Arcane Mage

Mirrors the current rank-1 Sinister Single parse — every slot is what the best Arcane Mage actually wears.

Midnight Season 2 · Sunfury · updated 2026-08-05

How it plays

• Arcane Missiles is both what you press most and where the damage comes from: 35% of it, at roughly 16 casts a minute.
• Damage is concentrated — the top three abilities are 79% of it, so protecting those casts matters more than squeezing the filler.

Measured on the reference parse below, not a description of the spec — so it changes when the tuning does.

Stat priority

Critical Strike > Haste > Mastery > Versatility

These are not weights pulled from a spreadsheet — they are the live ratings on the reference character this build is taken from, so the order reflects what the best-performing Arcane Mage is actually stacking right now.

Source: 凜冽寒风 — the log. Rank 1 Arcane Mage on Sinister Single (Dummy Dome), avg ilvl 335.

Talent build

Laid out exactly as the in-game talent UI draws it, hero tree Sunfury. Lit nodes and gold lines are the path this build takes; everything dimmed was passed over. Hover any node for what it does.

Rotation

Four Arcane Charges, then Arcane Barrage. The whole rotation is building to four and cashing out, over and over — and Clearcasting jumps the queue every time.

Openers

Single target

1. Arcane Blast to four charges.
2. Touch of the Magi, then Arcane Surge.
3. Arcane Barrage to cash out inside the debuff.
4. Rebuild with Arcane Orb and Arcane Blast, taking every Clearcasting.

How much damage, and where

The same best-in-slot profile below, simulated across four fights on our own SimulationCraft build. A spec's number moves with the fight — and each card opens its full report: DPS timeline, buffs, and a Copy-SimC button to reproduce it in Raidbots. Compare every spec →

Where the damage comes from

Measured on the reference log — a 300-second single-target parse. Worth comparing against the rotation above: the button you press most is rarely the one doing the most.

Source: Sinister Single, 300s.

Best in slot

The finished loadout, built by Pathfinder — the strongest item available for every slot, with the item level to chase and where it drops. 334 average item level across 15 slots, gathered from 3 places.

Venomkeeper's Horrific Cowl 344 · Myth 9/6 (VC) The Venomous Abyss — Ula'tek ✦ Empowered Hex of Leeching

Amulet of the Twin Fangs 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Twin Fangs ◆ Powerful Eversong Diamond

Primal Leywarden's Manaflux 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Lost Explorers ✦ Silvermoon's Mending

Adherent's Silken Shroud 331 · Spark Crafted +Myth Epic Profession Items — Tailoring

Crest of the Primal Leywarden 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Vashnik the Malignant ✦ Mark of the Worldsoul

Venom-Singed Cuffs 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Entombed Sentinels

Venomancer's Winged Channeler 334 · Myth 6/6 · Two-handed The Venomous Abyss — Vashnik the Malignant ✦ Acuity of the Ren'dorei

Arcane Mage 334 average item level

Primal Leywarden's Manashapers 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Entombed Sentinels ✦ Gloves Enchant (+3 Stamina)

Primal Leywarden's Bejeweled Buckle 334 · Myth 6/6 The Tidebound Grotto — Nymrissa Wavecaller

Primal Leywarden's Tailored Legwraps 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Sszorak ✦ Forest Hunter's Armor Kit

Aetherlume Softsteppers 331 · Spark Crafted +Myth Epic Profession Items — Engineering ✦ Lynx's Dexterity

Vile Alchemist's Band 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Vashnik the Malignant ✦ Silvermoon's Alacrity◆ Flawless Quick Amethyst

Alluring Bubbleband 334 · Myth 6/6 The Tidebound Grotto — Nymrissa Wavecaller ✦ Silvermoon's Alacrity◆ Flawless Quick Amethyst

Gebbo's Bottomless Bag 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Lost Explorers

Vexhul's Everflowing Gland 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Twin Fangs

Where to spend bonus rolls as Arcane Mage

A Voidcore pays out an item every time — the question is only whether it is one you wanted. For this build, in order:

Roll Vashnik the Malignant — 3 of its 4 drops are on your list

75% of every roll here lands something on the list. In The Venomous Abyss, it owes you chest, ring 1 and main hand.

