Low DPS problem

Classes Mage
1

Any suggestions on how to increase my poor DPS?

2

Well it’s always difficult to give concise and accurate answers when we don’t know all the facts. That being said, your talents and azerite traits are a mish-mash of single target and aoe which for arcane is a VERY BAD thing. You need to gear/spec for one or the other (ah arcane, the redheaded stepchild of WOW). Get 3 equipoise and maybe and arcane pummeling for ST and save those explosive echo/arcane pressure traits for aoe. Never, ever, EVER use mirror image. Use either reverberate, resonance and arcane orb for aoe or go overpowered, charged up, touch of the magi for single target.

Hopefully this helps.

3

Some suggestions for improving your DPS:

Gear

  • Enchant your weapon and rings - This is the easiest thing you can do to improve your dps. Enchants are available at the auction house if you’re not an enchanter
  • Azerite gear - As the previous poster mentioned, for single-target you want 3 pieces of azerite gear with “Equipoise” on them. The azerite traits on your gear are mostly for AOE and will yield poor single-target dps.
    Sim your gear
    • Download the simcraft mod and install it in the game.
    • Then Goto raidbots .com and use the outcput from the simcraft mod to sim your gear. Find out what your best secondary stats are so you know what to aim for. Also use that website to try out different sets of available gear to see what is best.

Talents

  • You have the wrong talent setup for DPS. Try the following:
    • Tier 1: Replace Arcane Familiar with Rule of Threes
    • Tier 3: Replace Mirror Image with either Incanter’s Flow or Rune of Power.
      • Rune of Power is the highest dps when played well, but requires careful timing and replacement. When not played well results can be less than with Incanter’s Flow.
      • Incanter’s Flow requires no input. Simply take the talent and ignore it. It’s a good choice for new arcane mages learning the rotation. And for experienced mages on progression fights.
      • Mirror Image is the lowest dps choice and should never be used.
    • Tier 4 and 6: Resonance and Reverberate are AOE talents. For single-target dps swap to Charged Up and Touch of the Magi.
      • Note however, that if you swap to Charged Up, you will need to hotkey it and practice when to use it.
    • If you find yourself losing evocation due to movement, you may wish to replace the talent “Shimmer” with “Slipstream”.

Rotation

  • For Single-target:
    • Burn Phase: At 4-stacks of Arcane Blast (AB), place Rune of Power (if talented), activate trinket, activate arcane power, spam Arcane Blast. Do not cast Arcane Missiles.
      • If you need to move during the burn phase, cast Presence of Mind then continue spamming Arcane Blast
      • If movement is not needed, cast Presence of Mind when you have a few seconds left in your burn phase to try to get an extra AB into the burn.
      • Once Arcane Power is done, continue spamming AB, but now also cast Arcane Missiles (AM) when you get a proc. Continue until mana runs dry then evocate back to full.
    • Conserve Phase:
      • Ideally cast 4x Arcane Blasts and then Arcane Barrage. If you get a missile proc, cast Arcane Missiles.
      • With Equipoise (which you should as it’s by far the best single-target azerite trait), ideally I try keep my mana around 70% or higher for most of the burn phase. This may mean casting more than 4x Arcane Blasts if mana permits. But in your case with 22% mastery, you may end up casting less.
      • Continue until Arcane Power is off-cooldown, then reenter burn phase. Make sure you’re above 70% mana when entering burn phase.

Improve Your Skill

  • Install a DPS meter - such as Details!, Skada or Recount. Having your own meter is a valuable tool that lets you track your dps in real time. As you try different things to improve your dps you’ll get instant feedback on whether they are working or not.
  • Setup your hotkeys and practice - every ability on your main rotation should be hotkeyed to your keyboard or an extra mouse-button or macro’d so you can activate it without looking at the keyboard.
    • After you setup your UI, practice with it on the target dummy until you can activate everything instinctively. This practice should greatly improve your reaction time and improve your gameplay.
    • Setting up your UI and practicing with it may take hours but is one of the single best things you can do to improve your performance.
  • Try different gear and talent combos -
    • when you get new gear try it out on the dummy. Compare it to your old gear and see what works better for you. Experiment.
    • Remember results are key. If you find something not to be fun or you do worse with it, feel free to try something else even if the first combo sims higher.
2 Likes
4

Dang, I’ve been downgraded to “previous poster.” I guess I need more mastery :grimacing:

4 Likes
5

ROFL! As I was writing my rather long post, I forgot who made the previous post. Sorry Tempestwinds. :innocent:

1 Like
6

Thank you for your help. I just want to say that the only reason I have mirror image is that it has saved my butt when I was dealing with multiple mobs.

7

Oh mirror image is a big no-no. I mean play what you like, but you have several tools to help:

-Frost Nova to root
-Polymorph for CC
-Chrono Shift for enemy slow + player speed
-Slow for enemy slow
-Greater Invisibility if it’s truly a tight pinch and you need to get out of combat

The damage loss taking mirror image v. RoP/IF is significant