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 December 29, 2009, 03:46:43 AM
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Neutral
Posts: 21
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Recently back to WOWing after a long break and things have changed quite a bit.
TBC was a total turn off for me, but we shall not go there.
WOTLK is great.
So i started going back to raid, found a good guild, local one from where I am, and raiding with them have sure change my perspective.
When I 1st raid, it was still in the old days where T2 is the gear every end game player long to have. Proud to be the owner of the set (still had them with me now).
Those times, we only look at gears and strat in every raid. the better gear the better DPS output.
Skipping TBC, when I came in at WOTLK, my entire perspective changed when I attained most of 245 gears with a few lower levels ones.
Sure when I PUG i can be the top few in recount, but when i raid with my guild, i can be way bottom.
At 1st I thought, yea their gears are better (comparing mages only), then when we do alt runs and I join them, another mage with lower gear levels say 235 avg and still out DPS me. Those main raiders need-less to say is always way ahead.
Then It occurs to me that there's something I am not doing right. The buttons are not pressed right perhaps? My rotation is wrong?
I do try very hard to be always casting something, maybe 90% of the time. I don't have activation required trinks and I do rotation like ABx4 AM or Abarr, sometimes when a fight is near end, i would just AB all the way when mana isn't of concern anymore. I hit mirror, IV and AP at the start and try to activate them again later.
Still I am not where I feel I should be in recount. Anyone care to share some tips with me?
My char name is as my nick here, in Kilrogg realm, so feel free to check my gears out.
Thanks!
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December 30, 2009, 06:17:34 PM
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Guardian
Group: Administrator
Posts: 3015
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Hello sanomi!
First off, yes, I remember those days. When raiders were the top dogs and everyone was vying for a spot in a guild that could get them T2! Or remember how awesome the ZHC and ToEP were? Good times, good times. I still have my T2 set as well (except the shoulders...they never dropped. Ever.) and I'll likely have it forever. And you're right - guilds make all the difference.
One thing you might want to do is ask the other mages in your guild who do more dps than you to help you with playstyle. Little things can make a big difference for mages so any advice might help. Chain casting is important to be doing (start a cast before the current one is finished) - you don't want any breaks at all in your casting. For arcane, stacking cooldowns really isn't that important so you should just use them whenever they're up, except for fights with specific burn phases or something.
In terms of gearing, you're going to want to 1) be hit capped and then 2) start working on haste. Haste is very powerful for arcane - once you get around 2400 spell power it becomes almost as good as spell power. Gems should either be haste/spell power or spell power. Never ever gem for crit ever. Crit can almost be ignored on gear - point for point that is.
Once you've got that down, basically what you're describing is the way to go. AB until a MB proc, then cast MBAM. Try to do this at 0, 2, or 4 stacks of AB. Don't bother with ABarr. The devs are streamlining dps a lot these days so classes like DKs, Warriors and even priests can really dish out the damage.
The most important thing you can remember is to always be casting, move as little as possible.
Cheers!
ps, where are you from?
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December 30, 2009, 06:26:04 PM
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Guardian
Group: Administrator
Posts: 3015
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I just checked out your character and I have only a few things.
1) you've got 6 purple gems. Often they are not worth using to make a socket bonus. You need two for the meta gem, but other than that, use them sparingly.
2) you have a spell power/crit gem. you don't want that.
3) your Ring of the Darkmender is not a dps ring, though it may be the best thing you have access to. Try to replace it with something that doesn't use item points on mp5.
4) Ditto your necklace
5) Try to replace your Sundial of the Exalted. It isn't the best trinket for arcane. The one from normal 5 man ToC is actually really good (the abyss crystal)
6) You have 11% hit. With talents that's 17% - the right amount. However in raids if you have a Draenai in your party they add 1%, and a shadow priest or a moonkin will have a debuff that's 3% hit, potentially making you over hit cap by 4%. If you have non-hit pieces to switch out, do that.
7) This is debatable, but Tuskarr's Vitality might be a better foot enchant than the one you have, due to a) hit and crit not being that useful (once capped) and b) the run speed increase could mean more time spent casting, which means much more dps being done than 12 crit rating would provide.
Those are all the gearing points I noticed.
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January 03, 2010, 09:15:09 PM
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Neutral
Posts: 21
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Thanks for the reply!  Trinks I am still working on it >.< Didn't have a chance to get any good ones. And the darkmender ring is the best I could get my hands on, although it's very essential for healing, and since no one wants it during that particular raid, I thought I might just bid for it for more mana. I am very two sided with that decision tho, seems like a bit waste of DKP but then that extra mana wouldn't hurt for a arcane mage. (Less time evocating). Frost trinks are finally out, so I am aimming for that, so as with the back cape. Intresting views on the foot enchant tho. Never tried it before, does it makes a real difference on running speed? Also what you think of dark magic on weapon? I am all for haste also so that's quite tempting as well. One thing I would like to check with all arcane mages, let's say you blasted 3x AB and MB didn't proc What will you do at the 4th cast? (Explanation to that, when I am casting a spell, my finger is already pounding on the next spell button.) So somoetimes at the 3rd cast MB did not proc and during the 4th, sometimes I do pause for awhile which button to press. Sometimes I would just endure with more AB untill it procs! lol.
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January 13, 2010, 11:48:21 AM
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Honored
Posts: 115
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Advice on rotation...
Best possible DPS is spam AB...however that will kill your mana, so its only a mana dump mechanic.
Various groups say spam AB until you get a proc then follow up with MBarr, don't cast MBarr unless you have a 4 AB debuff stack - if you are casting 7 or 8 ABs with no proc ( bad luck) this can kill your mana, if it happens early, can screw you for the boss fight as you use your wand.
If you want to cut your losses (no proc) and you want to clear the stack, just use a regular Arcane Missle. (only ever use ABarr if you are moving).
Personally, I rarely don't get a proc, so I do a rotation of 4xAB,AM and I don't worry about the 2 or 3 times I might get it on the 5th.
Since your first AB cast after a AM can interupt the cast, getting a feel for when to precast AB (server/client delay) and not clipping a AM is what a great mage can do. This utilizes the time that a no-channeling macro can't.
Other than that, focus on minimizing movement (or switching targets). Most people (non mages) don't realize how much casting interuption due to movement or revamping on a new target hurts the arcane mage.
Get Rawr, its a great tool for gear selection. If you are using DKP, find out what is best in slot for your attainable level and only spend DKP on those items. Use pug 10s to get small gear upgrades while you wait for those.
I can't see your gear, but that ring I coveted for a long time, but of course let healers have it first. Never got it, now I have better from ICC (1 is just rep). If you are T9 level, craft Merlin's Robe and Bejeweled Bracers. If you are ICC level (if you have alts, do the daily to get the saronite to craft the pants).
I don't know your profession, but I love nitro boots (engineer only). If not, you shouldn't need the run speed enchant, you should be effectively using blink to move around a fight instead. I think the rule of thumb on that enchant was if you had to move 4s EVERY minute of a fight. Effective use of spells liek Abarr x2, Flame Blast, and POM AB reduce the benefit of added run speed IMO.
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March 30, 2010, 01:18:04 PM
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New
Posts: 10
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