WotLK Classic Arcane Mage Guide (2024)

Last updated on Jan 10, 2024 at 00:27by Wrdlbrmpft3 comments

Welcome to our Arcane Mage guide for WotLK Classic, tailoredfor PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to playArcane Mage proficiently. Click the links below to navigate the guideor read this page for a short introduction.

Arcane Mage is the best Mage specialization whenit comes to doing as much single target DPS as possible, in as littletime as possible. With their strong buffs like Icy Veins andArcane Power, they can deal immense damage in a short amountof time. Arcane Mage focuses ona playstyle revolving around ABC (Always Be Casting), movement,raid support, crowd control, and Mana management. Arcane Mageempowers their raid with the raid-wide Arcane Empowerment buff, making them an easy pick for group play.

Furthermore, Arcane Mage can do respectable damage with very littlegear, as they only need 8% (or 7% as an Alliance player with the Draenei buffHeroic Presence) Hit Rating from their equipment. ForPVP players, however, Frost isthe preferred talent specialization, asit offers more survivability and crowd control while dealing respectable burst damage.Once you've reached Tier 8 content (Ulduar and beyond), the gear from raids has betterstats, with most fights becoming more complex than just patchwork-style single-target fights.Due to this, Fire Mage catches up inraid performance from this point on and outshines Arcane.

Nevertheless, you should play the Mage specialization that you enjoythe most, and that is most compatible with your raid. See our PVE and PVPranking pages for more detailed information on which Mage specializationis strongest in which phase of WotLK:

For the Alliance, Human is the best choice for PvP withPerception and Will to Survive.For PvE, the decision making is not as easy. Draenei comeswith an extra 1% Hit for the whole group from Heroic Presence (even in a raid,only the group in which the Draenei is in will affected, not the whole raid) and theself-heal Gift of the Naaru. However, the value ofthe Hit buff disappears as soon as there is another Draenei in yourgroup. The buff applies for both physical and magic attacks, and it's the reason whyDraenei is the strongest PvE race for Mage, closelyfollowed by Gnomes with their Expansive Mind.

Horde players want to choose Troll as their preferred PvE Mage race,because Berserking and Da Voodoo Shuffle are very strong racial traits.Undead rule the arenas and battlegrounds with Will of the Forsaken andCannibalize.

Just as Undead, Draenei have a slightly higher resistance to Shadowdamage. Their Gemcutting ability increases their Jewelcrafting skill. The twomost important racial traits are Heroic Presence and Gift of the Naaru.Heroic Presence increases the Hit chance of players grouped withyou, and Gift of the Naaru is a heal-over-time that scales with your level,usually used in niche situations such as healing while running away fromenemies.

• Shadow Resistance — Chance to be hit by Shadow spellsdecreased by 2%.
• Gemcutting — Jewelcrafting skill increased by 5.
• Heroic Presence — Increases chance to hit by 1% foryou and all party members within 30 yards.
• Gift of the Naaru — Gift of the Naaru is a heal that scaleswith yourlevel and will heal your target over the course of 15 seconds.

Perception is a very strong passive ability, detecting any stealth class around you,giving you a massive advantage in PvP. While The Human Spirit isn't greatfor Mage, it's better than nothing. Diplomacy is useful any time you doa reputation grind and Will to Survive can be very strong in PvE and PvP. Thecombination of Perception and Will to Survive make Human a very good race forPvPers.

• Perception — Increases stealth detection. Passive ability.
• The Human Spirit — Spirit increased by 3%.
• Diplomacy — Reputation gains increased by 10%.
• Will to Survive — Removes all movement impairing effects and alleffects which cause loss of control of your character.

Gnome is very strong for PvE due to their Intellect boost from Expansive Mind, providing a useful buff to allthree Mage specs, especially for Arcane. Escape Artist is a very strongracial trait for both PvP and PvE, as it is instant in WotLK and on a low1.75-minute cooldown. The extra Arcane Resistance helps in a few PvEsituations. The bonus to Engineering is just as handy as any other races' professionbonuses.

• Escape Artist — Escape the effects of any immobilizationor movement speed reduction effect.
• Arcane Resistance — Chance to be hit with Arcane spellsdecreased by 2%.
• Engineering Specialization — Engineering skill increased by 15.
• Expansive Mind — Intellect increased by 5%.

