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How to Play an Arcane Mage in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch
来自 Malon
[Last Updated]:
2020/11/18
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Shadowlands is almost upon us, bringing with it Patch 9.0 and a large chunk of Class changes and updates. In this guide, we will take a look at the most significant changes for Arcane Mage, detailing how you can expect to play the spec during the Shadowlands pre-patch.
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How to Play an Arcane Mage in Shadowlands Pre-Patch
The Shadowlands pre-patch has changed Arcane Mages significantly while staying true to the core of the spec's identity. If you enjoy frequent burst damage and mana management, Arcane might just be the spec for you!
Arcane Mages are the masters of time and space. They are able to teleport around the battlefield more than any other Mage spec, and rewind the flow of time itself faster and more frequently.
Mechanically, Arcane has always been the 'turret' of Mage specs: high single-target burst damage with low mobility. In the Shadowlands Pre-Patch, we are getting more frequent burst options - despite
increasing to a 2-minute cooldown - a range of mobility choices and even some cleave potential. These changes smooth the damage profile and provide more viability in end-game content.
Mages are also one of the most defensive spell-casting classes in the game. If outranging the enemy with
and
isn't enough, try absorbing or negating the damage with any one of a variety of tools:
,
,
or
- or even ignoring it entirely by resetting the flow of time with
.
All races, aside from Tauren and Highmountain Tauren, can be Mages. The race choice, outside of cutting-edge content, is mostly a cosmetic one; however, Trolls'
is a powerful spell for burst damage.
If you are a returning player, or feel that you'd benefit from a more in-depth take on the spec, the rest of this guide and both the
beginner's guide
and
rotation guide
may prove to be worthwhile reads when it comes to the finer details of the spec.
How Different does the Arcane Mage feel in the Shadowlands pre-patch?
Arcane retains its status as a frequent burst-damage spec in Shadowlands, so if you knew how to play Arcane in Battle for Azeroth, you will only have a short adjustment period to learning the spec in the pre-patch.
Arcane is the only Mage spec that cares about mana and can leverage its high mana pool for an extended burst period using
and
. Burst is now even more frequent, thanks to the short cooldown of
, but interrupting a burst window is still very damaging, so plan your cooldowns accordingly.
We've detailed the changes below, but a short and sweet summary is as follows:
Forget about pressing
before
.
now grants four
s, shortening the burst phase preparation.
affects all Arcane damage.
New Abilities for Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands pre-patch
Mages in general have access to a few new baseline abilities for all specs:
- a defensive and mobility spell that you should pre-cast before forced movement or a big hit.
- another defensive and a threat drop. Changed in Shadowlands to grant 20% damage reduction while at least one Image is alive; taking direct damage yourself will cause an Image to fade.
- occasionally useful as a low-mana finisher without having to consume
s.
- very rarely used for kiting a single target, but Arcane already has
for that.
On top of this, we are gaining two new spec-specific abilities, one of which is a major addition to our rotation:
is now an active ability, and a way for Arcane to leverage its strong single-target burst for some ranged AoE damage - and even cleave, with a new talent.
provides enough mana for one additional 4-stack
.
Arcane Mage Talents in the Shadowlands pre-patch
Our talents have had a bit of a reshuffle, and some underperforming ones have been buffed.
now makes
fire two additional missiles, up from one. This change, plus the new
talent, dramatically increases the power of Arcane Missiles.
NEW
turns
into a version of
. Far from perfect, as we now have to spend a talent point to get something that was baseline for Arcane before, but this row of talents is a real choice. Replaces
.
now has a 25-second cooldown per charge, up from 20 seconds, which increases the viability of other talents on this row.
is a fire-and-forget buff for another raid member. Although granting a decent chunk of passive Intellect, it doesn't compete with
. Replaces Mirror Image.
now only has one charge, but automatically places a Rune when we cast Arcane Power. You should aim to align each Rune cast with
, as they both have the same cooldown. By far the best option on this tier for Arcane.
damage was increased by 5%.
NEW
adds ranged cleave potential, and encourages ignoring Arcane Blast during
in favour of Arcane Missiles (even without
), as each wave of projectiles triggers an explosion. Replaces
.
has moved from Tier 6 to Tier 4, swapping places with
.
has an additional 10% chance to proc compared to Battle for Azeroth.
has moved from Tier 7 to Tier 6, turning this row into one focused on multiple targets. Replaces
.
now affects spells by 50%, down from 60%. Combined with the longer cooldown on Arcane Power, the talent has fallen in value but is still slightly superior to other options on this tier.
can no longer proc Arcane Charges; instead, it has a chance to proc 6 seconds of
, which is a big boost. However, the talent is still too random to be viable for the competitive scene. It's a perfectly fine choice on an alt or for more casual play.
NEW
is a new talent rewarding good mana management.
In Battle for Azeroth, Arcane had to make choices between single-target and AoE damage on two different talent rows (
versus
on Tier 4 and
versus
on Tier 6). Both of those rows now focus on dealing AoE damage, while the single-target options are built into our base kit.
Here is the new Arcane Mage talent tree:
How do AoE Target Caps affect Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch?
Arcane has had no changes to its main AoE ability, but Touch of the Magi has a form of target-capped damage.
,
,
and
have a soft cap of 20 targets (unchanged).
uses
square root scaling
.
has a cap of eight targets.
is unchanged, with a cap of five targets.
See here
for more about how the different types of target caps work in Shadowlands. There is next-to-no impact on our playstyle from the target cap change.
How Strong is the Arcane Mage in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch?
With high damage, multiple defensives, and a form of ranged AoE/cleave, we are in a good spot going into Shadowlands. Offensively our damage profile is much smoother, with a small burst every 45 seconds and a large one every 2 minutes, instead of one large burst every 1.5 minutes. There are still some niggling points with the rotation - specifically, the importance of Arcane Missiles combined with the scarcity of Clearcasting procs compared to Legion and when to use the first Rune of Power in a fight to line it up with the second Touch of the Magi (see below) - but Arcane looks set to be more viable than it has been for years; possibly even a meta spec.
What are the Big Gameplay Changes for Arcane Mages?
Touch of the Magi
being added as a baseline spell gives Arcane small, frequent burst damage phases, which should line up with
. When to use Rune is slightly confusing, though, as it is automatically dropped when we use
. Our single charge of Rune will be available when Arcane Power fades. There are a few options about when to use it, all of which result in delaying a major or minor cooldown.
Fair warning, this will get complex, but if you want a TLDR: You can fit two mini burn phases in between Arcane Power usages, aside from the first and second.
0:00 -
Burn phase
. Pull. Cast
and
0:15 - Cast
. Burn to 0 mana and use
0:45 - Touch of the Magi ready. Hold it for 15 seconds.
1:00 -
Mini-burn
. Rune of Power ready. Cast Rune of Power and Touch of the Magi together.
1:45 - Use Rune of Power. Hold Touch of the Magi for 15 seconds.
2:00 -
Burn phase
. Cast
and
. Burn to 0 mana and use
2:30 - Rune of Power ready
2:45 -
Mini-burn
. Touch of the Magi ready. Cast with Rune of Power.
After this, Touch and Rune are available again at 3:30 - 30 seconds before Arcane Power. Here you have a choice of sneaking in a second mini-burn and holding Arcane Power for 15 seconds, or simply holding Rune and Touch. We ideally do not want to delay Arcane Power, but doing so in this one particular instance sets up for two mini-burns in the next cooldown cycle without delaying the cooldown again.
With
, you can instead just use Rune of Power at 3:45 to fish for
procs before entering the burn phase.
Arcane Missiles
The strength of
has increased, and it is once again worth using them - with
- during Arcane Power.
How do the GCD changes affect Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch?
One spell -
- is now off the global cooldown, but the changes go further than that.
In BfA, Arcane Mages normally prepared for the burn phase using
, which was on the GCD. We also had to cast
(cast-time) and Arcane Power (on the GCD). This ended up delaying burst and wasting part of Rune of Power's buff time with the 1.5-second GCD from Arcane Power.
That is all gone in Shadowlands.
has been rolled into
, and Arcane Power automatically drops a Rune of Power if you take that talent. That means the Arcane opener has been simplified into: cast Touch of the Magi, then activate Arcane Power. It takes half the time it did in Battle for Azeroth.
How does the loss of Corruption affect Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands pre-patch?
It doesn't.
Arcane, like other Mage specs, has been stacking stat Corruptions. While we will see fewer critical strikes and slower cast speeds for the last month of BfA, nothing will change in our rotation because of the loss of Corruption.
Best Talent Builds for Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands pre-patch
This build has a few potential choice rows:
Level 15
: While
is very strong, there may be mana issues before Shadowlands is live and we gain the
levelling perk. If you're struggling, take
.
Level 25
: The mobility you pick will depend on the fight.
is the versatile go-to spell, but
is very strong if the fight mostly revolves around short-range movement, like Shad'har. If you need a shorter cooldown on a big defensive, take
.
Level 35
:
is very strong in AoE, and
for intermittent cleave (i.e. if a boss summons adds).
may be very slightly ahead in a pure single target fight, but the hassle of using it simply isn't worth it over Arcane Echo.
This build focuses on getting as many
s out as possible. The choice between
and
probably favours the former, but the latter could be useful on Fortified weeks.
As with the raiding build,
can be used over
in the pre-patch.
Best Rotation for Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands pre-patch
In terms of abilities, and as a basic rotation primer, playing the spec can be seen as one of two basic priority lists:
Burn phase
Combine cooldowns like
and
for maximum damage. Never use a cooldown by itself - always combine it with another.
When
is active, spam-cast
(if using
).
Use
to prolong your burn phase.
Burn to sub-10% mana using
(or
in AoE)., then cast
and enter your conserve phase.
Conserve phase
Manage your
s to remain at a reasonably high mana level - ideally above 50% (70% if playing with
).
Use
and
together as a mini burn (cast Rune first).
Use
procs to save more mana.
Enter your burn phase when
is available.
