[MACRO] Arcane Mage DPS Macro

[heffner]

Hi everyone,

I recently switched my mage from fire to arcane. I have never played the arcane tree before, have always been fire for all my mages. I switched because I thought it might increase my DPS, but now I am not so sure....however, that's another discussion.

What I need help with is a DPS macro. I spent hours trying to work this out and managed to finally get something to sort of work but was hoping that someone else may have worked this out.

What I wanted is a key I can spam to cast - Arcane Blast X 3, Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast. Of course, I could just use /castsequence in a single line, but we all know how much that gimps the DPS.

I tried to do this combination in many ways. Right now I have the sequence spread across three macros and I use a fourth to click them.

My current macro casts ABX3, AM, AB, ABX4, AM, AB, ABX? ...it's kinda odd. It's not really optimized either, the casts between AB seem too long. My timing is obviously off. I think the channeling is messing me up. I tried /castsequence [nochanneling], but found using /stopmacro [channeling] worked better for me.

Anyway, I couldn't find anything on the site (sorry if it's already been asked). Thanks for your help!!

[Bot]

are you gonna ignore missile barrage procs or you using a notifier for them. miks scrolling battle text is good for that. also ive not done much research but it seems as though the standard rotation is
Arc Blast, Arc Blast, Arc Barrage
OR if Missile Barrage procs during that, you change it to
Arc Blast, Arc Blast, Arc Blast, Arc Missiles

i was only arcane for a minute at lvl 71 so im not sure but might be better

[daviddoran]

I did some testing with a practice dummy, and tried
/castsequence Arcane blast, arcane blast, arcane blast, arcane missiles, arcane barrage as well as that same basic rotation manually. The DPS numbers weren't different by much. I mostly use the sequence on trash just cause its easier. On boss fights, I do a manual rotation and as long as i remember to throw in arcane missiles, I dont go OOM too fast, and with the changes to mana regen, my in combat and out of combat mana regen is identical.

I don't bother waiting for the arcane missile haste proc, I just cast away. Usually 1 or 2 and often all 3 have the proc, but what I do, is if at least one did the full proc, I just interrupt the others and go back to arcane blast. It doesn't do as much dps as the blasts anyway, so if it doesn't go off in 2 seconds, I just move on. Also, I found that throwing arcane barrage helped a lot, as that does quite a lot of damage for an instant cast. I also throw in PoM Pyros whenever its up, and I use Mirror image often too. It's amazing the difference a little gear makes though. I have 3 mages with identical talents and macros, with the exact same spell rotations, and the one that got into more raids and has a few epics consistantly does 200-400 DPS more than the other 2. I think arcane scales very well with gear.

Once I get enough gold to buy cold weather flying (yeah, I don't have it yet, luckily my guild has a lock...) I will save for dual spec, and try a frostfire bolt build. Or, I could try 3 experimental builds, and test it on a dummy, and respec the other 2 to whoever does the most dps :)

[heffner]

I was just going to ignore the procs for now.

I don't really know the best rotation, I just took some info from elitistjerks.com (http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t42876-arcane_thread/). There are a few different options. I am still working that out too. I might have to adjust the sequence a bit.

I haven't added in mirror image or any of the damage boosting "buffs" yet like PoM or Icy Veins. I figured I would somehow work those in after.

[moog]

Don't ignore the procs... they really boost your DPS!

My main mage macro is...

/stopmacro [noharm][dead][channeling]
/castsequence reset=combat/target Scorch, Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, Arcane Barrage

An insta-pyro when available really helps DPS...

/stopmacro [noharm][dead][channeling]
/castsequence reset=combat Presence of Mind, Pyroblast

I use PowerAuras to monitor for the Missile Barrage proc, prompting me to trigger my mage macro...

/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Missiles

I trigger Arcane Power and Mirror Image manually and cast slow when my tank takes a new target.
My mage has the Glyph of Improved Scorch, too, immediately slapping 5 improved scorch applications on the target, helping the whole party :)

[puppychow]

for arcane, to maximize DPS this is the rotation you should use in most fights:

3x arcane barrage
if missile barrage proc'd, cast arcane missiles (to clear buff)
else cast arcane barrage (to clear buff)
<rinse and repeat == use arcane power and trinkets every cooldown, use evocation when icy veins and/or bloodlust is almost over>

for multiboxing macros you can either have 3 buttons and rotate between 1,1,1,2 or 3 :
#showtooltip
/cast [nochanneling] arcane blast
(same for arcane missiles, arcane barrage)

or you can use one single castsequence and get about 90% of the DPS:

#showtooltip
/castsequence [nochanneling] arcane blast, arcane blast, arcane blast, arcane missiles

You actually don't end up losing a lot of DPS by using AM even if missile barrage hasn't proc'd. You do however lose DPS by missiling too early, wait until you have 3 stacks of the buff then AM to kill the buff. If mana is an issue (esp since evo/gem management is hard when multiboxing mages) you can drop to 2x AB's then 1 AM, but your DPS will suffer a bit.