Mana Tap and Arcane Torrentrestore Mana and also grant Mage a 2 second AoE silence,which can be used as an emergency Counterspell. The additional Magic Resistance decrease magicdamage taken slightly and as Arcane beings, Blood Elves have increasedEnchanting skill.

• Magic Resistance — Chance to be hit with spellsdecreased by 2%.
• Arcane Affinity — Enchanting skill increased by 10.
• Arcane Torrent — Silences all mobs within 8 yards of youfor 2 seconds and grants 6% of your base Mana.

Trolls are the best PvE Horde race for Mage. The passive damage increase tobeasts is nice to have while leveling and farming beasts, but the realdeal is the increased cast speed from Berserking. This ability lets you cast 20%faster for 10 seconds. Further, Trolls are able to generate small amountsof Health during combat, an ability no other race has. Da Voodoo Shuffle reducesthe duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%.

• Berserking — Increases your casting and attack speed by20%. Lasts 10 seconds.
• Beast Slaying — Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%.
• Regeneration —Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% oftotal Health regeneration may continue during combat.
• Da Voodoo Shuffle — Reduces the duration of all movementimpairing effects by 15%.

The racial traits of Undead are most the powerful in PvP combat, but alsohave niche uses in PvE. Undead can cancel Charm, Fear and Sleep effects. When combinedwith Ice Block, this is a very strong ability. The Undead hunger for fresh bodies lets themfeast on their enemies' corpses, restoring Health very quickly. Being able tobreathe three times longer underwater than any other race, Undead do notneed to fear from drowning while doing underwater farming or questing, andUndead are more resistant to Shadow damage.

• Will of the Forsaken — Removes any Charm, Fear, or Sleep effect.
• Cannibalize — When activated, regenerates 7% of total Healthevery 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Only works on Humanoid or Undead corpseswithin 5 yards.Any movement, action, or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel theeffect.
• Underwater Breathing — Underwater breath lasts 233% longer thannormal.
• Shadow Resistance — Chance to be hit with shadow spellsdecreased by 2%.

Engineering is simply the best profession. Explosives, such as Saronite Bomb and Global Thermal Sapper Charge, deal a huge amountof extra damage and can be woven into your normal rotation. Engineering alsooffers access to several best in slotenchants, pre-raid best in slot items, such as Visage Liquification Goggles,and the Zapthrottle Mote Extractor, used for farming Eternals such as Eternal Water.

Tailoring gives access to several strong Tailoring items,such as Ebonweave Robe. Most noteworthy, however, are the best in slot enchantsTailoring offers, which make Tailoring the second best profession for Mage.The Lightweave Embroidery is the best cloak enchantavailable, and Sanctified Spellthread is extremely valuable, as it isexclusively for tailors and costs only one Eternium Thread to make.Further, Tailoring offers Epic flying carpets, such as Magnificent Flying Carpet and allows you to craft several good Bind onEquip items throughout the expansion, like Merlin's Robe.

All of the other Professions are not considered best in slot, but thepower gap between Tailoring and these is not as extreme as it would bebetween Engineering and any other profession. Most other professionsprovide almost equal bonuses. All the same, we recommend learningEngineering and Tailoring.

While Jewelcrafting offers more flexibility with Hit Rating, from 3x Rigid Dragon's Eyes providing 42 more Hit rating than 3x Rigid King's Amber, thisis more impactful for Fire Mage than forArcane, as the hit requirements forArcane is low anyways. Nevertheless,using those gems might enable you to use stronger non-hit raid items.For only one Arctic Fur per application, Leatherworking provides differentFur Linings, such as Fur Lining - Frost Resist or Fur Lining - Spell Power,which can be applied and changed dynamically between encounters. However, this isconsidered a niche use of this profession.The list below shows you the bonuses each profession can give:

• 48 Spell Power or extra 42 Hit Rating — Jewelcrafting
• 47 Spell Power — Alchemy
• 46 Spell Power — Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Inscription, Leatherworking
• Lifeblood, passive heal — Alchemy
• Toughness, 60 Stamina — Mining
• Master of Anatomy, 40 Critical strike rating — Skinning

Using macros and addons makes your life significantly easier when playing Wrath Classic,and they can improve your experience a lot, depending on how skilled you are at customizing them.

If you are interested in learning more about addons and macros suited toMage, check out our guides below: