Overview
Most arena Mages play Frost for its survivability and Shatter control; Arcane is a niche burst pick that punishes teams which let you free-cast.
Strengths
- +Enormous instant burst (Presence of Mind + Pyroblast)
- +Arcane Power damage window
- +Long range pressure
Weaknesses
- −Far squishier and easier to train than Frost
- −Weak kiting/control compared to Frost
Stat priority & caps (arena)
Stat caps (arena)
| Stat | Cap | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Resilience | 490 rating | No hard cap — ~350 is the 2v2 entry point, 490+ is competitive. Reduces crit chance, crit damage and DoT damage taken. |
| Spell Hit (vs players) | 4 % | 4% (~50 rating) caps spell misses against same-level players — the raid 16% boss cap does not apply. Hit talents and Misery can cover most of it, so gear little pure hit in arena. |
- Resilience: No hard cap — ~350 is the 2v2 entry point, 490+ is competitive. Reduces crit chance, crit damage and DoT damage taken.
- Spell Hit (vs players): 4% (~50 rating) caps spell misses against same-level players — the raid 16% boss cap does not apply. Hit talents and Misery can cover most of it, so gear little pure hit in arena.
Full gear with usage %, gems and enchants is on the Arcane Mage PvP BiS list.
Recommended talent build
40/0/21 · RaidThe 40/0/21 Arcane build: Arcane Power and Presence of Mind burst over Empowered Arcane Missiles, with Frost filled to Ice Block for safety and mana efficiency via Frost Channeling. The burn-phase specialist's configuration.
Arcane
40Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 5 and reduces the threat caused by your Arcane spells by 20%.
Reduces the chance that the opponent can resist your Arcane spells by 2%.
Gives you a 20% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Arcane Missiles.
Increases your damage with Wands by 13%.
Increases all resistances by 2 and causes all spells you fully resist to restore 1% of your total mana. 1 sec. cooldown. (1s cooldown)
Gives you a 2% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%. (Proc chance: 2%, 1s cooldown)
Increases the effect of your Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic spells by 25%.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Explosion and Arcane Blast spells by an additional 2%.
Increases your armor by an amount equal to 100% of your Intellect.
Decreases the mana lost per point of damage taken when Mana Shield is active by 10%.
Gives your Counterspell a 50% chance to silence the target for 4 sec. (Proc chance: 50%)
Allows 10% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting.
For 4 sec after casting Blink, your chance to be hit by all attacks and spells is reduced by 13%.
When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
Increases your total Intellect by 3%.
Reduces all damage taken by 2%.
Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 1%.
Increases the critical strike chance of any spell cast while Clearcasting by 10%.
Your Arcane Missiles spell gains an additional 15% of your bonus spell damage effects, but mana cost is increased by 2%.
When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec.
Increases critical strike damage bonus of all spells by 25%.
Increases spell damage by up to 5% of your total Intellect.
Reduces target's movement speed by 50%, increases the time between ranged attacks by 50% and increases casting time by 50%. Lasts 15 sec. Slow can only affect one target at a time.
Fire
0Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.1 sec.
Gives your Fire spells a 2% chance to stun the target for 2 sec. (Proc chance: 2%)
Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 8% of your spell's damage over 4 sec.
Increases the range of your Fire spells by 3 yards.
Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 0.5 sec.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire Blast and Scorch spells by 2%.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike spell by 5%.
Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 148 to 195 Fire damage and an additional 56 Fire damage over 12 sec.
Gives your Fire spells a 35% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces the threat caused by your Fire spells by 5%.
Your Scorch spells have a 33% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases the Fire damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.
Causes your Fire Ward to have a 10% chance to reflect Fire spells while active. In addition, your Molten Armor has a 50% chance to affect ranged and spell attacks.
Your Fire and Frost spell criticals will refund 10% of their base mana cost. (9ms cooldown)
Increases all spell damage caused by 1% and all spell damage taken by 1%.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire spells by 2%.
A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 160 to 192 Fire damage, and Dazing them for 6 sec.