There's no reason to really ever cast scorch or pyro in PVE as an arcane mage, you are betting off POMing a arcane blast since it can trigger arcane bonuses. In PVP of course you may want to POM a pyro to burst someone down.

Moog, I'm a little confused why you have both arcane and scorch in your macros. Scorch only increases critical chance against enemies if you talent into improved scorch, and an arcane mage can't have both IV and imp scorch. So glyph'ing for imp scorch and casting it does nothing for your party. IV is a much higher DPS boost than spec'ing for scorch, even taking into account a caster team.

[heffner]

I did manage to find that same castsequence after a bit more searching. I assume you meant Arcane Blast X 3 though =). So, ABX3, [mbarr or abarr].

Unfortunately, I run a group of five different classes. That's what makes things more challenging for me. So, I try my best to make a macro that lets me take advantage of the procs as much as possible without having to actually watch for them.

I actually switch from Fire to Arcane because I thought there wasn't any procs to watch for. Heh, obviously I was mistaken. Ah well I wanted to try it anyway.

I think I will install Miks Scrolling Combat Bars and see if that helps me.

Thanks again for the replies.

[moog]

Moog, I'm a little confused why you have both arcane and scorch in your macros. Scorch only increases critical chance against enemies if you talent into improved scorch, and an arcane mage can't have both IV and imp scorch. So glyph'ing for imp scorch and casting it does nothing for your party. IV is a much higher DPS boost than spec'ing for scorch, even taking into account a caster team.

I've specced down to Improved Scorch (53/18/0) - I prefer the team synergy of the glyphed improved scorch being on the kill target at all times over the icy veins boost for the mage for 20s every 3m.
This also allows me to have Pyro for PoM+Pyro DPS boost every 2m.

It works for me :)

[Poetry]

I run 5 different classes so I found watching for missile barrage too much to micro manage so this last time around I didn't bother spec'ing into it at all. My cast sequence is 3 x Arcane Blast followed by Arcane Barrage. I include all possible buffs in my macro: Icy Veins, Arcane Power, Presence of Mind, Mirror Image, 2 trinkets. My mage often tops the damage meter, so even if catching Missile Barrage would up my dps, I'm not too worried. She performs well, efficiently, and takes no babysitting...she's a single target machine. I like low maintenance. :)

[heffner]

Poetry, exactly what I was planning =) I suppose I focus on these things too much since I doubt I would even use more than 1 toon if I ever raid again.

[Taliesin]

What I have used for a long time:

/cast Arcane Power
/use 13
/use 14
/castsequence reset=10 Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage

With 5 different classes, I have no intention of trying to micromanage using Arcane Missiles on procs, but that would be the most ideal DPS. When I manually run the mage in solo mode, I always use ABx3, AM, and cast ABarr before the last missile from AM launches which results in 4/5s of AM and ABarr all benefitting from the ABx3 stack buff (AM only consumes the buff when the last missile hits).

The arcane mage is definitely a huge mana hog, but then you should also talent your Evocation cooldown to just 2 minutes, which is mandatory for any raiding. For heroics, you're not going to run out of mana on any single fight, so you don't even need to think about mana efficiency. That same lack of efficiency translates into very high DPS, though. My guild refers to my mage as "the DPS queen". Only a DPS DK gives her a challenge right now, mostly on trash and not so much on boss fights (multiple targets vs. single target).

[Oatboat]

You'll save alot of downtime if you just throw in a fireball between arcane blasts.

/castsequence reset=target arcane blast, fireball, arcane blast, fireball

Really helped my mana consumption problem. And with Ignite its nice to see the flame crits.

[Greythan]

Tal,

I'm frost specced currently as it seemed the most multi-boxing friendly. (Summon Water elemental whenever available, option to pop the talent that resets all frost cooldowns on a boss fight, icy veins when available and spam frostbolt.) I'm also leary of castsequence macro's after seeing numerous posts on these boards about DPS gimping.

That said, I'd be curious to see your spec for arcane. Frost seems SO out of style I'd be open to changing specs (and to a castsequence) if its an improvement.

[Taliesin]

Greythan, you can always look up just about anything on someone else on the WOW Armory website. That said, here's Luan: Luan's talents and glyphs ('http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Duskwood&cn=Luan&gn=Frostmourne+Guardians')

I think most of the discussion around /castsequence is not so much that it "gimps" DPS, but that your latency now plays a bigger part of how fast you cast. I'm usually hovering about 150ms latency, so I really don't mind the minor DPS drop. If you're something like 500ms latency on average, then you may want to invest the time in a /click method. I just didn't see any significant change when I tried.

Regarding Frost spec (and to some degree Fire too), I think you find that you have more proc management and "combos" to try to manage if you're going for maximum DPS. I just didn't want to make things more complicated than I needed when I assembled my team, though I have thought about trying some more complicated specs now that we have dualspecs. Arcane in general is very competitive for DPS and a rather simple rotation.

