DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Arcane Mage abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2.5).

Single Target

Pre-cast Evocation before combat begins.

• EvocationView detailsStart cooldown sequence when ready.
• Arcane MissilesView detailsConsume Clearcasting from Evocation.
• Arcane OrbView detailsIf < 2 Arcane Charges.
• Arcane SurgeView detailsUse after activating trinkets or racials.
• Touch Of The MagiView detailsCast after Arcane Barrage or during cooldown sequence.
• Arcane BarrageView detailsUse at 4 Arcane Charges or when out of mana.
• Arcane MissilesView detailsWhen Clearcasting is active and no Nether Precision.
• Arcane BlastView detailsUse as filler.

Begin with Evocation into Arcane Surge and Touch Of The Magi. Use Arcane Barrage at 4 charges or low mana, and Arcane Missiles with Clearcasting. Arcane Blast serves as filler.

AoE

Enter AoE rotation when 2+ targets are present.

• EvocationView detailsStart burn phase when ready.
• Arcane MissilesView detailsConsume Clearcasting from Evocation.
• Arcane OrbView detailsIf < 2 Arcane Charges.
• Arcane SurgeView detailsUse after activating trinkets or racials.
• Touch Of The MagiView detailsCast after Arcane Barrage or during cooldown sequence.
• Arcane BarrageView detailsUse at 4 Arcane Charges or when Arcane Orb is ready.
• Arcane ExplosionView detailsUse with < 3 Arcane Charges.
• Arcane BlastView detailsUse as filler.

For AoE, begin with Evocation into Arcane Surge and Touch Of The Magi. Use Arcane Barrage at 4 charges or with Arcane Orb. Arcane Explosion is used to build charges, and Arcane Blast as filler.

Cooldowns

• EvocationView detailsUse to regenerate mana and start cooldown sequence.
• Arcane SurgeView detailsUse during cooldown phases for burst damage.
• Touch Of The MagiView detailsUse during cooldown phases or when ready.
• Shifting PowerView detailsUse when no other cooldowns are active.

Use Evocation to regenerate mana and initiate cooldowns. Arcane Surge and Touch Of The Magi should be used during burst phases, while Shifting Power is used when other cooldowns are inactive.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.