Arcane Mage 10.0 Guide
Introduction
This guide presents an in-depth view of the Mage's Arcane Specialization in WoW Dragonflight patch 10.0! You will learn everything about the spec, such as how to level, gear, prepare, and then min-max your Arcane Mage for the most challenging PvE content in World of Warcraft, Season 1.
First, we'll check out the specialization's particularities and see if the Arcane Mage is one of the best specs in Dragonflight' latest season. Then you'll learn how to gear your mage, what stats to prioritize, and the best leveling spec, talents, and rotation that will get you to max level in no time.
Finally, we'll go deep into min-maxing your character for the end-game content and teach you what gear to use for Mythic Raiding and Mythic Plus dungeons. By the end of the guide, you will become a master of the Arcane specialization! Sounds good, right? Let's get started!
Table of Contents
- Arcane Mages: Strengths and Weaknesses
- How to gear your Arcane Mage
- How to level your Arcane Mage. Leveling tips
- Best Arcane Mage talents for end-game content
- Arcane Mage in Dragonflight - FAQ
Arcane Mages: Strengths and Weaknesses
In World of Warcraft, the Mage class comes with three DPS specializations: Fire, Frost, and Arcane. The mage's spending resource is called Mana. All three warlock specs focus on ranged-combat fights and require wise mana resource management.
The Arcane Mage represents one of the weaker DPS classes for Mythic Dungeons and Mythic Raiding in Dragonflight season 1, even though it provides high burst damage in single-target and AoE encounters and has great group utility.
Arcane Mages use a wide selection of weapons, such as one-handed swords, daggers, wands, and staves. As for raid gear, the mage shares the Vanquisher Tier Token with Rogues, Death Knights, and Druids for legacy content. In the Dragonflight expansion, the Vault of the Incarnates raid, mages share the Mystic Tier Token with Druids and Hunters.
In the table below, we present the Arcane spec's strengths and weaknesses:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| + Strong single-target and AoE burst damage | - Reliant on cooldowns |
| + Great mobility | - Tricky gameplay and rotations |
| + Extreme survivability | - Requires wise Mana management |
| + Great group utility |
How to gear your Arcane Mage
In World of Warcraft, gearing is one of the most important aspects that enhances your character's overall performance by providing massive amounts of stats, armor, procs, and set bonuses. This guide will teach you how to properly gear up for the most challenging content in WoW Dragonflight, Mythic Raiding, and Mythic+ Dungeons.
We'll start with the basics and cover the Arcane Mage's stats priority, check out the tier set bonuses, and finally, the best in slot gear you can get from mythic raids and dungeons.
Arcane Mage stat priority
Regardless of the class and spec you roll into in World of Warcraft, the stats are a key component when gearing up and min-maxing your character for the end-game content. Arcane Mages wear Cloth gear with Intellect as the main stat.
As a mage, the Intellect stat increases the power of your spells and abilities, in other words - the damage you are dealing to the enemies. Also, please note that a higher and adequate item level will better impact your character's performance than a perfect stat distribution, so always keep an eye on the gear's item level!
The Arcane Mage general stats priority looks like this:
- 1. Intellect
- 2. Critical Strike
- 3. Haste
- 4. Mastery
- 5. Versatility
So when using the Arcane spec, you will primarily value item level for Intellect as the primary stat, then Critical Strike, followed by Haste, Mastery, and Versatility as secondary stats.
In other words: Intellect > Critical Strike > Haste > Mastery > Versatility. And here's why:
Intellect: Increases your spell power and, therefore, all the damage you are dealing to your enemies
Critical Strike: Increases the chance for extra effectiveness on your attacks and heals
Haste: Increases your attack speed and your spell casting speed
Mastery: Increases the effectiveness of Mastery: Savant
Versatility: Increases healing and damage dealt and reduces damage taken
Arcane Mage Tier Set Bonus
To start with, what is a tier set in World of Warcraft?
In WoW, a tier set is a unique class armor set with powerful 2-set and 4-set specific bonuses for each specialization of that particular class. Tier set bonuses change based on the character's active talent specialization, ensuring that the bonus is appropriate and useful to that spec.
So to recap, tier sets are unique pieces of armor that, when equipped simultaneously, provide you with a bonus, different for each spec of the chosen class. This bonus is based on the number of pieces from the set you have equipped, with most tier sets providing bonuses when equipping 2 or 4 pieces.
How to get the Mage Tier Set in Dragonflight patch 10.0
There are three ways you can get tier set items in WoW in the Dragonflight expansion:
- Vault of the Incarnates Raid: You can get tier set items from specific bosses in the VotI raid.
- Revival Catalyst: You can craft Tier armor from non-set pieces of the same item level using the Revival Catalyst crafting system.