Then Sszorak — 2 of its 3 drops are on your list

67% of every roll here lands something on the list. In The Venomous Abyss, it owes you waist and legs.

The general principles behind this — knockout protection, why finishing one boss beats spreading rolls, and the crests a roll quietly costs you — are in the bonus roll guide.

Week-by-week route

1. Pre-season: the campaign, a world tour of Mythic 0s for a 292 loadout, and the weekly Spark quest. No Myth crests exist yet — bank the Spark.
2. Week 1: farm +10 keys to a full Hero 3/6 (311) loadout and fill the vault. You open the week holding two full Sparks, so craft Adherent's Silken Shroud and Aetherlume Softsteppers back to back if your Myth crests cover both infusions. Every Hero crest goes into lifting pieces toward 6/6 (321).
3. Week 2: first Voidcore — roll Vashnik the Malignant, where 3 of 4 drops are on this list. Catalyse the set slots for the 4-set. No new Spark this week — the next whole one banks in Week 3.
4. Weeks 3–6: one Voidcore a week down the order above — finish a boss before starting the next. Keep spending Hero crests; every slot should sit at 321 by about Week 6.
5. Week 7 onward: two Voidcores a week (the vault and Orin Straylight). Roll Myth-track bases in the set slots, re-catalyse them, and take each to 6/6 for 80 Myth and 20 Hero crests.
6. Late season: Venomkeeper's Horrific Cowl comes from the last two bosses at Myth 9 (344). Secure the base item early — that is the only place the extra three ranks exist.

The fast variant

Same stat priority, 4 slots moved. Pathfinder builds the list above for raw power and does not care how many bosses that takes; Slate prices the route as well, and takes an equal-strength item from a boss you are already farming over one that sends you somewhere new. It visits 3 places against the strongest list's 3, at 336 average item level against 334.

• Neck — Aqirbane Reliquary instead of Amulet of the Twin Fangs
• Ring 1 — Apex Brute's Claw Ring instead of Vile Alchemist's Band
• Main hand — Jan'thrazet, the Soul Fang instead of Venomancer's Winged Channeler
• Off hand — Spine of the Hissing Abyss instead of nothing

Venomkeeper's Horrific Cowl 344 · Myth 9/6 (VC) The Venomous Abyss — Ula'tek ✦ Empowered Hex of Leeching

Aqirbane Reliquary 344 · Myth 9/6 (VC) The Venomous Abyss — Ula'tek ◆ Powerful Eversong Diamond

Primal Leywarden's Manaflux 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Lost Explorers ✦ Silvermoon's Mending

Adherent's Silken Shroud 331 · Spark Crafted +Myth Epic Profession Items — Tailoring

Crest of the Primal Leywarden 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Vashnik the Malignant ✦ Mark of the Worldsoul

Venom-Singed Cuffs 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Entombed Sentinels

Jan'thrazet, the Soul Fang 344 · Myth 9/6 (VC) The Venomous Abyss — Ula'tek ✦ Acuity of the Ren'dorei

Spine of the Hissing Abyss 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Entombed Sentinels ✦ Acuity of the Ren'dorei

Arcane Mage 336 average item level

Primal Leywarden's Manashapers 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Entombed Sentinels ✦ Gloves Enchant (+3 Stamina)

Primal Leywarden's Bejeweled Buckle 334 · Myth 6/6 The Tidebound Grotto — Nymrissa Wavecaller

Primal Leywarden's Tailored Legwraps 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Sszorak ✦ Forest Hunter's Armor Kit

Aetherlume Softsteppers 331 · Spark Crafted +Myth Epic Profession Items — Engineering ✦ Lynx's Dexterity

Apex Brute's Claw Ring 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — Sszorak ✦ Silvermoon's Alacrity◆ Flawless Quick Amethyst

Alluring Bubbleband 334 · Myth 6/6 The Tidebound Grotto — Nymrissa Wavecaller ✦ Silvermoon's Alacrity◆ Flawless Quick Amethyst

Gebbo's Bottomless Bag 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Lost Explorers

Vexhul's Everflowing Gland 334 · Myth 6/6 The Venomous Abyss — The Twin Fangs