WotLK Arcane mage, low DPS

[Tethyss]

Hi - I have read most the guides here and elsewhere in terms of gear/talents/rotation, etc. I am having trouble because the best I can do vs. the target dummy is about 4k DPS, which seems low to me. It gets a little better with raid buffs but I feel I should be doing more.

My profile:
http://armory.warmane.com/character/...ecrown/profile

There are a lot of discussions around talents but I don't think that would account for my failure to do reasonable DPS. If you have any questions please ask. I appreciate any and all input. Thank you.

[angrylol]

I think that's quite appropriate with all the patchwork gear you have.

[Tethyss]

I made some mistakes in my spending of emblems. I wish there was a way to convert Triumph to Frost. Anyway, I agree with what you're saying. So you think I should focus on T10 (Bloodmage Regarlia)? Any other glaring problems you see? Thank you for your input.

[Crystalleia]

Yeah, t10 (especially Head and Shoulders) should ideally be your first priority for EoF spending.

As for the Armory:
- Use Chaotic Skyflare Diamond for your Meta (the one that gives you 21 Crit rating and 3% Crit damage)
- I don't think your cloak is enchanted yet
- Same with belt and Eternal Belt Buckle, but Armory often bugs that thing out so you might already have it applied and the site just doesn't show it
- Your trinkets give high gearscore but they're not that great in terms of effective DPS increase. Best bet would be to get Flare of the Heavens from voteshop (if you have the points) and Abyssal Rune-thing from TOC 5 NM. In your case, losing Shard of the Crystal Heart will cause you to go some ways below the Hit cap for raids (you're like 2% over the Hit cap atm but that trinket gives like 6% Hit) so you can justify keeping it for a little more while; either way though, that's going to be something you'll want to deal with eventually.

But yeah, I'd also say that the dummy DPS is otherwise quite appropriate for your gear level. Despite mages' reputation as being one of the top DPS classes, that's when factoring in the various buffs you get in raids (Demo SP buff, 13% Magic damage buff from UH DK/Boomkins, 3% Hit from Spriests/Boomkins), all of which you won't have on dummies.

[Mnggal]

You need to fix your spec, arcane barrage is utterly useless in pve..
As for overal dps arcane is in the middle of every dps spec in the game.
It however imo has the highest burst potential in the game.

Use this spec for pugging: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#osL...cZMhf0o:Nzi0mc
If you actually get into proper raiding with a guild/group of friends: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#osh...cZMhf0o:Nzi0mc

Your dps and such can be anything from lack of class knowledge, wrong gear, wrong stats on said gear.

Hit (8%/11%) > Spellpower > Haste (1400, 50%) > Crit > Int > Spirit
The numbers inside the ( ) is the stat cap you should aim for with hit and haste.

Arcane Blast until 4 stacks > Arcane Missiles
(Arcane default rotation; slightly altered with T10(2) set bonus)

Arcane Blast until Missile Barrage proc > Arcane Missiles
(mana conserving rotation)

Arcane Blast spam with CDs up until they expire or you run OOM*
(full CD usage rotation; when mana is not a problem)


Arcane is not a basic as alot of people make it out to be, you need to know how to manage your mana really really efficiently.
Goal is to end a raid fight with as little mana as possible.

I pretty much exlusively played nothing but arcane mage for several years on Warmane, and have done all raid content numerous times as arcane.

(Consider switching to Gnome for increased int which in return gives you more crit, since the human spirit racial is very bad for mage due to spirit being or last stat priority)

[bawmaw34]

With your gear you should be pulling AT least 5k in any raid, maybe try focusing more on cooldown uptime and timing with your procs, invest in black magic enchant for your 1h. For example, i usually start the fight, Arcane blast x3, THEN pop cooldowns, so as to have my procs up for trinkets or enchants and giving me as much dps as possible. Presence of Mind is great for gaining a bit more damage when you have 1 or 2 seconds left on a proc. Manage this timing and utilize it as much as possible. Icy Veins and arcane power must always be on cooldown, except when you're expecting a BL or power infusion in the near minute, when you can use both in congruency with said buff. And manage your mana, if you're good you will end the fight with 0 mana but no dps loss because of it.


Edit: I also use Presence of mind and cast arcane blast when i'm at 3 stacks, that is if i already have a missile proc.

Another great tip i remembered, utilize your clearcasting procs, they give you 30% crit on your next spell, and no cost, so if you're x4 stack and get a clearcasting proc, cast again! if you get lucky and you have procs up you can do ALOT of extra damage and spend no mana on this. Be actively expecting for clearcasting procs.

[Mnggal]

With your gear you should be pulling AT least 5k in any raid, maybe try focusing more on cooldown uptime and timing with your procs, invest in black magic enchant for your 1h. For example, i usually start the fight, Arcane blast x3, THEN pop cooldowns, so as to have my procs up for trinkets or enchants and giving me as much dps as possible. Presence of Mind is great for gaining a bit more damage when you have 1 or 2 seconds left on a proc. Manage this timing and utilize it as much as possible. Icy Veins and arcane power must always be on cooldown, except when you're expecting a BL or power infusion in the near minute, when you can use both in congruency with said buff. And manage your mana, if you're good you will end the fight with 0 mana but no dps loss because of it.


Edit: I also use Presence of mind and cast arcane blast when i'm at 3 stacks, that is if i already have a missile proc.

Another great tip i remembered, utilize your clearcasting procs, they give you 30% crit on your next spell, and no cost, so if you're x4 stack and get a clearcasting proc, cast again! if you get lucky and you have procs up you can do ALOT of extra damage and spend no mana on this. Be actively expecting for clearcasting procs.

Black Magic is better than raw Spell Power on paper, but I find that spellpower is more effective because you can’t always make the best use of haste proc on all encounters, even if you move right.

[kubha666]

All mages doing lower dps on dummies than in raid i bet main reason for that is talent Torment the Weak which is not triggering on dummy since u just blast and barrage wo slow. + raid buffs missing. also u got wrong gear for arcane looks like combination of what u could get for getting bigger GS. focus on stats . Haste ins must for arcane like crit for ttw fire also SPower. also arc mage dont need that much hit like ttw fire mage.Check some guides but i think your main prio with this low GS is to stack as much SP as u can to increase overall dps.