WoW classic - Making Arcane Good - arcane mage guide

[@lucasa4301]

I've been leveling an arcane mage and it's ton of fun if you take your time to invest in good gear that's high in dmg, int, and stamina. I regularly do the most dps in dungeons, even with other mages 3-4 lvls above, but the game play is slightly unconventional. The only arcane talents I don't do are improved missiles (controversial - but there are few cases where a mob should be on you unless you're doing AOE, and if you need to avoid interruption, just pop your improved mana shield), wand specialization, absorption, attunement, and counterspell. Other points go into fire - impact, ignite, and pyro (which is amazing with presence of mind + arcane power), incinerate, improved scorch, and 2 in fire blast, 2 in master of elements. Typically there are two encounters. If 1-2 to mobs, then order is as follows: open with pyro, arcane missiles, fire blast. Mob is usually down to wand at that point, but can always nova and arcane missile again if needed, or presence of mind another fireball/pyro. If you enter clearcasting, always arcane missile as your next move if possible (or POM pyro). For single target, use mage armor. For dungeons scorch rank 1 is your wand! Once your mana is down 50%, spam this and whenever you enter clearcasting, arcane missile (or POM Pyro). If 3+ targets, ice armor, mana shield, arcane power, and arcane explosion on repeat - kiting using ice armor, frost nova, and cone of cold. Also, important to stick to rank 1 nova to conserve mana - you're not using this for damage! You do need high stamina for this to work, though in dungeons it works great with pally tanks that can hold aggro on groups using consecration. I probably annoy healers, but I haven't died in a dungeon yet and rarely actually need a heal to save my life as long as I'm smart about kiting. And it's tons of fun, as I can solo 5-6 mobs my own level in about 15 seconds (so long as they are melee). It's also way more fun to be constantly using all the tools in your spellbook, instead of just spamming frostbolt. Hope that helps!

[@CaffeineInjected]

Ty for this. Could you link your takent build? Ill try to create based on your comments

[@JoeKerr420]

I plan on Alt'ing Arcane. This and another vid of yours convinced me. Keep up the good work man!

[@QuantumMechanic343]

@7:40 it is claimed that each wave of arcane missiles has a chance to proc clearcasting. While this would be amazing, after playing as an arcane mage, I have found that this is not the case. Clearcasting only has a chance to proc on a per-cast basis for arcane missiles.

[@seanmccaffrey93]

Patch notes for 1.9.0 indicate that should be the case, and I am currently trying to get blizzard to make this happen properly if it's not working in your testing please report it! Let's make some noise about this and maybe it will be viable!

[@Dazen101]

Yup. I've been testing this as well. So, now the core of this build is broken

[@Elthenar]

@@Dazen101 Well, that sucks. I was planning to do this myself. I always wanted to but never did in vanilla.

[@yashizuko]

Im adding myself to the group of reporters, ill try to fight for my specc!

[@janostoth4315]

Arcane-Ice (2/3 -1/3) is a very good and fun skilling, especially in PvP. One important advantage in Arcane Missiles is, that it is "continuously auto aiming". Once you got your target and started casting, you will turn your face automatically to your opponent. This is very useful against hostile players, that are trying to jump behind to mage or around the mage. Second advantage is, that it hits the enemy target in a high frequency and each hit have a chance to interrupt the casting of the targeted enemy player. Third advantage is, that with that talent, casting of arcane missiles can not be simply interrupted (what is great in PvP and PvE also). They can be interrupted through special attacks, that stun and such, but not through simple auto attacking you with a weapon.

[@javorekdavid8087]

Na ezt a kommentet el is mentettem.

[@samljer]

Arcane missiles for me has only ever proceed on the cast, before the first wave even goes out. 1.13.... for anyone still wondering.

[@syana8882]

This was an excellent video and really answered all of my questions. Thank you so much babe!

[@syana8882]

@@neceriumcloudes5381 I was wondering though. Maybe i missed it but I didnt see you show anyhting about the spellbook? Did they not have that back then? No "slow" spell for arcane mage? I remember it used to be in the talent tree ( i started playing during Cataclysm, maybe that's why?) Also, is it true that Classic wow is free to play? like do you just need the baseline subscription? Or is it literally free?