- Great Vault: You can obtain tier set items from all activities that normally give Great Vault rewards, such as raiding, Mythic+ dungeons, and PvP.
The fastest way to obtain the tier set is to take advantage of these three sources that can reward you with Mage set items. The best advice is to complete the VotI raid weekly - this is probably the fastest way to get your hands on the desired tier armor. In case you don't have a team to raid with, complete some Mythic+ Dungeons or some PvP matches.
Mythic dungeons and PvP are highly beneficial because even if you can't drop the set items while participating in these activities, you increase the chances of getting your set items at the Great Vault or the Revival Catalyst console in Thaldraszus. At the revival catalyst console, you can convert the non-set pieces obtained in dungeons or PvP into tier set items.
Let's have a closer look at the Great Vault feature:
And this is what the Revival Catalyst looks like:
Back to our Arcane Mage Tier Set. Now that you learned how to obtain the tier set, let's see some set bonuses and particularities, shall we?
The Mage Tier set is called Crystal Scholar's. For the Arcane spec, it comes with the following bonuses for two pieces and four pieces equipped:
- 2-Set: Mage Arcane Class Set 2pc - Archane Charge and Arcane Blast increase critical chance by 5%.
- 4-Set: Mage Arcane Class Set 4pc - When Arcane Blast critically strikes at least one target, the critical strike chance of your next Arcane Barrage is increased by 10%.
In the table below, we present you the sources for Arcane Mage Tier Set items:
| Slot | Tier Piece | Source |
| Helm | Crystal Scholar's Cowl | Raszageth |
| Shoulders | Crystal Scholar's Beacons | Broodkeeper Diurna |
| Chest | Crystal Scholar's Tunic | Kurog Grimtotem |
| Gloves | Crystal Scholar's Pageturners | Dathea, Ascended |
| Legs | Crystal Scholar's Britches | Sennarth |
The remaining tier set items (Cloak, Wrists, Waist, and Boots) can be obtained by using the Revival Catalyst in Thaldraszus.
As previously stated, you unlock the tier set bonuses for your Arcane Mage when you equip any two or four pieces of the Erudite Occultist's Vestments set. For itemization and build optimization, your four pieces of tier set as an Arcane Mage will be the Helm, Shoulders, Chest, and Legs.
Raid Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Arcane Mages
In the table below, you can find the best item to use in each slot from the raid as an Arcane Mage:
| Slot | Item Name | Encounter |
| Helm | Crystal Scholar's Cowl | Raszageth |
| Neck | Eye of the Vengeful Hurricane | Dathea, Ascended |
| Shoulders | Crystal Scholar's Beacons | Broodkeeper Diurna |
| Cloak | Acid-Proof Webbing | Dathea, Ascended |
| Chest | Crystal Scholar's Tunic | Kurog Grimtotem |
| Wrists | Chilled Silken Restraints | Dathea, Ascended |
| Gloves | Eggtender's Safety Mitts | Broodkeeper Diurna |
| Waist | Magatha's Spiritual Sash | Kurog Grimtotem |
| Legs | Crystal Scholar's Britches | Sennarth |
| Boots | Sandals of the Wild Sovereign | Raszageth |
| Ring #1 | Seal of Diurna's Chosen | Eranog |
| Ring #2 | Seal of Filial Duty | Broodkeeper Diurna |
| Trinket #1 | Whispering Incarnate Icon | Kadros Icewrath |
| Trinket #2 | Spiteful Storm | Raszageth |
| Weapon | Stormlash's Last Resort | Raszageth |
| Off-Hand | Scripture of Primal Devotion | Kurog Grimtotem |
Mythic+ Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Arcane Mages
In the table below, you can find the best item to use in each slot from the Mythic+ Dungeons as an Arcane Mage:
| Slot | Item Name | Location |
| Helm | Crystal Scholar's Cowl | Raszageth |
| Neck | Mindbreaker Pendant | Temple of the Jade Serpent |
| Shoulders | Crystal Scholar's Beacons | Broodkeeper Diurna |
| Cloak | Potion-Stained Cloak | Algeth'ar Academy |
| Chest | Crystal Scholar's Tunics | Kurog Grimtotem |
| Wrists | Infused Elemental Bands | The Azure Vault |
| Gloves | Experimental Safety Gloves | Algeth'ar Academy |
| Waist | Cord of Wicked Pyromania | Court of Stars |
| Legs | Crystal Scholar's Britches | Sennarth |
| Boots | Treads of Light | Trial of Valor |
| Ring #1 | Platinum Star Band | Algeth'ar Academy |
| Ring #2 | Thunderous Downburst Ring | The Nokhud Offensive |
| Trinket #1 | Furious Ragefeather | The Nokhud Offensive |
| Trinket #2 | Voidmender's Shadowgem | Shadowmoon Burial Grounds |
| Main Hand | Spellboon Saber | Algeth'ar Academy |
| Off Hand | Vexamus' Expulsion Rod | Algeth'ar Academy |
Best in Slot (BiS) Trinkets for Arcane Mages
The best Arcane Mage trinkets for end-game content are:
| Tier | Item Name | Location |
| S | Voidmender's Shadowgem | Shadowmoon Burial Grounds |
| S | Time-Breaching Talon | Uldaman |
| S | Irideus Fragment | Halls of Infusion |
| A | Whispering Incarnate Icon | Dathea Stormlash |
| A | Furious Ragefeather | The Nokhud Offensive |
| A | Eye of Skovald | Halls of Valor |
| A | Spiteful Storm | Raszageth |
| A | Infernal Writ | Halls of Valor |
| B | Horn of Valor | Halls of Valor |
| B | Tome of Unstable Power | The Azure Vault |
| B | Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart | The Azure Vault |
| C | Ruby Whelp Shell | Ruby Life Pools |
This wraps up everything you should know about gearing your Arcane Mage: the stats priority, how to obtain the tier set, and what items to use in the end-game activities. Moving on to the next section of our guide, we'll teach you how to level your Arcane Mage in Dragonflight patch 10.0. Sounds good, right? Let's dive in!