Our opener has changed slightly compared to Battle for Azeroth. Due to the 5 min potion change, you will no longer be rewarded for pre-potting. As a result, you should be using your potion
when you need it
, as opposed to pre-pull.
The pre-patch opener is as follows:
Pre-cast
Boss is pulled
With
, use
until Touch of the Magi fades
Cast Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles (with Clearcasting) until 3 seconds left on Arcane Power
+ 2 x Arcane Blast
Cast Rune of Power, burn to 0
and begin conserve phase
The
Arcane Mage rotation guide
has information on the parts of the rotation that have not changed, including what happens after the opener.
Best Stats for Arcane Mages in the Shadowlands pre-patch
Our stat priority has not changed, and in fact, has been further reinforced by the changes to diminishing returns on secondaries. A very basic stat priority is:
Mastery
Critical Strike
Versatility
Haste
You should still sim yourself, but this will depend on how quickly all the changes to the game (largely systems) are implemented within Simulationcraft - and, by extension, Raidbots.
Additional info can always be found on
the stats guide
, including an explanation of why the priority is the way it is.
Best Azerite Traits for Arcane Mages in the pre-patch
With the relative power increase of Arcane Missiles,
is a lot more attractive and you should aim to stack this trait where possible. Other than that, our trait selection has not changed:
and
are strong single-target traits, with
and
for AoE. Unfortunately, there are still no traits that cross over between these two types of encounters.
Arcane Pummeling is still a strong trait even after the
nerf on the 21st October
. The nerf was aimed at addressing the Arcane Missiles-only rotation, which entirely drops
, but only managed to bring its strength down rather than kill it off entirely.
See the
Azerite Traits page
for more information on Azerite for Arcane Mages.
Best Essences for Arcane Mages in the pre-patch
Once again, few changes. The
essences page
has more in-depth information, but a short and sweet summary of what you'll be playing is as follows:
Mythic+
Major
:
Minors:
,
,
Raiding
Major
:
Minors:
,
and
or
You can also use
to bring
back to a 1:30 cooldown, although this messes up cooldown synchronisation for
and
. If you use the Vision of Perfection you should use Touch of the Magi and Rune of Power on cooldown, rather than synchronising them. This means using Touch at 0:00, 0:45 and 1:30 (the third with Arcane Power); and Rune at 00:15, 1:00 and 1:45 (the third just after the automatic Rune from Arcane Power fades, beginning the cycle again).
All Shadowlands Arcane Mage Changes
For a detailed list of everything changing in Shadowlands for Arcane Mage, check out our full Shadowlands Changes guide.
All Arcane Mage Changes in Shadowlands
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评论
评论来自
FreyCold
"1:45 - Rune of Power and Touch of the Magi ready. Delay casting for 15 seconds."
Whats the point of delaying RoP for arcane power if AP already spawns a RoP?
评论来自
Mayburns
>> Time Anomaly can no longer proc Arcane Charges; instead, it has a chance to proc 6 seconds of Time Warp, which is a big boost. However, the talent is still too random to be viable.
I'll tend to disagree with that. It was already simming quite high in BFA before the changes to both the talent itself and to OP.
It's an exotic choice, but given now how all three outcomes are always a net gain, it's a perfectly viable talent for a laid back raid night, MM+, or an alt that don't want to rely too much on either his manapool gestion and/or arcane power burst phase.
I'd also argue that considering the current state of arcane (with the top dps rotation being a arcane missile spam), the article as a whole is pointless. Arcane mage should not go live in this state, no matter how hilariously bad it is.
评论来自
wulf2785
Great info. Just wanted to point out a small error under "Best Talent Builds...",
Level 30: The mobility you pick will depend on the fight. Shimmer is the versatile go-to spell, but Slipstream could be very strong if the fight mostly revolves around short-range movement, like Shad'har. If you need a shorter cooldown on a big defensive, take Master of Time.
Level 60: Resonance is very strong in AoE, and Arcane Echo for intermittent cleave (i.e. if a boss summons adds). Nether Tempest may be very slightly ahead in a pure single target fight, but testing is still ongoing.
Level 30 should be Level 25 and Level 60 should be Level 35 as per graphic.
评论来自
Spiderkeg
Let's say I pick up the talent Rune of Power, which allows for Arcane Power to automatically generate a Rune of Power at my feet.
Let's say I also up Time Anomaly, which has a chance to grant Arcane Power for 8 seconds.
I see nothing stated that this sudden burst of Arcane Power, granted by Time Anomaly, will also trigger the Rune of Power talent. Does this combination not work?
评论来自
Deathreaver
Great guide! I'm new to the class, and I'm glad to see spamming Arcane Missiles during Touch of the Magi is a viable strategy (because it's fun!).
One question though--what's the point of pre-casting Arcane Blast in the opener if Touch of the Magi generates 4 arcane charges? Wouldn't my opener with Arcane Echo be:
1. Touch of the Magi
2. Arcane Power
3. Arcane Barrage (because I'd have four charges?)
4. Spam Arcane Missiles until Touch of the Magi fades
etc. etc.
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