[@syana8882]

@@neceriumcloudes5381 OMG thank you so much for answering!!! One more wuestion, My graphics struggled with this latest expac. Do you think the "Classic" graphics will be easier for my computer?

[@josephteller9715]

So.... have you abandoned this project? I'd like to know how it went when you got to the upper levels on Arcane Mage or if you just stopped along the way, and how much gear made a difference.

[@thalamicantonio6783]

i have made this build, many of the things don't work as written. BoED can proc from any missile, but AC, and wrath of cenarius do not, even tho their wording is nearly identical. the damage is......wel dropping cd's can get upwards of 400-500 dps, but without popping everything you get 250-300 dps. but i have had several occasions where i'd throw 3 pyroblasts in the span of a second, which is funny, but not all that much damage overall

[@Zentatasulop]

Great guide and you sound exactly like Bob from Bob's Burgers! Thanks again for the guide, I love arcane

[@TheT0N1c]

How did nobody test this during beta? I hope it works like this when classic launches

[@AWelander86]

I like this a lot, I reeally want to try out a build ive made in the talent calc, 31/0/20 arcane power/frost shatter spec with pom and cold snap

[@Epicdps]

This is so cool. I love how classic wow is bringing new theorycrafting even after all these years of private servers existing. Now it's finally possible to have things confirmed working as intended according to blizzard. Very exciting times for wow nerds. ^^

[@greenchilistudioz4537]

lol nope

[@duncansh81]

Can anyone give some insight into which talents would be best dropped/swapped in case of wanting to do PVP primarily?

[@andrijastanojkovic4368]

Is there any upgrade to that sword. I’m playing on Turtle Wow where arcene missiles are buffed. So it’s maybe viable

[@charleshixon1458]

I’ve been playing an arcane mage alt to lvl 30 and I’ve found its hidden gems. The problem is, the talent distribution is strange. All of the their 1 and tier 2 talents are important. Including magic absorption- which makes grinding against spell casting mobs very mana efficient if you pick up resistance rings as you constantly regenerate mana and avoid damage. Magic attunement is also very important. Amplify magic is the most underrated buff in the game for dungeons and raids. I disagree with the use of the melee staff, use a wand. Get wand specialization. It’s good and key bind wand attack and work it into moving.

[@micaholiveira8567]

Please tell me what is the talents pick order @necerium cloudes

[@neceriumcloudes5381]

Even tho its likely not relevant as of now, you should pick arcane first when you can fill out Imp. arcane missiles, arcane focus and arcane concentration. (meaning level 24). Besides that, it's not very strict where you have to put your points :))

[@smenkinsa]

ty for the guide but I have to say I needed a cup of coffee after it :)

[@charleshixon1458]

FYI, if your alliance judgement of wisdom procs for each wave.

[@avargs3505]

Starts with 870 mana... Goes hard without any consumes, mana gems, or potions, or evo for 10+ minutes.. This means you can really push your other stats crit and spell power for fights where you won't be relied on to be a mass decurser for the raid

[@witcherpie]

which music track is the one playing in the background??

[@onioncultistlordoftheonion8315]

I wonder if the concept was to spam say...Frostbolt, to fish clearcast procs and to spend them on Arcane Missiles?

[@charleshixon1458]

Cadmium Crows or Rank 1 arcane missiles.

[@wittyanduniquehandle]

On the Turtle-WoW private server as of June 2023: Clearcasting procs every time Arcane Missiles does damage and statistics show the first time it deals damage it has double the chance to proc.

[@andyhuggins9966]

Have you tested this since Classic's release? Ive level'd Arc since lvl 1 (technically lvl 10 with talents blah blah) but from what ive noticed, AM only ever proc's Clearcasting upon its initial cast. not sure each wave counts as a specific spell hit in Classic. can anyone confirm this?

[@Adept1780]

How you finding arcane at low lvl? Im currently lvl 13 and tempted to go arcane instead of frost but thought it required end game gear to be efficient?

[@andyhuggins9966]

@@Adept1780 ive played solely Arcane for nearly 15 years now and i will warn you: Frost gives much better survivability and Fire seems to give much better burst damage.That being said: I love Arcane beyond measure. Yes the end-game gear greatly helps, but even at low lvls, just keep your eyes open for +Arc gear on the AH and (from what i did) put that gear over all other stats, including Int. you may go oom, but you will make them boom hehe The best thing to remember when playing Arc, you are not built for speed, your built for endurance and sustaining damage. mind your mana (i recommend keeping a 2 rank lower AM on your bar and using it for your major attacks, when Clearcasting proc's, hit your max AM) with this, you might not kill through things like Fire or pull full instances like Frost, but you will tick the foe's health every second for considerable damage (and its always nice to see ppl run from you and the missiles pierce through walls to find their home in your foes' faces)

[@yashizuko]

Andy Huggins do you know if clearcasting AM has been fixed? Im not sure if it has to proc every time it does damage or once per AM cast

[@avargs3505]

I too tried some things out on the a test realm so take this with a grain of salt.. I'm most astonished by the synergy of having a paladin Healer using blessing of light in combination with improved dampen /amp magic.. Since each missile is treated as its own spell hit.. This increases your changes per single cast to proc the mana benefit from judgement of wisdom... Oddly enough, these individual waves of missiles mean that each rank 3+ of arcane missiles will expend 5 charges of ZHC during its use.

[@avargs3505]

@@neceriumcloudes5381 yep the ZHC trinket from zg with certain # of charges. I haven't tested it on live but I tried the judgement and seal of light with amplify magic and it didn't work on the Pserver test realm.. I was even seeing an overall benefit to just having it on you at all times with blessing of light to offset it in your favor .. I found dampen and amplify to work based on spell damage coefficients and dampening or amplifying low spell damage coefficient spells like arcane explosion vs say a fireball will yield you different results.. The fireball at 100% spell power coefficient will dampen or amplify more damage taken than arcane explosion. You'd obviously need to have improved amp/damp magic with blessing of light which might not be people's #1 choice of buff combos but for high spell dmg coefficient enemy spells.. It's really nice to have.

[@avargs3505]

I didn't count the exact spell power I had on during this test but I did keep the target doing damage and the mage player receiving the damage the same. The enemy mage had the +10 to all resistances talent and the amp and dampen magic talents and no other buffs on them unless specially stated... 953 normal frost bolts Against mage with dampen magic on them : 822-832 dmg Fireball : 1237 direct (18 dmg dot) Against dampen magic : 1050 (18 dmg dot) Arcane explosion 349 normal 315-330 vs dampen magic target Now a naked mage vs same mage target as always... 456 frost bolt Now vs dampen magic : 345-360 I did this again with original geared mage vs the same mage in both tests Fireball spell dmg coefficient : 100% direct Damage against dampen target came out to roughly 185 less damage received Frostbolt with 81.4% spell dmg coefficient Against dampen target I recorded 120-130 less damage received Arcane explosion - 14.3% spell dmg coefficient Against dampen target : 20-30 less damage taken

[@ncwordman]

After watching your other (first) Arcane video, I jumped on this one. Fantastic! I love it. So, when leveling, is it best to wait until level 24 (or 22 at the least), to get Arcane focus, concentration, and Imp. missiles? What to do until then? With Frost, that's not quite long enough to get Shatter, but at least you get Elemental precision, and CC. hmm. Regardless, trying this today. Thank you!

[@gareth3437]

Yo let us know how you got on 🙂

[@deandimov2076]

Great Video. Always wondered how arcane mage would do in vanilla, curious how it would do on raid. Also which server were you testing this on?

[@deandimov2076]

cool thanks man!

[@mobilegames4u]

Great info, thank you

[@carlpowell0]

Yo this is sick!

[@marcoinsua4220]

What is the name of the addon u use in battle text display?

[@neceriumcloudes5381]

I don't believe i'm using any addon to display combat text, its just options in the interface menu :))

[@marcoinsua4220]

@@neceriumcloudes5381 oh i see.. haha ..

[@hennyhenna6045]

Arcane mage, usefull for leveling?

[@renragged]

Not very useful. But a lot more FUN, IMO.

[@randomovski]

are u sure Clearcasting can proc on every arcane missles tick? i read somewhere its a bug on private server and it wont work on classic wow blizz servers

[@randomovski]

yep, as i said, does not work. u can read more here: www.reddit.com/r/classicwow/comments/bvp1c6/classic_beta_mage_question_does_each_arcane/

[@randomovski]

i think this makes ur build kinda unplayable since u will run oom too fast

[@sukruylcn4662]

You're insane man

[@samljer]

Why does the video look so fuzzy?

[@Irokaj-backwards]

Dampen magic reduces heal not increase

[@samljer]

Arcane stronger then the rest, but the mana though.

[@seanmccaffrey93]

Yep the clear casting helps but even then it's still hard to manage missiles spam.

[@nesten1]

very hyped

[@hot_dogg]

clearcasting procs on cast not on damage.

[@seanmccaffrey93]

The question is whether it should, all things considered it should and they should change it but not enough people know and too many people want no changes 😠

[@seanmccaffrey93]

Sadly this is true but I will say it again report it to blizz please! and then anytime you see you in on a forum State the issue

[@Skelerington]

And then, this happens. Dont forget, this, or, that.... Etc, etc, etc holy monologue

[@JacopoSantelli]

That unfortunately is all wrong, before patch 1.9 Arcane Missiles were completely unable to proc ANY "on damage" effect, they changed it to be able once per cast

[@SexedUpAtheist]

Alternately, you can do away with the need for Clearcasting by farming up the Blade of Eternal Darkness, which has a chance per missile to proc 100 Shadow damage to the enemy and return 100 mana. This blade is far more effective specifically for Arcane MIssiles than either Frostbolt or Firebolt, since the highest ranks (even with talents) can never be more than approximately 2-3 per 5 seconds.

[@GabrielShakkori]

Wow what level do you need for that

[@Dazen101]

Good theory craft but sadly it still doesn't hold a candle to Frost or Fire. You need so many items just to make it viable that if you ever get them your guild would have to have the raids on cruise control and have to be willing to invest in your Arcane Mage idea when your Frost / Fire counterparts will be doing more than you. Sadly, this is just a major downside of Classic WoW. Blizzard didn't know what to make of the Arcane Tree until WOTLK and there will be no updates for us.

[@Redax0n]

you lost me at stand in melee and auto attack with a slow staff LMFAO

[@andreacorsini5390]

Your voice is like you are directing an auction house

[@neceriumcloudes5381]

Would you mind explaining more in detail what you mean by that x) ?

[@andreacorsini5390]

Necerium Cloudes it’s like describing items, it’s a personal thought don’t mind it ahah, loved your vid, great help

[@nexya26]

Currently levelling an arcane mage, pretty easy tbh, quite quick solo kills and very little down time, Wands + spirit gear a big factor, this is how I kill: R1 frostbolt, AMx2, Fire blast (every other mob) and wand til dead

[@elifromdavis]

The world first Sapphiron kill will be with a bunch of frost resist arcane mages

[@coomercommander2554]

wrong retard, it was 37 green wearing level 58-60 warriors without consumables or world buffs, with 3 healers, no resistances lol. fell 42 minutes after being released, SO EZ LOL stfu idiot.

[@johngear1415]

Lame time has defeated black rapist in a duel. At about 16:50 lol

[@MPArmy123GDtime]

Arcane build was never a build that was good in classic. 1 week prior to BC release the new talent trees were released. THOSE trees provided the arcane spec to actually be a good spec, but ONLY after getting Arcane blast after level 65 (I think 65). POM Pyro was always a decent spec but overall dmg next to a pure fire mage build wasn't good. Burst is more (if you crit both pyroblasts, but thats a BIG if).

[@onioncultistlordoftheonion8315]

NooOooOoo U can't be arcane! frost is better! Hee hee Missiles go PEW PEW!

[@ObscuredByTime]

Pointless video, pretty much, since on Classic Arcane Missile only has a chance to proc on first hit.

[@nickblank5712]

arcane is absolutely garbage for dungeons, if you don't spell cleave you'd probably be one of the worst mages i've ever seen in a dungeon

[@darckdeath4373]

uwu

[@ierit3796]

Your misconception about arcane missiles has been known since Vanilla 2005. This guide was bad.

[@wowwt]

tl;dr Don't go arcane unless you are just trolling around.