Is it any good?
I tried the spec and really like it, but I’m not really seeing how it could be good at AoE
The spec seems really single target focused with maybe a bit of cleave?
But maybe I’m just not seeing it? 
Definitely not the best player so maybe I missed something
Arcane is solid for m+. Issue is lack of mobility. You’ll have to take a lot of damage or master your shimmers in order to get performance.
But if you have to move away from damage before your Touch of the Magi lands… and you have to stop its cast, that can effect your burst window. Not sure why this spell isn’t instant cast and not on the GCD. I can’t figure out the explanation. It doesn’t get used in PVP, so there doesn’t seem to be a reason.
Otherwise the spec is solid.
Its very strong, during your burst your arcane barrage can hit about 200k if it crits and then it cleaves to 4 more targets.
It’s also very based around having the right conduits and legendaries. If you are just tinkering around with the spec it may or may not do what you are after
Well I’ve been trying to find a main class to play, and I’m thinking I’m going to settle on arcane
It’s a lot of fun and machine gunning people down with missiles is just the best imo
I just wanted to make sure I won’t be gimped for M+ as that’s something I really enjoy and will be running lots of them
Arcane is okay in m+. Check my armory.
I don’t know about pushing 20. From what I’ve read and seen people talk about over on altered time, it’s not taken into 20.
I main arcane in M+, I have cleared 20’s in S1 and got my portals. M+ has been much more fine tuned in S2 and expect to go higher. The anima powers really help round out certain affixes. Arcane has a nice toolkit and can be built many ways in M+ vs the few raid builds that have been mapped out.
A few examples: Since OP likes AM, on tyrannical, pickup the necrotic wound anima and you can run a higher haste mastery build.
On spiteful weeks (this week) bombardment works well as you will have 5+ targets alot, this can be paired with the bostering Anima.
Some of the highest keys in the game are being done by Arcane mages. The caveat is that they’re running the Kyrian/Harmony build. This build is strong for both raid and keys. If you want to challenge yourself and try to push as high as you can (i.e. higher than 20s), I’d recommend going Kyrian if you’re serious about Arcane.
If that’s not your goal, you can play Venthyr Arcane. It has strong single target and burst cleave, but it suffers from sustained cleave and lacks any form of funnel damage. It won’t be as strong as Kyrian in keys, but it won’t stop you from doing 15s.
For reassurance for anyone having doubts someone with the YouTube channel named Qiao does keys way over 20 with an arcane mage in it.
It’s doable and it works just fine. You just have to find people that are willing to ignore the bs about certain specs not being good and just do it. Trust me. These folks put the doubters to shame.
Which covenant are you?
Depending on cov depends on what legendary you use.
Arcane is solid in mythic plus.
Fire
Arcane
Frost
If your arcane you should be running slipstream
I agree, in addition, I value blink over shimmer in M+ as you can break stuns.
Well my mage is Venthyr right now, however he’s only like 26 renown, so switching isn’t a big deal to me.
Which covenant would be best for Arcane?
Arcane takes some getting used to, but it’s nasty if you can master it. If you go the Night Fae route, the CDR from Shifting Power gives you a lot of options as Arcane. If you don’t play Harmony, try Arcanic Cull, it turns your barrage into an execute at 35%. Edit: The talent Master of Time gets zero respect but is great versus stuns/roots and makes " Blink > Alter Time x2 > Blink " a new means of mobility.
It depends on what you want.
Kyrian has a a bursty barrage build focusing on using missles to 18 stacks and barraging for big damage.
Venthyr uses soul siphon which is more clunky but has a mobile burst window.
Nightfae has great aoe but meh single target and uses barrage.
Necrolord also usses the barrage leggo but the cov ability is a three minute cd.
Imo Kyrian arcane is the best route depending on what you’re trying to do.
It uses one legendary and doesn’t change talents as it’s build uses the same talents for st and aoe.
If you’re wanting to play the higher end fire is the route to go but if you’re not in a group arcane is the safer bet.
As it turns out the ripcord has been torn, we can soon play all them.
I just saw that. Little triggered as I just swapped to night fae last night lol.
Oh no. Bad timing 
Who knows how long it will take for the patch to come out.
Fire is a blast (
) and better for mythic progression.
I just saw that… Like 20 minutes after I swapped covenants 
Feels bad
Although conduit energy is getting deleted so that’s good I guess