to never cap on RoP charges. so ideally, the above is pretty on point. In reality, things get messy sometimes or you may not be able to sync those items up due to an incoming mechanic that'll require relocation or so.

Aim is to have RoP w/ MoA and when able to, RoP w/ MoA & AP. Just sometimes doesn't happen that way. Think of it like having mini-burn phases where you don't have AP ready but you have RoP and/or MoA ready. I would say, it's best to try to save MoA to always go with a RoP just for the extra damage it provides. but as with before, given that you wont have to be moving away from the RoP due to a mechanic or so.

That's only part of the answer to the question asked. Making sure MoA go with RoP isn't dificult. The initial question had three variables: RoP, MoA and AP. Do you, in fact, always sync them - meaning, do you purposefully keep MoA off CD for 30 secs until it lines up with *both* RoP and AP. As far as I can gather, math hasn't been done to provide a definitive answer. I saw Kythos make a qualified guesstimate that on shorter fights (4 mins-ish), it's better to sync all three (and use your RoP2 on a mini-burst offloading AMs), but on longer fights you're better off having three types of burst phases: 1) AP, MoA RoP; 2) MoA, RoP and 3) AP, RoP. I underline: I've not done any math to substantiate the merit of these notions.

@Haruichi,

I think I answered how I work this above. I've quoted what I had. Asara expanded briefly on what I had.

Essentially it comes down to judgement based on the fight. If you can jive things up within a reasonable fashion, then do it. if not, then use what you can while attempting to empower them.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to provide any math to backup either scenario, as I personally feel that it's a minor impact on the larger scheme of things to be handling empowered MoA's. In the right case, I'll hold off on casting MoA to get the most out of it, but often times, it's a crapshoot as to whats really going on as that'll determine if I need to bank it til I can combo it or not. Sometimes you can't bank it. Think Skorpyron for example. Let's say you're getting close to his enrage and you really need to put the pressure on his shell so you can get one more expose phase in order to off the beast. I'm just going to throw what I can, when I can, at the boss. In scenarios like that, if you start banking to align things, theres a chance that it can cost the damage that's needed to win the fight.

Now,.. this is a rare scenario, and I've only ever seen him enrage once, and but I can attest that sometimes I'll use my MoA thinking that I'll have enough time before the next expose phase, just to find out some other dps came out of the woodwork and started going to town on the boss. In turn he's exposed way sooner than expected. So what do I do? I can't foresee something like that occurring as it's not every time.

These are the scenarios I'm basing my information on. It's all based on what's transpiring. If you lock yourself to "I must cast X at Y time, regardless of Z", then you're going to miss on opportunities in the fight. The game is dynamic to a good extent during these encounters, so locking yourself to a perfect rotation is near impossible.

For those skilled, and lucky enough, to get that perfect rotation off on a fight, I commend you for the rare chance.

So yea, in the end, my TL;DR is just this: use your best judgement on the type of fight, the scenario at hand, and the sort of luck you tend to have. You're going to have times where you have mini-burns, and full burns. Just got to judge it for yourself. No math equation is going to tell you exactly how to play..

[Maerlim]

Is this and Neylo's guide plain out wrong in a few places? It diverges both of sims and top logs.

edit: *Nelfy's

[Haruichi]

Is this and Neylo's guide plain out wrong in a few places? It diverges both of sims and top logs.

edit: *Nelfy's

Could you perhaps elaborate a bit?

[azzastar]

Not sure if its been answered or not, but is there a haste breakpoint once you get kilt? MY current stats are 33% crit, 17% haste, mastery 27% & vers 6%. Im gemming/enchanting vers, and i have kilt/exodar lego pair.

[jimmyo]

Not sure if its been answered or not, but is there a haste breakpoint once you get kilt? MY current stats are 33% crit, 17% haste, mastery 27% & vers 6%. Im gemming/enchanting vers, and i have kilt/exodar lego pair.

1) The haste "breakpoints" are not tied to the legendaries, but rather to RoP and Arcane Power (and possibly MoA). They exist because of the number of AB and AM casts you can fit into the 10 second window where both are up simultaneously.

2) The haste "breakpoints" are not actually severe enough to warrant even being given that term. True break points create significant jumps or plateaus in stat scaling. Haste does not do that for Arcane, especially when you factor in how Whispers can throw those numbers off at any point in time.

Here is a 100-step plot at 6914 Haste (18.44%) for 2P, 880 Whispers
100k iterations, 300s, Patchwerk



https://postimg.org/image/a2igrgndl/" target="_blank

You'll notice that there the plot is almost linear with the exception of one spot at -600 haste (around 16.8%). 16.67% haste is actually when the next tick of MoA would begin. MoA combined with some error in the plot are the likely culprits.

What you don't see in that graph is an inflection point at which the graph begins to dramatically switch its path. The slope is a near constant 8 damage/haste point throughout.

[a0kalittlema0n]

Awesome post, as well here is my spreadsheet showing when you'll be able to fit more casts into AP if you're interested in the haste amounts

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing" target="_blank