After a few months away I have an itch to play a caster again. My last go was a fire mage and I really wasn’t a big fan by the end of it. I want to give it another try but I can’t decide on the spec. Arcane has always sounded fun to play, despite always hearing about the negatives but I have never tried one seriously. I have minimal experience with frost but it wasn’t bad when I was messing around with it.
My intentions are to do some pvp, and eventually take it into dungeons. I’m not sure it would ever make it into raiding but it’s possible. Does Arcane have an edge in any of those areas? Is frost just all around better? Is leveling as arcane a total PITA? Any tips/insight is appreciated!
No idea of PvP
In organized raids where you can plan your movement and bursts, Arcane trumps Frost. Most importantly it’s better on the fights that matter most this tier (Painsmith, Syl).
They’re both workable in M+ though Frost is easier to slot in and more affix-flexible and is bothered less by some affixes that really annoy Arcane.
No, it’s actually one of the better mage specs to level with because its ST spells wont draw excess mobs, it has GI in its base kit + Mass Invi and Temporal Shield for open world when you toggle WM ON. It also unlocks Alter Time before Frost/Fire do.
It’s actually better at abusing a steroid than Frost is (AC vs Shatter) when you’re leveling. The biggest drawback of Frost leveling on an even playing field (in terms of mob level) is that spells in its ST kit can draw attention from unwanted crap (Especially FO) you wouldn’t want to deal with.
Frost’s kiting utility is frankly dated, and it’s in need of an overhaul. Plus Arcane has Slow as well if it ever wants to give kiting a go.
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Arcane is generally the spec people solo level as when they play mage as arcane blast will just delete mobs.
As for pvp, I main frost in pve but when I do random battlegrounds I tend to play arcane as I find its consistent and burst damage higher without the long cooldowns frost has. Though I haven’t tried necro frost just yet which is the current pvp meta build.
Both are fine in dungeons, I’m assuming you mean at a low mythic level or heroic level in which case arcane is a lot better suited for that as frost loses a lot of value when mobs die in like 8s whereas arcane can still do fine damage in that time and can just huge burst on the bosses to kill them quickly.
Tbf right now frosts kiting utility in m+ is disgustingly broken, having a 70% slow up at all times in freezing rain dungeons is not balanced (and a 60% slow in every other dungeon).
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I meant for open world content. Frost is great at helping a tank peel in M+, absolutely (assuming Sanguine is not in play). But when you’re given just a snare kit for solo leveling, instead of actual damage, it’s terribly dated and slow. While you kite something to kill it, other specs outright just kill it.
One usually doesn’t have enough mobs in open world PvE to constantly keep Rain Orbs out, and if that happens without the Frost mage dying, you either drastically outlevel or outgear the zone. And in that case, one can do whatever they want.
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Very true, it is kind of funny that the solo leveling spec has evolved to arcane, when thats basically what frosts kit was made for. 
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Arcane is the best leveling spec, and best open world spec, imo. Arcane Blast one shots most mobs, and Greater Invisibility is amazing for skipping enemies/getting out of tricky situations.