Taking this: https://wowanalytica.com/statistics?tab=classes-specs as reference
Why arcane mage is one of the least played dps specs in wow? even compared with fire and frost that they are one the most popular.
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I don’t know much about mages but I do know Frost kind of destroys Mythic+.
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Nobody likes to do AB 15 times
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anyone else? I would like to know reasons
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I’d say it’s probably because it’s the most turrety of the turret ranged specs and the design of high end content doesn’t really fit that model.
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I’d guess part of the reason in mythic + is the play style is not conducive to the go-go-go mentality of chain pulling trash when you blow your mana pool for nice burst but then have to keep stopping to drink while the rest of the group plows ahead.
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I like the idea of Arcane but right now Frost just feels better for most situations, personally. Frost is really, really simple once you’ve figured it out, and you also don’t have to manage mana like Arcane does. It feels overly complex for generally less dps.
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Mana cost on Arcane is rather high and most players don’t want to mess with the possibility of going OOM.
Couple that with the fact that Frost and Fire are (in most cases) superior damage right now, so… yeah. People avoid it.
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Hmm it seems like a lot of people don’t actually know what the meta arcane build is.
In the meta arcane build, kyrian arcane, you actually don’t use AB that much and you don’t have mana issues as much.
It seems like negative perceptions of past iterations of the spec are harming the perceptions of kyrian arcane.
I think kyrian arcane may also be a bit clunky for people and it’s very burst loaded, so if you mess up your burst, you’re not doing great damage. And it’s pretty easy to mess up with the way raid encounters are designed nowadays because you need to stand still for 8-10 seconds.
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I know the meta is Kyrian right now and I’m aware of the mana savings.
Most people don’t know how to PLAY Arcane properly either, and it has a history of OOM problems, so most people avoid it.
And then you say this, which is all true, but doesn’t help the case.
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arcane is great for mopping up mobs farming old content. thats about the only time I enjoy using it.
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definitely need to macro if one is spamming Arcane Missiles if one doesnt want to have to keep watching the casting bar to conserve mana.
#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles] Arcane Missiles
took a bit to figure out it blows the entire mana cost whether the previous casting is finished or not, and restarts the bar. Waste of mana.
pretty much that.
Ive tried the other specs, really just dont like them at all. If Im going to play fire, I’ll just run Destro lock and have a better chance of not dying, lol. I dont like frost at all.
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Frost is my go-to. I didn’t like the old Glacial Spike meta and I’m glad we’ve gotten away from that, but I’m not fond of the Ice Lance thing we’ve got going on now either. I do wish Lonely Winter wasn’t so powerful either. I’d kinda like to have my elemental back.
I was kinda forced to play Fire in Wrath so I could raid and I kinda hated having to do that. I do have a Night Fae Fire Mage right now, it’s more fun than it used to be, but that spec is so “glass cannon” it’s not even funny. I have to run Cryo-Freeze just because it is SO easy to get whacked when you are trying to cast something.
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The interesting gameplay comes from mana management, and it’s really not that hard to so in SL. As a result, Arcane is just spamming AB and pressing Missiles every couple of seconds with no real thought.
I mained Arcane for like a patch in Legion. I distinctly remember how easy it was to OoM if you made any mistakes in your rotation. It kept you on your toes and made for a fun time. Legion had the superior Arcane design.
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Arcane DON’T have mana problems in Shadowlands, thats an old perception of the spec.
Nobody plays cause it has no utilities among mages (have a slow, but frost’s is better, have no stun besides Ring of Frost, no cheat death or double ice block), its too crit reliant and mobs must be really close to each other to do the most damage when touch of the magi hits, which is impossible to achieve on massive pulls.
I have the same io on Arcane, Fire and Frost and, besides arcane being completely viable, everything it does, frost or fire does better, with the exception of 2 or 3 niche bosses.
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Idk I love kyrain arcane mage its soo satisfying to play.
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It hasn’t been meta in a while in any content pvp or pve and the rotation is pretty clunky.
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it’s boring… what more do you need?
People like to move around, not sit still pressing the same buttons over and over. All casters should have more mobility, not less.
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It’s just a boring spec. There are other builder/spender specs in the game and Arcane is the worst of them in terms of dynamics and fun. Mage in my mind just needs an overall rework. I’d like to see it as a combo class, not like rogue combo points but as a spell combo class. Frost spells react to Fire spell and Arcane spells can be modifiers, etc.
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I think frost and fire are easier to play without the mana management. Frost is also good for world content. It’s overall more useful for more styles of play. And frost has good control in pvp.
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