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Belgarion.
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re: Arcane DPS and Rotation Notes

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Len, let me first off say "Gratz" on your new spec, arcane is a lot of fun and your spec is right on the nose. Of note is you are now over the hit cap by 40 or so, you can change out two hit gems for spellpower or SP/Spirit gems for even more effectiveness.

On the downside, I looked at your rotation for last night's Uld10, and you're cutting yourself out of a whole lot of damage potential. There were many more Arcane Barrages and Arcane Missiles cast than Arcane Blasts, and Blasts are the bread and butter of arcane; the only reason to cast anything else is if you start having mana issues. The Blasts are the bread and butter because they stack damage up to 30% (3 stack cap) for every arcane spell immediately following; i.e. you'll see a 30% increase in your damage simply by stacking them. Yeah, this has a mana cost, more on that in a bit. As well, Missiles or Barrage should never be cast unless you've already got a 3-stack of Blasts up, for the same reason.

Fizz is pretty much your spec, tier gear bonuses, and profession, and here is my cast rotation and playstyle.

First off, never go into a boss fight without a fresh mana gem and crazy alchemist plots. My basic rotation is Slow, Arcane Blast repeatedly. If Missile Barrage has proc'd, cast Missiles and Arcane Barrage, then go back to Arcane Blast stacks. Keep the Slow always up on target, rinse and repeat.

Pop your first Mana Gem as soon as possible, when you are around half mana. I like to pop Icy Veins, Arcane Power, and Mana Gem (fresh mana plus the tier gear spellpower bonus) at the same time and then spam Blasts until buff is off. If you can coordinate this with Heroism or boss vuln buffs such as Beating Heart, so much the better. Whenever it is up, I pop Presence of Mind and Arcane Blast with two or more stacks of Blast up. If you are running, relocating, or getting tossed in the air, toss Arcane Barrages while you are moving, until you can stand and cast again; also this is a good time to renew the Slow.

Use your Innervate as soon as you are drained, and if you can use it right at end of Icy Veins it'll go much faster. With decent raid replenishments, you should be able to be alternating between Mana Gem cooldowns and Innervate cooldowns to stay in mana. Use an mad alchemist potion later in the fight if you need to for some extra mana.

Fizz can generally get through boss fights without resorting to wanding, and with either zero or one charges left on his Gem. If mana becomes an issue, you can switch to a 3-Blast, Arcane Barrage rotation or even a 3-Blast, Arcane Missile, Arcane Barrage rotation, but I've found that dps wise it seems about the same to stick with Blast and wand a bit if I have to, rather than use a lesser dps rotation and last a bit longer. I prefer that method because sometimes replenishment really gets a jump for some reason, and then I'm right back in the game without having to have worried about lowering dps to conserve mana. Always use your Gem and Innervate when they are up, because you'll want the CD's ticking so they'll be available later.

Whenever I look at my results, whether 5,10,or 25, I'm finding that 75-80% of my boss dps is from Arcane Blast. I know there's a bit of tweaking and tricks (regarding when to use Arcane Missiles and when to clip it) but the above strategy should be a good starting basis for maximizing Arcane dps.

Belgarion

btw, I ran an OS25 as fire spec, and I gotta tell you, keeping up with the buffs and debuffs that are bread and butter of fire/frostfire specs with everything else going on was a real pain in the butt, plus I was generating a WHOLE lot more threat than as arcane spec. I'm thinking I'll keep raiding with arcane, heh.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, keep Focus Magic up on whomever you figure is the caster with the highest crit potential.
Laanyan
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To add to this, since a little has changed and a little more experience has been gained... Arcane is now officially the way to go.

I was really having to pay attention mana consumption and recovery. Especially in 25 when the fights are longer and there are more boss mechanics that might interrupt recovery. As the night wore on, I was getting the hang of it, so I assume it becomes second nature once you're raiding consistently and have the boss mechanics figured out.

As far as a rotation, I've been going with the rotation of:
4 x Arcane Blast (which should proc Missile Barrage)
Arcane Missile
Arcane Barrage

I go with straight Arcane Blasts when there are things like popped CDs, Heroism, boss vulnerabilities, etc.

The math on Slow is in and it says that the spell is basically useless. It's a 12% increase but the GCD itself is a 10% decrease; adding in that you're going to either land spells while Slow is not up or refresh it early means it's virtually a wash if not detrimental. Also, there are a fair amount of things other people do that are considered a slow, which should be up at all times anyway in a 10 or 25 man run. You can google "Torment of the Weak" for a more info.

With that bracer from last night, I can drop a hit piece (most likely belt) for something else. I've read conflicting reports on what stats are best now. I think I need to up my haste, I'm at 300ish now. Suggestions?
Belgarion.
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re: Re: additions

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Laanyan wrote:
With that bracer from last night, I can drop a hit piece (most likely belt) for something else. I've read conflicting reports on what stats are best now. I think I need to up my haste, I'm at 300ish now. Suggestions?


SP is huge, Haste is almost as huge but will need to be taken into account for your mana consumption.

Regarding your rotation and maxing dps: Why are you adding that AB at the end? I feel that's a waste of gcd, particularly in that spot. I never use missiles unless A) they've proc'd and B) I have at least 3 blasts stacked up, but the days of getting the blast stack buff by clipping the 5th missile are over. You're wasting a gcd for a non-buffed spell. Only time I use AB is if I'm having to move or being tossed, if the boss is gonna burrough or go immune, or if I haven't proc'd in too long and want to clear my blast stack to ease mana consumption.

My 2c canadian

Belgarion
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re: Arcane DPS and Rotation Notes

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Oh, I forgot, one trick to get a little more dps in on AoE stuff, such as when the towers come up on Razer, OS trash, that kind of thing, or really anywhere that you know how the pull is gonna go. You know where the tank is gonna plant, you don't have anything you could currently be hitting atm, so start your Flamestrike (3 second pillar of fire thingy) so it ends about the time the tank gathers the mobs, then get to blizzarding or your normal rotation; it's like a free instant-cast without a gcd, heh.

Not much real use for boss kill or effective dps, but when you wanna keep a good name on the better weekly pugs, a bit of padding never hurts.

Belgarion
Laanyan
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Yeah, using AB there was just a carry over from the days of clipping and I never rethought my rotation. I think that's where I'm off.

I normally do cast Flamestrike when I'm going for ranged AEing; I hate the smaller area it covers though... I'm forever putting it out there and then the tank moves just enough that it was all but useless.

Good tips, thanks.
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