How to level your Arcane Mage. Leveling tips
Before leveling your mage, you must first create and customize the character. That brings us to the first question: what race should you go for when creating the character? Let's find out, shall we?
Best Arcane Mage Races
When it comes to races, with so many options to choose from, you are probably wondering what would be the best race for the Arcane spec. In World of Warcraft, each race has different racial abilities and spells, but no races offer an immediate advantage compared to others regarding this spec. I highly recommend choosing the race you like the most, aesthetically speaking.
- Best Alliance Races for Arcane Mage: Mechagnome, Dark Iron Dwarf, and Gnome.
- Best Horde Races for Arcane Mage: Troll, Orc, and Nightborne.
Best Arcane Mage Leveling Talents and Rotation in Dragonflight 10.0
The best talents to use while leveling as an Arcane Mage are:
Now let's check out how you should prioritize your abilities. Below we present the basic rotation for Arcane Mages:
- 1. Cast Arcane Missiles when you have Clearcasting
- 2. Use Cascading Power and Touch of the Magi
- 3. Use Arcane Orb
- 4. Use Arcane Blast to get Clearcasting and Arcane Explosion on 4+ targets.
- 5. Finish with Arcane Barrage.
In the next section of our Arcane Mage Guide, we'll present the best talents to use for PvE end-game content, such as raiding and Mythic+ dungeons. In the end game, it's crucial to use the right talents and prioritize the skills you use depending on the activity. Choosing the best talents will significantly impact your performance as a DPS!
Best Arcane Mage End-game Talents
From the PvE perspective, there are two main end-game activities we'll take into consideration: Mythic raiding and Mythic+ Dungeons. We'll treat them separately to keep things clear and avoid confusion.
Best Talents for Mythic Raiding in Season 1 (patch 10.0)
In the picture below, you can see the best talents for mythic raiding as an Arcane Mage:
Best Talents for Mythic+ Dungeons in Season 1 (patch 10.0)
As an Arcane Mage, these are the talents you must use to maximize your damage in M+ Dungeons:
Arcane Mage in Dragonflight - FAQ
1. Are Arcane Mages good in Dragonflight 10.0?
Not really. Arcane Mage represents one of the weaker DPS specs in WoW Dragonflight for PvE end-game content.
2. Is Arcane Mage easy to play?
Yes. The Arcane Mage specialization qualifies as one of the most accessible ranged DPS specs in WoW Dragonflight.
3. What is the stats priority for Arcane Mages?
The stats priority for Mage's Arcane specialization is Intellect > Critical Strike > Haste > Mastery > Versatility.
4. Which mage spec is best for leveling in patch 10.0?
The Frost Specialization is the best spec for mage leveling.
5. What is the best race for Arcane Mages in Dragonflight?
- Alliance's best Arcane Mage races are Mechagnome, Dark Iron Dwarf, and Gnome.
- For Horde, the best Arcane Mage races are Troll, Orc, and Nightborne.
Final thoughts
This wraps up everything you should know regarding the Mage's Arcane specialization in World of Warcraft Dragonflight Season 1, patch 10.0. By reading this guide, you should now better understand the Arcane Mage's spec and particularities and how they perform in certain circumstances and different PvE end-game activities. It's one of the game's coolest ranged DPS specs in Dragonflight, so I encourage you to try it!