Gives you a 5% chance when hit by a melee or ranged attack to increase your movement speed by 50% and dispel all movement impairing effects. This effect lasts 8 sec. (Proc chance: 5%)
Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 2%.
Increases chance to critically hit and reduces the mana cost of all Fire spells by an additional 1%.
When activated, this spell causes each of your Fire damage spell hits to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells.
Increases damage of all spells against targets with less than 20% health by 10%.
Your Fireball spell gains an additional 3% of your bonus spell damage effects.
Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 382 to 442 Fire damage and are Disoriented for 3 sec. Any direct damaging attack will revive targets. Turns off your attack when used.
Frost
21Increases the armor and resistances given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 15%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward a 10% chance to reflect Frost spells and effects while active.
Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.1 sec.
Reduces the mana cost and chance targets resist your Frost and Fire spells by 1%.
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 20%.
Gives your Chill effects a 5% chance to freeze the target for 5 sec.
Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 2 sec.
Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 1 sec and reduces the target's speed by an additional 4%.
Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 2%.
Hastens your spellcasting, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and gives you 100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting. Lasts 20 sec.
Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 30%. Lasts 1.50 sec.
Increases the range of your Frostbolt, Ice Lance and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 10%.
Reduces the mana cost of your Frost spells by 5% and reduces the threat caused by your Frost spells by 4%.
Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targets by 10%.
Reduces the damage taken by Frost and Fire effects by 2%.
When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all Frost spells you recently cast.
Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 15%.
Reduces the cooldown of your Cone of Cold, Cold Snap, Ice Barrier and Ice Block spells by 10%.
Gives your Frost damage spells a 20% chance to apply the Winter's Chill effect, which increases the chance a Frost spell will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times. (Proc chance: 20%)
Instantly shields you, absorbing 455 damage. Lasts 1 min. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted.
Increases all Frost damage you cause by 1% and reduces the chance melee and ranged attacks will hit you by 1%.
Your Frostbolt spell gains an additional 2% of your bonus spell damage effects and an additional 1% chance to critically strike.
Summon a Water Elemental to fight for the caster for 45 sec.
Points are filled on each tree above — hover a talent for its tooltip; highlighted talents are the build's key picks.
Burst setup
- 1Polymorph the off-target to isolate the kill.
- 2Counterspell the enemy healer's cast.
- 3Presence of Mind + Arcane Power + trinket → instant Pyroblast / Arcane Blast burst.
- 4Blink and Frost Nova (from talents/utility) to make space; Ice Block to reset.
- 5Follow up with Fireball/Arcane Blast while cooldowns recharge.
You live and die by your burst window — set it up with CC on the healer and commit Presence of Mind + Arcane Power together. Between windows you're fragile, so play safe, use Blink and Ice Block well, and don't get caught by melee. Prefer Frost unless your comp specifically wants Arcane's burst.
Mage macros
Focus macros
Focus Counterspell
Lock out a focus caster (enemy healer) without target-swapping.
#showtooltip Counterspell /cast [target=focus] Counterspell
Focus Polymorph
Sheep your focus to control the enemy healer while you burst another target.
#showtooltip Polymorph /cast [target=focus] Polymorph
Defensive
Ice Block toggle
One button to Block and to break Block — cancels the aura if you're already in it.
#showtooltip Ice Block /cancelaura Ice Block /cast Ice Block
PvP addons
Full list on the Mage addons page.
Best race (PvP)
Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear/Sleep and is the best defensive racial for a PvP mage. Blood Elf silence is the aggressive alternative.
Escape Artist frees you from roots/snares to reset kiting, and Expansive Mind adds mana. The best Alliance PvP mage.
More on the best race for Mage page.
Best professions (PvP)
Common mistakes
- ✕Blowing Presence of Mind without CC on the healer.
- ✕Playing it as aggressively positioned as Frost — Arcane is squishier.
- ✕Wasting Ice Block early instead of saving the reset.
Best arena comps
FAQ
Arcane or Frost for arena?
Frost is the standard arena Mage for its control, kiting and Shatter burst. Arcane is a niche high-burst pick that's much squishier.
Is Arcane burst worth the fragility?
Only into teams that let you free-cast. Against melee pressure, Frost's survivability wins.