PVP WotLK Arcane Mage Guide (Short)

Welcome to our PVP Arcane Mage guide for WoW WotLK. This guide will show you what you need to know to play the Mage class as Arcane in the arena. If you follow this build you should be king of the arena in no time!

Arcane gives up a lot of survivability that frost has in exchange for really high burst damage. I only recommend arcane if you have good gear otherwise you end up being squishy and not doing much damage. With good gear though, you can delete people.

Talents

This is the core arcane mage build.You get all of the damage & burst from arcane and icy veins from frost for the casting speed buff.

Glyphs

Major Glyphs

• Arcane Missiles
• Polymorph
• Evocation

Minor Glyphs

• Slow Fall
• Frost Ward
• Fire Ward

Gems

Gems can change based on your build, equipment and caps. You may need to adjust your gems to account for your gear.

• Meta: Forlorn Skyflare Diamond
• Red: Runed Cardinal Ruby
• Blue: Shattered Eye of Zul
• Yellow: Quick King’s Amber

Enchants

You may need to adjust your enchants based on your gear but these are the standard enchants.

• Head: Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
• Shoulder: Greater Inscription of the Storm
• Back: Spell Piercing
• Chest: Exceptional Resilience
• Bracers: Superior Spellpower
• Gloves: Exceptional Spellpower
• Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs: Sapphire Spellthread
• Boots: Tuskarr’s Vitality
• Two-Handed Weapon: Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower
• One-Handed Weapon: Mighty Spellpower

Stat Priority

1. Hit (4%)
2. Spell Penetration (110-130)
3. Spell Power (3k-3.3k)
4. Haste (900+)

You need at least 4% hit rating to reliably hit players. 130 is the ideal amount of spell penetration for enemies with high resistances. 110 is ok most of the time.

Rotation

There really isn’t a rotation for this spec, you will spend most of your time trying to stay alive and then bursting when you see an opening.

You should stay near pillars, This will allow you to line of sight spells and kite melee classes around the pillar.

Fake casting is an important skill to have, this allows you to bait out the enemy silences/interrupts and will get you a window to burst. If you do get interrupted you can switch magic schools and cast a different type of spell.

Ice block can be used to break CC or prevent yourself from dying. Make sure you absolutely need to cast ice block when you do because it’s your best defensive CD. Make sure to stay in the ice block until your healer gets a heal off.

Arena Teams

2v2 Arenas

• Mutilate Rogue
• Shadow Priest
• Demonology Warlock
• Balance Druid
• Elemental Shaman

3v3 Arenas

• Discipline Priest + Rogue
• Priest + Restoration Shaman
• Warlock + Restoration Druid / Shaman