[Greythan]

Sorry Tal, I didn't notice the names of your toons were in your sig. Thx.

Frost required the least micro when I was speccing. Its basically a frostbolt spam with a cast when ready approach to Water Elemental and Icy Veins. As I mention, I have a "turbo" hotbutton I use when I pop BL on my shaman, etc. It casts mirror image and coldsnap to refresh the timer on icy veins and Water Elemental. Very low maintenance.

I'm wondering if the arcane spec is better. I'll have to do some research.

Oh, and what else is new: the armory is down. ;)

[heffner]

Thanks for the info. I think I will have to do some testing to see what sequence works best for my situation. The ABx3, AB would be easy to implement, even without /castsequence.

For me, my latency definitely has a noticeable impact on my DPS based on some testing a did a while back. I am not sure what it normally runs at though.

I also think to maximize mage DPS, after learning more about it, Arcane probably requires the most micromanagement (not that it's a lot, but just more difficult to "automate"). Fire isn't that bad, you just need to hit pyro when hot streak goes off. That's probably slightly easier than hitting ABarr before the last AM goes off. Pretty cool though. Anyway, in the end it really "matters" when you are raiding.

[Taliesin]

I wouldn't worry about the 4/5 AM + ABarr trick very much. That's just a simple trick to try and squeeze out every inch of possible DPS boost. The other two specs may not have something as tricky as that, but by not using this method does not mean you are not able to do high DPS. It's basically splitting hairs between doing 3300 DPS on a raid boss or doing 3400 DPS (just a simple example). It may not be obvious here, but it also makes the arcane yet even worse on mana longevity, meaning that you are going to run out of mana even faster (bad if everyone else is not pumping out similar DPS). 95% of the time, I just use the macro I posted above and still do great DPS.

I didn't have mana issues too much with a 2 min evocation cooldown plus using my mana gems when they were available in 10-man Naxx, until I got to Kel'Thuzad. With all the initial trash and a 5mil hp boss fight, I started getting crunched for mana already when he was about 40%. I actually went back to just using my macro around this time to start slowing my mana consumption. Didn't matter much though anyways since our offtank died and one of the adds came over and wtfpwnd me around 25% before I realized what happened and we got them under control again. Ended up third in total damage on KT even after the end of the fight and missing a quarter of it.

[Taliesin]

I'm wondering if the arcane spec is better.

I'm not going to try and answer that one for you, except to give you my strats for comparison. Besides the macro above, Luan's "turbo" (or as I refer to the "OMGDPS" button), I use:

/cast Arcane Power
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Mirror Image

Reason I repeat the first three lines from the regular DPS last macro is because boss fights I tend to open up with this, so most are probably off cooldown. I suppose if I really wanted to get fancy I could give her a second macro or keybind to cast Arcane Missiles after I see (or hear) the proc, and add a [nochanneling] clause to the regular DPS macro. I just don't see the need to until my other DPS actually start to beat her (i.e. she's not my DPS weak link that I need to be worried about right now).

Nothing wrong with Frost mages at all, even these days in Lich. They are still the most mana efficient, and even help other casters in ways an Arcane mage can't with the mana regen buff from the elemental (always a very popular raid feature). The last time I researched into Frost, they had some shatter combos to maximize DPS that I just didn't want to have to get into. That was a while ago now, so maybe those things have been made easier. Initial DPS simulations after the Lich changes actually had Fire as top DPS (least mana efficient), Arcane second, and Frost third (most mana efficient). I don't know how they stack on the latest build.

[puppychow]

fire (18/51 + 2) is the top spec when you have best in slot gear for 25 man raiding (good for 10 man too) - you need 340-380 hit so its very gear dependent, its not a spec you want to do when in heroic/naxx10 gear, only when you are in good naxx25/ulduar gear

arcane (51/3/17) is the top spec for starting raiding, only needs 200-240 hit and has the highest burst (so great for very short fights). its very competitive with fire in 10 man raids, and can do well in 25 man on most fights, its just that you are very dependent on not getting evo screwed by having to move, and on ulduar boss fights can be long and require lots of movement. arcane is also a great PVP spec although not as good as frost

FFB (0/53/18) isn't that great a spec anymore due to the nerfs they did to stacking fire/frost buffs for ffb. no one should really be spec'd ffb anymore

frost is the best PVP spec, its a mediocore PVE spec. the max theoretical/realistic DPS is quite a bit below fire and arcane, but it has higher survivability, movement, and control (ie great for arenas)

[Havelcek]

thought I'd post my super dooper Arcane mage macro:

#showtooltip Arcane Blast
/use 13
/use 14
/castrandom Icy Veins, Mirror Image
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/castsequence [target=focustarget,exists,harm,nochanneling] reset=combat/target/4 Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles